There's no better way to sum up what Harry Kalas meant to the Philadelphia Phillies and the world of baseball than this succinct thought from team president David Montgomery: "We lost our voice." The news that the Hall of Fame broadcaster and successor to John Facenda at NFL Films collapsed Monday afternoon at Nationals Stadium in Washington and passed away a short time later has further numbed a sport already coping with the untimely deaths of the legendary Mark "The Bird" Fidrych and young Los Angeles Angels phenom Nick Adenhart. Kalas was 73 and a 44-year veteran of the rigors of broadcasting the great game. His presence in the booth was as synonymous with the Phils as Vin Scully and the Dodgers, Ernie Harwell and the Tigers or Marty Brennaman and the Reds. "I always find it interesting when a celebrity passes away and people are so quick to say, 'He was a great actor,' … [Read more...]
Rain delays game, washes out Orioles broadcast
A downpour began pelting the field in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., almost as soon as the first pitch was thrown Sunday in the Grapefruit League contest between the New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles. Having been around the game for so long, announcers Joe Angel and Fred Manfra were surely readying for a long afternoon at the ballpark. After about 40 minutes of steady rain, according to the Baltimore Sun's Ray Frager, the Orioles' radio team received a call from flagship station 105.7 The Fan. The game, they were told, was going to be canceled and there was no use hanging around in the booth. After an hour and 28 minutes, the game resumed — but the radio broadcast didn't. Manfra told the Sun's Peter Schmuck there was no way he and his partner would have made the call to hightail it out of the park. "Joe and I didn't make that decision. That's above our pay grade," he … [Read more...]
Is WFAN studio big enough for Francesa, Kellerman?
Rumors are rampant in the Big Apple that Max Kellerman could soon be joining sports radio outlet WFAN, perhaps as the new co-host on Mike Francesa's afternoon-drive show. Kellerman resigned last week from rival ESPN 1050 and Big Apple media columnists are reporting he is already in talks with WFAN. Putting egos the size of Kellerman's and Francesa's on the same show would no doubt draw interest at the outset, but is it a pairing that could last? Here's what the New York Post's Phil Mushnick thinks about a potential Francesa-Kellerman coupling: " ... Both men are so thoroughly impressed with themselves that placing them in the same studio at the same time without the presence of sharpshooters armed with elephant tranquilizers would be ill-advised. In a medium that accentuates the self-smitten, Francesa and Kellerman are standouts." Francesa has been without a permanent … [Read more...]
MLB seeking to get more out of satellite radio
Major League Baseball is pushing to rework its satellite radio rights deal in the wake of last year's Sirius-XM merger. SportsBusiness Journal's John Ourand reports on the satellite radio-MLB negotiations, noting that several months of talks have yet to yield an agreement. With three weeks to go before the start of the regular season, about half of Sirius XM Satellite Radio's 19 million subscribers — the 9 million who were Sirius customers — still don't have access to MLB's live game broadcasts. In 2004, MLB signed an 11-year, $650 million deal to be carried exclusively on XM, by far the richest satellite radio contract consummated by any of the professional sports leagues. Sirius XM was successful in getting the NFL and NBA to make their games available to its entire subscriber base without having to increase rights fees. One analyst opined in the SBJ piece that with … [Read more...]
It’s ‘Mad Dog Radio’
Chris "Mad Dog" Russo has, as expected, landed at Sirius XM Satellite Radio where he will host a five-hour daily sports talk show and help assemble the talent for a channel to be dubbed "Mad Dog Radio." Russo's new program, "The Mad Dog Sports Show," debuts at 2 p.m. ET Sept. 14 on Sirius channel 123 and XM channel 14, the New York Daily News reported. “The challenge of having a channel, the idea you can do anything you want with it, make the channel the Mad Dog brand — hire people — put together shows that will air 24 hours a day — I felt at this stage of my career, that opportunity was never going to come again,” Russo said at a press conference Tuesday in New York. According to the Daily News, Russo, 48, signed a five-year deal with the satellite radio provider worth about $3 million per year. Russo ended his partnership with Mike Francesa on … [Read more...]
‘Mike & the Mad Dog’ put to sleep
Love them or hate them, there's no denying WFAN's "Mike & the Mad Dog" revolutionized what has become of sports-talk radio. The cerebral Mike Francesa and vitriolic Chris Russo provided a blueprint for stations across the dial yet maintained an originality that set it apart from its imitators. New York's top-rated sports talk show is now officially no more with the announcement Thursday that "Mad Dog" Russo has left WFAN after 19 years of being teamed with Francesa. The development was presaged in June by Newsday columnist Neil Best, who reported the relationship between the two had become strained and their future together was in doubt. Francesa, 54, will go it alone as host of his own daily show. Concurrent with Russo's departure was word that Francesa, who also hosts a weekly show on New York's WNBC-TV, has inked a new longterm deal with WFAN. Russo, … [Read more...]
Imus announcement said imminent
The announcement of Don Imus' return to radio could come as soon as this week, according to various reports. Imus is expected to be back on the air in morning drive on or around Dec. 3 on New York AM talker WABC (770). Citadel Broadcasting, which owns ABC Radio, will likely syndicate the program as CBS Radio did when Imus' show was based at WFAN in New York. Imus was fired by CBS in April for what the company considered racially insensitive remarks about Rutgers University's women's basketball team. The TV simulcast of the show on MSNBC was also canceled. … [Read more...]
Tirico gets ESPN radio gig
ESPN Radio has chosen the omnipresent Mike Tirico to take over the afternoon talk gig recently vacated by Dan Patrick. Tirico, the play-by-play voice of "Monday Night Football" and NBA telecasts, will debut "The Mike Tirico Show" at 1 p.m. (ET) Thursday. He was one of the original hosts when ESPN Radio launched in 1992. Stephen A. Smith, who previously hosted 1050 ESPN Radio's "Stephen A. Smith Show" from noon-2 p.m. weekdays in New York, will move to the 2-4 p.m. slot, with the final hour going national on ESPN Radio. Patrick announced in July that he was leaving ESPN after 18 years to pursue other opportunites including a syndicated radio talk show. The new show reportedly has received one of its first clearances in the San Diego market. The San Diego Union-Tribune said that as soon as the Padres' season ends, XX Sports Radio will unveil a new midday lineup that will include the … [Read more...]
Imus settles, plans comeback
Fired radio talk host Don Imus has reached a settlement with CBS over his multimillion-dollar contract and sources tell the Associated Press he is in negotiations to return to the air on New York station WABC. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Imus was fired by CBS four months ago after he made racist and sexist comments on his morning show on New York's WFAN about players on the Rutgers women's basketball team. MSNBC, which aired a simulcast of the nationally syndicated radio show, also dropped Imus. WABC is a logical destination for Imus. The station features politically oriented talk and counts among its on-air personalities Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Meanwhile, WFAN comfirmed Tuesday it has hired sportscaster and former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason and New Jersey radio personality Craig Carton to host the show that will replace Imus' in morning drive. … [Read more...]
Cardinals reup with KTAR
The NFL's Arizona Cardinals said Monday the team has renewed its radio contract with KTAR (620) for three years in a deal that will keep its games on the station through 2010. KTAR is also the radio home of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks, the NBA's Phoenix Suns and Arizona State University football and basketball. … [Read more...]
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