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Under The Radar – July 10, 2017

Jason Barrett

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The middle of July may not be a hotbed for the world of sports, but the sports media industry continues to produce it’s fair share of news and notes. Here’s the latest items we have for your reading pleasure. To be included in a future column please send your personal or company’s news, press release or other relatable items to us via email at [email protected].

A major story to keep your eyes on moving forward is what happens with FOX Sports television and digital star Katie Nolan. The network was said to have big plans for her on television but with Jamie Horowitz now gone from FS1, it’s expected that she will jump to ESPN when her contract expires later this year. Michael McCarthy of the Sporting News addressed that issue and a few others related to FS1’s future in his latest column. To read it click here.

For all of the hits ESPN has taken in the past for controversial decisions surrounding the ESPYS, it’s only fair to give them credit when they hit an absolute homer run. That’s exactly what they’ve done this year by announcing that legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully had been selected as this year’s recipient of the Icon Award. The award will be presented by actor Bryan Cranston of “Breaking Bad”. The award is given out to individuals whose careers have left a lasting impression on the sports world. The ESPYS air Wednesday night at 8pm ET on ABC. Peyton Manning serves as the special guest host.

WFAN has announced its fill-in schedule this week for afternoons. Evan Roberts and Chris Christie occupy Mike Francesa’s seat Monday-Tuesday, Evan and Mike Valenti of 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit work together Wednesday and Thursday, and Valenti hosts opposite Chris Simms on Friday. With Roberts sliding up for the majority of the week into afternoons Joe Beningo is joined in middays by Brian Custer, Gregg Giannotti and Kim Jones, before reuniting with Roberts for Friday’s program.

Continuing with the WFAN audition process, Bryan Curtis of The Ringer asked Francesa if Chris Christie could replace him and what challenges the New Jersey Governor would have to overcome in order to do the job successfully. To read Mike’s responses click here.

Congratulations is in order for Rick Schultz. The former Hudson Valley Renegades announcer and upstate New York radio host has been named the new Sports Director for Fordham University’s WFUV Radio. Schultz is a former student at the school and says he’s looking forward to continuing the school’s tradition of training and developing top sportscasting professionals.

If you missed it in last week’s column, BSM has a few upcoming projects that will require additional contributions from industry members. If you have a passion for sports radio, an ability to write, a good ear, and want to increase your profile in the business, send an email by clicking here.

FOX Sports 640 in Miami has rebranded as 640 The Hurricane. The station made the switch after announcing it had landed the play by play rights for Miami Hurricanes college football. Program Director Paul Mason says the station wants to present an edgier and more aggressive attitude and the name fits perfectly with that strategy and the addition of the Hurricanes. 640 also carries the New York Yankees, Florida Panthers and NFL games.

Genesis Communications has added Rock Riley to afternoons. The Tampa sports media veteran has previously hosted shows on WDAE and 98.7 The Fan. He’ll be heard weekdays 3p-6p ET on 1040 The Team in Tampa and 1080 The Team in Orlando.

107.9 The Franchise in Tulsa has struck a deal with Oral Roberts University to become the new flagship radio station for Golden Eagles Men’s basketball. Games will also be carried on 1270AM. Adam Hildebrandt will continue to call the action.

Things are trending upward for DK Sports Radio in Pittsburgh. The digital broadcast which features former Pittsburgh and Boston sports radio host Tim Benz has revealed it will add additional programming and a live stream in September. For more details click here.

92.9 ESPN in Memphis has named Bennett Doyle the Executive Producer of the Jason & John midday show. Doyle will double as the station’s Sports Director of Social Engagement and Web. He’s been with Entercom-Memphis since January 2013, serving as Promotions & Events Manager for all of the company’s local radio stations. Additionally he’s worked as a weekend and overnight personality since October 2016 on FM100 (WMC-FM).

Former WPDH-FM morning show contributor Colonel Craig Flowers has landed a weekend show on 104.9 The Horn. Flowers can be heard Saturday mornings at 9am CT.

The end of the line has been reached by ESPN New Hampshire. Absolute Broadcasting has flipped the sports station to Oldies Radio WGAM.

Sacramento hosts Rex McNeil and The Phantom (formerly of the Rise Guys) have teamed up on a new sports podcast titled #The30. The show is available on Soundcloud and can be located by clicking here.

Congratulations to Mike Ferrin who is celebrating 10 years with SiriusXM. Ferrin hosts for the satellite company on MLB Network Radio. He also is part of the Arizona Diamondbacks radio broadcast team, hosting pre and postgame shows.

Barrett Sallee has confirmed that he is joining CBS Sports to cover college football for the network. Sallee has previously contributed for Bleacher Report, FOX Sports, MLB.com, CNN and Scout.com. In addition to the new opportunity with CBS he’ll continue to host on SiriusXM’s College Sports Nation channel and the SEC Smothered and Covered Podcast.

After twenty years in journalism Mark Snyder is ready for a new adventure. Snyder has announced his departure from the Detroit Free-Press. He added that the newspaper has set the standard for writing in his home state and across the country and he’ll continue to support it as a reader but he’s moving on from the sports media industry.

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Jason Puckett Launches PuckSports.com

“I am super motivated right now and I can’t wait. I have probably been busier now than I’ve ever been in the last 48 hours.”

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Logo for PuckSports.com

Jason Puckett, who decided to walk away from a contract offer from iHeartMedia’s KJR in Seattle after finding out his partner Jim Moore had been laid off, has launched a new venture – PuckSports.com. ‘Puck’ has a baseball opening day show posted on the Puck Sports YouTube page and also posted an introductory message about his new venture and what led to creating it.

“I wanted to talk to you guys, the listeners out there, the viewers out there, sorry for all of this,” an emotional Puckett said. “Sorry for what has happened and what has taken place. Thank you for all of the comments and the well-wishes and what you have said about myself and Jim.

“It has been a whirlwind of a last few days, for sure and I do want to say that I feel for the people that we used to work with. “I know it’s not easy to go through that, I have been on that side of it many, many times in this industry when someone is let go and you have to sit there and answer all the questions about them and for them…It’s unfortunate and it shouldn’t be that way, but the reality of this business is it’s like that.”

Puckett then told his fans that PuckSports.com and YouTube are where you will be finding his content along with Moore. “I am going to take what I have learned over the years and apply it to a new age of media,” he said and noted this was a direction he had been thinking about for a while.

As for what took place that led to his decision to not sign his contract and talk away, he said, “I just want to take you briefly back to last week. I don’t want to get too much in the weeds, I’m not here to lay any blame or point any fingers at anybody…there’s too many good people that I have worked with that I don’t want to drag into this. It was a process that was at times handled fine, handled perfectly, and at other times it got to a point where it just went on too long. But that’s corporate media and that’s what happens.”

Continuing on Puckett said, “…I had been without a contract since about January…when I was away from the station that was something that we and the station agreed upon…to see if we could get something done and we were all hopeful that we would…I was only supposed to be gone a couple of days…unfortunately as these things sometimes happen, it just went a little bit longer…We received the deal and it was what we wanted, but unfortunately with that news a few hours later came the news from corporate that Jim had lost his job. Obviously there was a mix of emotions with that from me.

“I wrestled with that and the decision and what I would do. It was hard for me to move forward…I couldn’t fight the perception more than anything that I had received a new deal while at the same time, my partner and good friend, guy I love to death, who I grew up reading…it was a hard reality…The loyalty I have, I couldn’t live with myself even though Jim knew what the truth was.”

Puckett said he was aware Moore was planning to step away from the radio show at the end of the year and was looking forward to the nine months they would have left to work with one another. Then, when iHeartMedia made the decision to make Moore a casualty of their latest round of layoffs, Puckett knew he needed to revisit the idea of starting his own venture.

He said, “It has kind of changed my timeline as far as what I wanted to do and where I felt I was at…I am super motivated right now and I can’t wait. I have probably been busier now than I’ve ever been in the last 48 hours.”

Puckett said several of the show’s regular guests would stay with the show and he thanked several sponsors who he said would remain supporters of the show with the new venture. ‘Puck’ noted that starting next week, “…We get underway in full force…I’m going to continue to try and make people laugh and entertain you and talk about sports…and all of the other things you have become accustomed to with this show.”

As he started to wrap up, Puckett said, “I’m jumping into the deep end of the pool and I am going to see if I can swim or sink.”

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Kirk Minihane: WEEI is “Going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in Afternoons”

“It’s going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in the afternoons, which is going to be so awful.”

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Photos of Kirk Minihane and Rich Shertenlieb

As the speculation continues on where Boston sports talker Rich Shertenlieb will end up, one former WEEI host said he has the scoop on what is going to happen. Kirk Minihane, now with Barstool Sports, said, “What I heard was, initially, was they were moving Rich Keefe from nights to middays, moving Adam Jones from afternoons to middays and keeping Fauria there, and moving Andy Gresh to afternoons…But now it appears Rich Shertenlieb is going to do afternoons with Andy Gresh.”

On Wednesday, Boston Globe sports and sports media columnist Chad Finn put out a post on X, saying, “Didn’t think Rich Shertenlieb would end up at WEEI after leaving Sports Hub. I do now, most likely in afternoon drive. Audacy management has been telling people to expect changes.”

Minihane continued commenting on the matter, saying, “It’s going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in the afternoons, which is going to be so awful. Maybe the two most sensitive c***s in the history of radio. That’s a show we are going to ruin…we haven’t done that in a while, we are going to take that show down…Once that show starts, we are just going to blitz them with phone calls because Gresh can’t handle that.

“What they don’t understand, because they are so dumb, is that…Rich Shertenlieb has no fan base…no fan of [Toucher and Hardy] in the morning is going to be like ‘I’m not going to listen to Felger in the afternoons, I’ll now listen to Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb.’ It’s going to be dreadful.”

Recapping what he has heard the rest of the WEEI lineup will be, Minihane said, “…And then in middays you have Adam Jones, failed afternoons. Rich Keefe who has now failed middays, drivetime, nights and is now going to fail again in middays… and Christian Fauria who has never drawn a rating in his life.”

WEEI has not commented on any of the speculation. BSM will have more as the story unfolds.

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Former 670 The Score Host Tommy Williams Has Died

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Photo of Tommy Williams
Courtesy: Lakeshore Public Media

Tommy Williams, who was heard for a decade on 670 The Score, died on Wednesday at the age of 66.

Williams began his broadcasting career in his hometown of Gary, Indiana in 1982 at WLTH before moving on to The Score. In 2003, Williams became the PA Announcer for the Gary Southshore RailCats of the American Association where he had his signature call to get the attention of the fans, “People, People, People.”

A story in The Times of Northwest Indiana said, “The longtime RailCats public address announcer and Lakeshore Public Media sports journalist was known for broadcasting countless games, interviewing countless athletes and covering Region sports at all levels. The Gary native and co-host of “Prep Sports Report,” “Prep Football Report,” and “Lakeshore PBS Scoreboard” often signed off shows saying, “Gary, Indiana, you know I love you.”

“The cadence he had in his voice echoed across the Region in a way we may never see again. He was widely known and widely loved,” Tom Maloney, vice president of radio operations at Lakeshore Public Media told the paper.

“He’d want to be remembered as the voice of Lakeshore sports,” his Regionally Speaking co-host and producer Dee Dotson told The Times. “Most people will remember him for covering prep sports all the way up to semi-pros. He’ll be remembered for treating each of his subjects like they were world champions. His depth of knowledge of sports at all levels is commendable. He was a walking encyclopedia of stats.” 

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