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Kevin Graham Named New Program Director of KNBR

“In an internal memo to staff, Blumhagen highlighted Graham’s experience in the sports format, and praised his abilities to drive digital success.”

Jason Barrett

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KNBR in San Francisco has found their next program director!

Last month, Jeremiah Crowe announced plans to move to las Vegas and exit as the station’s top programming boss. To fill his position, Cumulus SVP of Sports Bruce Gilbert, Cumulus San Francisco GM Larry Blumhagen, and Cumulus President Dave Milner have tabbed Kevin Graham to move the brand forward.

Graham joins the sports leader with a spectacular resume programming talk stations. His experience in the sports talk space is extensive, having previously programmed WEEI in Boston, WXYT in Detroit, 1050 ESPN NY in New York City, Arizona Sports 98.7 FM in Phoenix, ESPN 1250 in Pittsburgh, and The Fan in Columbus and Salt Lake City. He was most recently the PD of News/Talk stations WBAP and KLIF in Dallas, working under the highly respected and accomplished Dan Bennett.

Regarding the new opportunity in the Bay Area, Graham said: “I am humbled to go from legendary News/Talk stations WBAP/KLIF to KNBR, one of the best Sports radio brands in the country. I am very grateful to continue to work for Cumulus and Larry Blumhagen and the great KNBR Team, and thank Dave Milner, Brian Philips and Bruce Gilbert for their confidence in me. It was an absolute honor to be able to work with and learn from Dan Bennett, one of the best market managers in radio, and the talented Cumulus Dallas team. While the last five years were some of the most rewarding in my career, I am excited to return to my roots and be back in sports radio!”

In an internal memo to staff, Blumhagen highlighted Graham’s experience in the sports format, and praised his abilities to drive digital success. He’ll spend a few weeks in Dallas helping the company identify his replacement before making the move to the Bay Area. His first day on the job is expected to be August 9th.

The move west reunites Graham with the format he’s enjoyed most of his career success in. He inherits a brand that is in the driver seat for local ratings and the new opportunity gives him a chance to work again with John Lund, a talent he spent time working with in Detroit. With the Giants performing well, the 49ers just two months away from kicking off their 2021 campaign, and a strong roster with market credibility locked in place for the near term, Graham should have plenty of opportunity to keep the sports leader healthy, hungry and chasing future ratings victories.

Sports Radio News

Charles Barkley: ‘I Want to Be on TV Less’

“His contract with Warner Bros. Discovery runs through 2024-25.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Charles Barkley

It’s possible you could see Charles Barkley appearing occasionally on CNN.

Reports from The Wall Street Journal and Variety this week indicate the cable news network is close to finishing a deal that would have Gayle King on the network. Rumors have said that the network would like to have Barkley join her, but Barkley says nothing is decided on his end.

In an appearance on Bickley & Marotta on Arizona Sports on Tuesday, the Suns legend and NBA on TNT analyst said he and King are friends so this wouldn’t be a situation where the duo would be coming in green.

“I’ve gotten to know her well through the years through my relationship with Oprah (Winfrey) and she’s just cool,” Barkley said. “I said, ‘I would consider doing a show with Gayle, one day a week starting in the fall.'”

But Barkley, 60, reiterated what he’s made known for a while now: he doesn’t plan on sticking around in the TV business for too much longer. His contract with Warner Bros. Discovery runs through 2024-25. So this CNN opportunity could be pretty limited in scope, which is what Charles desired.

“It’ll only be one day a week if I decide to do it,” Barkley said. “I said, ‘No, I don’t want to be on TV more. I want to be on TV less.'”

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Sports Radio News

John Kincade: Thursday Night Football Flex Vote About ‘Licking Jeff Bezos’s Boots’

“For these billionaires to be licking his boots? Embarrassing. They can’t do this. It’s obnoxious.”

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John Kincade

A report claims that at the NFL owners meetings, a proposal to give the league the ability to implement flex scheduling for Thursday Night Football was proposed. 97.5 The Fanatic’s John Kincade was flabbergasted at the idea.

The proposal would allow the NFL to move scheduled games in the final weeks of the season from Sunday to Thursday. The league would also have to change the rule that teams could only play one Thursday Night Football game per season to accommodate the change.

During The John Kincade Show Tuesday, the host claimed that even considering the idea was simply a matter of the owners kowtowing to Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, whose company — Prime Video — broadcasts the package.

“They’re licking Jeff Bezos’s boots,” Kincade said. “I can only imagine buddies running trips and fans go ‘Ok, I’m going to the Eagles game on Sunday. I’m flying in Friday, spend two nights in a hotel, and fly out Monday’. Oh no you’re not, the game’s been moved to Thursday night. This is freaking ridiculous, and shining Bezos’s shoes is freaking embarrassing. For these billionaires to be licking his boots? Embarrassing. They can’t do this. It’s obnoxious.”

Kincade continued by marvelling at the idea even being floated to the public.

“To me, it’s just such a dumb idea. But sometimes those things happen in sports.”

The 97.5 The Fanatic host is not the only sports media member who has shared their displeasure with the proposal this week. Monday Morning Quarterback’s Peter King aired similar sentiments, saying “We can all agree this seems insane.”

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Sports Radio News

Mike Francesa: BetRivers Podcast Is Enough For Me Right Now

“I’ve had a couple offers in the last couple of months. I’ve turned them all down. Anybody that’s asked me for steady work or to do something Monday through Friday I’ve said no.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Mike Francesa

If you were hoping to catch Mike Francesa hosting a daily TV or radio show in the future, that ship has likely sailed.

Asked by a listener on his Mike Francesa Podcast if he would go back to doing a show on television similar to his Mike’d Up program on NBC New York, Francesa said it’s not in his future.

“I would doubt it,” he said on his Monday episode. “At this point, I’m not as visible. So it wouldn’t make as much sense as having me now as it would then. And frankly, I’m doing what I do now, and I love doing it.”

Francesa reunited with his former WFAN co-host Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on ESPN’s First Take back in January, but Mike said the podcast he’s doing for the BetRivers Network checks all the boxes of what he’s looking for work-wise at the moment.

“It’s actually enough,” he said. “I’ve had a couple offers in the last couple of months. I’ve turned them all down. Anybody that’s asked me for steady work or to do something Monday through Friday I’ve said no.”

“It would have to be something very unusual for me to do on a regular basis,” he added.

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