Washington D.C. sports radio station 106.7 The Fan has been led every weekday morning by The Sports Junkies for the last 19 years. With their 20th anniversary coming up next year, the program was featured in a recent article in Northern Virginia Magazine, where the program discussed their rise to success in the Washington D.C. market.
When the show took over the timeslot on The Fan—vacated by Howard Stern in 2006—there were high expectations to meet. Nevertheless, the collective of John-Paul Flaim, John Auville, Eric Bickel, and Jason Bishop are unsure about their future, with a year remaining on their contracts.
“We don’t really know what the company’s direction is going to be after our current contract,” said Bishop. “I think we all assume they’re going to want to keep us. I don’t think sports is going to die, but we have no idea how much they’re going to offer in years. We have no idea.”
106.7 The Fan is owned and operated by Audacy, whose recent round of layoffs this past March left near 300 employees out of work. Furthermore, the company continues to work through a restructure following the resignation of CEO David Field in January, as well as the departures of CFO Rich Schmaeling and COO Susan Larkin.
Given the massive amount of changes within the Audacy brand, it may weigh on the minds of The Sports Junkies. However, their focus remains the same as they head into the final year of their agreements.
“This is not a radio company we work for anymore,” says Auville. “It’s a digital audio company. We can’t just be available on the radio. We have to be available via streaming. We have to be on all the podcast platforms.”
Audacy is radio’s second-largest group, with over 230 broadcasting brands and a listed 165 million monthly broadcast listeners. Moreover, the company is less than a year removed from emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Sports Junkies broadcast from custom 106.7 The Fan studios in an office building in D.C.’s Navy Yard neighborhood.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
