Over 100 Untold Stories

While NFL fans hope for a quality game and a solid telecast of the Super Bowl, others hope that the two weeks of hype starts taking a more solid direction moving forward. The making news when there is no news to justify "covering" the Super Bowl seems even more uneventful, probably due to all of the social media and podcasts adding to the broadcast and print media mix.

The rosters of the participating teams, along with the coaching staffs and front offices, total more than 150 people, each with their own story to tell. However, it seems like all we see are the starting quarterbacks answering the same questions they faced all season. Worse yet, this year seems to have set a record for media people interviewing media people.

Interviewing one of the beat writers or reporters of a participating team has merit, but radio and TV stations and newspapers didn't need to send reporters to Atlanta (or host city) to do that. Not when there are more than 150 stories to tell associated with the participating teams.


INDIANAPOLIS: Jeff Rickard adds co-hosting middays on WFNI The Fan 1070 and 107.5. The "Jeff & Big Joe Show" now airs from 10 AM to Noon on weekdays with former Colt Joe Staysniak remaining in the co-host role. Rickard replaces Michael Grady, who had been co-hosting from New York after joining the YES Network as sideline reporter for the Brooklyn Nets in 2017. Grady had been with the station for eight years.


ST. LOUIS: The disappointing season by the Blues has caused KMOX to drop the broadcasts it has done for the majority of the team's existence. The remainder of this season will complete this 12 season run. Beginning with the 2019-20 season, the Blues will air on WXOS ESPN 101.1. The station just extended its affiliation with ESPN Radio while marking its 10th anniversary as an affiliate.


RICHMOND: As we reported last week, WJFK-FM Washington D.C. is looking to syndicate its successful "Sports Junkies" morning show around the region. This week it was announced that WRNL-AM 910 The Fan has added "Sports Junkies" as its morning show. The Richmond market always shows very well with NFL TV ratings, especially for Redskins and division games. Having a strong Redskins presence in the morning should help during NFL season. However, since the coming season is now months away, it remains to be seen whether or not this move will impact the audience in the short term.


ORLANDO: WYGM 96.9 The Game will debut a new afternoon drive program on February 11th. "In The Zone with Brandon Kravitz & The Shot Doctor" will debut. THe 'Shot Doctor' is Austin Pistulka, who is also the Executive Producer.


COLUMBIA SC: Phil Kornblut and "SportsTalk" continues from 6 to 8 PM on 100.7 and 1470 The Point even though the S.C. (South Carolina) Radio Network was discontinued last week. Kornblut's show has been part of the state's sports radio scene for the past 35 years, airing on as many as 30 other stations around the state. The Point's web site will continue to stream SportsTalk. Kornblut will also continue his recruiting column for the Post & Courier.