San Diego’s former sports radio leader on the 1090-AM frequency is officially planning a relaunch as The Mightier 1090 this summer and it will include Scott Kaplan.
Two weeks ago, Andres Bichara who owns the 1090 transmitter surprisingly said on Twitter, “we will be back soon.” Now, investor Bill Hagen tells The San Diego Union-Tribune he has a lease with the Bichara family for five-years and plans to relaunch what used to be San Diego’s top-rated sports station within the next few months.
“Sports is going to be just part of it,” Hagen told The San Diego Union-Tribune of the new format. “There will be sports there — but it’s not going to be just 24/7 talking about sports. Absolutely, it will be about lifestyle.”
The Bichara family’s radio company, which owns the 1090 transmitter, is based in Mexico. They were forced to pull the plug on The Mighty 1090 last April following a dispute with the station’s operator, Broadcast Company of the Americas. Now, almost exactly one year later, plans are finally in motion to get 1090 back on-air.
While most of The Mighty 1090’s weekday shows have since moved on to other San Diego radio stations, Scott Kaplan remained a free agent. Instead of joining another station, Kaplan and former Chargers linebacker Billy Ray Smith continued Scott and BR as a daily live podcast, available on multiple platforms including a video stream on YouTube.
After news broke earlier this month about a return for 1090, Kaplan put his odds of joining the station at 10/1, later increasing them to 4/1, but now it appears to be a sure thing. Kaplan will be heard on San Diego’s 1090 airwaves this summer, if not sooner, but it won’t be a conventional return to radio for the popular host.
“This is not a traditional radio station,” Kaplan said during his Monday show on YouTube.
Kaplan’s return to terrestrial radio comes in the form of a revenue sharing partnership, featuring the YouTube show he launched last year.
“This business is providing content to that business, that’s the relationship and it’s a completely different model in radio” he added. Kaplan compared his partnership with 1090 to a syndication model. “It’s not just radio, it’s a YouTube show that happened to go back on the radio.
According to Kaplan, it also might be time to rebrand his show. It’s been The Scott and BR Show for decades, but during the last two years co-host Smith has become a part-time contributor. Kaplan said he would love for Smith to return as his full-time co-host, but a continued part-time role seems more likely.
The planned format of ‘lifestyle talk with some emphasis on sports,’ fits Kaplan’s hosting style. Even when live sports are in action, Kaplan’s show features a mixed bag of topics, with many entertaining tangents along the way.