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Kevin McNamara to Host Two-Hour Show on 790 The Score in Rhode Island

“I think, because it’s new, I’d encourage people to give it a shot,” McNamara said. “It will be very different from the Boston-based sports radio that we’ve become used to.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Kevin McNamara

Two months after announcing its triumphant return to the Rhode Island airwaves, Sports Radio 790 The Score is set to go live next week.

And in addition to the station’s lineup of national hosts and sports betting shows, former Providence Journal writer Kevin McNamara will be hosting the station’s only local show.

McNamara will host his show from 5-7 pm, sandwiched between You Better You Bet and Bet MGM Tonight.

McNamara, who hosted a one-hour show on WPRO, saw his time extended an hour. He said this is a great opportunity to get listeners involved early.

“In one hour I tried to be as newsy as I could,” McNamara told Bill Koch of The Providence Journal. “It’s basically a three-segment show — we’d try to have three different subjects. Now we’ll try to hit those three different subjects, but we’ll have a real avenue for calls.” 

The second hour of McNamara’s show will be simulcasted on WPRO.

The Score, which was last on the air in the market in 2008, will carry Providence men’s basketball, Brown men’s basketball and football, the New England Patriots, the Boston Celtics and the New York Yankees.

The station hopes to eat at some of the market share in Rhode Island currently held by both Boston sports stations, WEEI and 98.5 The Sports Hub.

“I think, because it’s new, I’d encourage people to give it a shot,” McNamara said. “It will be very different from the Boston-based sports radio that we’ve become used to.”

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KNBR Cuts Staff, Including Hosts Paul McCaffrey and F.P. Santangelo

Adam Copeland, who was tabbed as Program Director of KNBR earlier this month, revealed the cuts at the end of his program co-hosted by Tom Tolbert Wednesday afternoon.

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A photo of F.P. Santangelo, Paul McCaffrey, and the KNBR logo
(Photo: KNBR)

KNBR has undergone a series of cuts, which have eliminated the positions of a pair of on-air hosts.

Morning co-host Paul McCaffrey was one of the hosts affected by the reductions. He had hosted Murph and Mac alongside Brian Murphy since 2005. He joined the station after previously working at 1050 KTCT as a weekend host at classic rock station 107.7 The Bone. The morning show’s producer — Erik Engle — also confirmed on X that he was let go as part of the station’s cuts.

Additionally, former MLB outfielder F.P. Santangelo was let go. He was hosting KNBR Tonight in the 6-10 PM timeslot.

“I was informed today that due to budget cuts there will no longer be a 6-10pm show,” Santangelo wrote on X. “That said I’m super grateful for the time spent bonding with all the amazing Bay.”

According to SFGate.com, the live nighttime call-in show hosted by Santangelo had been heard on the station for more than 50 years. The station aired nationally syndicated programming from CBS Sports Radio on Wednesday night during the timeslot previously helmed by the MLB veteran.

In addition to the departures of McCaffrey and Santangelo, former programmer Lee Hammer also exited. Hammer had been with the station since 1998. He programmed 1050 KTCT from 1998 to 2016, and KNBR from 2005 to 2017. He also spent time programming talk stations 560 KSFO and 810 KGO.

Adam Copeland, who was tabbed as Program Director of KNBR earlier this month, revealed the cuts at the end of his program co-hosted by Tom Tolbert Wednesday afternoon.

“It’s been a really difficult day. I love this building, I love this station, I love working with you, Tom, and I’ve listened to you for years. I love a lot of people, and I love the guys we let go of today,” Copeland said, according to RadioInsight. “I’m looking forward to the future, but I really think we need to tip our cap and applaud the work that those guys have done.”

During the summer ratings period, KNBR finished with its best book of the year. However, the station remained behind competitor 95.7 The Game in every daypart except mornings, which will now undergo a change with the departure of McCaffrey. In the overall prime ratings in the men 25-54 demographic, KNBR finished 15th with a 2.6 share behind The Game’s 11th-place 3.2 share.

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Dan Patrick to Appear in December Episode of The Simpsons

“I’ve had a couple of sessions, and I only had like four lines, five lines.”

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A photo of Dan Patrick and The Simpsons logo
(Photo: FOX Sports Radio, 20th Century Fox)

For a sports radio host, Dan Patrick has quite an impressive list of IMDb credits. He will add a new one next month, when he appears on The Simpsons.

During The Dan Patrick Show Tuesday, the legendary sportscaster mentioned that several of the voices for the show are reaching senior citizen status, putting future seasons in question. Patrick joked that the show’s guest booker, Todd Fritz, could be a natural replacement for Julie Kavner as the voice of Marge Simpson.

After joking that Fritz would want to change the script too often, Patrick revealed he would appear in an upcoming episode, and changing the script wouldn’t be an easy proposition.

“I’m on an episode that — I think — comes out on Christmas Eve (of) The Simpsons” Patrick admitted. “I’ve had a couple of sessions, and I only had like four lines, five lines. They wanna hear what they wanna hear.”

Patrick continued by noting that when he worked at ESPN, former co-worker Kenny Mayne was notorious for wanting to change the scripts of commercials during the “This is SportsCenter” campaigns.

“Kenny would always go ‘Hey, how about this?’ or ‘What about this?’, and I’d say ‘Let’s just stick to the script. They really have a good track record here.'”

He added that the voiceover artists on the program have deserved the millions they’ve made during the show’s long-running tenure.

“They’re extremely talented. They do a variety of voices there…that show has been on for how many decades? (It’s) still funny (and) relevant,” Patrick said.

On his IMDb page, Dan Patrick has 36 acting credits to his name, with the majority coming from projects with Adam Sandler.

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Matt Jones: ‘I’m Not Ashamed to Have Epilepsy’

“It’s a medical condition, and there is nothing I can do about it. I take medication, and that helps, and I wanted to show people that you can have a condition like that and still succeed…”

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Matt Jones
Courtesy: Simon & Schuster

In a Netflix documentary series released in September, Kentucky Sports Radio host Matt Jones is seen having an epileptic seizure. He has shared why he allowed the video to be shown.

In an interview with Lexington TV station WKYT, Jones says he wants others with epilepsy to know they’re not alone.

“I think the world is a better place when people realize they are not the only ones feeling whatever it is they are feeling,” Jones said.

He shared that talking about the effects the condition has on him breaks down the stigma.

“You know I’m not ashamed to have epilepsy; it’s a medical condition, and there is nothing I can do about it. I take medication, and that helps, and I wanted to show people that you can have a condition like that and still succeed and still go through life, and you should not be ashamed of it,” he said.

The Kentucky Sports Radio host said his first seizure happened when he was 22, which is rare because most people with epilepsy suffer it at an earlier age. He said the seizure he suffered while filming the Netflix series Wrestlers — which features a behind-the-scenes look at Ohio Valley Wrestling and attempts to save the promotion in which Jones is a partner — was one of the worst he’s ever experienced.

Matt Jones told the TV station his only hesitation in showing the footage was he didn’t want his mother to see it.

“The director talked to me about airing it. He basically said are you okay with airing it? My initial inclination was no, not because of me, but because of my mother, and I didn’t want her to have to see it. She had never seen me have one,” Jones concluded.

November is Epilepsy Awareness Month. 1 in 26 people in the United States suffer from the condition.

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