Sports Radio News
Under The Radar – April 24, 2017

Published
6 years agoon
There’s never a slow week in sports media, and the past week was no exception. Here’s a look at a few news items which you might not be aware of. As always, if you have a news tip, press release or station promotion to share, you can pass it along via email to JBarrett@hvy.tcp.mybluehost.me.
Sources tell BSM that an internal change is taking place inside the ESPN Radio network. VP of ESPN Audio Dave Roberts, who also oversees production for First Take, is turning his focus towards more of ESPN’s television programming. With Roberts shifting to television, Marcia Keegan, ESPN’s VP of Production since 2007 is expected to assume a larger role inside the ESPN Audio division.
The good times keep on rolling for 101 ESPN in St. Louis. The station finished the winter book in 3rd place among Men 25-54 M-F 6a-7p. Their afternoon show The Fast Lane led its time slot, finishing 1st. The Bernie Miklasz Show registered a 3rd place finish in mornings, and in middays, The Kevin Wheeler Show was 4th and The Turn with Anthony Stalter and Chris Duncan came in 5th. A very impressive showing by St. Louis’ dominant sports radio brand.
Congrats to both 98.5 The Sports Hub and WEEI on a strong performance in the Boston winter ratings book. The Hub finished ahead in the key three dayparts (morning, middays and afternoons) but WEEI has closed the gap significantly. The station is up year to year by 14% while the Hub has dropped 15% during that time. With the Red Sox back on the field and both station’s shows firing on all cylinders it’ll be interesting to see how the competition between these two elite sports radio brands develops during the next quarter.
Following its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival on Friday, the much anticipated television premiere of the Mike and the Mad Dog 30 for 30 will debut on Thursday July 13th. The documentary is scheduled to air that night at 8pm ET on ESPN.
After learning last week that his longtime on-air partner Terry Foster was retiring, 97.1 The Ticket host Mike Valenti announced that he has no desire to fill the seat which Foster has occupied for over a decade. Valenti said that doing so would feel wrong and disrespectful, and if or when it makes sense to add a co-host to the show, those intentions will be announced. For now he plans to host the afternoon show solo on the Detroit sports radio station.
With Andy Gresh now in Providence hosting evenings for WPRO, his former radio home WTIC in Hartford has decided to go in a different direction in afternoons. As a result, Gresh’s partner Joe D’Ambrosio will no longer host a daily show on the radio station. D’Ambrosio will continue to be hear on the station as the play-by-play voice of UConn football and men’s basketball, and he’ll step in from time to time as a fill in talk show host.
Chris LoPresti has announced that he’s stepping down as WFAN‘s New York Jets reporter, a position he held for the past four seasons. The search for his replacement is already in progress.
Congrats to Rick Camp who enjoyed his maiden voyage hosting on 670 The Score in Chicago this past weekend. The longtime producer was given an opportunity by program director Mitch Rosen to host Sunday morning from 7am-9am CT. Camp is hopeful of gaining additional chances to grace the windy city airwaves in the future.
Westwood One has agreed to distribute the new eSports program, Checkpoint Radio, which is a product of Rick Scott and Associates, and Kevin Graham‘s Ripple Content. The show is hosted by Nate Bender, Robbie Landis, Joe Sloan and Norris Howard and runs two-hour in length. For more information about the show click here.
Richard Deitsch shared a great sports media story which is worthy of being re-told. During an on-air interview with Darren McFarland on 102.5 The Game in Nashville, NHL play-by-play man Doc Emrick shared his email address over the airwaves, encouraging young broadcasters to contact him if they wanted his feedback on their work. A classy gesture from the NHL’s top broadcaster.

Jason Barrett is the owner and operator of Barrett Sports Media. Prior to launching BSM he served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He has also produced national shows for ESPN Radio including GameNight and the Dan Patrick Show. You can find him on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or reach him by email at JBarrett@sportsradiopd.com.

Sports Radio News
Doug Gottlieb: I Would Give Up Radio For Coaching Job
“I’ve told people that for the radio element to — for the right thing — I’d give it up. The (podcast), I’m not giving it up.”

Published
2 days agoon
March 17, 2023By
BSM Staff
Fox Sports Radio host Doug Gottlieb recently interviewed for the vacant head coaching job at Wisconsin-Green Bay and detailed the experience on his podcast.
“I got a chance to talk to (Wisconsin-Green Bay AD) Josh Moon several times during the year after they had made their coaching job available and my approach to how I’ve done these things — and this is not the first time I’ve gone down this path, but this was a different path,” Gottlieb said on his All Ball podcast.
“This is a low-major, mid-major job, and there’s no connection there. I’ve told people that for the radio element to — for the right thing — I’d give it up. The (podcast), I’m not giving it up. I love doing it and I think there’s a very smart world where if I’m coaching I can still do this podcast and still do it with basketball people all over the country and the world, and it’s kind of like a cheat code.”
He continued by saying that seeing Shaka Smart be successful at Marquette has motivated him to continue to search for the right fit as a college basketball coach.
“That’s what I want to do. And last year when I was coaching in Israel, that also continued to invigorate me…this is something that I would really like to do. It has to be the right thing. It has to be the right AD who hits the right message.”
He continued by saying that a sticking point of negotiations was he wasn’t willing to give up his nationally syndicated radio program for the job. He was willing to take less money for his assistants pool, but also to continue doing his radio show.
Gottlieb did not get the position with the Phoenix, noting that he was a finalist but was never offered the job. The position ultimately went to Wyoming assistant coach Sundance Wicks. Wicks had previous head coaching experience and had worked with Green Bay athletic director Josh Moon at Division II Northern State. He admitted he wasn’t necessarily “all-in” on the job due to the current ages of his children and whether the timing was right to uproot his family to move to Northeastern Wisconsin.
The Fox Sports Radio host does have coaching experience. He has worked as a coach for the U.S. men’s basketball team at the Maccabiah Games, sometimes referred to as the Jewish Olympics.
Gottlieb’s father — Bob — was the head men’s basketball coach at Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 1975-1980, compiling a 97-91 record.
Sports Radio News
Waddle & Silvy: Scott Hanson Told Us to Lose His Number
“We didn’t call him back, so he set out what he wanted to do.”

Published
2 days agoon
March 17, 2023By
BSM Staff
Aaron Rodgers took immense pride in the fact that he told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter to “lose his number” while discussing his future earlier this week on The Pat McAfee Show. ESPN 1000’s Waddle & Silvy said they’ve experienced similar treatment from guests on their radio show.
While discussing the Rodgers interview with McAfee, the pair admitted that NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson once told their producer to stop trying to book him for interviews on the program.
“I believe the presentation was ‘Do me a favor: lose my number after this interview’,” Tom Waddle said. “So he tried to do it politely. Scott Hanson did. Get out of here. That concept is foreign to me. How about ‘Hey, next time you text me, my schedule is full. I can’t do it, but thanks for thinking of me’. ‘Lose my number?’ You ain’t the President, for Christ’s sake. I’m saying that to anyone who would say that. ‘Lose my number?’ We’re all in the communication business. I just don’t know — why be rude like that to people? What does that accomplish? You know what it accomplished? We didn’t call him back, so he set out what he wanted to do.”
Co-host Mark Silverman then mentioned that the show once tried to book Hansen and NFL Red Zone host Andrew Siciliano together in the same block, with the idea of doing a trivia game to see who the supreme Red Zone host was. Siciliano agreed, but Hansen declined.
The pair also confirmed that an NFL Network personality had told them to lose their number, but couldn’t remember if it was Rich Eisen or not.
Silverman later joked that maybe Hanson was getting a new phone with a new number, and was politely sharing with the producer that he could lose the current phone number because he would share his new number in short order.
Sports Radio News
Seth Payne: Aaron Rodgers ‘Makes Gross Inaccuracies’ When Calling Out Media
“This is where Rodgers does this thing where he, in calling out reporters for their inaccuracies, makes gross inaccuracies in his accusations.”

Published
2 days agoon
March 17, 2023By
BSM Staff
Aaron Rodgers is always mad at the media for the inaccurate things he says they report, but according to Sports Radio 610 morning man Seth Payne, no one is more inaccurate than the quarterback himself.
Friday morning, Payne and his partner Sean Pendergast played audio of Aaron Rodgers responding to a question about a list of players he provided to the Jets demanding they sign. Rodgers called the idea that he would make demands “so stupid” and chastised ESPN reporter Dianna Russini, who was the first to report it.
“Now to be clear, Dianna Russini didn’t say demands in her tweet. She said wishlist,” Pendergast clarified.
They also played a clip of Russini responding to Rodgers on NFL Live saying that she stands by her reporting and it is her job to reach out to confirm that it is true.
“This is where Rodgers does this thing where he, in calling out reporters for their inaccuracies, makes gross inaccuracies in his accusations,” Seth Payne said.
He added that if Rodgers is being serious, he is doing some serious nitpicking. He claims that he didn’t give the Jets a list, but that he spoke glowingly about former teammates and told the Jets executives that he met with who he enjoyed playing with during his career.
Payne joked that maybe he wrote down the names in a circle pattern so that it was not a list. Pendergast added that he could have had Fat Head stickers on his wall that he pointed to instead of writing anything at all.
In Payne’s mind, this is a case of Russini catching stray frustration. Neither in her initial tweet nor in any subsequent media appearance did she use the phrase “demands”.
“What he’s actually responding to in that instance is Pat McAfee is the one that described it as a list of demands,” Seth Payne said.