Tony Kornheiser, Washington’s most popular sports radio personality is now a man without a home. 3WT radio 1500AM has changed formats and Bonneville confirmed that Kornheiser will not be back. The local radio options are really limited. The easy answer for some would be that he returns to ESPN 980AM to work with his long time partner Andy Pollin. But the re-launched station is not a certainty for Kornheiser. The new ESPN 980AM might not be an easy fit because of existing programming.
Mr. Tony’s best fit might be with DC based XM Satellite radio which is now partnered Sirius. His show has been on XM both when he was on the old WTEM as well as Washington Post Radio and then most recently 3WT.
When all is said and done Kornheiser on Sirius/XM makes a great deal of sense. Industry sources have told me that Kornheiser would be a natural for the new Sirius/XM sports talk channel and the new channel could work around his ESPN Monday Night Football schedule much easier than local radio could.
Sirius/XM this week signed popular sports talk personality Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, the former star of the Mike and the Mad Dog show, to a five-year contract to headline a new sports talk channel exclusively available on SIRIUS and XM.
Mr. Tony not only has a local following but a national one so like Russo he could sell radios and drive up subscriptions. So if Mr. Tong does return to radio you can bet his show will be on Sirius/XM Radio no matter if he gets the local outlet or not.
SIRIUS channel 123 and XM channel 144 will re-launch as Mad Dog Radio, a reformatted channel that will cover the spectrum of sports with engaging talk, high profile interviews, up-to-the-moment news and live remote broadcasts from the biggest sporting events.
So is WFED-AM1500 still be interested in sports?
The answer is yes. Bonneville officials confirmed to me that they plan to continue to pursue the Nationals, Capitals, Navy sports and George Washington University basketball. They feel that play-by-play sports on 1500AM are a natural.
ESPN 980AM and WJFK-FM 106.7 both is likely to challenge WFED-AM 1500 to get the Nationals contract when the season is over. Both stations can offer the Nat’s programming options that can help promote the team. So it should quite the battle at the end of the season for the 2009 radio rights.
