95.5 WSB has long been the dominant talk radio brand in Atlanta. In the winter ratings book, the Cox Media Group-owned station remained firmly entrenched in that position.
In weekday prime (M-F, 6a-7p), the station finished as the top station in the Persons 35-64 category, garnering a 8.5 share. For the full week (M-Su, 6a-12a), WSB popped a 7.0 share with Persons 35-64 to finish third.
Additionally, the station’s morning drive show — Atlanta’s Morning News — also finished atop the rankings in the Persons 35-64 rankings with an impressive 10.6 share. The first place finish marks the first time morning drive finished first in the Atlanta ratings since the COVID-19 pandemic. The show also underwent several changes in recent months after the retirement of longtime host Scott Slade and longtime morning anchor Marcy Williams.
The Mark Arum Show, which airs from 9a-12p, earned a 7.7 share with Persons 35-64, good for a second place finish. The nationally syndicated Erick Erickson Show, which 95.5 WSB serves as the home station of, took home the top spot in the market with an 11.5 share in the Persons 35-64 category. That was the highest rated weekday program on the station in the 35-64 demo. Erickson has finished first every month since September 2023 with Persons 35-64.
Similarly, Eric Von Haessler, host of The Von Haessler Doctrine in afternoon drive, finished second with Persons 35-64 with a 7.0 share.
95.5 WSB also produced a number of additional highlights in other demos during the quarter. Among Men 25-54, the station ranked third in weekday prime for the book. Mark Arum’s midday show was tied for second with Persons 18-34 and snagged third with Men 25-54. And Erick Erickson’s show ranked second with Men 25-54, and fifth with Persons 25-54.
Not to be forgotten, Atlanta’s Morning News has now finished first for two quarters in a row with Persons 25-54, occupying the top spot five of the past seven months. The show has also been ranked first with Persons 18-34 for all of 2024, and #1 with Persons 35-64 since June 2023.
Ratings information from XTRA 106.3 FM and WAOK was not available this quarter.
Ratings reports and analysis are written by BNM and sponsored by Crowd React Media, a division of Harker Bos Group. Learn more about the different ways media research can benefit your station and cut through the noise by clicking here.
Audacy-owned 92.9 The Game in Atlanta started the new year with quarterly and yearly gains across all of its dayparts. According to the latest Nielsen data, the station attained a 7.8 share in weekday prime among Men 25-54. That placed The Game third for the quarter. The station improved a full share from the fall book, and 2.3 shares year-to-year.
In morning drive, Tiffany Blackmon, Mike Johnson and Beau Morgan recently completed their first full year together after joining forces last March. This marked their first winter ratings book together in which the show garnered a 7.6 share and fourth-place finish with Men 25-54. The Morning Shift, which airs M-F 6a-9a EST, augmented its quarterly finish by one-tenth of a share and added 3.4 shares year-over-year.
The early midday slot with Stephen “Steak” Shapiro and Sandra Golden collected a 6.2 share in the winter book, equating to a fifth-place finish. The duo gained 0.5 shares from the fall during the 9a-11a EST broadcasting window. Year-over-year, Steak and Sandra added 1.2 shares moving up from seventh place.
The later midday slot with Andy Bunker and Randy McMichael amassed an 8.3 share for the quarter, retaining the fourth-place ranking it held in the fall. The Midday Show with Andy & Randy gained 2.3 shares from the fall and 2.1 shares year-over-year. Andy and Randy air M-F from 11a-2p EST on the station.
In afternoon drive, Carl Dukes and Mike Bell generated the largest share for the quarter at 92.9 The Game. The popular Dukes & Bell program recorded an 8.9 share to finish first with Men 25-54. Moreover, the 2p-7p EST program enjoyed the largest quarterly gain, picking up 1.6 shares and two ranking positions. Carl and Mike also added 3.1 shares year-over-year.
For the full week (M-SU, 6a-12a), 92.9 The Game earned its best Men 25-54 quarterly rating since the 2021 spring book with a 6.8 share. The third-place outcome is a seven-tenths gain over the Nielsen ratings from last fall, which also placed the station in third. Among Men 18-34 in the full week category, 92.9 The Game finished first with a 9.2 share. The station also ranked sixth with a 4.6 share with Persons 12+, its best 12+ number in the last 18 quarters.
Additional triumphs for 92.9 The Game this quarter included two of its three most-streamed days in station history. The first took place when Raheem Morris was hired as the new head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. The third most-streamed day in 92.9 The Game history took place when the team signed quarterback Kirk Cousins to the roster.
Data this quarter for 680 The Fan, the market’s other top sports station, was not available.
Ratings reports and analysis are written by BSM and sponsored by Crowd React Media, a division of Harker Bos Group. Learn more about the different ways sports media research can benefit your station and cut through the noise by clicking here.
97.1 The Ticket in Detroit continued its trend of strong performances in the Nielsen winter ratings book. The station attained an 18.8 share in weekday prime hours (M-F, 6a-7p), ranking first in the market among Men 25-54. Although the metric is indicative of a 3.8-share decrease from the previous quarter, The Ticket surpassed its year-over-year mark by 2.5 shares. Additionally, 97.1 The Ticket ranked first with Adults 25-54 with an 11.8 share, and first with Persons 12+ with a 9.4 share.
Mornings featured Mike Stone as co-host until his retirement from full-time hosting in mid-February, resulting in the appointment of Jim Costa to the daypart. Remaining with Costa are Jon Jansen and Heather Park, forming the new program Costa & Jansen with Heather. In their first book together, the show garnered a 16.1 share, which placed it second for the quarter. Year-over-year mornings added 1.7 shares, albeit 1.9 shares were lost from the fall book. The morning show also ranked third with Adults 25-54 and Persons 12+, amassing a 9.6 share and 10.0 share, respectively.
Middays with Doug Karsch and Scott “Gator” Anderson finished first among Men 25-54 with an 18.1 share for the quarter. Year-over-year, the program continued its first-place finishes and gained one-half a share in the process. Conversely, the program lost 4.7 shares from the fall book. Karsch & Anderson finished first among Adults 25-54 with a 12.0 share, as well as first among Persons 12+ with a 10.4 share.
Afternoon drive accounted for the strongest performance among dayparts at 97.1 The Ticket this quarter. Mike Valenti and Rico Beard recorded an impressive 22.4 share to finish first. That represented a 5.3-share gain year-over-year gain, the largest increase at the station. The drive time duo did however lose 4.4 shares from the fall book. Nonetheless, The Valenti Show with Rico still remained in first among Adults 25-54 (14.0 share) and Persons 12+ (10.7 share).
For the full week (M-Su, 6a-12a), 97.1 The Ticket placed first among Men 25-54 in Detroit with a 17.2 share. The outcome represents a 3.6-share increase year-over-year. Compared to the fall book, the station attained four more shares in this measurement category. Among the adults 25-54 demographic, 97.1 The Ticket also finished in first place with a 10.6 share. Furthermore, the outlet was first among Persons 12+ with a 10.4 share for the winter book.
Ratings reports and analysis are written by BSM and sponsored by Crowd React Media, a division of Harker Bos Group. Learn more about the different ways sports media research can benefit your station and cut through the noise by clicking here.
It’s a well-known fact that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Sometimes, that’s how the hiring process can go when a company has a job opening. But when it comes to a sports radio station hiring a new Program Director, the road that takes you to the finish line isn’t always a straight path.
When Audacy announced in January that Spike Eskin was leaving his position as Vice-President of Programming for WFAN and Infinity Sports Network (formerly CBS Sports Radio) to return home to host afternoon drive at WIP, one of the premier jobs in all of sports radio was open and that meant a search for a new Program Director.
The process concluded with Ryan Hurley being named last week to be the new Brand Manager for WFAN and Infinity Sports Network, but there was a long and winding road that led to the hire.
For Audacy New York Market Manager Chris Oliviero, the process of hiring a new PD would have various stages.
“The first stage was personal and professional disappointment that we were losing Spike,” said Oliviero. “He was a great hire three years ago, has had a major impact and the highest compliment I’ve given to Spike is I’ve said to people even if I knew three years ago that he was only going to be here three short years, I still would have hired him.”
While it was not public yet, Oliviero knew back in October that Eskin would be leaving so there was some additional time to start making plans for the transition. Oliviero and Eskin began conversations about potential replacements and then came the public announcement of the job opening in January.
With the news came an overwhelming response from those interested in the job including internal candidates from Audacy, a company with the largest collection of sports radio stations in the United States. There were also candidates from elsewhere in the radio industry as well as other sports media companies including those from television and digital.
And there were also some, as Oliviero described, “wild card” candidates.
“There were people who were so passionate about ‘FAN that they didn’t even work in media but they thought they were good managers so they wanted to throw their hat in the ring,” said Oliviero.
With so many applicants, Oliviero wanted to give all qualified candidates the chance to interview and that took some time to the tune of a three month public search for the new leader of WFAN and Infinity Sports Network. Oliviero entered the process with an open mind and that process would include some names that he had in his mind even before the job opening was announced.
As he called it, a “break glass in case of emergency list” that he always has in his back pocket when it came to talk show hosts and Program Directors.
“I try to always have an open mind and I think that is important in this but clearly I wouldn’t have been doing my job if I didn’t have a short list,” said Oliviero. “I have deep long personal relationships with many of the top sports radio PD’s in the country so clearly there are names that I will immediately go to and reach out even if they didn’t reach out first.”
One candidate who did reach out directly to Oliviero came from the “out of the box” category of applicants. Not long after it was announced that Eskin was leaving, Oliviero’s phone rang and the call was coming from South Florida.
That voice on the other end of the line was Jon Weiner, otherwise known as “Stugotz”, the co-host of the Dan Lebatard Show which originates from Miami.
“He proactively reached out with his interest for WFAN,” said Oliviero. “He has publicly proclaimed his love for this radio station. We had really good conversations with John. It just, for a few reasons, didn’t progress to a final point but it was well worth the conversation.”
All conversations and all roads would eventually lead back to Ryan Hurley, the former Program Director at ESPN New York. Hurley was one of the first candidates that Oliviero interviewed for the position back in January. Oliviero told Hurley that being one of the first interviews was both “good news” and “bad news,” with the latter description meaning that the process was going to take a while and that Hurley was going to have to be patient.
Well, patience paid off for Hurley.
“(Ryan) was great and he was patient and we had multiple conversations,” said Oliviero. “In each conversation, we touched on another aspect of our business.”
Hurley would also spend some time with Spike Eskin along with some sales people to see if this was going to be a fit.
It certainly was a fit because Hurley checked off all the boxes for what Oliviero was looking for. He knew radio, he knew sports and being that he was from Long Island and was a graduate of Hofstra University, he knew New York.
Oliviero appreciated the fact that Hurley moved up the ladder at ESPN New York from producer all the way to Program Director.
“I love those stories,” said Oliviero. “To me, that’s a reflection of someone who is a good quality person who works for a company that recognized that. During the process, there were many many people who I respect in this industry who proactively on their own reached out to me and really said if I had the opportunity to hire Ryan, that I wouldn’t regret it.”
And now Hurley takes over the PD duties and he will do so with new lineups already set in place by Eskin. It’s a chance for him to settle into his new office and take a closer look and listen to what’s going on at WFAN and Infinity.
It’s actually the perfect situation for a new Program Director or Brand Manager.
“I think it’s a great job meaning you come into a situation where there is a level of consistency, there is a level of comfort so that allows Ryan to kind of take a breather,” said Oliviero. “Things aren’t on fire meaning he has to get in here and immediately tackle certain things. It allows him an ability to step back, learn the players and start to be strategic about it.”
However, that strategy will not change the direction that WFAN and Infinity are heading. All of the candidates were told during the interview process that the new PD would continue to execute the strategy already in place but would also be able to leave their mark on that strategy.
Kind of like adding a few wrinkles to the playbook.
“If we were a football team, we are a throwing offense,” said Oliviero. “We are not looking to become a running offense. We want to throw the ball better and we want to score more points. Try more trick plays. But we’re not going from a throwing offense to a running offense.”
Three years ago, Spike Eskin had big shoes to fill when he replaced the legendary Mark Chernoff. Three years later, Eskin turns the reigns over to Ryan Hurley who brings a terrific resume and strong work ethic to the 10th floor at 345 Hudson Street.
Back in January, Audacy New York trusted the process in finding a new Brand Manager for WFAN and Infinity Sports Network. Chris Oliviero and company have now placed their trust in Ryan Hurley.
Freezing Cold Takes has taken on a life of its own. What started as a fun Twitter account that put the spotlight on haters and naysayers in a team or athlete’s moment of glory is now a must-follow for people in sports media.
It’s a fun idea. After all, the surest path to a laugh is unshakable confidence combined with an absolute lack of knowledge. Fred Segal, the creator of the account, will tell you that he never meant for it to be gotcha journalism. It was an alternate way of contextualizing a result.
For all of Fred’s good intentions though, I don’t think he could have ever anticipated Freezing Cold Takes becoming a problem for our industry, but I say it has.
We’ve all heard Colin Cowherd’s theory, right? I know I’ve been in rooms and on Zoom calls where I can remember him saying it on three occasions. If you walk into a bar and on one end there’s a guy telling great stories and making people laugh and on the other is a guy who is right all the time, you’re choosing a stool next to the entertainer ten times out of ten. Being entertaining makes you friends and fans. Being right just makes you feel good.
The theory is dead on. It’s a more illustrative way to get the same message across that I have been asking broadcasters to consider for years: would you rather be in a classroom or at a party?
There’s a correct answer and it should be obvious. I worry that social media has blinded broadcasters to that though.
Let me be clear. The real culprits in the decline of creative risk-taking on sports radio and podcasts are fear and self-obsession. Freezing Cold Takes is just the manifestation.
I’m shocked by the number of people who are convinced that being spotlighted by a Twitter account is the absolute worst thing in the world. No matter how many times consultants and programmers remind them that less than two percent of the world has a Twitter account, those people are convinced that if it’s on Twitter, it must be worldwide. To be clowned by a Twitter account is akin to being the laughingstock of the entire world.
Social media and platforms like Spotify, YouTube and others have made it easy for young people to just start creating content and putting it out. Unfortunately, those same tools have also made it easy to anonymously be cruel and over the top in criticism of those creators. If you “live in the comments,” as the kids say, it can be discouraging.
The problem isn’t limited to the younger generation though. Every contrarian is labeled a hot-take artist now. Local sports radio, in a lot of places, has become less interesting because hosts take the most obvious positions on every topic rather than challenge themselves and their audience to think differently.
No one is suggesting that these hosts make stuff up or that factually incorrect information is somehow valuable, but consensus opinion is now treated as gospel.
Look at the way Caitlin Clark was covered in the NCAA Tournament. She is an incredible shooter and passer, very much a generational prospect, and the fact that she captured attention at a level previously unseen in women’s college basketball is worth noting and celebrating. That doesn’t mean everyone is obligated to root for her. West Virginia coach Mark Kellog was treated like he had crossed some boundary by saying that his team would beat Clark and Iowa.
In sports, the results are the results. How we get there and what they mean are less certain. There’s room for debate and discussion. If there isn’t, then sports media is screwed.
Freezing Cold Takes is not alone in creating fear and hesitancy. Social media puts the audience closer to the people delivering the takes and the people delivering the takes than they have ever been before. That has emboldened some and panicked others.
This week, the NFL will welcome a new class of pros to the league. In the lead-up to the draft, there are all kinds of opinions being thrown around. Some of them really are nuts and guided by outdated thinking about the sport. Some of them are simply the result of looking at a prospect and saying “I think other guys are a lot better.”
Fred Segal may not even have to catalog takes on quarterbacks or receivers anymore. I am sure an army of followers is ready to save screenshots and tweets featuring people questioning Caleb Williams’s toughness and will tag Fred the second Williams takes a hit and pops back up.
All of those saved tweets and “I thought you said…” comments are meaningless. They are now. They will be then. There is no prize for being right all the time. Your ratings bonuses are not tied to a percentage of opinions proven correct.
Back in December, I spoke with Evan Cohen of ESPN Radio about the idea of being labeled a “hater” by fans of certain teams and players. While he didn’t necessarily see it as a bad thing, he did note that “Our goal is to always be as memorable as possible and to make sure our opinions are conveyed in a way that the fan listening fully understands our intentions and conversations.”
While I agree with Evan, I would point out that some fans don’t have any interest in understanding our intentions or appreciating the nuance and circumstances that lead to our opinions. They are the ones treating Freezing Cold Takes like a value judgment instead of entertainment.
Too many broadcasters, both novices and talented veterans, are paying attention to that segment. They are more concerned with not being social media’s whipping boy than they are with creating something interesting and engaging. It’s a waste of their talent and their audience’s time and our business is in a worse place because of it.
I have to admit that one of the things I do miss about not working for a radio station is not getting to host sales meetings. Yes, I am sick like that. Many managers hate doing them and most sellers (all sellers?) hate attending them. I like to think mine were better than average as I always tried to keep people engaged and have them leave with at least one thing they could go and sell immediately. However, this Seller to Seller piece is not about your regular weekly sales meeting.
In fact, this meeting could and probably should be hosted by the Market Manager and the head of sales together. This is an all-staff meeting, and if you have not had this meeting with your building, schedule it for as soon as possible, and make the meeting mandatory.
Yes, you need all of programming to attend, and I suggest you tell them it starts 30 minutes earlier than it really does so they are not late. Yep, tell the traffic team to stop yelling at everyone and get to the big conference room. Business office, get in here. Marketing people those prize boxes can get set up later, let’s go. Everyone. Every single person that works for the company locally should be in this meeting.
When I have held this meeting before, I start by saying, “I have big news. Everyone in the room now has a bigger role in the company! Congratulations, you have ALL been added to the sales team, the marketing team and the recruitment team.” I always thought about bringing champagne to the meeting as a way to celebrate everyone’s new position, but never did.
Now, anytime anyone gets more responsibility they are always expecting to get paid more. The good news is, at least if you worked for me, you CAN earn more compensation in your new role. That one always gets folks interested.
You have to stress to your team that success in this business comes from generating revenue. Ratings are great, too, but if you aren’t winning in the sales department, you are out of business and your ratings won’t matter.
Of all the positions at the station, the sellers have by far the most challenging position, and it takes help from everyone in the meeting in order for the sales team to succeed. Every single person in the meeting knows other people. They know people who own businesses and make advertising decisions. They know managers who run businesses and have influence over advertising decisions. And at the very least, they frequent places that could be advertisers.
The station needs more leads and today we are rolling out new ways you can make money by helping us reach more prospective advertisers. Now, some companies may have a problem with this, why I don’t know, but even if it is trade to restaurants or tickets to games, give your staff something for turning in a lead that turns into business. Get the entire team on board with always keeping their eyes and ears open for new business opportunities.
At one of my stops as a Market Manager, I asked the company if I could pay full commission to someone who brought me a lead which led to business. I said I would work with them to close the deal and service the accounts. They obliged and I had an on-air talent become one of my top billers when I totaled up the amount of revenue we brought in from his leads.
If you have the ability to do so, open it up to everyone. If Midge, the lady who sits at the front desk and deals with prize winners, has a lead which can lead to a customer, why not spiff Midge? Whatever you can come up with, find a way to get the people who are working in the building to be prospecting for your sales department. Let them know how important it is to their job.
In the meeting, go through the basics of what the target audience of the station is, who some of the main clients are currently having success and the types of businesses that would make sense to advertise on the station. Explain who normally makes the decisions about advertising so they know who to get contact information for if possible. Arm everyone in the building with just enough information to feel like they could have a conversation about what you offer local businesses.
Make a game out of it, challenge everyone to bring at least one lead to the table, highlight those that have given leads and then find a way to reward them when that deal closes. It is the simplest thing and yet it is one of those things that if you don’t have a meeting to talk about it, hardly anyone will do it as they won’t think it is their job or responsibility to do.
The same thing goes for the marketing of a station. Nothing would bother me more as a manager than to have air talent who wouldn’t help promote station events or other things going on at the station. If they had a good lasagna for dinner, they posted it to Instagram, but they can’t promote the place they work? I used to ask my staff all the time, “If we aren’t going to promote what we are doing, who else is?”
And lastly, recruitment. Especially for the sales team. Most companies have an incentive for employee referrals. Think about what a good salesperson is worth to your bottom line? Would a small incentive to an employee who brought that lead to you be worth it? Of course it would. Make sure your team knows it is everyone’s responsibility to help find more great people to come work in the building.
In addition to getting some new leads, there was also two ulterior motives in having this meeting. One, your sales team doesn’t want anyone else finding any leads, so perhaps they get a little hop in their step knowing you just recruited a ton more people to prospect. Secondly, it allows you to see which employees are willing to step up and perhaps get a little out of their comfort zone, put in a little extra effort for the good of the team.
Media sales and driving revenue is hard. Let everyone in the office know, it is partially their responsibility to make it all a little easier.
In June of last year, 790 KABC (Los Angeles) Program Director Drew Hayes departed, leading 560 KSFO (San Francisco) Program Director Luis Segura to take on stewardship of both news/talk radio brands.
And while there are certainly differences between the two markets, Segura admitted there are many similarities between Los Angeles/Southern California and San Francisco/Northern California. When asked about what challenges are presented by leading the two separate brands in different markets, Luis Segura said “challenges” isn’t the right word for the situation.
“I know it sounds cliche, but it’s really an opportunity. It’s not like I’m in another state, it’s Los Angeles — Southern California — and we’re talking the Bay Area,” he said. “There’s great opportunity for really creating the state’s biggest megaphone that reaches both of the largest areas in California.
“Most of these cities and areas are plagued by the same problems. You go into Orange County, Los Angeles County, San Francisco County, or Alameda County, you’ve got the same issues of homelessness, crime, high taxes, and bloated government. Both of these areas are dealing with the same thing,” said Segura. “So, if anything there’s opportunity to bring the two together. Part of that is bringing the strength out of each station, bringing it over to the other, and making them like siblings. That’s just the beginning of more connection between the two from websites to news stories.”
In today’s day and age of corporate/brand synergy, and the national/regional syndication model that many companies utilize, 560 KSFO and 790 KABC don’t share many programs in their daily lineups. In fact, The John Phillips Show — originating from the Cumulus Los Angeles station, airing from 12-3 PM PT — is repurposed to air as a one-hour program in the Bay Area and called Fix California with John Phillips.
Segura told Barrett News Media the repackaging of the show isn’t really as difficult as one might think, due to the topics and subject matter being similarly important to listeners in both areas.
“The stories that affect one area affect the other. The Bay Area is really what Los Angeles is becoming. You saw the passage of a bunch of bills that were pro-police and tough on crime. Los Angeles County isn’t there yet, but it’s getting there,” said Segura. “You have great strides in Orange County with the DA there. So we already tackled, with The John Phillips Show, those topics anyway. So it’s really redoing some of those stories and really emphasizing what people are going through in the Bay Area, so it’s not it’s not a heavy lift.
“Even before taking over KSFO, we had people from the Bay Area and other parts of California — Riverside County, from Fresno — who would listen to The John Phillips Show online because the stuff is relatable. So there wasn’t it was not a heavy lift to localize that content for KSFO.”
In conservative talk radio circles, the word “California” can often be viewed as a dirty one. The consensus among talking heads in the medium is that the state is filled exclusively with liberal, electric vehicle-driving, marijuana-smoking, trans-loving hippies who instead of going to work every day find ways to rob other states to give money to illegal immigrants.
However, Segura is here to remind those with negative views of Californians that they have conservative citizens, too, and the two stations take logical approaches to reaching those listeners.
“Well, we focus on the taxpayer,” Segura stated. “It is even less about political or party lines. We’re focused on the taxpayer because when you sit around the table, what are people talking about? When you’re focused on the taxpayer, you don’t even have to bring in the conservative bent, because it’s like ‘What’s affecting your wallet?’
“When you’re talking to people about people’s money, you don’t have to think about the politics.”
While wanting to keep 560 KSFO and 790 KABC as separate entities, one thing Luis Segura is adamant about for both brands is the use of callers. And while the industry has mostly shifted away from taking many live calls on the air during primetime programming, it’s something the programmer believes separates talk radio from other mediums and formats.
“We’re big on taking calls. I love stressing that. We take a lot of calls from listeners, (because) so many of the other outlets won’t take your call. We give people an outlet to vent their frustration and voice their opinions on things. Radio is amazing, because it’s not a passive activity. It’s very much engaging. We have an opportunity, unlike television, or even a podcast, to pull people in, and engage in the conversation versus just kind of like giving a lecture.”
Both the Bay Area and Los Angeles have seen drastic changes to the talk radio landscape in recent years. Legendary San Francisco news/talk outlet 810 KGO flipped formats in October 2022 to sports betting, despite the state failing to pass legalized sports betting. Additionally, in the City of Angeles, longtime KFI-AM 640 duo Ken Chiampou and John Kobylt split up after Chiampou’s retirement at the end of 2023.
Despite the changes in each market, Luis Segura said they don’t directly affect how the two Cumulus-owned brands operate.
“I’ve been in radio since 1997, and I love it. One of my favorite things is just really focusing on the plan. I like to have a recipe, and I let it cook. I don’t change it too much from what other people are doing.”
Luis Segura added, however, that there are always opportunities to add new listeners through the content of the stations.
“I don’t like leaving any listener on the table. The more people I can bring in — they do call it broadcasting, right? So reaching the people that I can, any opportunity to do that, I will take.”
Over the weekend longtime ESPN researcher and star of the mid-2000s ESPN game show Stump the Schwab, Howie Schwab passed away at the age of 63. Schwab was a part of ESPN from 1987 until he was part of widespread layoffs in 2013. One of the people Schwab worked closely with was Dan Patrick, who talked about his passing on today’s Dan Patrick Show.
“Before we even get started, I want to say goodbye to a lifelong friend who just passed away over the weekend, Howie Schwab,” Patrick said. “I’ve known Howie for probably over 30 years and Howie was sports google before sports google. Google would’ve googled Howie Schwab.
“He’s the smartest guy that I ever met when it comes to sports knowledge, trivia, information. When I first started at SportsCenter I was lucky to have Howie Schwab there because he made us all better.”
Patrick continued and said he and Schwab worked together even after their ESPN days. “A generous wonderful person.,” Patrick said. “In fact, when I went to Sports Jeopardy, we did 100 episodes, I said ‘look I’ll do it, but I want Howie Schwab to come in and sort of be the lifeguard on duty.'”
Several former colleagues posted on X about how much Scwhab meant to them and to ESPN. Patrick echoed those sentiments. “He made us great,” he said. “There were so many of these people behind the scenes at ESPN that made ESPN so great, and Howie was certainly one of those people.”
The Indiana Fever and superstar Caitlin Clark will be seen on television a lot, both nationally and now locally as well. The Fever and Tegna announced a partnership earlier today to air 17 games between local NBC affiliate WTHR and MeTV affiliate WALV.
“So many new fans are tuning in to watch the world’s best basketball players compete in the WNBA, and the Fever have built a roster of incredible young talent that has caught the attention of basketball fans all over the globe,” Rick Fuson, CEO of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, said in a release. “Tegna and WTHR have been amazing local partners for years, and we are excited that more fans than ever before will get the chance to watch these amazing athletes play.”
The release also noted Tegna was working on expanded access outside of Indianapolis.
“This is an exhilarating moment for women’s sports. The WNBA and Fever are leading the charge with this groundbreaking local broadcast rights agreement,” Dave Lougee, President and CEO of Tegna, said in a release. “The remarkable journey of Caitlin Clark and her teammates has captured the hearts and minds of millions. We’re thrilled to deliver all the Fever action to every household in the Indianapolis region.”
The national TV package for WNBA games, which is aired on ABC, ESPN, Prime Video, CBS Sports Network, NBA TV and Ion will carry 36 of the Fever’s 40 games. The four games not being carried will be covered by the local package with Tegna. Several games will air on both a national and a local station.
SiriusXM announced it will once again have wall to wall coverage of the 2024 NFL Draft. Fans will get live announcements of every selection from every round and in-depth analysis on the SiriusXM NFL Radio channel.
Coverage begins Thursday April 25 onsite from Detroit and will continue on Friday April 26 with both shows beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Coverage on Saturday April 27 will begin at 12 p.m. ET.
SiriusXM will also have live call-in shows following the rounds which will be hosted by Bill Lekas and Kirk Morrison on Thursday and Friday. Zig Fracassi and Leger Douzable will host on Saturday.
The day prior to the draft getting underway, Neuheisel and former first round pick EJ Manuel will host a special show from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET live from the NFL Play Football Draft Prospect Clinic and Community Event.
