Last week, Erik Gee announced he was leaving his position as Assistant Program Director and midday host for 97.1 The Sports Animal in Tulsa and teased a big announcement coming soon. In his tease, he quoted the band Rush, saying, “It’s my time to drive.” Now, Cumulus Media has announced that Gee has been given the keys to programming at 92.1 The Ticket in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Gee will football season opener for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Gee will be heard Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m.
Gee has almost 30 years’ experience in sports broadcasting, most recently serving as Assistant Program Director and co-host of the Pat Jones Show in Tulsa. His career includes stops in Oklahoma City and Albuquerque, where he covered Oklahoma and Oklahoma State football, as well as seven seasons reporting on the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“Erik’s depth of experience and passion for sports make him a perfect fit for our station,” said Keith Liesmann, Regional Vice President and Market Manager of Cumulus Fayetteville in a release. “We are thrilled to have him on board and can’t wait for our listeners to experience his insight and energy every morning.”
Gee will be joined on the show by producer Levi Peckenpaugh.
92.3 The Fan afternoon co-host Dustin Fox has announced Thursday will be his final day at the Audacy Cleveland sports station.
Fox has spent the past 13 years at the station. He has most recently been paired with Nick Wilson, while also previously working with Adam “The Bull” Gerstenhaber.
During The Afternoon Drive on Monday, Fox shared that he is departing the station under his own decision.
“This is something that is kind of a long time coming. This is going to be hard. I’m not gonna bury the lede: Thursday, August 29th will be my last day on The Fan,” said Fox. “That may come as a shock to a lot of people. People close to me, it will not come as a shock. Because the people close to me understand, and we’ve talked about this, this has been a long time coming. I’m making this decision to to leave. And it was not easy, and it has been a lot of praying, a lot of talking with people I trust, a lot of soul-searching in a lot of ways.
“This is the longest thing I’ve done in my life in one place. And that is something I don’t take lightly. I’ve been so lucky to be here.”
Dustin Fox — who also works as a college football game analyst for ESPN — admitted that he has been considering departing the station since before Wilson returned to Cleveland in 2022.
In January, Fox shared on social media that he was dealing with medical issues that kept him away from appearing on the station for a period. He then deleted the posts.
“In life, you have different chapters in your book. And this has been a chapter of my life that is, is just like ending for now,” said Fox. “You may ask ‘Why?’ Well, I mean, it’s pretty simple in the grand scheme of things … I am doing this because I have to. This is the most I’ve ever thought about a decision, and I feel so good about it. I’m at such peace because of how much time, and effort, and thought that I put into making this call. I’m on the air from two o’clock until seven o’clock every day. We’ve been on the air for 13 years. That’s a lot of hours … But the one thing it doesn’t give me is time.”
Dustin Fox noted that his two children are 11 and 14, with his daughter entering high school. He shared that of the 12 track meets his daughter competed in last year, he was only able to attend one of them in person.
The demands of hosting a five-hour daily radio show, while juggling work with ESPN, have simply become too much. He and Wilson will continue to host the show for the remainder of the week before bidding the station farewell on Thursday.
Tom Brady will officially commence his tenure as the lead analyst for the NFL on FOX in a highly anticipated Week 1 regular-season matchup on Sunday, Sept. 8 between the Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys. Brady, who is a seven-time Super Bowl champion, three-time AP Most Valuable Player and 15-time Pro Bowl selection, is joining Kevin Burkhardt, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi on the lead broadcast team under a 10-year contract worth a reported $375 million. Ahead of the first game, Brady has been speaking with industry contemporaries and practicing with his colleagues, recently on site at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles as the Los Angeles Rams faced the Dallas Cowboys.
Burkhardt recognized that he and his colleagues may need to adjust the routine as to when they go on the field, presumably because of the popularity of Brady. During a recent appearance on the Calm Down podcast with Erin Andrews and Charissa Thompson, he explained what it was like to navigate alongside the gridiron with his new colleague.
“It is like a circus just going down,” Burkhardt said. “We were in LA doing a practice game, and it took us 40 minutes just to get down to the elevator just to the corner of the end zone. I had to take a [picture] of he and Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs on the middle of the field. It’s wild.”
Because of the sheer amount of people who wanted to greet Brady and have conversations, they were unable to speak to the quarterbacks in the game. In fact, Burkhardt remembered that it was 1:15 p.m. PST and they were still on the field for a game that was going to begin 15 minutes later. As a result, he needed to inform Brady that they needed to go upstairs to the broadcast booth.
“That is definitely a learning experience,” Burkhardt said. “We’re going to take a little more time to go down on the field earlier, but he actually enjoyed it.”
The FOX Sports lead broadcast team will call the Super Bowl LIX from New Orleans, La. at the end of the season, marking the second championship game Burkhardt will call as a play-by-play announcer. Throughout his time with the broadcast network, which began in 2013, he has called games alongside John Lynch, Charles Davis, Daryl Johnston and Greg Olsen. At the same time, he would also receive critiques from his analysts, including a salient lesson from Lynch in terms of not boxing an analyst in a corner to discuss something when they might have been considering another topic.
“What I love about [Olson] doing games is we’ll get into those key moments, and we’ll, let’s say 2-minute warning whatever and it’s a close game, and I see him and he’s kind of frothing at the mouth,” Burkhardt said. “He’s got so much to say, so he’ll grab me on the shoulder with his big paws and he’s like, ‘KB, we’ve got to talk about.’ I’m like, ‘I got you bud, I got you. I know exactly what you want to do,’ and so we get back and as soon as I can, I would set him up as quick as possible because he was so excited to break it down, and he broke those moments down so amazing.”
During the game itself, Burkhardt is working with his analyst and also hearing information from Andrews on the field level in real time. There are moments when she alerts the booth what is occurring in order to assist them in their observation of different aspects within the game.
“Erin is talking to us all the time and we’re talking to her and she’s listening to us and like, ‘Guys, just so you know, you were talking about this. This is going on [down] on the field,’ and we’re like, ‘Oh wow, interesting,’” Burkhardt explained, “and then our camera guys will go get it, and then I’m like, ‘Well Erin, you do it. I want you to describe it,’ so there’s all this banter kind of talking about storylines and things. You can’t see all of it by yourself – there’s so much going on.’”
“It’s not always the case to have someone like Kevin or Greg the last few years when you get a beautiful group like that, everyone works in harmony, and the same is said for the players on the field,” Thompson replied. “When teams function as a team instead of as a bunch of individuals, it’s an awesome thing to watch, and it’s to our benefit as viewers to hear from all of you guys.”
As Burkhardt has practiced alongside Brady, they have developed chemistry and familiarity ahead of kickoff in the regular season. Reflecting on the preparatory process, Burkhardt feels that things are going very well in honing their craft and building rapport. Burkhardt and Brady will work with Andrews and Rinaldi throughout the regular season and playoffs leading up to the conclusion of the year with the company presentation of Super Bowl LIX.
“Earlier in the year… we went to a commercial in one of our practices and I was like, ‘Hey TB, I know you don’t know me well yet, but is that cool? Can I tell you if something sucks or whatever?’ and he’s like, ‘Yes, please tell me. Coach me up,’” Burkhardt recalled. “I was like, ‘Alright, that’s pretty cool,’ so he just wants to be great, he wants to be better, and I think that’s been the really fun part.”
Good Karma Brands has announced the official launch of 880 ESPN New York, creating a new avenue of sports radio coverage in the metro area. Starting today, fans will be able to hear the local content airing on 98.7 FM and on the 880 AM signal. The 1050 AM frequency will continue to air the ESPN Radio Network slate of shows, retaining the presence of ESPN New York across both frequencies.
Friday will be the final day in which ESPN New York will be heard on 98.7 FM, coinciding with the expiration of the lease The Walt Disney Company signed with Emmis Communications last decade. Good Karma Brands opted to end the local marketing agreement and is preparing to move forward without an FM signal airing ESPN New York content.
ESPN New York will serve as the home of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers for the upcoming seasons, teams within the MSG Radio Network that previously aired on 98.7 FM. The station will also serve as the home for live game broadcasts of New York Mets baseball, including any postseason matchups. The Mets organization moved its radio rights to Audacy ahead of the 2019 season, where the team aired on WCBS Newsradio 880, which officially signed off the air early Monday morning. The new 880 ESPN New York frequency will also be available on 101.1 FM HD2 and through the station app, providing listeners another means to access the station.
“We are very proud to be stewards of the 880 AM signal, allowing us to extend our local content to a larger audience,” Vinny DiMarco, market manager of ESPN New York, said in a statement. “The 880 AM signal is a clear channel, meaning it can be heard not only across much of the eastern United States but also in parts of Eastern Canada, especially at night. This expansion and investment is a testament to our commitment to providing unparalleled sports coverage for our listeners and unique opportunities for our advertising partners.”
The local programming lineup is remaining the same despite the change of frequency, starting with DiPietro & Rothenberg in morning drive before moving to Bart & Hahn in middays and The Michael Kay Show in afternoon drive.
Good Karma Brands is adopting the new call letters of WHSQ for the frequency, reflecting the impending move of the ESPN New York studios to Hudson Square early next year. The Walt Disney Company is moving its New York headquarters within the neighborhood as well and will be situated in close proximity to the offices of Good Karma Brands. The two entities inked an agreement last year through which Good Karma Brands oversees the operations and sales of ESPN radio and podcast networks, further expanding their decades-long partnership.
The “58th Annual CMA Awards” nominations will be announced on September 9 at 7 am (CT). The complete list of nominees will then be published on the CMA Awards website.
Eligible CMA Professional voting members will determine the winners of “The 58th Annual CMA Awards” through a final round of voting. The third and final ballot will be emailed to CMA members on October 1, and voting will close at 6:00 pm (CT) on October 29.
The finalists for the 2024 CMA Broadcast Awards will be announced on Monday, September 9th, and the winners will be unveiled in October.
“The 58th Annual CMA Awards” will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on ABC on Wednesday, November 20, at 7 pm (CT). The program will also be available on Hulu the next day. The ceremony’s hosts, performers, and presenters will be announced in the coming weeks.
SiriusXM has announced Bill Belichick and Maxx Crosby will step into the Let’s Go! show previously helmed by Larry Fitzgerald and Tom Brady alongside Jim Gray.
New episodes of the program will debut every Monday at 6 PM ET on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio, with a replay on SiriusXM NFL Radio at 6:30 PM ET.
“I thank Tom for recommending me. When the opportunity was presented by Jim I said, ‘Let’s Go,’” Belichick said. “When people say, Let’s Go! it conveys a sense of camaraderie and teamwork that all involved share the same goals and excitement. And that’s exactly how I feel to be joining the Let’s Go! team at SiriusXM.”
“It’s an honor for me to join a show I’ve tuned in to my entire career,” said Crosby. “I look forward to diving into all things NFL and Raiders with two legendary sports journalists in Jim and Peter, and to be part of the same program with the greatest coach of all time in Coach Belichick.”
“For 20 years I threw the ball for Coach Belichick. Now I am passing the microphone to him on Let’s Go!” said Brady. “I will be listening every week as I know Bill and Jim will have lots of great conversations, and I’m looking forward to my guest appearances and joining them during the season.”
Crosby and Belichick will replace Fitzgerald and Brady who had hosted the show for three seasons. Additionally, former NBC Sports reporter Peter King will join the show weekly, with Brady scheduled to make guest appearances sporadically throughout the year.
“This season on Let’s Go! our listeners will get to hear directly each week from the greatest Super Bowl winning coach of all time in Bill Belichick and one of the NFL’s most exciting young players in Maxx Crosby. This combined with Tom’s guest appearances will continue to serve our audience one-of-kind insights into the game,” said Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM’s President and Chief Content Officer. “Add to the mix Peter King’s encyclopedic knowledge of the game, and Jim Gray leading the conversations, and you have an extraordinary on air team.”
Sara Carter has announced plans for a limited series podcast series with Radio America called Dark Wars: The Border, which centers upon the southern border and how important it is for 2024 perspective voters.
“Since Joe Biden appointed Kamala Harris to manage the US border crisis three years ago, the amount of illegal immigrants encountered at the border is over 9 million – that’s more people than the population of New Jersey,” said Sara Carter, host of Dark Wars.
“In this podcast, I share widely unreported findings from my time embedded at the border and from conversations and experiences I’ve had with countless actors behind America’s border crisis to uncover how American NGOs are spending billions of our tax dollars to escalate – not resolve – the invasion.”
The podcast series from Radio America conducts in-depth investigations to expose what you are not being told about what’s happening at our 2,000-mile-long border with Mexico.
The final night of the Democratic National Convention saw Kamala Harris make her acceptance speech, and millions tuned in across a variety of networks.
According to Nielsen, 26.2 million people tuned in Thursday across ABC, CBS, NBC, Scripps News, CNN, FOX Business, Fox News, MSNBC, Newsmax, NewsNation, and PBS.
Those figures were considerably larger than the previous three days, which averaged 20.3 million according to Nielsen.
18.8 million of the viewers were from the Adults 55+ demographic. 5.2 million from the Persons 35-54 demographic and 1.4 million adults in the 18-34 demographic. All three demographics saw highs on Thursday evening.
From 9-11:30 PM ET, MSNBC led coverage with 6.5 million total viewers. 3.9 million viewers watched on CNN, with an additional 2.3 million watching on Fox News.
Meanwhile, ABC led the network sector with 4.2 million viewers. NBC featured an audience of 3 million, with CBS earning 2.4 million viewers.
ESPN is undergoing a reorganization to its content structure, as announced on Monday by Burke Magnus, the company’s president of content. Magnus sent an internal memo obtained by Barrett Media in which he explained that the company has been working on a plan since May to enhance collaboration, create better alignment and position staff members to thrive amid evolving times. ESPN utilized the organizational development team from The Walt Disney Company to interview nearly 75 stakeholders at the network, who gave recommendations in their conversations. Following deliberation towards the best path forward, Magnus has announced the reorganization that the network will utilize moving forward.
“With these moves, I believe we will be more strategic, collaborative and nimble, as we continue to excel in every area and function,” Magnus said in the internal memo. “We remain committed to employee development, and the restructure will result in new positions or promotions for people who are expanding their responsibilities or taking on new challenges.”
Mike McQuade, a 37-year employee of ESPN, has been named the executive vice president of sports production, a new position created as part of the reorganization. Within his new role, he will be responsible for overseeing production and studio shows that are sports specific.
Direct reports under his position include Mark Gross, a senior vice president of event and studio for NFL, Monday Night Football, the Super Bowl, College Football, the College Football Playoff, UFL, UFC, Boxing and Golf. Meg Aronowitz, senior vice president of event and studio for MLB, ACC, SEC, NCAA Women’s and Men’s Basketball, school control rooms, college baseball, pro and college softball and the Girls and Boys Little League World Series, is also a direct report to McQuade. Moreover, Kate Jackson, vice president involved in coverage of wrestling, volleyball, gymnastics, field hockey, college and pro lacrosse, Special Olympics, F1 and special event production such as the ESPYS will be a direct report to McQuade as well.
A senior vice president of event and studio for NBA, WNBA, NHL, college ice hockey and tennis will be part of this group once the person is identified. In the meantime, Tim Corrigan, Linda Schulz, Hilary Guy, Terrell Bouza and a new vice president of sports production role for NBA and WNBA studio shows will report to McQuade.
David Roberts is moving into a new role as the executive vice president and executive editor for sports news and entertainment, transitioning out of his role overseeing NBA and WNBA properties and studio programming. Under his new role, he will directly oversee cross-platform editorial, news and coverage for non-sports specific studio shows, including SportsCenter, Get Up, First Take, The Pat McAfee Show, Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption.
Direct reports to Roberts will include Maria Soares, a senior vice president leading the new sports news and coverage centralization, including research and digital editorial; Mike Foss, the senior vice president of sports studio and entertainment, which includes SportsCenter; and Chris Buckle, a vice president leading investigative and enterprise journalism.
Kaitee Daley has been named the senior vice president of digital, social and streaming content at ESPN, assuming oversight of digital audience engagement inclusive of ESPN mobile apps, along with streaming, SEO and stats and analysis. Direct reports to Dailey will include vice presidents Nicole Pelaez-Dandrea and Celia Bouza, along with senior directors Amanda Anderson and Brett Edgerton. Omar Raja, who recently signed a contract extension with ESPN, will continue working in his talent and social strategist role. New roles will also be created in the growth areas of digital product alignment, direct-to-consumer and social.
Images Courtesy of ESPN, LinkedIn, X
Freddy Rolón will work as the head of global sports and talent office, entering the role ahead of the 2025-26 NBA season when the company’s new 11-year media rights agreement commences. Under the new deal, Disney will have an international package of NBA and WNBA games available to stream on digital platforms, which includes Disney+. Rolón will also gain oversight of the talent office and oversee ESPN NEXT as the company assists young professionals. Direct reports include senior vice president Rodolfo Martinez and vice presidents Rosetta Ellis-Pilie, Oscar Ramos and Stan Thomas, the latter of whom was recently promoted to oversee cross-platform development and business operations focused on international coverage.
Brian Lockhart has been named the senior vice president of original content where he will add oversight of the award-winning Features group. Direct reports for Lockhart are vice presidents Marsha Cooke, Lindsay Rovegno, Andy Tennant, Craig Lazarus and Heather Anderson, along with senior directors Chantre Camack and Kati Fernandez. Responsibilities for SCEU/CCU that previously fell under Lazarus will shift to Mike Foss’ organization and will be led by Julie McGlone, while vice president Jose Morales will keep reporting to him as well.
Images Courtesy of ESPN, LinkedIn, X
Chris Calcinari will continue leading the content operations group as its senior vice president where he will oversee studio and remote operations and take oversight of studio and event directing. Additionally, Nick Parsons has been named the vice president of content business operations where he will partner with Finance for Content spending and is adding new content-related management operational and planning groups to his team.
Images Courtesy of ESPN, LinkedIn, X
As all of these changes take place, ESPN will hold a Content Town Hall and have direct reports to Magnus reach out to their employee teams within the next 24 hours. The company will continue to modify the structure to reflect evolution taking place in the business. Magnus articulated that everyone at ESPN should be embracing change and is aiming for the network to continue and thrive.
“Our Content team is the industry leader, and these moves will only enhance our strong position, further our mission of serving sports fans, anytime, anywhere, and continue our ability to drive value and results for The Walt Disney Company,” Magnus said in the internal memo. “Together – by supporting each other and collaborating across the organization – we win as a team.
ABC News is set to host a presidential debate on September 10th. That might be in question now as Republican nominee Donald Trump has suggested he may not participate.
In a post to Truth Social, Trump took issue with This Week with George Stephanopoulos guest host Jonathan Karl and his interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR).
“I watched ABC FAKE NEWS this morning, both lightweight reporter Jonathan Carl’s(K?) ridiculous and biased interview of Tom Cotton (who was fantastic!), and their so-called Panel of Trump Haters, and I ask, why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?” Trump wrote.
“Will panelist Donna Brazil give the questions to the Marxist Candidate like she did for Crooked Hillary Clinton? Will Kamala’s best friend, who heads up ABC, do likewise. Where is Liddle’ George Slopadopolus hanging out now? Will he be involved. They’ve got a lot of questions to answer!!! Why did Harris turn down Fox, NBC, CBS, and even CNN? Stay tuned!!!”
ABC News has tabbed David Muir and Linsey Davis to moderate the event. The duo was announced immediately after the debate between Donald Trump and President Joe Biden agreed to the date. Muir and Davis remained the moderators for the event when Trump and new Democratic nominee Kamala Harris reaffirmed their intentions to debate.
