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Andrew Fillipponi: ‘Maybe Netflix Will Pick Up Pirates, Penguins’

“This is my public service announcement: I don’t have answers for you.”

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The imminent demise of AT&T SportsNet in Denver, Houston, and Pittsburgh has left many Major League Baseball fans wondering where the games for their favorite teams will be televised as Opening Day approaches. 93.7 The Fan host Andrew Fillipponi said he has no answers to those questions.

Warner Bros. Discovery — parent company of AT&T SportsNet — is exiting the regional sports network, giving the Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, and Pittsburgh Pirates until March 31st to negotiate a deal to reclaim their local television rights. MLB’s Opening Day is scheduled for March 30th, and as it approaches, Fillipponi admitted he doesn’t see an ideal landing spot for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“There are no clear answers. It doesn’t sound like anything’s definitive,” Fillipponi said. “People are freaking out. ‘What if I don’t have cable? Is every cable channel gonna pick it up? Do I need to buy something extra for the remainder of the Penguins season? For the home stretch? For the first round of the playoffs? Do I need to go into my pocket and pay more? Where are these games gonna be?’

“There’s a lot of putting out fires here,” said Fillipponi, as he made mention of a recent interview Pirates owner Bob Nutting gave to The Athletic, assuring fans their games would still be televised. “‘Hey, don’t worry. The games will be on. We don’t know yet where they’re gonna be. We’ll tell you soon, but we can’t tell you right now. I wish I had answers! People are coming up to me — I was at a bar Saturday — I’m just making up stuff. ‘Where are the rest of the Penguins games gonna be? The Spice Channel! Where are the Pirates games gonna be? AppleTV, I don’t know!” I have no clue how that’s gonna work.”

The PM Team host then joked that Netflix could be an option for the dispatched franchises.

“This is my public service announcement: I don’t have answers for you. I know where the games can be heard…I guess this is good for us. Our relationship with the Pirates hasn’t changed. Where the games will be in a month? I have zero clue. Maybe they’ll be on Netflix. Netflix wants to get into sports. Maybe Netflix’ll pick up the Penguins and Pirates. Everyone’s got a Netflix account, or they pirate it or steal it or borrow it from somebody else.”

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KNBR’s Brian Murphy Speaks for First Time After Paul McCaffrey Laid Off

“Paulie Mac is my guy, will forever be my guy. The best thing I could ever wish anyone is that you get to work with someone as loyal, energetic, funny, consistent as the guy his Jersey buddies call ‘Smack’.”

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A photo of Paul McCaffrey and Brian Murphy
(Photo: KNBR)

Earlier this week, KNBR underwent a round of layoffs, affecting a pair of programs on the Bay Area sports station, including the departure of longtime morning host Paul McCaffrey. His longtime partner — Brian Murphy — has taken to X to share his thoughts.

In a thread to X, Murphy shared his admiration for McCaffrey, whom he hosted Murph and Mac with for 18 years.

“Paulie Mac is my guy, will forever be my guy. The best thing I could ever wish anyone is that you get to work with someone as loyal, energetic, funny, consistent as the guy his Jersey buddies call ‘Smack’,” wrote Murphy. “So much love.”

He then shared that everything listeners and fans of the program have shared on social media has been read by the duo, and thanked them for the outpouring of love and support.

Finally, Murphy addressed his future. Fill-in host Dieter Kurtenbach shared on Thursday he did not have a definitive answer about Murphy’s future with the Cumulus-owned station.

However, Brian Murphy has shared he will return to the airwaves on Monday morning.

“I’ll be back Monday morning on KNBR with our guy Markus (Waterboy) Boucher,” Murphy wrote. “Come on. It’s Niners-Eagles. Wouldn’t miss it. As Paulie Mac’s board itself would say: The show goes on.”

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Mike Mulligan: Sports Radio is More Difficult Than Other Formats Think

He shared that he has worked with people on morning shows that he has seen come to a station fully hungover who play music and proceed to sit on the couch.

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Mike Mulligan
Courtesy: Illinois Entertainer

On Friday morning’s edition of Mully & Haugh on 670 The Score in Chicago, co-host Mike Mulligan outlined the difference with music radio that hosts are not continuously talking to the audience, instead taking mic breaks and then interspersing commentary with different songs.

Filling in for David Haugh on Friday’s edition of the program was Gabe Ramirez, who used to work in the format with B96 as the host of its morning show. Mulligan’s assertion about the differences between the two formats resulted in a conversation about the differences between the grenres, with Ramirez explaining the difficulties that music radio hosts face on the air.

“The music station’s still creating content,” Ramirez said. “You get to have a guest – since I am going to defend my music stations – you get to have a guest and toss them a softball question and listen to them rant for five minutes.”

Mulligan disagreed with this perspective, conveying that he does not feel their program provides guests with easy questions. Additionally, he shared that he has worked with people on morning shows that he has seen come to a station fully hungover who play music and proceed to sit on the couch.

“As a former sportswriter, we sit around and we talk about sports,” Mulligan said. “We talk about the sports we cover and we talk about other sports.”

“You have to talk about Justin Fields seven days in a row,” Ramirez replied. “As a morning show for music, you have to come up with new content every day.”

Rather than taking umbrage towards the response, Mike Mulligan explained that the key to effectively performing his job is being able to discuss important stories of the day even when they are not the headlines. Furthermore, he expounded on the commitment that it takes to watch the amount of sporting events and to be properly informed on the action so he is able to take the air.

“That I will agree with,” Ramirez said. “I’ve told people this – they ask me, ‘What’s the biggest difference?’ The prep, without question, is way more difficult in sports radio because everyone that’s listening to you already knows the answers and you have to be equally if not more informed in all of those things.”

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Minnesota Twins Set to Tab Cory Provus as New TV Voice, Kris Atteberry as Lead Radio Announcer

Provus has been the radio voice of the Minnesota Twins since 2012.

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Minnesota Twins

After Dick Bremer exited the Minnesota Twins TV booth in October, the search began for his replacement. The MLB franchise didn’t have to look far, though.

Twins radio voice Cory Provus is reportedly set to become the new TV play-by-play broadcaster for the club, according to a report from Dan Hayes of The Athletic.

Provus has been the radio voice of the Minnesota Twins since 2012. Many immediately tabbed him as the club’s replacement for Bremer, who retired after 40 seasons as the lead television voice of the American League club. Before joining the team in 2012, Provus worked for the Milwaukee Brewers as the number two broadcaster after spending two seasons as the radio pregame host for the Chicago Cubs.

Meanwhile, Kris Atteberry has been signaled as the person set to replace Provus inside the franchise’s radio booth. He has served as the pregame and postgame host for the Minnesota Twins Radio Network since 2007. Atteberry joined the club after spending five years calling games for the then-Independent St. Paul Saints from 2002-2006.

While the television and radio broadcast crews appear set, questions remain about where the team will televise its games in 2024. The club’s contract with Bally Sports North has reportedly expired, and it has yet to sign an agreement with the bankruptcy-laden RSN, or with a local over-the-air television station.

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