I'm amazed at how little people on this board know about sports radio. Nothing wrong with having your "favorite" hosts and the usual lap-dogs for a network or person on here to kiss butt, BUT, if you can't see what a sham this Fox Sports Radio restructuring is and also not realize that Sporting News is on life support and should be dead very, very soon, you just don't get it.
All Clear Channel did was shuffle the chairs on the Titanic. Are they "Number 2" behind ESPN Radio? Yes, but big fricken deal!
Dan Patrick was already a Premiere network cleared show, even though he doesn't work for Clear Channel. Sheeman and Washington had no major affiliates, so they were easy to unload and slip Patrick's show as an "alleged part of the network" to make stations think they were upgrading that slot by firing people.
Rome is also Premiere and has his own sweetheart deal where he doesn't run as a FSR or ESPN show, but the desperate suits who sell him keep him independent hoping to get him on as many stations as possible. Rome's star is fading as he isn't on in NY, Phila or Chicago - and in those major markets where they pay to keep him on, Rome is buried at nights on tape delay like Patrick in many cities.
They got rid of the rest of the shows because they were not being cleared in many places AND they just wanted to dump more salaries. Picking up the KLAC local shows and trying to make them national required no money, talent, hires or effort.
Chris Myers was thrown in with Steve Hartman because somehow, Myers is perceived as a "connected major talent", when he's basically a sideline hack who Fox thinks people want to here. He already had a show on FSR, so they combined him and Hartman. Those 2 egos should make for great radio. At least when Myers doesn't show up half the time for his TV gigs, Hartman can go back to screaming every day.
The only reason JT remains on is because he has too much time left on his last ridiculous contract and Clear Channel didn't want to swallow that money and then have to put something else on. Bruno was already on in that slot on KLAC from 7 to 10 pacific, but his show is syndicated by Westwood One and my sources tell me he would have been put into that slot had JT's deal been close to done. Bruno remains on in that time slot and on many major market stations. He lost KLAC due to Clear Channel owning the station and trying to get their monies worth out of JT's show, not because his show wasn't working or not better than the Bricks.
Dumping Ben Maller and his crew was simply cost cutting. Notice, they replaced that show with re-runs. Why? It doesn't cost anything!
So there it is. Radio is in trouble. Sports radio is mostly garbage and for those on this board who think Sporting News is legit with that brutal line-up of small potatoes talent with no major affiliates is going to survive, think again.
Also, do you think ANYONE would be stupid enough to start another sports network now? Get real people!
