Sports Radio News
Under The Radar – February 13, 2017

Published
6 years agoon
Another busy week in sports media full of news and notes you likely missed. To be included in a future column, send your news, tip or press release to JB******@hv*.me. Now here’s what’s happening.
Well wishes are granted to Amber Wilson of 790 The Ticket in Miami. The talented and energetic morning host announced she’ll be taking time away from the morning show, which includes Jonathan Zaslow and Brett Romberg, in order to battle breast cancer. Readers can send their support via Twitter by clicking here.
After 17 years, talented ESPN television producer and social media expert Jason Romano has decided to pursue a new calling. Romano, who has worked on numerous successful TV shows for ESPN, says he’s been nudged by the lord to help spread his message, and as a result, he’s going to start his own consulting business to help churches, athletes and other companies with their social and digital media. He also plans to host a new faith and sports podcast.
Another ESPN employee received some positive news recently. Anish Shroff has been named the network’s new Lacrosse play by play voice. Shroff replaces Eamon McAnaney who left last month to join SNY.
A well deserved congratulations is in order for Tony DiGiacomo who was recently promoted to the position of Program Director at Charlotte’s sports station WFNZ. DiGiacomo had been with the station for about 8 years, serving as an Executive Producer and Assistant Program Director before officially being given the PD title.
Also at WFNZ, midday host Nathan Conley has exited the building and is no longer with the company.
Another story out of Charlotte. Gerry Vaillancourt is returning to the local airwaves this week, hosting evenings on powerhouse news talker WBT. Vaillancourt previously hosted shows on the station earlier in his career but left the market when the Hornets elected to depart for New Orleans. At the time he was part of the team’s broadcast crew.
A tip of the cap to the crew at 1620 The Zone in Omaha. The radio station closed out the 4th quarter in strong fashion, finishing 3rd in both morning and middays. The station was also top 6 M-F 6a-7p and M-SU 6a-Mid, plus outranked local competitor ESPN 590 on the weekends, despite being at a disadvantage due to 590 carrying Nebraska Cornhuskers football. A great job by all involved.
After 31 years in broadcasting, former ESPN 980 Program Director and Navy Football Executive Producer Chuck Sapienza is tackling a new challenge. Sapienza announced that he’s joining the staff of Mount Saint Joseph High School as their marketing manager. He says he’ll also continue to blog for Breaking Burgundy.
After being a budget cut casualty at ESPN 980 last month, Nick Ashooh has landed on his feet. The Washington D.C. based personality is moving across town to join 106.7 The Fan.
On the network level, Seth Everett won’t be hosting on Sunday night’s any longer for NBC Sports Radio. He will remain involved on a fill-in basis. In the meantime, Everett has hosted on Baltimore news talker WBAL, and he’ll be sitting in for a few days on Sports Illustrated’s SI Now with Andrew Perloff.
An interesting development in Knoxville. Mickey Dearstone was let go from his position of Program Director and Host last week, but is still appearing on the station’s airwaves due to his involvement as the voice of Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball. No word on why WNML chose to change direction.
Syracuse sports talk show host Mike Lindsley has added hosting duties on SB Nation Radio to his resume. Lindsley, who hosts weekdays from 3p-6p on The Score 1260, is hosting a new program called “The Saturday Tailgate“. The show airs every Saturday morning from 10a-12p ET.
While Lindsley’s addition may be positive, SB Nation Radio unfortunately had to part ties with a few of their staff members last week due to budgets. Lewis Woodard, and Will Palaszczuk, were among the on-air casualties. Each host is looking for their next opportunity.
Former NFL player and WDAE midday host Ian Beckles has signed on with Radio Influence to create a new weekly podcast.
In Portland, 750 The Game has added Devon Pouncey to its staff. Pouncey is originally from the Bay Area.
As one door closes, another one opens. Seth Stokes has left “The Swain Event” in order to join 106.3 WORD as a news reporter and digital content creator. With Stokes departing, Daniel Lewis has been named his replacement alongside Jayson Swain.
On the satellite radio airwaves, Robert Brender made his debut this past Saturday, hosting alongside former MLB manager Kevin Kennedy. The duo hosted the 4p-7p ET shift. No word yet on if it was a one-time test run or a program which SiriusXM will add to its weekend schedule.
TribLive Radio in Pittsburgh has reached a deal with Jordan Hall to cover NCAA and NFL football this fall.
The news isn’t as positive at CSN Philadelphia. The TV station has chosen to cancel their morning show “Breakfast on Broad“. Personalities involved with the show are expected to contribute to the TV station’s other local programs.
The post-Mike Goldberg era is beginning for the UFC. The company’s next pay per view will feature Jon Anik handling play-by-play alongside Joe Rogan. Dana White previously said he had a dream team of broadcasters in mind. Although this pairing should be very good, it doesn’t seem to be the out of the box combination White had been hinting at.

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 Details Interviewing For College Basketball Head Coaching Vacancy
“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
17 hours 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
18 hours 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
18 hours 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.
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