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August 4, 2011All you music fans, the fateful day is August 29th. 92.3 will no longer be pumping out rock tunes on that day as it gives way to the first FM sports station in Cleveland. We’ve been talking about this lately here and here and now it is officially happening. We had reported that CBS loves to get NFL rights when they launch, and it appears that for now this new station will not become the home of the Cleveland Browns. That will presumably stay on 100.7 WMMS and WTAM – both Clear Channel properties. 92.3 The Fan will have the other NFL games from Westwood One including national broadcasts on Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights.
Here’s some info from the CBS press release.
Beginning on Monday, Aug. 29, Cleveland sports fans will have a bold new choice for news and information about their favorite sports teams. Sports Radio 92.3 The Fan (WKRK-FM) will feature locally produced programs hosted by familiar Cleveland voices, along with headline updates every 20 minutes and a full lineup of NFL and college football play-by-play coverage. The station will be available on-air, on-line at www.923TheFan.com and via the Radio.com application for a variety of mobile devices.
Additionally, Andy Roth has been named as Program Director of the CBS RADIO station. He joins 92.3 The Fan from Buffalo’s WGR, and also has experience at legendary sports properties WFAN in New York and WIP in Philadelphia.
Roth said, “What we are launching is literally a radio station for ‘The Fan.’ For Clevelanders who live and breathe sports 24/7 this will be the place to get the best insight, most in-depth coverage and a well-rounded balance of listener participation all presented in an entertaining forum.”
Nationally-known talent Kevin Kiley will team up with Cleveland’s own Chuck Booms weekday mornings from 6:00-10:00AM for the area’s only local morning drive sports-talk show. Kiley & Booms previously co-hosted a national show on the Fox Sports Radio Network. Adam “The Bull”, formerly of WFAN in New York, will fill the afternoon drive time slot from 3:00-7:00PM. The remainder of The Fan lineup will be announced at a later date.
So, there you have it. Go ahead and react. Are you excited? Yesterday on The Really Big Show on WKNR, I heard Rizzo make reference to some consultant’s presence at their station by the orders of Craig Karmazin. Who knows if that is a direct reaction to new competition entering the marketplace or not. Love it or hate it, things are about to get interesting in the media marketplace in Cleveland.
(h/t to @JoelHammond from Crain’s)
68 Comments
I am from Dayton and have been fascinated by all of this. I may try to tune in online and listen to this new station.
What a great day for Cleveland Sports Fans, we finally have an alternative. Thank you CBS, and yes I know I haven’t even heard it yet. But by CBS’s track record, they usually have very quality sports stations.
I just threw up a little bit. Its a buncha talking heads… put that crap on AM where sound quality doesn’t matter.
Goldhammer sucks
cant wait for the new station
Did you hear Rizzo spend an entire segment yesterday telling Aaron that when he listened to the show from home he came away with the fact that Goldhammer is annoying?
I stopped listening to Rizzo months ago.I turned him on yesterday for about 5 minutes and shut him off. If nothing else the interns at WKNR will have to try harder with some competition coming.
This sucks. How can the “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame city” not have an alternative rock station (no WMMS does not count)? And could they get anyone worse than Chuck Booms? Ugh.
If they reunite “More Bud with Les” from Digital Sports Radio, then I’ll tune in.
Might start re-thinking XM in the car.
It will be nice to have some competition in the sports radio market, but I really enjoy 92.3 as it is. Also I find it funny cause they had a tag the other day along the lines of “We currently have no plans to change” or something.
I’ve read that there are some concerns about 92.3’s over-the-air signal strength out in the western ‘burbs. Hope not.
In the meantime, a pretty good alternative to the god-awful Rizzo show is the Dan Patrick show on 1350-AM out of Akron. You can also hear the first hour of Jim Rome there. It comes in a lot better than KNR2.
How long till Jim Rome is moved over to The Fan? I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s done before the launch.
Any alternative to that friggin Steelers fan Rhoda during drivetime is welcome to my ears. I think this is long overdue for the market. I just hope CBS expands the signal. 92.3 doesn’t work too well in the Medina area when you are driving.
awesome, no more KNR!!!!
will these guys go bro bro bro bro bro bro bro and do that awwwwww sound clip every 20 seconds
also will they have an equivalent to that reghi/rhoda intro that makes me cringe because it is so awkward and i am embarrassed for them
Prediction: they start with maybe some halfway decent stuff, and then devolve into pure drivel just like the rest of talk radio (pretty much right along the lines of what Brian said).
Between Chris Fedor spewing nonsense, Michael Reghi not finishing sentences and stuttering like a nervous geek asking a girl to prom, Greg Brinda yelling at me and an overall complete lack of insightful programming, this is awesome news
@Craig, I heard that yesterday and laughed. And I totally agree with Rizzo that Goldhammer is annoying. I’ve listend to the Really Big Show from the start and have always thought he was annoying. As far as The Fan goes, I am not that excited about them taking away the only station in Cleveland that plays the music I listen to.
It’ll all come down to wether CBS chooses to pay their talent. WKNR doesn’t pay anybody. That’s why their “talent” line-up consists of all these annoying young twerps who are condecending to the callers…because they work for free food and minimum wage. When WTAM chooses go air sports talk, they are much better for a reason.
@Brian do you know how much fun it is to hit sound clips all the time? You need a button machine attached to sounds at your disposal. It is awesome fun!
This is a good thing for the city. Competition is healthy and CBS is a very good company.
I listen to the fan in NY. Adam the bull is not very good
I live in columbus and only listen to cland sports radio when Im back in town, so im glad there is another option ( cuz seriously that awwwwwww clip on rizzo is turrible)
however If I lived in Cland full time I would of definitely listened to 92.3, and Id be pissed that the only alt rock station is gone
I hope they resurrect the Reggie Rucker show
Maybe they’ll bring back 107.9 THE END too. I miss that one so much.
Any news when 92.3 goes off air as a music station it they will play a week of non stop “It’s the End of the World”…
It is nice to have an alternative. I want to hear something smart and insightful.
The bigest problem with Rizzo’s show, is that it is not that, especially anymore. When it first came on, it was a nice 2 hour show sprinkled with Hammer, that was just fine. As they expanded to 3 and now 4 hours, it dilutes any topic/converstation. Cleveland sports is just not that interesting. I also feel while listening to that show, it is completly off the cuff and unprepared, in a bad way. It feels like Hammer, Fedor have to many other responibilities around the station to properly research their talking points and riz is along for the ride. It goes without saying, when they do research, it is just regurgatated from another source. Most of the points they do make are as holely as swiss cheese. Then it reverts to yelling to get thier point across, which makes it just like the unwatchable crap on ESPN like Around the Horn. There is this philosophy in sports talk now, that the louder you yell, the more correct you become.
I gave up on Roda years ago. Primarily because of thoughts and understandings on the game of baseball. There are times it sounds like he has never watched the game.
Finally, I am also sick of the “I’m old, I’ve seen more, so it obivous, I’m right.” philosophy that runs rampant through that station. Eyes play tricks constantly, get with the times, don’t be afraid to look at something, like Sabremetrics, and not dismiss it as “that is just for nerds”. Might be a good idea since the baseball team you cover created a scouting system derived from many of those principles.
That is all, San Demas High School football rules!!
“Their is this philosophy in sports talk now, that the louder you yell, the more correct you become.” — Goldenflash7903
You just summed up all sports radio in a nutshell… I’m happy that there will be some competition, but I’m bummed because music wise, the landscape in this town SUCKS.
But I agree with a previous poster: how soon before Rome jumps ship to a station who won’t switch him from station to station mid-show?
I was an early RBS listener, but you can only hear the same tired, one-note take from hosts and callers for so long. Not defending the guy, but when the whole Braylon v. LeBron’s Entourage incident happened, and they had Sabrina on as their eyewitness, I checked out.
[…] Lyndall of Waiting For Next Year reacts to Cleveland getting an FM all-sports […]
From N.Y. Adam The Bull is very very good
I honestly think that music stations are starting to become more obsolete with technology. What percentage of Americans have Ipod/MP3 hookups in their car so they can listen to their own music? (myself included)
I only listen to the radio for sports talk and the Alan Cox Show. When I want music I have my own, I don’t need to hear Nickelback and Alice in Chains for a straight half an hour (yeah I’m talking to you WMMS)
I listened to Kiley and Booms in 2003 or 04 when I first moved to South Florida. I thought they were funny as hell and they did pretty well in the rating before Booms (from what I heard) got himself kicked off the air. Were pretty damn luck to have them but it sucks that its at the expensive of 92.3
I listen to a lot of CBS affiliated sports radio stations around the country, especially Charlotte’s 610 WFNZ and they are far better than ESPN and FOX, in my opinion. I’m glad Cleveland is getting it’s own. I can’t stand listening to Rizzo’s show. All he does is cry, bitch and complain about everything and I’m tired of that damn cow bell.
I love the fact that there will be competition in this market. However, I have to admit I’m disappointed with the weekday lineup. Cleveland’s two most respected sports talk voices (Bruce Drennan and Les Levine) are currently wallowing in cable TV obscurity. Either of them could go up against ANY local WKNR host and destroy them in terms of both content and ratings.
For those of you lamenting the death of 92.3 the music station, the era of music being broadcast over terrestrial radio is dead…even “alternative” stations like 92.3 have canned and preplanned song lineups. If you want to listen to good music, you need to go to online streaming sources like Spotify…that’s the wave of the future, not terrestrial radio.
‘Bout time. Rome needs to go to 92.3 so I can cut the cord.
Your station stole Adam the Bull from us…like we didn’t have enough reason’s to hate Cleveland. Didn’t you burn down? Who the hell rebuilt you?
I’m glad about this, but 92.3 was my favorite music station. Oh well. I’m expecting the clowns on ESPN 850 to become even more ridiculous to keep their listeners.
Adam the bull is great, we love him in NY.
You will be missed.
I have been on this topic for a LONG time as a few of you have complained about me always commenting on the overall total LAMENESS of WKNR. The worm has turned and on 8/29 we will have a CHOICE! I personally had lunch with the station GM, Keith Williams last week. He basically said that as long as they were hitting their market $$$ targets, they “were good”. He also indicated that they came to the NE Ohio market because of the fans passion for local sports. THEY HAVE USED AND ABUSED THAT PRIVILEDGE, IMO!!!
Aaron is a joke: the condescending attitude, hanging up on pretty much all callers, all negativity format used on the RBS, where Aaron controls Rizz’s callers, tweets, texts and e-mail has turned Rizzo into a useless cuckhold. When Aaron does something he supposedly does not like, Tony yells “Aaron” & they just keep right on rolling till it happens again…and again! Nothing changes…ever!? Talk about a shell of himself? No show prep, tons of errors and about a dozen references to his old days at Fox8 & WMJI…DAILY!? Aaron talks about Denver like it was nirvana. I guess they could put crap on like that when they had a monopoly on LOCAL sports talk – not for long!
Brinda NEEDS to go – end of story. Reghi & Roda just ramble on and repeat themselves over & over! Reghi will take 100 words to say what it should take about 10 & they RUSH every caller?! Example: You or I would say “1987”…Reghi would say “in the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred in eighty-seven”. Why???
Fedor makes bold statements & will not back pedal – ever! Waste of a hard worker as he is as contrived as Aaron has become. Boiled down, they made their bed and I do not care what Craig Karmazin has to say about it yesterday, they are not excited about having competition. They are 11th in the market for males 25-54 and they will drop like the proverbial stone! Maybe they will be forced to subscribe to Arbitron when they drop to #20 quickly! For no other reason then to hold on to their curent advertisers…you know the “gang” that Reghi, Roda, etc. always refer to as they do their semingly 200 live reads per show. BTW – I am not in the radio industry…I am just a fan that was so sick of what they have become but really had been along: Rude, always negative, contrived, un-listener friendly, condescending and just plain pathetic. Welcome 92.3!!!!! I believe they will come on strong and STAY strong as long as they keep some focus on the fans & not bring ANY dead weight over from WKNR – including guys barely hanging on (hear that Brind?). Booms left Fox radio, where he was in a ton of markets, over a CONTRACT dispute. He is dynamic & hails from Euclid. He is very familiar with our Tribe, Cav’s, Brown’s and OSO. There is a way to throw in some negativity without being a condescending A-hole (Aaron!). August 29th CANNOT get here soon enough!!!
Sorry for a few typos above! Especially at the end of my way too long comment above…
I just heard the Brinda promo “I’m gonna be right and your gonna be wrong”…as I listen to Munch on-line. Great way to attract listenrs, WKNR – by ripping the fans and promoting “HUGE GUT – FACE FOR RADIO”, BRINDA???!!! Munch has ALWAYS been a passionate NE Ohio guy and I actually feel sorry for him as he HAS to defend those losers!
Oh, and I just heard Rizz’s promo spot about how he “has our back…all the time”. Really Rizzo??!! I think NOT as you have let Aaron make a laughing stock out of us on National ESPN multiple times…AND destroy your show and reputation!!! As a consolation, I have heard Aaron say numerous times how Rizz is his BEST FREIND!!?? So, you have that going for you Rizz, which is nice!!!!!! WKNR has gotten BAD, REALLY BAD!!!
Good luck WKNR – you WILL need it!!!
This will be an interesting venture. Even though the talent on WKNR AM 850 is lacking, it has been the only complete sports station in Cleveland, so it is the neighborhood bully and is the standard. WTAM 1100 also has occasional sports talk as well. I can’t say that I’m sad to see the alternative rock stuff go. They play the same damn songs 15 times a day. It’s like they have a 40 song playlist and just hook an i-pod up to their system and hit shuffle then play. I haven’t listened to the station in a few years because their music got stale. When they stopped having human beings spinning the music, it lost my attention. Good riddance to the most boring music station in Cleveland.
This is actually a good thing, because I have stopped listening to KNR since they (I’m assuming mainly FEdor and goldhammer) feel that talking Cleveland sports isn’t good enough. Why would they book Elway? what perspective does he have that we would care about? Bruce Hooley, really? Who cares if you broke the Tressel news. But more importantly, why do we want to hear Hoke about the ‘team’ up north. I come back to KNR in spurts but, I’m done with it during the day. WELCOME THE FAN!!
Maybe CBS can take over KNR.
Kenny, Rizzo, Reghi and Brenda can shut up and just spin the tunes at 92.3
This way I can keep the best rock station and eliminate the drivel at WKNR.
Leave Les Levine on TV where I can see him. He is very hot.
adam the bull was a fillin host at wfan..he did a very good job but cleveland now offers him a full time gig in primetime..best of luck to adam a very nice guy..now we know why he was on a diet..to look good in his job interviews..adam just got married and his wife had a good job in NY..the fan in ny treated their employees like garbage unless your boomer, carton, and mike francessa..just google mia harris a former updater and see the disrespect she received by program director..id like to see mia end up in cleveland the fan too
What I just can not stand is Hammer and Roda representing Cleveland on ESPN national shows. They actually think they understand the Cleveland fan and market. A Denver fan who hates everything Ohio and a Steelers fan who hosts steeler parties in Cleveland do NOT represent Cleveland any more than Rush Limbaugh represents the Democratic party. That IMO is a betrayal of Cleveland fans that is inexcusible. I like Fedor and RIZZ, but they need to take a stand against this. Looks like there are consequenses now by way of alternatives/competition. I for one will give the new station a real chance.
Well, this station will officially be removed from my dial. This was the only decent radio station in this city. The only time I put in WMMS is when 92.3 is at a commercial. Why do we need another sports talk channel to talk about how crappy the Browns and Cavs are? Now all our dumb fans get to hear themselves call in and complain in stereo now? Whoop-de-do. Maybe if people around here focused half of their passion for those teams on improving the city, downtown Cleveland might be half-way decent.
This station is actually popular in this area too. Anytime people turn on the radio for some background music they always go to 92.3 now.
At least the current format is moving to the HD 2 channel, although the digital signal is hit or miss on the west side.
Jim Rome will never come to CBS . He is so locked into ESPN that it’s not funny. Plus not to high on Rome. This does suck I think. It seems like every time a station gets cut its the alt rock station. Why not one of the stations that play top 40 pop trash . theres at least 3 of those. or one of the othere stations noone even knows about.
I cannot contain myself on this. This is great news. The one angle/marketing/business that terrestial radio has is to be local. Otherwise listen to Sirius (which i do often). Rizzo, if he wants to still be in the game, needs to drop everyone else on the show. I stopped listening to it but co-workers of mine will come in (almost daily) and complain about the show. And the top of the line item is they wish there was something else. One guy cant get Dan Patrick. The other says it comes in so fuzzy that its not worth listening to. That being the quality of the sound not the quality of the show. I have no idea why ESPN goes to Hammerhead to be the voice of cleveland sports.
I have great hope CBS Radio will do it the right way. As fan, as a coach and an overall sports nut, I have stopped listening to the other sports radio station long ago.. They have nothing to offer. How long have we listened to the same crap from the same mouths. They are so bad, I dont hate them…I feel bad for them for they dont know how bad they really are. Giving strong comments either way would be giving them too much credit for moving the ratings needle one way or the other. IM looking for
new and informed sports programing. This office has already turned
the dial so we wont miss a thing. Good luck… it’s been a long tiem coming.
It’s about time we got back a real, dedicated local sports talk station in Cleveland! Listening to an avowed sports enemy from denver(Sharon Goldslammer) trash our Cleveland teams, and the Buckeyes has gotten really, really old. We don’t need a crappy voiced no-nothing dork rooting for “his” Denver teams on the air in Cleveland. I’ll give The FAN two months before they crush knr in the ratings. F-you knr. Go 92.3 The FAN Cleveland!!
I will never listen to a song on Cleveland radio again. This is a sad day.
just what we need, more talk radio. what the hell are they thinking
This SUCKS!!!!!
I love the music on 92.3, I listen to it all the time!
Imagine my surprise when I turned it on this morning to babble!
Ugh!~~~ and SPORTS babble on top of it!
Bring back the good music!!!!