With the debut of CBS Radio sports station “92.3 The Fan” on WKRK/92.3 less than one week away, we have to update some stuff…including some loose ends regarding the outgoing “Radio 92.3” alt-rock format…
LINEUP (NEARLY) SET: The station’s weekday host lineup is nearly set, with a couple of things still out there.
* We already knew that former Fox Sports Radio duo “Kiley and Booms” (Kevin Kiley paired with Euclid’s own Chuck Booms) were set to anchor morning drive.
We hear that a familiar voice when it comes to morning drive sports radio news updates will join them, though we haven’t confirmed that as of yet.
We hear that speculation that Kiley will be doing his part of the show via ISDN from his home area of Northern Virginia is inaccurate, with Kiley to sit next to Booms in the Halle Building each morning. Or, at least, in the same studio.
We blame a Miami Herald story on Kiley’s departure from WQAM/560 there for part of that, by the way. Kiley’s general manager told the paper that his host was leaving his Dallas-based show with former Dallas Cowboys great Michael Irvin to go home to Virginia “for personal reasons”…while it was known by many that Kiley was heading for 92.3’s morning drive slot here. Maybe “for personal reasons” meant that he had to pick up some stuff in Virginia first.
* It is all but confirmed that Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 “NewsChannel 5” sports director Andy Baskin will be heard on “The Fan” from 10 AM to 2 PM.
Though this cat was let out of the bag by Akron Beacon Journal sportswriter George Thomas in his Friday “Airing It Out” sports media column, we have also been aware of this news since last week. And the phrase “have you heard about Andy Baskin and the new sports station?” has been heavy in our E-mail the past week or so, though we haven’t heard from Baskin ourselves.
Baskin will be paired with someone, but we don’t know whom.
As of yet, we hear that no co-host has been named for the 10 AM-2 PM slot on 92.3, and that the second chair could be filled by anyone from a newspaper type, or another radio type, or an ex-athlete. We could find out on Monday at 10 AM.
Baskin is not at all a stranger to radio.
He does NewsChannel 5-branded sports updates on CBS Radio brother classic rocker WNCX/98.5, and has done them for three years (remotely – he’s not a part of the station’s morning show crew).
And his NewsChannel 5 bio points out that it’ll be a return to the frequency to him.
He was sports director of the old “92Q” WRQC, the station’s top 40 incarnation some years back. (It’s also Booms’ return, of course, after a brief stint as a morning co-host in the “Jammin’ 92.3” days.) Baskin also did sports talk on WBNS/1460 “The Fan”, back in its days as an AM outlet, so he’s no stranger to saying “The Fan” into a microphone.
Again, as noted, this will be a second job for Baskin…he’ll remain as WEWS’ sports director.
His name was noted on the air briefly last week by the last guy to do the TV sports/talk radio split, Good Karma Broadcasting sports WKNR/850 “ESPN 850″‘s Tony Rizzo, former sports anchor at Local TV LLC WJW/8 “Fox 8″…
* He’s not on the air yet, but Adam “The Bull” Gerstenhaber (no, he won’t use his last name on the air) has been laying down the groundwork for his new Cleveland audience by very extensive use of social media.
He’s been doing online commentary on Browns and Indians games, sharing details about himself and his life (he just moved to Lakewood) and interacting with listeners and future listeners, much like he did in his stint at New York’s WFAN/660, the original “Fan” sports talker.
One thing he hasn’t been able to share yet – the name of his 2-7 PM co-host…
* Like the E-mail about Andy Baskin’s involvement with “The Fan”, one name has been peppering our inbox attached to the station’s 7 PM-midnight slot.
He’s Ken Carman, the former Clear Channel sports WARF/1350 Akron “Fox Sports 1350” afternoon drive host who has continued his work on the broadcast team for the minor league Akron Aeros on that same station.
We haven’t confirmed his hiring yet, but if we turn on the radio to 92.3 Monday evening at 7 and don’t hear his voice, we’ll be shocked.
And with the Aeros in the home stretch of their season, we’ll assume Jim Clark can handle the team’s call solo in the last week or two…
* As we reported earlier, Fox Sports Radio will fill 92.3’s overnight hours, and presumably some weekend hours.
A lot is still not known yet, at least by us.
We’ve heard a number of names kicked around for other on-air and off-air duties, including update anchors and beat reporters, but nothing confirmed.
We also have no details about what local programming “The Fan” will mount on weekends, though we certainly expect that the station will do a lot on weekends.
Off-air, CBS Radio promotions staffers have been showing up at the infamous Muni Lot before the Browns’ first two pre-season games on behalf of “The Fan”, a radio station that has yet to take to the airwaves.
* And that “Radio 92.3” loose end…we hear that the station’s only live, local show, Sunday night’s local music showcase “Inner Sanctum”, has found a landing spot.
Starting Sunday, September 4th, we hear that “Inner Sanctum” will slide over to Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting AAA outlet WNWV/107.3 “V107.3”, not even missing one week on the air. (The last show on 92.3 will air Sunday night.) As far as we know, it’ll retain the same 10 PM-midnight time slot.
The move makes sense, when you consider “Inner Sanctum’s” “Pat the Producer” worked with V107.3 program director “Rocco” Bennett at WENZ/107.9, back in its rock days as “The End”…
* Coming up: What is WKNR doing about its coming competition? We’ll tackle (get it? tackle?) that in a later item…and yes, there are plenty of signs that the Galleria is gearing up for the battle…
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