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Rick DiPietro Enjoys the Locker Room Feel of His Show on ESPN New York

Derek Futterman
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Rick DiPietro Enjoys the Locker Room Feel of His Show on ESPN New York

When ESPN New York made lineup changes that included the addition of a new, local morning drive show in 2021, Rick DiPietro needed to change his wake-up call. Over his seven prior years on the airwaves, DiPietro had hosted shows in virtually every daypart outside of morning drive, honing his craft and connecting with the audience.

The zealous crowd that he previously witnessed from his vantage point between the pipes was now making its voice heard through the phone lines, forging individual connections with discussion and debate over sports. Although rising at 2:30 a.m. ET does not get easier, he considers himself fortunate to have a platform in New York, to raise his family and retain his link to competition.

DiPietro does not leave for the studios until an hour-and-a-half after awakening, engaging in a morning routine beforehand to safeguard against negligence and insufficient preparation. On nights before a show, he tries to stay up as late as possible to watch an array of sporting events and completes the rest of his film study in the morning via DVR replay. Before the sun rises, DiPietro is en route to New York City where he meets with producers RJ Santillo and Ray Santiago, along with morning co-host Dave Rothenberg.

Whenever he is on the air, DiPietro seeks to convey his genuine personality to the listening audience and abstains from fabricating his character. Akin to his colleagues, whom he is frequently asked about by fans of the show, he speaks with the same humor, jest and wit that has rendered him an enduring on-air personality.

“Honestly, I behave the same way I would behave in front of my buddies or at home,” DiPietro said. “Nothing really changes, which is, I guess the best part of the whole thing is it doesn’t have to be an act. My relationship with those guys is the same on the air as it is off the air.”

DiPietro looks to provide listeners with information pertaining to athletes, teams and leagues around the sports landscape, but he is also cognizant of the need to balance such discussion with entertaining circumstances. For example, the show presents a block titled “Stump Rothenberg” in which DiPietro’s co-host is presented with questions requiring deep thought to answer correctly. Rothenberg is living out his dream, DiPietro explained, emblazoning his passion within his knowledge and hosting prowess.

“What makes him the best in my opinion and why I love him so much is because I could pretty much say anything I [want] to him, and it doesn’t bother him at all,” DiPietro articulated. “It’s not going to end up [with him being] mad at me, [and] there’s not going to be a fight. We both have that kind of personality where it’s like we don’t mind taking it. There’s not a lot that could be said that’s going to hurt our feelings.”

Establishing and maintaining an environment wherein a successful morning program could exist encompassed trusting one another and always remembering the audience. There are varying opinions about the role of callers in sports talk radio, but the DiPietro & Rothenberg program has made its stance clear by dedicating segments to subjects broached by their listeners.

“It’s funny because it’s not even sports topics a lot of the time,” DiPietro said. “It can be, ‘What’s your favorite sandwich?,’ or something completely off the cuff that, the second you mention it, the phone lines light up and you’re taking calls on it, so it’s really kind of giving them the opportunity to make a point, go back and forth, have a discussion – that’s the fun part is having a discussion – and then kind of just being their sounding board for whatever it is they want to talk about.”

When DiPietro first began working in the morning drive daypart, he expressed his desire for the program to replicate an environment similar to that of a locker room. Integrating lighthearted revelry and a cheerful, buoyant disposition while remaining attuned with what to discuss has engendered a gameplan the team looks to execute. It aligns back to DiPietro’s 10-year career in the NHL as a goaltender for the New York Islanders imbued with glimmers of success amidst trials and tribulations.

DiPietro was averse to sports talk radio as an athlete, desiring to remain impervious towards the court of public opinion. Following his retirement, he happened to be listening to Alan Hahn, a reporter who formerly covered the Islanders on the team beat for Newsday, as he was hosting a radio program. Someone asked Hahn a question related to the NHL to which DiPietro knew the answer, prompting him to text the information. After Hahn divulged the message he had received, he implored DiPietro to try taking the air, an entreaty to which he eventually obliged following demonstrated persistence.

“I went in the city with him one night to fill in with him for Dave [Rothenberg] – ironically, it was Dave’s show, his 7 to 10 show, we filled in – and he kind of tagged the last show,” DiPietro said. “It was, ‘We’re going to keep doing this until they tell us to stop,’ so [the] next night we did it again.”

ESPN New York made changes to its on-air lineup ahead of the 2014 NHL season that introduced a three-hour weekday evening show co-hosted by DiPietro and Hahn. The pairing that came to be known as Hahn & Humpty proved fortuitous and built off trust that had been established during DiPietro’s playing days.

Before Hahn petitioned DiPietro to consider pursuing a role in the industry, he spoke to him about how to work with media members. The discussion contributed to the basis of their relationship, which continued to expand through the years as the show flourished, was moved to the midday timeslot and gained a highlights simulcast on MSG Networks.

The station added former NFL defensive lineman and Super Bowl champion Chris Canty to the program in 2016, supplying listeners with firsthand perspective from an athlete recently removed from the sport. ESPN New York made additional lineup adjustments one year later that moved Hahn back in the nighttime slot where he began and added Rothenberg to the midday show with DiPietro and Canty.

“The last thing that we wanted to do was kind of be talking over each other and everything else,” DiPietro said, “and one of the things that I think, I don’t know, I bring to the table is kind of like that quick-witted, throw in a comment, and that’s not as easy with three people. So, it was nothing that was too hard, but from two to three, it’s an adjustment.”

Good Karma Brands officially assumed operations over ESPN New York 98.7 FM and purchased the 1050 AM frequency as part of a larger transaction with The Walt Disney Company finalized in 2022. Adopting a dual management structure in which executives from both companies have oversight regarding different areas of the station brought about some changes, but DiPietro still feels that the station is growing and is able to connect with its listeners.

With the lease of the 98.7 FM frequency expiring at the end of August, Good Karma Brands has elected not to pursue a new deal with owner Emmis Communications and is now encouraging listeners to ‘reset their preset.’ Internal data from the company demonstrates that 60% of ESPN New York listenership emanates outside of terrestrial radio is now instead focusing its strategy on digital distribution while maintaining the AM component.

“[There are] many ways to find us, so for all the people that we have listening to us now on 98.7, we’re trying to take them with us, and it’s not going to be easy and we have our work cut out for us,” DiPietro said, “but we feel like we put on a really good four-hour-show and the people that enjoy us are going to be able to find us.”

The company also stopped subscribing to market ratings data from Nielsen at the start of the year, eliminating the traditional means of scoring programs and measuring the competition. DiPietro would use statistics and other metrics to measure his success as a hockey player, and he had been employing other quantitative benchmarks to evaluate the broadcast venture. While the proverbial scoreboard is no longer accessible for the station, he trusts Good Karma Brands and the vision that the company has in growing its properties.

“Right now, we’re doing the simulcast where we’re 98.7 [and] we’re 1050 AM,” DiPietro said. “Our app is great – the ESPN New York app is a great app – so we’re just kind of playing it by ear here, but as far as what their vision is, I trust what Good Karma’s doing.”

Without traditional ratings to guide his systematic calculation of the show, DiPietro concatenates benchmarks and touchpoints based on a variety of different factors. One of these intangible references occurs when he is coaching baseball for his son’s team and how he is recognized for his on-air work. DiPietro recalled that someone approached him at a recent baseball game and expressed how they loved listening to him in morning drive, a recurring pattern. Even though the show itself takes place in the same daypart within the studios, it is hardly monotonous nor burdensome.

“As hard as it is to wake up every day, getting in there, seeing the guys, talking sports [and] laughing selfishly, I think, [is] the reason why I wanted it to be kind of a locker room-feel,” DiPietro said. “[That is] the thing I miss most about professional sports is the locker room, is the camaraderie with my teammates, and that’s something that we built with the show is this kind of brotherhood that you feel when you’re a part of a team.”

DiPietro aspires to continue hosting morning drive in New York City and helping ESPN New York thrive through alterations in discovery and modes of consumption. As a professional athlete, he did not want to see the rubicund hue of the goal light perched on the boards, but he has a different sentiment towards the studio on-air light. Concurrent with expeditious and sustainable growth in hockey, DiPietro aims to instantiate the same for the morning radio program with the omnipresent fear of failure. The four hours will continue to be filled with informative sports talk, banter and entertainment to create content worth revisiting when the sun rises again.

“Be entertaining, do the work – you can’t just show up, especially here,” DiPietro said. “When you’re trying to do a radio show or TV in New York, people will sniff you out in a second if you don’t know what you’re talking about, so make sure that you’re watching everything, you’re prepared and then be yourself. Don’t be fake.”

Audacy AI Study: A Q&A with CTO Sarah Foss and VP of Research and Insights Idil Cakim

Krystina Alarcon Carroll
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Audacy AI Study: A Q&A with CTO Sarah Foss and VP of Research and Insights Idil Cakim

As audio networks are racing to become a beacon of trust in the age of Artificial Intelligence, the Audacy Research, Insights, and Technology teams are working together to navigate the company’s future. Their Chief Technology Officer, Sarah Foss, and Senior Vice President and Head of Research and Insights, Idil Cakim, spoke with Barrett Media on their latest study on AI and how they are using the new technology to allow more creativity in their network.

Krystina Carroll: What are some trends that you’re seeing?

Idil Cakim: Well, the trends that we uncovered in our innovation tracker were very interesting. We looked into how people looked into, looked at and thought of AI, everyday people. So, we interviewed more than a thousand consumers across the nation and asked them whether they thought favorably about AI and how they thought the future looked. Across all groups: men, women, age groups, technology forward people, people who were open to sharing their information with brands, people who were interested in sustainability in any consumer group.

They all said, ‘I think AI is going to do great things for society, but I’m a little bit nervous about some of the images that you might see that are not real.’ So, their worry was around trust. When we asked them whether they trusted a human voice or a synthetic voice, regardless of their favorability towards technology, whether they were tech forward or a little tech shy, privacy concerned or completely open. They all said, ‘I trust human voice more’ and there was a significant shift actually towards human voice, which was really interesting, reassuring, and also in line with what we see in other lines in other studies. People want authenticity. Trust is quintessential for any transaction.

KC: Do you think AI is able to skew these data points yet?

IC: Research is not done with AI. We have a system that takes the busy work off our shoulders, but also gets our sellers quick answers at their fingertips. So, we prompt some of their key questions right away using this automation so we can actually have time for human connection and one on one consulting internally. Our job is to answer ad sales questions, and we can go sometimes quick, or we can go deep. Some answers are needed in an hour. Some answers can wait for four days.

But we would like to have information at our fingertips to feed to our sellers quickly so that we can do the surveys that I’m talking about so that we can be consultative. We always call back our sellers and have that human connection when we work with them to manage our time and efficiency. We use a system that automates our outputs. That’s what I meant by AI. But this research was done as an online survey format with more than 1,000 U.S. adults. So, they just saw an online LinkedIn. They took it. There’s no skew in it.

KC: How do you take all of this data and turn it into effective workflow for Audacy?

Sarah Foss: The amazing thing about the survey is since it came from humans, we really wanted to know what the expectation was of our listeners to how we were going to deploy it. Although we had already been very clear to the industry and the marketplace and frankly, some of our technology partners, for us, generative AI and AI is about ensuring our talent and our creative thinkers have more time to do that, to create amazing content by eliminating a lot of the administrative work or a lot of the integration work or a lot of the busy work.

So Idil just proved the point, not only with what she and her team are doing right, which is using the technology to unleash some of the administrative work so that they can actually do more consultation, more deep thinking. Then the research proved that’s exactly what human beings, that’s what our listeners want us to do.

We have been very forward with the partnerships. We have, partnerships with Google, which is our enterprise platform. So, we are leaning into using Gemini across the enterprise. We are leaning into their large language model toolset called vertex, so that we can harness the power of AI, but it does not replace our data scientists. It does not replace the software developers, same across the organization when it comes to talent and to programing.

We have partnerships with Super Hi-Fi and Eleven Labs. These are known as best in the industry generative AI capabilities for content publishers but again, not to replace someone sitting in the studio and delivering the news in New York City or in Sacramento, where we want that human connection. We want our listeners to know that there’s a human being that is sitting there curating and making sure that the news is officially news.

Now to that point, there are some kinds of content that still have a lot of administration behind it. You’d be surprised how many different places you still have to go to actually get an accurate weather report. Generative AI can actually canvass all of the weather services and provide information in a 15 second, 30 second or 60 second sound bite that a news individual doesn’t have to take the time to go find all the different weather reports, aggregate it and write that copy.

Now she’s able to get the information, verify it, and make it her own, because she can take the copy and say, ‘It’s a beautiful day outside. I’m sitting in the studio here at 1010WINS’ or wherever you are. That’s the type of thing that Audacy really believes the technology will allow us to do is have the content creators, the talent, lean more into that trusting relationship with the listeners, and the tech is going to help them do that in an easier, more streamlined fashion.

KC: Doesn’t this get rid of a weather producer position that would typically be there?

SF: Those positions have already transitioned to a lot of the people that are doing more in the newsroom. So we actually want that news reporter to focus more on developing the story than finding weather. Traffic is another good instance like that, where we want the news reporter to focus on story development, not just regurgitation of information or giving that personal touch around the information.

We’re not leaning in for generative AI to actually develop news stories, or be the voice of a morning show and talk about Taylor Swift. Why? We want a human being to do that. It’s way more interesting to listen to someone talk about the Eras Tour from her perspective, then to hear what generative AI will spit out. But traffic and weather, that’s okay.

KC: Where are some of the places you think AI is going to help unleash more creativity within Audacy?

SF: Letting the creatives have more time to be creative and think about what they want to share, about the music, about the news, about what’s happening in the local community. That’s one place right now. There still are a lot of different system requirements that we have to put information in, just so we air the spot at the right time. Removing those type of tasks.

So, our producers, our brand managers, and our talent really get to think and deliver more fun content. That’s what we want for them to be able to do. Idil again gave a great example of how generative AI is helping her team be able to connect our sellers to information faster. Anything we can do to help the advertiser connect more to Audacy, or frankly, even understand how we can deliver value for them.

Another great example of where generative AI can actually help by doing more competitive research for our advertisers, leveraging that technology, and then that seller can really help hone in on what are the best ways that the advertising can reach targeted communities. What’s the best programing that’s going to deliver an ROI for that business? We want the big thinking and the personal relationships that we have, not only with our listeners via over air, but also with our advertisers to be our staff, the human beings that do their jobs really well. Anything else we can help automate that is just process oriented or information flow. We think that’s a huge ROI for us.

KC: Do you see it having more of an impact on advertising and revenue and helping radio stations in a spot where some people feel radio is losing money?

SF: We believe that generative AI is going to help our sellers sell more and build long standing relationships with the advertisers, because we’re removing some of the routine tasks that any account executive in any industry has to do. That’s the type of power where we are giving back time for someone to build more of those relationships. Hopefully, go out and find new advertisers and sell them on the value of the integrated platforms that we have at Audacy.

We’re also using this type of technology to help build our audience profiles so that we can truly have our sellers say, listening to WIP Sports Radio in Philadelphia and advertising their can also be used on our digital app. We can advertise on the website.

We can find ways that we can target those consumers you’re looking for specifically through data, again augmented with generative AI. Those type of connections help create better results for campaigns. It helps us deliver, exceeding value for the advertisers. And tech then is kind of like that background player of making sure we just do that faster and with better results. It still is the human being that is building the relationship, building the campaign and understanding the advertiser’s goals and objectives.

KC: Will you be collecting more data when it comes to AI and how it’s affecting your listeners?

IC: I think it’s imperative to keep an eye on how people negotiate their time, their work and their listening habits, their media changing habits and technology. So, we’re always keeping an eye on our listeners’ habits. And we’re very interested in their actual daily rituals, because we know from other studies we’ve done that they bring audio into whatever they do. So, imagine having more mealtime. Imagine having more time to do sports or listen to sports, because something in the consumer’s lifestyle has changed dramatically, and now they have more time to do what they want to do. We are cognizant of changes and are always keeping an eye on audio rituals.

Eavesdropping: Covino & Rich, FOX Sports Radio

Dave Greene
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Eavesdropping: Covino & Rich, FOX Sports Radio

When it’s summer and the Olympics are going on, it is a pretty limiting time for sports talk radio. Yes, football is right around the corner for real, but still, it’s light, and many hosts take vacation to gear up for fall. This week, for the second time in two weeks, I was driving a daughter to college. I needed something uplifting, something that would make me laugh and just entertain me. So I chose to eavesdrop in on the FOX Sports Radio afternoon drive show, Covino & Rich.

Afternoon drive is a bit of a strange daypart when it comes to national sports radio. If a station airs mostly national programming but airs one local show, generally that show airs in afternoon drive and the national show gets bumped. Otherwise, you are on a lot of stations that only air national programming which means you are either on in a lot of smaller markets or you’re on a market’s secondary sports channel.

No matter who is listening, if you’re doing good programming, people will find you and that has been the case since Covino & Rich began 20 years ago on SiriusXM’s Maxim Radio. Knowing the show’s origin may help you understand the content you will get when listening to hosts Steve Covino and Rich Davis. Maxim was about all things men like – sports, women, entertainment, cars, style, food and drink and more. With sports at the forefront now on FOX Sports Radio, you get a well-balanced show that hits on all of the main topics of the day.

Covino & Rich joined FOX Sports Radio’s weekend lineup in 2021. The pair also worked at ESPN Radio before the COVID-19 pandemic forced budget cuts and their contract wasn’t renewed. They also hosted a show on SNY from 2013-2015.

Covino and Rich, from New Jersey and New York respectively, both also have backgrounds in music radio and are still involved with it as part of SiriusXM. Covino hosts nights on SiriusXM’s Turbo and used to be on KROCK in New York City. Davis hosts on SiriusXM’s Pop2K and was previously heard on Hits1. He also worked at Z100 in New York, Q102 in Philadelphia, and Hot 107.9 in Syracuse.

From the start of the Friday August 9th edition of the show to the very ending, it was a big blast of energy coming through the speakers. This day happened to be Covino’s birthday, so he was super excited, and his crew didn’t let him down, bringing in gifts and cake. Davis shared some funny stories about trying to get the cake decorator to guess how to spell ‘Covino’ and his journey trying to find a pack of matches to light the candles on the cake. The conversation turned into a good one about how bad customer service has gotten in our world. They even came up with an idea of having a Yelp-type service where instead of people complaining about things that went wrong, they are only allowed to praise those who went out of their way to be kind, provide good service or just simply thanked you for your patronage.

Eventually they got around to some sports and in this case, it was Olympics talk. The break dancing was going on and everyone weighed in on what they thought about the new Olympic sport. Ultimately, they decided the Olympic games should be all about evolving with the times and used events done many years ago that were taken out such as hot air ballooning, horse jumping (literally seeing how far a horse can jump) and poodle clipping. Today, the guys said, it’s flag football and most likely soon will be pickleball that gets added. This led into talk about Logan Paul and his new stated goal of boxing in the 2028 Olympics. Sports, information, entertainment and some humor all mixed in – the staples of a good Covino & Rich segment.

The first hour of the show on this day, in total, didn’t have a whole lot of sports talk and that was completely ok. While I am sure some people out there wanted to hear a breakdown of every play of the NFL preseason games from the day before, those people have plenty of other places to go for that. While these guys can talk sports just as well as anyone out there, they are never going to take it that seriously. They are both huge sports fans, as is the entertaining crew around them, but they’re also all guy’s guys and they know when it is time to go heavy on sports subjects and when not to.

As they rolled into hour two, I was thinking about how the show operates almost like the two hosts are twins, who have been known to be able to finish each other’s sentences. There is very little time in between when one person talks to the next. Mostly between Covino and Davis, but it works with their team as well. On this day, producer Danny Garite, who goes by ‘Danny G’ and might have one of the best voices in radio, along with ‘Iowa Sam’ Kienzle and update anchor Isaac Lowenkron all jumped in at various times and it is all natural. Just a group of guys having about as much fun as you are allowed on terrestrial radio.

The last hour of the week flew by and was a lot of fun. From the line, “We are Covino & Rich, We are Fox Dorks,” to tying Minnesota Governor and Vice-Presidential candidate Tim Walz in with former pro wrestler, ‘The Genius’ Lanny Poffo, to discussing what in the world RGIII and his wife were thinking with the croissant picture on social media, you got a bit of everything.

Next up was a game, ‘Chipotle Worker or Olympian?’ which is an Olympics version of a game they normally do with WNBA players. Even the rules were kind of funny, where everyone in the studio competed as did one caller, for the caller to win they just needed to not finish in last place.

Danny G would throw out a name and each person had to guess if it was the name of an Olympic athlete or someone who works for Chipotle. Everyone had a lot of fun, with the exception of ‘Iowa Sam’ who struggled mightily trying to keep score, but that just made the segment all the more entertaining as he was crushed for not being able to keep up.

Throughout the show I also took note of how good a job they would do letting you know what was coming up later, giving you reasons to keep tuning in. It all runs very smoothly, including the endorsement ads where the two hosts work together and just like when they are doing talk content, they go back and forth in a way where they just know the other person is going to pick up right where they leave off.

About 90 minutes in there was some NFL talk, you just can’t get away from it completely. The topic was quarterbacks and after mentioning DeShaun Watson, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow, Davis threw out a ‘This or That?’ asking which is more likely to happen: Jayden Daniels is the rookie quarterback that turns heads (essentially over Caleb Williams) or Devante Adams doesn’t finish the season as a Raider? The whole crew weighed in and you got your fill of NFL talk before it was time to really put a bow on the week.

A sponsored bit, ‘The Express Pro, Pro of the Week’ went to Steph Curry for his play with the USA’s men’s basketball team. That led into a ‘Weekend Hobknobbin’ bit where they talked about what was happening on television in sports and entertainment. Once again – sports, information, entertainment and humor.

As they wrapped it all up the guys mentioned they would be filling in for Dan Patrick on The Dan Patrick Show this coming week, which gives you a pretty good idea of what the network thinks of them and their show. It will be another opportunity for Covino & Rich to shine and they’ve proven over the years they are usually up for the task.

Covino thanked everyone for the fun show on his birthday and for them celebrating him. He pointed out they used to celebrate birthdays on the air together when they were in their 20’s and now, they are doing it together in their 40’s.

20 years together and still doing it with as much energy as they had when they started, if not more.

In 2021, Brian Noe interviewed the two hosts for a Barrett Media feature. In it, Rich Davis talked about that energy. “Covino and I, sometimes people say man, their energy is too high; I don’t feel like you can have enough energy,” he said. “I really don’t.” He would later add, “…If [a show is] not having fun and laughing and busting chops, to me, that bores me.”

If that’s what they’ve set out for with Covino & Rich, I’d say mission accomplished.

Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki Dies

BNM Staff
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Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki Dies

Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki died Friday after a two-year battle with lung cancer.

“It is with profound sadness that I share the news of Susan Wojcicki’s passing. My beloved wife of 26 years and mother to our five children left us today after 2 years of living with non-small cell lung cancer,” her husband wrote in a social media post announcing her death.

One of the foremast women executives in Silicon Valley, Wojcicki had been one of Google’s longest-tenured employees after joining the company in its early days. In fact, she was the 16th employee of the technology firm and spent nearly 25 years with the organization.

She ascended to the role of CEO of YouTube, a position she held for nine years before stepping away in 2023 to focus on other projects, in addition to her health.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai shared his condolences in a post to social media after the death was announced.

“She is as core to the history of Google as anyone, and it’s hard to imagine the world without her,” Pichai wrote. “She was an incredible person, leader and friend who had a tremendous impact on the world and I’m one of countless Googlers who is better for knowing her. We will miss her dearly. Our thoughts with her family.”

Susan Wojcicki was 56.

Bill Abbate Long Time Boston Radio Host Has Died

BMM Staff
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Bill Abbate Long Time Boston Radio Host Has Died

Longtime Boston radio host Bill Abbate died unexpectedly on August 8.

Abbate worked as an on-air host at several Boston stations, notably WFNX and WBCN. He also hosted the New England Patriots Rock Radio Network Pre- and Post-Game shows for several years. 

Confirming the news on social media, his wife Alice Schmalice said in part, “Hello, dear friends. It is with deep sorrow and utter shock that I let you know that my husband and best friend, Bill, died suddenly in his sleep last night from natural causes.

She indicated that he had said he wanted “absolutely no fuss when it came to his passing, so I will keep that final promise to him.”

Arrangements will be private. Read the obit here.

Josh Innes Not Ruling Out Return to Sports Radio After Stints in Music at KSHE 95 and 105.9 The Rock

BSM Staff
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Josh Innes Not Ruling Out Return to Sports Radio After Stints in Music at KSHE 95 and 105.9 The Rock

Last week, Josh Innes took to X to announce he had been let go from his position hosting afternoon drive at legendary St. Louis rock station KSHE 95. Innes posted, “I really do appreciate the opportunity to have worked at KSHE 95. I made some great friends. I enjoyed my time. Budget cuts are the way of the world. I’ll be back somewhere. Maybe sports? Rock? Who knows.” While he was in the market, he would also occasionally fill in on Hubbard sister station 101 ESPN.

Prior to his time at KSHE, Innes had spent two years hosting morning drive for iHeartMedia’s 105.9 The Rock in Nashville. Prior to that, it was mostly sports. And while he isn’t ruling anything out, he told BSM, he does miss a lot of what you get from being in sports talk radio.

“I miss talking more and being able to grow an audience that way,” he said. “Everywhere I’ve worked, I’ve had a really loyal audience, people in sports radio that are into it. We have a common denominator, a common factor as well. One of the things that’s hard about music is finding that common denominator. When you go to sports, you know we’re talking sports, and then we’ve got other things that are there to entertain. The hard part about doing music radio, and particularly if it isn’t talk-intensive music radio, is you try to find what people find interesting. The reality is some of these places, they just find classic rock music interesting. There’s only so many anecdotes and things you can say.”

Innes said sometimes doing talk segments on music stations makes you feel as if you are imposing on what most of the listeners really want. In some cases, it almost didn’t matter what the subject was he would talk about, the audience was there for something that had nothing to do with any talking unless you were introducing the next song.

“They just want to hear the music, and they don’t need your wacky anecdotes about stuff. Whereas in sports, they’re coming because they want to hear you talk about sports, or you talk about lifestyle stuff, or you talk about guy talk. I miss just being able to talk and having fun with an audience. I legitimately miss the kind of tribal mindset of people that are in the sports world. I miss that a lot.”

While Innes believes he could be a really good rock station morning show host, if it were a talk-intensive show, he would like to do sports again now or in the future, that is what he is most passionate about.

“My ambition is this, and I’ve never truly executed as well as I want to, but I want to be in a great sports city, and I want to do a great sports show, and then I also want to do a podcast where if something like what happened to me happens, I want to have the podcast to go along with it. But I want to get back on the radio and I want to get my pod fired up again because a lot of people have been asking for it, and I want to grow it.”

Innes said he realizes some people only know about him from when he was, “a young, immature, dumba**.” He started in the business at a young age and admits he made mistakes and didn’t realize the need to connect with the sales team, advertising clients and everything that goes into being a top talent at a radio station away from just the content. He said he always felt like there was another job he could get so he wasn’t going to change who he was. Several years now into his career, he realizes it’s a team effort and as the talent, he has to be a big part of the team.

“Listen, I’ve done a lot of great stuff, and I loved radio the whole time, and I was passionate about it, but sometimes I did dumb sh**, and I didn’t always work well with others, and I didn’t always make the right decisions,” he said. “After the pandemic, I gained a different perspective on just how you have to handle yourself, what do you have to do, how you treat people, how you have to approach salespeople, how you have to be interactive with people and be engaging, and I didn’t always think that way.

“I think I understand the overall business better, and I understand how to approach people better, and I understand how to approach sales better, because I didn’t always have the right mindset. Now, I try to collaborate with people a lot more, and I try to have better relationships in that way.

“I’m 38 years old, and I’ve grown a lot from a lot of this, and I’m tired of moving from place to place, and I’m passionate about radio, as passionate as I’ve ever been, I’ve always wanted to do it, I grew up in it, this is what I wanted to do. I want to entertain people, I want to be back in the mix, I want to have fun, I want to engage the audience. My passion is getting on the radio and talking and entertaining people, and sometimes pissing people off, sometimes making them laugh their asses off, that’s what I love to do.”

Jay Weber: My Ratings on 1130 WISN ‘Have Been Genuinely Eye-Popping’ in News/Talk Radio Circles

BNM Staff
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Jay Weber: My Ratings on 1130 WISN ‘Have Been Genuinely Eye-Popping’ in News/Talk Radio Circles

1130 WISN is one of the strongest news/talk radio brands in America. That is evidenced by its latest Nielsen ratings finish, and morning host Jay Weber is celebrating.

The station earned a 13.0 share in the publically available 6+ demographic, making it the top station in Milwaukee. It has held that distinction for the past 11 months.

In a post to social media, Jay Weber thanked listeners for their dedication to the iHeartMedia-owned news/talk station.

“My ratings in the morning have been genuinely eye-popping for folks within the industry, and for any station, much less an AM that powers up and down,” the 1130 WISN host wrote.

In 2023, Nielsen released a study that showed Milwaukee is the third highest-rated market for AM Radio listening, behind Buffalo and Chicago. The data revealed that 48% of all radio listening in the Wisconsin city took place on the AM band.

Matt Walsh: Conservative Media Tearing Down Joe Rogan Acting ‘Foolishly at Best’

BNM Staff
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Matt Walsh: Conservative Media Tearing Down Joe Rogan Acting ‘Foolishly at Best’

Earlier this week, popular podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan stated he would support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the 2024 election. That led many to share criticism of the host, but Matt Walsh defended Rogan.

In a post to social media, Walsh argued that Joe Rogan is “one of the most powerful cultural forces in America” and that he is “at a minimum, very friendly to conservatives.”

“He has repeatedly used his massive platform to amplify right-wing voices that would not be able to find that kind of audience anywhere else. He is a tremendous net good for the culture and for the conservative movement, even if he doesn’t consider himself to be a part of the movement,” Matt Walsh wrote. “The right-wing accounts attacking him and disowning him today for saying nice things about RFK Jr are acting foolishly at best. You don’t turn on a guy who has been, is, and could continue to be a huge asset to you and your movement just because he didn’t endorse Trump. That is strategically insane. Petty, stupid, overly emotional, shooting yourself in the foot just to prove a point.”

He continued by arguing that those who attack Rogan “have no idea how to build and maintain an actual movement” and they have “no idea who the real power players are.”

Matt Walsh concluded by sharing his opinion that many conservative voices — especially on social media — “just tweet Republican Boomerbait all day long, nonstop, and then turn and try (unsuccessfully, most of the time) to destroy anyone who actually moves the needle.”

The comments from Matt Walsh defending Joe Rogan come after The Daily Wire host criticized conservative media members last month, stating that some in the space are hoping Vice President Kamala Harris wins the 2024 election because that would be better for their careers.

ESPN Radio Partners with Sports Radio Harrisburg

BSM Staff
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ESPN Radio Partners with Sports Radio Harrisburg

Cumulus Media has partnered once again with ESPN Radio and has changed affiliations in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. What had been an Infinity Sports Network station is now an ESPN Radio station. Sports Radio Harrisburg did retain The Jim Rome Show which it will continue to air from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The station also airs play-by-play of Penn State football and basketball, Harrisburg Senators baseball and national play-by-play.

The station was in the sports format starting in 2008 when it originally was an ESPN station. In 2013, the station switched to affiliate with the CBS Sports Radio Network. The station went away from sports briefly in 2015 but returned to the format about a year later.

Alex Mac Joins DC 101, Washington D.C. For Evenings

BMM Staff
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Alex Mac Joins DC 101, Washington D.C. For Evenings

iHeartMedia’s Alternative WWDC (DC101)/Washington is bringing on Alex Mac for evenings.

Mac’s prior stops include Top 40 WDCG (G105)/Richmond, where he served as APD/PM Driver. Alternative KDXA (Alt 106.3)/Des Moines and WRXL (XL102.1)/Richmond.

Mac said, “I couldn’t be more excited to be joining the lineup at the legendary DC101. I’m such a huge fan of both the station and the city, so it truly feels like a dream come true to get to talk about music in the same place that the hardcore punk scene, the 9:30 club, and Dave Grohl all call home. I started my radio journey in Richmond, VA, listening to ‘Elliot In The Morning’ and am so excited to work together with the show and the whole team at iHeartMedia DC!”

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