CBS FM Sports Lineup Projections/Predictions

[zrl]

I don't really have any inside scoop on what Andy Roth & CBS is going to do, but if I had Andy Roth's new gig what I would do (as though anyone cares) is....

Weekdays:
6-10AM Booms & Kiley
10AM-1PM Les Levine & Bud Shaw
1-4PM Jeff Thomas & Ken Carman
4-7PM Adam the Bull & Dennis Manoloff
7-10PM Steve French (but assuming he won't leave WNIR) maybe Kevin Keane & Daryl Ruiter
10PM-1AM Robert Wuhl (Westwood One on delay)
1-6AM Sports Overnight America (Sports Byline network)

Weekends:
Matt Loede, Joe Lull, Kendall Lewis, Ken Silverstein would all be in the mix here-- so would Keane & Ruiter if they don't have weekday spots. (I might even try to dust off Reggie Rucker for a shift here & there).

While OMW & others are saying Fox will get the overnights- and FSR overnights are when they are for the most part listenable with Bruno & JT; I like the Sports Overnight show even though its on a network with almost NO affiliates.

In reality for weekend filler Fox (or YAHOO! sports) may be necessary.

 

[vjm]

I don't really have any inside scoop on what Andy Roth & CBS is going to do, but if I had Andy Roth's new gig what I would do (as though anyone cares) is....

Weekdays:
6-10AM Booms & Kiley
10AM-1PM Les Levine & Bud Shaw
1-4PM Jeff Thomas & Ken Carman
4-7PM Adam the Bull & Dennis Manoloff
7-10PM Steve French (but assuming he won't leave WNIR) maybe Kevin Keane & Daryl Ruiter
10PM-1AM Robert Wuhl (Westwood One on delay)
1-6AM Sports Overnight America (Sports Byline network)

Weekends:
Matt Loede, Joe Lull, Kendall Lewis, Ken Silverstein would all be in the mix here-- so would Keane & Ruiter if they don't have weekday spots. (I might even try to dust off Reggie Rucker for a shift here & there).

While OMW & others are saying Fox will get the overnights- and FSR overnights are when they are for the most part listenable with Bruno & JT; I like the Sports Overnight show even though its on a network with almost NO affiliates.

In reality for weekend filler Fox (or YAHOO! sports) may be necessary.

Steve French is an institution on Akron, but people in Cleveland wouldn't know who he is by and large (remember, he's also the PBP voice for Akron U football and hoops, so nights for him are out anyway).

Reggie Rucker is the Browns analyst on WEWS, maybe a similar role on The Fan would work, but dear God not a full 3 hour show (lived through that once already in WKNR's infancy).

And CBS will likely do 4 four hour shows (6-10, 10-2, 2-6, 6-10) so that's the schedule to work off of.

Plus FSR is sounding more and more likely to reside over late nights/weekends on The Fan.

 

[former interm]

I don't really have any inside scoop on what Andy Roth & CBS is going to do, but if I had Andy Roth's new gig what I would do (as though anyone cares) is....

Weekdays:
6-10AM Booms & Kiley
10AM-1PM Les Levine & Bud Shaw
1-4PM Jeff Thomas & Ken Carman
4-7PM Adam the Bull & Dennis Manoloff
7-10PM Steve French (but assuming he won't leave WNIR) maybe Kevin Keane & Daryl Ruiter
10PM-1AM Robert Wuhl (Westwood One on delay)
1-6AM Sports Overnight America (Sports Byline network)

Weekends:
Matt Loede, Joe Lull, Kendall Lewis, Ken Silverstein would all be in the mix here-- so would Keane & Ruiter if they don't have weekday spots. (I might even try to dust off Reggie Rucker for a shift here & there).

While OMW & others are saying Fox will get the overnights- and FSR overnights are when they are for the most part listenable with Bruno & JT; I like the Sports Overnight show even though its on a network with almost NO affiliates.

In reality for weekend filler Fox (or YAHOO! sports) may be necessary.

Why Ruiter????? He is not someone who can host a show on a major station. He is an update guy at best.

I am also hoping CBS hires some respected reporters/writers for their website. Go all out and make the station and its website a place to go to for Cleveland sports news.

 

[Tim]

Wonder if the only local guys CBS hires is "ticker" folks?

You'd think they'd want at least one local guy....even if it's just weekends, huh?

 

[former interm]

Wonder if the only local guys CBS hires is "ticker" folks?

You'd think they'd want at least one local guy....even if it's just weekends, huh?

After listening to Bruce Hooley on WKNR last week for two days, i would hope he gets some consideration. Much better than any of these names mentioned earlier: Matt Loede, Joe Lull, Kendall Lewis, Ken Silverstein, Reggie Rucker, etc.....

Seriously, someone mentioned Reggie Rucker. Do you not remember when he had his own show on WKNR when they launched. It was beyond brutal.

 

[Rusty Muck]

I don't really have any inside scoop on what Andy Roth & CBS is going to do, but if I had Andy Roth's new gig what I would do (as though anyone cares) is....

Weekdays:
6-10AM Booms & Kiley
10AM-1PM Les Levine & Bud Shaw
1-4PM Jeff Thomas & Ken Carman
4-7PM Adam the Bull & Dennis Manoloff
7-10PM Steve French (but assuming he won't leave WNIR) maybe Kevin Keane & Daryl Ruiter
10PM-1AM Robert Wuhl (Westwood One on delay)
1-6AM Sports Overnight America (Sports Byline network)

Weekends:
Matt Loede, Joe Lull, Kendall Lewis, Ken Silverstein would all be in the mix here-- so would Keane & Ruiter if they don't have weekday spots. (I might even try to dust off Reggie Rucker for a shift here & there).

While OMW & others are saying Fox will get the overnights- and FSR overnights are when they are for the most part listenable with Bruno & JT; I like the Sports Overnight show even though its on a network with almost NO affiliates.

In reality for weekend filler Fox (or YAHOO! sports) may be necessary.

Steve French is an institution on Akron, but people in Cleveland wouldn't know who he is by and large (remember, he's also the PBP voice for Akron U football and hoops, so nights for him are out anyway).

Reggie Rucker is the Browns analyst on WEWS, maybe a similar role on The Fan would work, but dear God not a full 3 hour show (lived through that once already in WKNR's infancy).

I'm trying to think of available former Browns players, and unless I'm missing something, the available list is far shorter that I would like. Could Hanford Dixon, Brian Brennan and/or Mike Pagel be available to pair up with Adam the Bull?

While I like and miss the BSK, he still is recovering from a stroke a few years back. At the very most, a small weekend slot would work. But definitely not a weekday slot. Sliverstein is too far removed from WKNR (dismissed by Salem in 2004) that I'm sure he'll work out. I guess as a beat reporter for the Indians (which is what he had at 850)?

Matt Loede, Ruiter, Jeff Thomas and Tony Mazur are acceptable as update staff/beat reporters, and as a rotation of weekend hosts. Given Joe Lull's current business ventures, it's probably best to see him as a regular weekend host.

Steve French is not even a thought (nor is he in anyone's eyes at the Halle).

And CBS will likely do 4 four hour shows (6-10, 10-2, 2-6, 6-10) so that's the schedule to work off of.

Plus FSR is sounding more and more likely to reside over late nights/weekends on The Fan.

That's parallel to what I'm thinking (although Adam the Bull and whomever will be on from 2PM-6PM, leaving the 10AM-2PM midday and 6PM-10PM evening slots open still).

 

[1sttimecaller]

If they want to be successful, the key will be to not, I repeat not hire Cleveland retreads.

Do you know why Les Levine, Bud Shaw and others mentioned aren't on sports radio now? Because they aren't that good. I had to run a google search just to see who Les Levine is/was. Cable access sponsored by his neighbor? ROTF!!!

 

[Ron Lee]

If they want to be successful, the key will be to not, I repeat not hire Cleveland retreads.

Do you know why Les Levine, Bud Shaw and others mentioned aren't on sports radio now? Because they aren't that good. I had to run a google search just to see who Les Levine is/was. Cable access sponsored by his neighbor? ROTF!!!

You know, I was a fan of Les on the old WHK in the mid-90's. Having said that, I do agree that they cant populate this station with retreads. Those retreads arent on the air for a reason, or they were and arent any more for a reason. Gotta go fresh and interesting. Nothing wrong with an elder statesman to anchor the channel, but not just a bunch of old has beens from WKNR and WTAM's past years is not going to cut it.

One interesting name that Id love to see resurface is Dan McDowell on "The Ticket" in Dallas. He is a Cleveland native, part of the old WHK, and has been doing middays in Dallas for about a decade or so. From what Ive heard, he is even a vocal Cleveland fan on the air down there in the midst of "Big D". I know he is doing well down there and not even sure if he is interested in leaving, but he is a local guy who has done well. Remembering how fresh and good he was back then, he would be great to get back here.

 

[Rusty Muck]

If they want to be successful, the key will be to not, I repeat not hire Cleveland retreads.

Do you know why Les Levine, Bud Shaw and others mentioned aren't on sports radio now? Because they aren't that good. I had to run a google search just to see who Les Levine is/was. Cable access sponsored by his neighbor? ROTF!!!

You know, I was a fan of Les on the old WHK in the mid-90's. Having said that, I do agree that they cant populate this station with retreads. Those retreads arent on the air for a reason, or they were and arent any more for a reason. Gotta go fresh and interesting. Nothing wrong with an elder statesman to anchor the channel, but not just a bunch of old has beens from WKNR and WTAM's past years is not going to cut it.

One interesting name that Id love to see resurface is Dan McDowell on "The Ticket" in Dallas. He is a Cleveland native, part of the old WHK, and has been doing middays in Dallas for about a decade or so. From what Ive heard, he is even a vocal Cleveland fan on the air down there in the midst of "Big D". I know he is doing well down there and not even sure if he is interested in leaving, but he is a local guy who has done well. Remembering how fresh and good he was back then, he would be great to get back here.

And don't rule out Matt Dery - another part of the old WHK - transferring over from Detroit's "97.1 The Ticket" down to "The Fan" here. I would be surprised if CBS DIDN'T do just that.

Heck, Dery and McDowell... that would be an interesting combo for middays, no?

 

[radiogeek07]

Could the magic of ISDN help. Take the guy from Dallas but just give him a shift in Cleveland as well?

 

[Rusty Muck]

Fine, I'll do my own "projection" of a lineup for "92.3 [98.5??] The Fan." This of course has no weight in anything that Andy Roth says or does. Confirmed talent is in boldface:

5AM-10AM: Kiley and Booms

10AM-2PM: Dennis Manoloff and Ken Carmen

2PM-6PM: Adam "The Bull" and Hanford "Top Dawg" Dixon (aka "Top Dawg and The Bull")

6PM-10PM: Matt Dery and Dan McDowell

10PM-5AM: Fox Sports Radio (Tony Bruno, J.T. The Brick)


I already outlined some preferred weekend hosts in a prior post (Matt Loede, Daryl Ruiter, Jeff Thomas and Tony Mazur). Times and groupings will vary wildly. FSR will be filler, naturally.

Have at it.

 

[vjm]

Hanford Dixon is actually the coach of the new Lingiere Football League team here in Cleveland (The Crush), plus he does the Sunday (unofficial) Browns pregame show on WOIO, so I doubt he'll be part of the Fan.

Mike Pagel is part of the Browns Radio network pregame show, so he's out.

I think they'd put more familiar names in PMD, and put Adam the Bull in the 6-10 slot.

 

[former interm]

I agree with not using people like Les Levine and Bud Shaw. Well, not Shaw. I listened to a bit of his show with Les on DSN and Shaw is not made for the radio or to talk sports. He is very good columnist.

If this station wants to succeed i think they need the right mix of out-of-towners and locals. Someone like a Peter Brown clone would work. A person who knows his sports and gives Clevelanders an outside perspective while also getting some heat on him for being an out-of-towner.

I mentioned it yesterday, but I really enjoyed Bruce Hooley last week filling in for Rizzo. He would be a great hire.

 

[vjm]

I agree with not using people like Les Levine and Bud Shaw. Well, not Shaw. I listened to a bit of his show with Les on DSN and Shaw is not made for the radio or to talk sports. He is very good columnist.

If this station wants to succeed i think they need the right mix of out-of-towners and locals. Someone like a Peter Brown clone would work. A person who knows his sports and gives Clevelanders an outside perspective while also getting some heat on him for being an out-of-towner.

I mentioned it yesterday, but I really enjoyed Bruce Hooley last week filling in for Rizzo. He would be a great hire.

Methinks GKB is looking to bring Hooley into their fold full time, especially now that OSU football is around the corner.

 

[Rusty Muck]

I agree with not using people like Les Levine and Bud Shaw. Well, not Shaw. I listened to a bit of his show with Les on DSN and Shaw is not made for the radio or to talk sports. He is very good columnist.

If I were to choose between Bud or a Dennis Manoloff (who has done some more regular radio work via tRBS and Bob Frantz- the latter as a fixture on his "Stump the Panel") I'd choose D-Man. Compelling personality, and has more experience on the radio scene.

Nothing against Bud, but he like Bill Livingston, are great columnists and work well in Les' PD roundtable format on his TV show. Just not as a regular Monday-Friday radio host.

Les would probably be best used as a weekend host (i.e., Saturday/Sunday mornings) while maintaining his regular day jobs.

If this station wants to succeed i think they need the right mix of out-of-towners and locals. Someone like a Peter Brown clone would work. A person who knows his sports and gives Clevelanders an outside perspective while also getting some heat on him for being an out-of-towner.

Honestly, I'm surprised that Peter Brown hasn't all but driven to the Halle to drop off his resume at Andy Roth's desk yet.

Bringing in a Matt Dery or a Dan McDowell, as mentioned earlier, wouldn't be much of bringing in outsiders as much as returning two hometown boys that have kept Cleveland in their hearts in some way, shape or form. I'd have to think they'd love the opportunity to come back.

As for a question asked earlier, Dan actually works for Cumulus/Citadel sports talker KTCK/1310 Dallas, and there's nothing to suggest he left that station yet. But Dery easily could fire up an ISDN line from the CBS Detroit complex if he maintains some presence on WXYT-FM and the Pistons Radio Network.

(And who knows what Dan Gilbert has in mind to replace Joe Tait... )

Plus, Kevin Kiley may go over well with listeners as Chuck Booms' co-host. Kiley has the sports talk cred, probably as much or more as Brinda, without suggesting that he is a retread. If people don't care much for Booms, they will like Kiley instead.

I mentioned it yesterday, but I really enjoyed Bruce Hooley last week filling in for Rizzo. He would be a great hire.

As vjm just mentioned, Bruce will probably be put into KNR's OSU pre-post coverage alongside Roda, Munch (and LeCharles?). KNR will need to do a lot to make up for the fact that Goldhammer still draws breaths while continuously attacking the station's only star attraction and insulting their fanbase.

Don't think CBS isn't noticing that. Nor is tOSU, either. Contract renewals for that PBP contract should get very interesting IMO.

 

[former interm]

Is there any chance the new FM sports station will hire writers/columnists for their website? I know it takes some $$$, but poaching a few PD writers or some of the other papers to the website would draw attention and credibility.

Hooley on the air would be great. He is an OSU grad, but not afriad to speak the truth, plus he has a repuation of hard work with the PD and his time on Columbus radio. I still can't believe WBNS-AM got rid of him, but they are in bed with OSU. Which makes me wonder if KNR would go after him for OSU coverage.

 

[CLEFan1951]

I would like to take my own stab at the potential lineup/reporters of the new station.

I know for sure Kiley and Booms in the morning. Les Levine may put a part of this, but has to be during the day and not to close his 6pm TV show.

I heard the Cleveland.com may start their own online talk station, with the same model as DSN. But having Plain Dealer writers do shows. They saw the high numbers of DSN and now they know how to do it. Plus, I would think they have to wait a while before the DSN travesty went away to start it up. So that eliminates Dennis Manoloff from consideration and Bud Shaw as well.

Honestly, I believe CBS will bring in all out of towners for the shows. Nights could be Yahoo! Sports Radio. Weekends could be that as well.

I have seen a lot of names being thrown around for beat reporters. I like Ruiter as a beat reporter only because he has the experience and people can only tolerate his voice for a few minutes anyways.

I don't think Loede will get a job. The guy was fired from DSN and I don't think he wants to give up his high paying gig with Metro where he basically does nothing and lets the interns do all the work.

I'm surprised to see Tony Mazur's name for a reporter job. Has he even done anything since DSN? I check out his Twitter and he just hates on Cleveland teams regularly. Does CBS really want a pipe-bomb like that? I don't think so.

Jeff Thomas deserves a shot for sure though. Either having a show or beat reporter job. Thomas is a must.

Joe Lull seems to be content with what he is doing now, and that is working once a week at WEOL.

I'm surprised a few names haven't come up yet, and those are Anthony Lima, Scott Sargent and Glenn Moore.

Lima does TV in Syracuse I believe. But I know he is from the area and would like to come back home to cover Cleveland sports.

Moore has a website that is pretty successful website and does a show with Ruiter. He's been on Sporting News Radio and All Bets Are Off. He would be a good reporter for the station.

Sargent runs the WFNY blog. He is a good writer, though not strong on the air. Maybe the station could use him for his writing on the site only. Any content is good content.

I hope I don't get tomatoes thrown at me for this, but these are my opinions. Love the talk though and in the end, I hope we all get what we want. A REAL sports station in this town.

 

[vjm]

Is there any chance the new FM sports station will hire writers/columnists for their website? I know it takes some $$$, but poaching a few PD writers or some of the other papers to the website would draw attention and credibility.

Hooley on the air would be great. He is an OSU grad, but not afriad to speak the truth, plus he has a repuation of hard work with the PD and his time on Columbus radio. I still can't believe WBNS-AM got rid of him, but they are in bed with OSU. Which makes me wonder if KNR would go after him for OSU coverage.

I don't think GKB would be having Hooley on as a frequent guest, as well as filling in on RBS, if they thought he was trying out for The Fan.

At minimum, Hooley becomes a fixture on the Buckeye pre/postgame coverage, and a Buckeye analyst/beat reporter during the week.

At maximum, he becomes a co-host on RBS to have another grown up on the show.

 

[AntDog152]

Is there any chance the new FM sports station will hire writers/columnists for their website? I know it takes some $$$, but poaching a few PD writers or some of the other papers to the website would draw attention and credibility.

Hooley on the air would be great. He is an OSU grad, but not afriad to speak the truth, plus he has a repuation of hard work with the PD and his time on Columbus radio. I still can't believe WBNS-AM got rid of him, but they are in bed with OSU. Which makes me wonder if KNR would go after him for OSU coverage.

I don't think GKB would be having Hooley on as a frequent guest, as well as filling in on RBS, if they thought he was trying out for The Fan.

At minimum, Hooley becomes a fixture on the Buckeye pre/postgame coverage, and a Buckeye analyst/beat reporter during the week.

At maximum, he becomes a co-host on RBS to have another grown up on the show.

Also, in the event that WKNR loses Jim Rome within the next few years, Hooley would slide right in at the 1-3 slot.

 

[zrl]

I don't think GKB would be having Hooley on as a frequent guest, as well as filling in on RBS, if they thought he was trying out for The Fan.

[/quote]

I don't know Hooley would need to be trying out, if CBS was interested in him. (Not sure they are though)

It's been said (by OMW I think) that CBS isn't looking at ANY 'KNR folks, but other than Hammer (the King's court jester) and Rizzo (part-"owner") is there anyone at KNR that wouldn't take Andy Roth's phone call right now? The only thing is those calls aren't coming.

I'll have to throw a wet blanket on the party & say that I'm not all that thrilled with a lineup of Booms & Kiley and a bunch of guys that have worked their way up through the CBS corporate sportstalk empire that have no connection to Cleveland sports.

Matt Dery may be a good fit given his history here & being a part of CBS-- but I'd hate to see an ex-weekender from NYC paired up with an ex-weekender from Pittsburgh in PMD and the rest of the day filled with ex-weekenders from Boston, Baltimore...etc etc.

But even if this is the CBS lineup-- their only competitor is so weak that they blow them away anyhow. And that's on programming-- add in the FM signal vs. 'KNR's directional AM and its a blowout