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BT & Sal: ‘It’s The Start of a New Era’ in New York

BSM Staff
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BT & Sal: ‘It’s The Start of a New Era’ in New York

When the clock struck 10 a.m. in New York City, a new era of WFAN officially commenced with the launch of the new midday show featuring Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata. About 10 seconds in, the duo set off fireworks by coming out firing with a disagreement about the New York Yankees and whether or not the team has a chance to win a World Series. There was no protracted welcome to the show or pleasantries exchanged between the co-hosts, at least not initially. Instead, Tierney and Licata gave WFAN listeners what they had been waiting for ever since the revamped station lineup was announced following the departure of Craig Carton: hard-hitting, sports talk radio.

“This is the start of a new day – it’s a new day, obviously. When you wake up it’s a new day,” Tierney said. “It’s the start of a new era, and it’s the start of our first disagreement.”

Licata, a die-hard fan of the New York Mets, believes the Yankees have a legitimate chance to qualify for the World Series and offered his perspectives on the situation. The team recently swept the Kansas City Royals but is still without superstar outfielder Aaron Judge after he suffered a toe injury in early June.

“This Yankee team still has everything out there in front of them to make a run in the postseason,” Licata said, describing the turbulent state of the American League. “….You guys make it like, ‘Oh, this team’s dead.’ They’re not dead!”

In the middle of the argument, Tierney had a brief aside and expressed just how pumped he was for the new program. Within about three seconds, he resumed the argument and expressed his chagrin towards the notion of patience. The Yankees have not won a World Series, let alone won an American League pennant, since the 2009 season – and fans are growing more agitated by the day. Tierney is among that cohort who is less than pleased with the job that general manager Brian Cashman has done in building a championship roster, and outlined his rationale engendering despondence.

“I need something tangible,” Tierney said. “I don’t want, ‘There’s time,’ and, ‘They’re only two-and-a-half out of the wild card.’ Tangibly speaking, why are the Yankees going to go on a run?”

Tomorrow night, the New York Mets visit the Bronx to take on the Yankees in the second installment of the Subway Series in 2023, which is currently even at one game apiece. While the Yankees are coming off a sweep of the Royals, the Mets lost two of three games to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park and will aim to get their season back on track. The two-game set comes at a critical juncture for both teams, and the melodious dissonance of Tierney and Licata offers a new sound to one of the summer’s most anticipated matchups. It is a chance for Tierney and Licata to establish themselves as a dynamic duo and captivate shares of listeners.

Mobile Radio Partners, VSiN Launch 1480 The Line in Richmond

BSM Staff
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Mobile Radio Partners, VSiN Launch 1480 The Line in Richmond

Virginia loves to gamble and sports radio has taken notice! That is why Mobile Radio Partners is turning to VSiN to help launch 1480 The Line in Richmond.

The station will carry the full VSiN lineup. The 1480 signal had been part of Mobile Radio Partners’ Spanish language brand Ultra Radio. That format will continue to be heard locally on 94.1 FM.

“It’s great to work with Mobile Radio Partners to bring the first and only all-sports betting radio station to Richmond,” Brian Musburger, founder and CEO at VSiN, said in a press release. “We’re excited to continue to expand our audio distribution footprint and deliver the real-time sports betting news and insights Richmond sports fans need to inform their wagering decisions.”

In addition to The Line, Mobile Radio Partners also owns Ultra Radio and Boomtown Richmond, a classic hits format heard on 92.9 and 101.7 FM locally.

“The new format will bring 24-hour sports betting programming to Richmond for the first time,” Mark Smith, General Manager of 1480-The Line, added. “The new station leverages the growing interest in sports betting by covering all sports through the wagering lens. So many markets have embraced sports betting stations and it’s high time that Richmond started delivering the news and analysis folks need with best-in-class content from VSiN.”

Jeff Saturday Could Return to ESPN

BSM Staff
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Jeff Saturday Could Return to ESPN

Jeff Saturday left ESPN during last football season to serve as interim head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. The former center won his first game with the team, but then endured a seven-game losing streak to conclude the 2023 regular season. Following the year’s end, Saturday was in consideration to be named the permanent head coach of the team; however, the organization ultimately decided on Shane Steichen, who was most recently the Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator. Now, according to The Athletic and the New York Post, Bristol wants him back.

ESPN is intrigued by Saturday’s potential return to television, even though his interest in an NFL return is unknown. Saturday first joined the “Worldwide Leader” in 2013 and has contributed across studio programming, including First Take, NFL Live and SportsCenter.

The difficult part of the situation, which remains unresolved, is in making the hire amid notable layoffs of talent and other staffers. ESPN recently complied with The Walt Disney Company’s organizational mandate to cut $5.5 billion in operating costs and eliminate 7,000 jobs. Cuts of talent, which included Jeff Van Gundy, Suzy Kolber and Steve Young among others, were reportedly outside of the company layoffs and obfuscated some in the industry.

The role Saturday would assume upon re-signing with the network remains unknown, but there is an opening on Monday Night Countdown and plenty of other areas within its football portfolio where he could contribute. Saturday had inked a contract extension with ESPN last August, but suddenly left upon the exigent coaching situation in Indianapolis.

Saturday played 14 years in the NFL, primarily with the Indianapolis Colts, where he won a Super Bowl championship, named an All-Pro twice, and was given a spot in the team’s Ring of Honor.

Former CNBC Host Kayla Tausche Joining CNN as Senior White House Correspondent

BNM Staff
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Former CNBC Host Kayla Tausche Joining CNN as Senior White House Correspondent

After announcing her exit from CNBC late last month, Kayla Tausche has a new landing place at CNN.

The network announced Monday that she will become a Senior White House Correspondent.

Based in Washington D.C., Tausche hosted SquawkAlley for CNBC from 2014-2017. She originally joined the business-focused network in 2011.

Tausche does have previous political experience. She served as co-host of CNBC’s election night coverage in 2020, and also covered the Inauguration Day events for the network as President Joe Biden took the oath of office.

In addition to her role as Senior White House Correspondent for CNBC, she was also a contributor to MSNBC, NBC Nightly News, and Today.

During the Trump administration, Tausche procured interviews with Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), among others.

CNN reports that Tausche will begin her duties as Senior White House Correspondent today.

ESPN Wants Pat McAfee in New Radio Lineup

BSM Staff
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ESPN Wants Pat McAfee in New Radio Lineup

Will Pat McAfee be a part of ESPN Radio in the future? That is what the network wants according to reporting in The New York Post. 

Sources have told Andrew Marchand and Ryan Glasspiegel that the network would like to be able to tell affiliates that they will have access to The Pat McAfee Show when it unveils a new schedule.

ESPN Radio was hit hard by recent layoffs at the network and across the Walt Disney Company. The network is in need of new shows in multiple time slots, including from noon to 3 pm, when McAfee and crew are usually on. On ESPN Radio, that had been the home of Fitz & Harry before Jason Fitz was let go.

Radio distribution would make Pat McAfee ubiquitous across all ESPN platforms in his new deal. ESPN has declined to comment on the status of the new radio schedule, which Marchand writes “is getting a total reboot this fall.”

ESPN announced it had reached a deal with Pat McAfee to take over distribution of his show at its spring upfront presentation. Marchand has reported that the deal will pay McAfee $15 million per year, but the star has said that he never confirmed to Marchand that was the amount.

Comedian Ron Sexton of Bob & Tom Show Fame Dies

BNM Staff
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Comedian Ron Sexton of Bob & Tom Show Fame Dies

According to a statement shared by The Bob & Tom Show, Ron Sexton, a beloved comedian who was well-known for his work on the program, has passed away. He was 52 years old.

On July 22, the family of the radio personality, who was most recognized for his portrayal of the character Donnie Baker on the show, also shared news of his passing by posting a group photo on his official Facebook page.

“It is with immense sadness that we let everyone know that Ron Sexton passed away yesterday,” they wrote. “He was Donnie Baker to most of you, but Ron and Dad to us. Please respect our privacy at this time and pray for our family.”

The news of Ron Sexton’s passing was confirmed by The Bob & Tom Show via their official Twitter account. The post was signed by Tracey, Eric, Abigail, Alex, Aliah, Jim, and Ila. Sexton passed away in Ohio while on tour with his stand-up comedy show. The statement from the show’s co-host, Tom Griswold, highlighted Sexton’s comedic talent, including his iconic on-air characters like Donnie Baker, Kenny Tarmac, and Floyd the Trucker, as well as his celebrity impersonations. The statement expressed deep sadness at the loss of a much-loved colleague and friend.

Sexton, a comedy and baseball enthusiast, hailed from Indianapolis. He started his career in high school as a baseball commentator at his school’s radio station. In 2005, he introduced his Donnie Baker character on The Bob & Tom Show. Donnie shared stories about the boat he always had for sale and added punchlines like “State law!” and “I swear to God” during his segments. Sexton also lent his voice to characters like Floyd the Trucker and Kenny Tarmac, along with his celebrity impressions.

No information about the cause of death has been disclosed.

Dan Patrick Has Earned a 4 Year Farewell If That’s What He Wants

Garrett Searight
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Dan Patrick Has Earned a 4 Year Farewell If That’s What He Wants

It may not have ended up being the announcement he was trying to make, but the revelation that Dan Patrick would be stepping aside from his radio show at the end of his newly-signed contract shouldn’t have been a surprise.

I saw some surprise that Dan would make such an announcement. Included in that reaction was some cynicism that the announcement was a ploy by Patrick to jumpstart a farewell tour.

That wasn’t my response.

DP is undeniably on the Mount Rushmore of Sports Media. He’s entitled to do whatever he wants, especially when it comes to how he steps away. In the annals of sports media history, is there anyone who has excelled to the heights that he has in both radio and television?

Dan Patrick is a legend. And if he wants to spend four years on a farewell tour, he should do it. If he wants to spend four minutes on a farewell tour, he should do it.

I’ve shared in this space before that my thought process has definitely changed in recent years, especially when it comes to making the decision to ride off into the sunset. I use to have a hard and fast “It should be the company/team/franchise/insert entity here’s decision”. To hell with that. These are real people, and in DP’s case, a living legend.

The word trailblazer is thrown too often, but Dan Patrick is truly a trailblazer. He took an insane gamble by moving his radio show away from ESPN Radio, and it paid off immensely. The Dan Patrick Show is frequently nominated for Sports Emmys on the television side, and is widely regarded as one of the best nationally syndicated radio shows, and has been for decades.

I don’t need to go down the list of accolades the man has accomplished in his storied career. You know them and are aware of them.

Dan Patrick embodies the best qualities of our industry. He’s entertaining without being offensive, he’s a risk taker, he isn’t a hot-take artist, and is the best interviewer in the business.

If he wants to be celebrated for four years, that should be his prerogative and his alone. We often don’t appreciate greatness until it’s too late. Dan Patrick has given his audience, and those inside our industry, the opportunity to appreciate him while we’ve still got him. I hope you take the opportunity to soak it in. Regardless of how sports media will change and how we will consume the content, December 2027 will be here before we know it.

Congrats to Dan on a contract extension and his impending retirement. He deserves both.

Dan Le Batard Doesn’t Sound Like a Revolution Anymore

Demetri Ravanos
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Dan Le Batard Doesn’t Sound Like a Revolution Anymore

When he was on ESPN Radio, I was one of Dan Le Batard’s biggest fans. A former boss explained the reason perfectly: to programmers, the show sounded like chaos; to talent, it sounded like a revolution. Ten years ago that was true. 

There was a machine to rage against and Le Batard and crew did it in big ways, criticizing bosses for celebrating Major League Baseball’s trip to Cuba and showing real emotion over the exit of his champion, John Skipper. He did it in small ways, poking LeBron James’s return to Cleveland by paying for a billboard in the city celebrating the success of the Miami Heat. Dan Le Batard was always unapologetically himself and it was fun. The show worked as a great juxtaposition to everything else on ESPN Radio at the time.

Since I have been working for JB, twice he has sent me gifts from the Le Batard AF store. I send multiple entries to the show’s “Looks Like” game every year ahead of the NCAA Tournament. There was a time when I was a superfan of Le Batard and crew.

Maybe it is because I am ten years older than I was when I first discovered the show in 2014. Maybe it is that the show truly isn’t what it used to be. Either way, it just doesn’t work the same anymore.

Stugotz is the engine that made that show run. His “Weekend Observations” and sports guy idiosyncrasies, like calling out players’ nicknames whenever someone mentioned their name, were necessary for Dan Le Batard and his producers to create the kind of comedy the show was built on. How do you satirize sports talk radio without someone that really loves old-school sports talk radio?

Now that they have left ESPN, Stugotz has unlimited paid time off. Of course he is going to use it! If you know anything about the show, it is that the Stugotz character is who Jon Weiner really is.  

Without the fool to play off of, the classic comedy formula doesn’t work. What even is a movie or live show that is nothing but the straight man? It’s kinda just a lecture, right?

Dan Le Batard without Stugotz is just a sports media guy that hates the sports media. A lot of people in our industry agree that Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayliss spawned an era of unserious sports debate shows. A lot of people in our industry would like to tell Outkick to f*** off. With Le Batard, that is the full breadth of content now. 

The show is way less fun and way more self-appointed ombudsman high-horsin’ these days. I work in this industry. There are plenty of observations Le Batard has that I agree with, and I find it pretty boring to listen to. Imagine how the guy that doesn’t have journalism ethics at the center of his universe must feel now.

Going after your bosses while you work for ESPN is rebellious. Going after the industry and constantly bemoaning rules and market conditions that no longer apply to you just kind of sounds bitter. Like it or not, Stephen A. Smith is not wrong about Dan Le Batard. What used to sound like revolution now sounds like a cult leader trying to keep his followers inside the village he has convinced them is the only safe place after a nuclear apocalypse that never actually happened. 

Also, by the way, I just have to point this out for the record. Le Batard talks about how much he hates what First Take is, but praises Pardon the Interruption for being influential and groundbreaking. I have never understood how I am the only one that sees they are the exact same show.

Now, if Le Batard and his crew really wanted to, they could run the same playbook at Meadowlark Media. Dan could bemoan the influence DraftKings or gambling in general has had on the way we talk about sports. He doesn’t though. I don’t think it is because he has suddenly become sheepish or more respectful of authority.

I think Dan Le Batard is coming to terms with the fact that trying to do his show outside of the walls of ESPN, outside of the confines of sports radio is not easy. It may not even really be possible. 

The show worked as a multi-platform product, finding success on TV and as a podcast. The parameters of ESPN Radio were essential though. They defined who the heroes and villains were and how the players approached the game. Without them, The Dan Le Batard Show may be a pirate ship, but too often it sounds like there is no rudder. 

Le Batard has talked a lot about valuing freedom over money, and I genuinely believe that is true. It’s one of his more admirable qualities. But now that he has the freedom he craved, he is still trying to do the same kind of show he was doing at ESPN Radio. DraftKings gave him money, and have taken a very hands-off approach to the content. 

Raging against the machine from inside the machine seems bold. Raging against a machine that your audience believes you have already defeated, or at least put in your rearview, seems kinda silly.

It’s that episode of The Simpsons where the Van Houtens get divorced. Kirk has Homer over to his new bachelor pad. He insists to Homer that divorced life really does make him happy even though we see that no one else at the apartment complex seems to want to be his friend and that he sleeps in a child-sized bed shaped like a racecar.

Adam Gold’s Career Took Off Once He Arrived in Raleigh

Peter Schwartz
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There are multiple ways to break into broadcasting and specifically to become a sports talk radio host. For Adam Gold, it happened in a way that was very unusual.

The New York City native, who as a kid used to go to sleep with a transistor radio under his pillow secretly listening to New York Mets’ when the team was playing on the West Coast, graduated from the University of Maryland in 1988 and would spend a decade living in Baltimore with his wife.

Gold was working as a producer at WBAL Radio in Baltimore, but he wanted to be on the air.

“I felt like I wasn’t really progressing,” said Gold. “I decided that I wasn’t really going anywhere. There was no on-air possibility for me. If I wanted to get on-air, I was going to have to leave.”

That chance to leave came when his wife accepted a job with a bank in Raleigh, North Carolina and the couple made the move early in 1998. Gold didn’t have any radio contacts in North Carolina, but the radio gods were watching over him.

Two weeks after become an official resident of Raleigh, Gold was watching the Olympics when he took a look at the job listings in the Durham Herald-Sun. He saw an ad for “WRBZ News-Talk-Sports” and he called the Program Director and a week later he was hired to do some part-time work.

Things then progressed very quickly and exactly how Gold wanted.

“By middle of March, they asked me if I wanted to host the afternoon show,” said Gold. “It was the dumbest thing ever. It just doesn’t happen this way in this business.”

More than 25 years later, Gold is still going strong at what is now 99.9 The Fan in Raleigh hosting The Adam Gold Show weekdays from noon to 3pm. The show is also heard on a network of 11 stations throughout North Carolina.

Flying solo wasn’t the original plan for Gold and what had been 850 The Buzz when he came on board in 1998. He was teamed with Pat Mellon who had been the solo host of the afternoon show. They were together about five or six weeks and it seemed like things were going well.

But while Gold and management were both happy, Mellon wasn’t and announced on the air one day that he was leaving. 

“He said today is my last day,” recalled Gold, the 2022 North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year. “He quit on the air and I said ‘Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.’ I really thought he was kidding and as we were walking out to our cars, he goes no I was serious. I’m not coming in. I’m done. That was the last time he and I spoke.”

The station then embarked on a national search for a new co-host, but they ultimately decided to let Gold have the show to himself. His more than 25-year run at the station also included a brief two-year stint as Program Director.

It was not something he was comfortable with.

“I hated that,” said Gold. “There’s nothing fun about being the program director and hosting a show and being responsible for everybody. I couldn’t stand that. I was a terrible PD but I’ve done a good job judging talent. I was more of a coach than I was a PD.”

On the air, life was good for Gold. He moved to the mornings and was teamed with co-host Joe Ovies before the duo was shifted to the afternoons after The Buzz was acquired by Capitol Broadcasting, which owns 99.9 The Fan. Three years ago, the station decided to move Gold to middays and return him to his solo days.

“It’s cool that I’ve built a brand,” said Gold. “I think the show is honest. I pull no punches. I make fun of everything. I make fun of myself before I make fun of anybody else. I’m just trying to do an entertaining show.”

Over the years, Gold has been able to take his various shows on the road covering Super Bowls, Final Fours and back to New York for the 2000 World Series between his beloved Mets and the Yankees. Gold hosted those “Subway Series” shows from the window at Mickey Mantle’s Restaurant, the same place that legendary New York sportscaster Bill Mazer hosted shows on WFAN.

“I grew up listening to radio in New York,” said Gold. “I was an AM radio kid.”

Gold loved baseball, but he also had an affection for hockey. In fact, he moved to Raleigh not long after the Hartford Whalers relocated to become the Carolina Hurricanes. At the time NHL hockey arrived in town, the sports-talk landscape in Raleigh was dominated by college basketball followed by pro and college football.

Hockey wasn’t even a blip on the radar.

“I was told hockey will never make it,” said Gold. “The Hurricanes will leave. Hockey was an afterthought.”

25 years later, the Hurricanes are going strong as one of the best teams in the NHL with a rabid following and a Stanley Cup banner hanging from the rafters at PNC Arena.

“Now, college basketball is almost a seasonal game here,” said Gold. “You talk football anytime of the year, pro or college.”

And now Gold is one of the go-to hockey guys in town.

“It’s been my beat, if you will, for the last 7 or 8 years,” said Gold. “I now host pre and post. I’ve been doing a morning-after (Hurricanes) podcast after every game. The Hurricanes have become a really big deal and people have also grown to look to me to tell them what’s going on.” 

Gold has enjoyed a very successful career in Raleigh but there’s one thing still on his to-do list and that’s to be involved with Major League Baseball. He grew up a Mets fan in New York and then was able to watch the Orioles when he lived in Baltimore. During his time in Raleigh, he’s felt a bit detached from the sport, but still finds a way to satisfy his appetite by doing play-by-play for NC State Baseball, the ACC Baseball Tournament and USA Baseball.

When it comes to the Majors though, Gold is not optimistic about it ever coming to town.

“We have not had big league baseball and as much as I love big league baseball and I know there are groups that are trying to bring big league baseball to Raleigh, it ain’t happening,” said Gold. “I would love it. I don’t see it.”

Sports radio can be a tough business. It’s very rare to be in the same place doing the same thing for a long period of time, but Adam Gold has defied the odds. What he has accomplished in a quarter of a century living in Raleigh is something that you don’t see very often.

And now Raleigh has become his forever home.

“Nobody stays in one place for 25 years,” said Gold. “I have not ever pursued anything outside of Raleigh. I haven’t had a resume tape since I got this job. I haven’t had a written resume. I wouldn’t even know how to do one right now. I’ve been lucky to do this.”

Stephen A. Smith: Dan Le Batard’s ESPN Obsession is ‘Bush League’

BSM Staff
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Dan Le Batard and Stephen A. Smith are still friends. They’re just butting heads.

The ongoing back and forth on Dan and Stephen A.’s respective podcasts is well-documented, but on Friday’s Stephen A. Smith Show, Smith said he and Le Batard had spoken off the air.

“Because I went at him before I went on vacation, cause I didn’t appreciate some of the bullshit he was saying on his show,” Smith said. “And I still don’t.”

Stephen A. has been consistent in taking issue with the potshots Le Batard has taken at ESPN in light of recent layoffs at the network, in addition to expressing his disdain toward Smith for how he and Skip Bayless revolutionized sports debate television. But Stephen A. made it very clear their arguments about the industry don’t change how they feel about one another personally.

“We can disagree and still be friends,” Smith said. “Dan Le Batard and I have been friends for over 20 years. And any disagreement that we have is not going to change that.”

But Stephen A. did want to circle back on the fact that he thought it was very uncouth for Le Batard as a former longtime ESPN employee to continue bad-mouthing the network.

“Got your own damn show, got your daddy sitting in the middle between you and Bomani Jones half the time or somebody else,” Smith said of Le Batard’s former show Highly Questionable. “I particularly didn’t like him constantly bringing up ESPN and bitching all the time about ESPN. Because I’m just one of those dudes where if a place is good enough for you to collect a check from for years, why are you maligning it every chance you get the second you’re gone? I just think that’s bush league.”

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