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Dino Costa Flames Out at KFNS in St. Louis

Jason Barrett

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Well, that didn’t last long. After six weeks, Dino Costa is leaving 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis.

In an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Costa says he’s leaving after learning that ownership were in talks with others about a potential takeover which could result in a restructuring of management.

“There have been strong rumors over the last couple weeks that there could very well be an ownership restructuring for 590 and I have made it clear to Randy Markel — that I’m not interested,” Costa said. “I have nothing but great things to say about Randy. But I indicated to him that I have no desire to work under a restructured ownership paradigm with the station. I made it clear before I came to St. Louis that I was not looking necessarily to get back into commercially run radio with just any person or any group or any station. It had to be a tremendous fit across the board. I perceived this to be a perfect situation with Randy. I told them that if there is going to be a change and someone else will be coming into the organization to run the day-to-day operations that I have no desire to work for anyone else.”

Costa entered St. Louis creating an immediate stir. He delivered verbal jabs to the station’s local competitors, and even had choice words with one of his own teammates Kevin Slaten. The KFNS morning host said he would crawl back to Wyoming on his hands and knees if he didn’t dominate the market within a year.

Ironically, Tim McKernan, who was one of the recipient’s of Costa’s wrath, is at the center of Costa’s decision to exit. KFNS management have had talks with McKernan about potentially operating the radio station. Markel and McKernan though both say that Costa has jumped to conclusions.

“Starting in early February, we were contacted by several media outlets about opportunities,” McKernan said. “We continue to have conversations, but at this point, we have no deal in place with any of the stations.”

Markel added, “There is no sale, there is no anything,”. “Have we talked about partnering up at some time? Absolutely. I talk to people every week. There is always talk in this business about, ‘What if we do this, what if we do that?’ But there is no deal to announce at this time.”

Costa wanted a guarantee that he’s in the radio station’s long-term plans, and would be unaffected by any regime change, but Markel couldn’t provide one for him. As a result, Dino took Thursday off to make sure he was comfortable with his decision to leave. He planned to do one final show on Friday.

Markel though says that despite Costa leaving the door open for a possible return, his days at KFNS are over.

“I like Dino, he’s like your crazy brother you have to bail out of jail,” Markel said. “I believe in Dino. He’s very talented. But it’s the BS that comes along with him that’s hard to take. He came into this area with a scorched-earth mentality and it just didn’t work. It’s the way he wanted to do it, I wasn’t about to stop him. You hire somebody to do what they do, he tried it. It didn’t work. It was a constant uproar. Me for one, I’m tired of the drama.”

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Sports Radio News

Former 670 The Score Host Tommy Williams Has Died

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Photo of Tommy Williams
Courtesy: Lakeshore Public Media

Tommy Williams, who was heard for a decade on 670 The Score, died on Wednesday at the age of 66.

Williams began his broadcasting career in his hometown of Gary, Indiana in 1982 at WLTH before moving on to The Score. In 2003, Williams became the PA Announcer for the Gary Southshore RailCats of the American Association where he had his signature call to get the attention of the fans, “People, People, People.”

A story in The Times of Northwest Indiana said, “The longtime RailCats public address announcer and Lakeshore Public Media sports journalist was known for broadcasting countless games, interviewing countless athletes and covering Region sports at all levels. The Gary native and co-host of “Prep Sports Report,” “Prep Football Report,” and “Lakeshore PBS Scoreboard” often signed off shows saying, “Gary, Indiana, you know I love you.”

“The cadence he had in his voice echoed across the Region in a way we may never see again. He was widely known and widely loved,” Tom Maloney, vice president of radio operations at Lakeshore Public Media told the paper.

“He’d want to be remembered as the voice of Lakeshore sports,” his Regionally Speaking co-host and producer Dee Dotson told The Times. “Most people will remember him for covering prep sports all the way up to semi-pros. He’ll be remembered for treating each of his subjects like they were world champions. His depth of knowledge of sports at all levels is commendable. He was a walking encyclopedia of stats.” 

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Sports Radio News

Compass Media Networks Promotes Three Members to Oversee Play-by-Play Sports Platform

“It is our pleasure to give these three talented executives their day in the sun, knowing that they will continue to work incredibly hard to carry on this tradition of excellence.”

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Logo for Compass Media Networks

Compass Media Networks has announced the promotions of three long-standing executives, Robert Blum, Tyler Brewer, and Chris Kleiber, who will collectively oversee the content creation, production, and distribution of the company’s play-by-play sports platform.

“For over 16 years, Compass Media Networks has set a standard of excellence for national play-by-play sports with Chris, Rob, and Tyler playing a vital part in our success,” said Peter Kosann, CEO/Founder of Compass Media Networks. “It is our pleasure to give these three talented executives their day in the sun, knowing that they will continue to work incredibly hard to carry on this tradition of excellence.”

Robet Blum has been appointed Vice President & General Manager of Sports and will also continue to serve as Vice President of Affiliate Sales for News-Talk and Sports. Tyler Brewer has been appointed Executive Producer – Sports Programming. And Chris Kleiber has been appointed Senior Producer – Sports Programming.

Compass Media Networks broadcasts annually over 100 play-by-play sporting events involving college men’s basketball and football (including the Big Ten Tournament and the Big Ten Championship Game), NFL 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday Doubleheaders, and complete coverage of the Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders. The broadcasts are distributed across hundreds of terrestrial sports, news-talk and music stations as well as digital distribution platforms such as SiriusXM, Verizon Mobile, and the Varsity App.

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Charley Steiner Injured; Tim Neverett to Handle Dodgers Radio Play-by-Play

“This will be the first Opening Day that I will have missed since 1976, when I wore a younger man’s clothes.”

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photo of Charley Steiner
Courtesy: Los Angeles Dodgers

As the Los Angeles Dodgers get set to take on the St. Louis Cardinals in their first home game on Thursday, team play-by-play voice Charley Steiner has revealed he will not be doing games at the beginning of the season due to a severe back injury.

Through the Dodgers, Steiner posted a statement which said, “Over the winter, I landed on the Injured List with three compound fractures in my back. (I don’t recommend it.) With the start of the baseball season upon us, the Dodgers are ready to go – but I’m not. This will be the first Opening Day that I will have missed since 1976, when I wore a younger man’s clothes. I look forward to returning to the mic later this season. In the meantime, go Dodgers!”

TrueBlueLA.com reports Tim Neverett will handle play-by-play duties while Steiner recovers. Neverett called the first two regular season games with Rick Monday as the Dodgers started the season in South Korea. Neverett and Monday did not travel with the team, however, they called those games in a studio back home.

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