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How Does WJOX Keep Listeners Under Its Umbrella?

“An overwhelming variety of new media choices for audiences could have bred fear for radio stations, but embracing new media has been a strength of JOX so far.”

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For over 20 years Cumulus Media’s WJOX has served the Birmingham market with its favorite drug: SEC football. The past few years have seen changes externally and internally, but those changes have not caused Alabama’s top sports station to waiver. JOX continuously makes the moves to provide their audience with the content they crave, with a variety of options to keep JOX content in the ears of its audience.

“It’s about a lifestyle. It’s about the college football lifestyle, most notably the SEC,” said Ryan Haney, the operations manager and program director at WJOX in Birmingham, Alabama. “Alabama and Auburn, that’s what fuels us.”

The Alabama market may be perceived as limited to strictly Alabama and Auburn football, but JOX gives its listeners a buffet of sports content to enjoy. The station provides central Alabama with three stations that combine to broadcast 600-700 games a year across a plethora of sports and competition levels, from local high school games to pro ball. Each station presents different takes with different partnerships.

The idea behind JOX is similar to ESPN, Haney said, “Give everybody everything under the JOX umbrella so they won’t go other places.”

JOX 94.5 is the flagship station broadcasting live and local with the premiere shows: JOX Roundtable, 3 Man Front, The Paul Finebaum Show, and JOX Primetime, a live evening show, something that is rare for a market the size of Birmingham. JOX 2 on 100.5 serves Birmingham and Tuscaloosa with JOX content along with ESPN Radio content such as “The Stephen A. Smith Show” and “The Dan Le Batard Show.” JOX 3 690 AM hosts Fox Sports and “The Jim Rome Show,” among others. Between the three Stations, JOX holds rights affiliations with the likes of ESPN, the Tennessee Titans, the Atlanta Falcons and Braves, UAB and many others.

That is a lot of content. But it’s the passion of the fanbases, for better or worse, that drive the market.

Haney says while listeners want their teams to be successful, there is payoff in adversity, citing coach firings, athlete controversies and unexpected losses, such as the one Alabama suffered to Clemson in the national championship, as some of the most listened days.

“Coaching changes and championship losses fire people up more than anything I’ve ever seen,” he said.

Image result for saban loses

Radio has fought off new media stepping on its turf for over a century, and sports radio has been no different. As impressive as radio’s longevity is, it is not always the battle with the many media outlets that define radio’s victories, but rather how they intertwine and work together.

“It’s different, you know?” Haney said. “The radio industry, when I first got in it, was you did radio, I mean, it was on the dial. That’s what you did. And then came this thing called the internet stream and then this thing called the mobile app, and then it was podcasting.” 

An overwhelming variety of new media choices for audiences could have bred fear for radio stations, but embracing new media has been a strength of JOX so far. 

“You have to leverage relationships in this business to help each other because at the end of the day, while you’re all fighting for the same consumer, there are strategic ways you can help each other,” Haney said.

Social media plays a big role as well, where talent can show a more human side of themselves to resonate with the audience. Haney said branding is everything, and the way you brand yourself off air is just as important as on.

Those risks don’t just involve working with new media, but new people as well. 

Early 2018 brought about a huge change when JOX’s well-established morning show The Opening Drive was replaced by 3 Man Front.

“Change is difficult on everybody. It’s difficult on the listeners, the staff and especially the people that lose employment,” Haney said. “By nature people don’t like change, but like anything, once the decision is made and you’re moving forward, you have a plan and you work that plan every single day.”

3-Man Front is Cole Cubelic, Aaron Suttles and Landrum Roberts. The show airs weekdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. CST. Haney elevated his previous mid-day show, The JOX Roundtable, to morning drive after The Opening Drive’s exit.

Image result for 3 man front

“It’s raw,” Haney said of his newest show. “You hear those guys, they’re going to tell you what they think, and you may not always agree with it, and it may come off abrasive, but that’s not the intent. But, they’re being real. It goes back to being authentic.”

Roberts worked for JOX early in his career, producing and co-hosting a handful of shows, and after a lengthy break from radio, found himself on one of JOX’s premiere lineups.

Suttles brings a decade’s worth of award-winning journalistic experience. He is also a beat reporter for The Athletic covering Bama football.

Cole Cubelic is the flash hire of the group, having a working relationship with JOX for over a decade while building an impressive run with ESPN that began in 2011. The former Auburn offensive lineman has built a reputation for his honest, straight-forward style.

“In my opinion, Cole is one of the brightest stars at ESPN, and with Cole, what you see is what you get,” Haney said. “I know the guy personally and he’s very kind and reasonable. He’s passionate about what he does.”

The Opening Drive, hosted by Jay Barker, Al Del Greco and Tony Kurre, was a flagship show for JOX. The show’s cancellation shook up the station’s schedule and surprised many listeners.

“Those guys are personal friends of mine that had a tremendous run and they’re as responsible for the success of this radio station right now as anybody,” Haney said. 

While 3 Man Front is one of the station’s three local offerings, JOX looks to Paul Finebaum for regional coverage of the SEC. JOX views Finebaum as family despite his show being broadcast from Charlotte, North Carolina. Paul has made an appearance on Mondays regularly for The JOX Roundtable, and The Opening Drive before that for close to a decade, and has shown his faithfulness to JOX while remaining an ESPN employee.

“He’s somebody that, despite where he is now, he still remembers where he’s from and what got him there,” Haney said. “I think what’s really important is that he understands how important he is in the Birmingham market.”

Call-in shows, like Finebaum’s, are a staple in the sports radio business. Haney compares Paul’s show to one of America’s most famous bands.

“Paul is Bruce Springsteen and his callers are the E Street Band, meaning Springsteen could do it on his own, but if you ever saw Springsteen and the E Street Band perform, you see that there’s a lot of really good players involved and Bruce will let his players each have a turn at the spotlight. Well, that’s kind of how Paul does his show,” Haney said.

But in the busy culture of today, and with podcasting on the rise, many consumers miss out on live radio, or simply choose to download their entertainment for their convenience. Rather than fight the idea of a podcast-radio partnership, JOX has embraced the growing medium, using podcasts for a multitude of purposes.

JOX’s main use of podcasts is taking the best segments to create a daily recap that lasts anywhere between 20 minutes to an hour, aptly naming this category of content JOX Extra. The idea being, if you miss a show, when you listen back, you get the best content all in one sitting. Haney said it is not realistic to expect listeners to sit and listen to a four hour show after they’ve missed it live.

Haney said JOX Extra is a platform for hosts and producers to flex their muscles with more niche content. “It gives people a chance to talk about stuff they’re passionate about outside of what they just have to talk about,” he said.

Image result for jox extra

From golf to pro wrestling to movie reviews, the audience is there to consume these popular topics that are not necessarily strong enough to combat the lifestyle of SEC football in central Alabama.

“Podcasting gives a great avenue to be authentic. We should be authentic on the air because authenticity creates loyalty, creates equity, with our listeners,” Haney said.

Sports radio is on the upswing and stations like JOX are a big reason why, providing quality content to an important southeastern market. Haney said he sees great things on the horizon as long as JOX sticks to its gameplan.

“If we bring in the right attitude, a game plan where you don’t play scared, you come in everyday and you work to get better,” he said. “You take calculated risks and if they don’t work you change them. That’s how you win.”

As for the future of the sports radio, Haney said the industry could go in a number of different directions, but will only continue its success if it stays flexible and keeps the audience in mind.

“The media landscape will keep changing. It changes daily,” he said. ‘But, if we super-serve our audience with what they want: Alabama, Auburn, the SEC and more, control what we can control, embrace new media, learn from our mistakes and work at them … everything will be fine.”

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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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