Longtime St. Louis sports talk radio host Bob Ramsey has left 590 The Fan KFNS and is headed to News/Talk station KTRS. Ramsey has been hosting in mid-mornings with Frank Cusumano and previously hosted in mid-afternoons with Nate Lucas.

Ramsey has been on the air in St. Louis since 1992 and was one of the original sports talkers in the market. He was there when 1380 AM launched in St. Louis as its first all sports station and he was also on board at the launch of Hubbard’s 101 ESPN, the dominant sports station in the market for the past decade.

Ramsey is also the voice of the Saint Louis University Billikens and has held that position for over 35 years. He previously called games for the St. Louis Cardinals.

“He fits our demographics, he’s married with three children,” KTRS GM Mark Dorsey told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Bob can branch out of sports, he’ll fit right in a news-talk-entertainment format. This is a way for us to show Bob’s other talents, he knows about much more than sports. He’s a hidden gem.”

The first round of the 2024 NFL Draft was something to behold. A reported 275,000 people were on site in Detroit with coverage carried by ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, the NFL Network, SiriusXM and numerous YouTube pages and other digital outlets. In addition, there was the debut of Nick Saban as a full-time member of the College GameDay crew along with Bill Belichick doing a show with Pat McAfee and a host of characters that somehow turned out to be magical. Sports media had plenty of reaction to the night.

BSM reached out to several hosts asking their thoughts on the draft coverage, wondering which outlet they watched on or any feedback about what they saw.

Mad Dog Sports Radio morning drive host Damon Amendolara said, “We’re incredibly lucky as football fans to have three networks to choose from, all of which do a comprehensive job of covering the Draft. I think NFL Network has a fantastic crew working on it. I specifically love Charles Davis’ insight all season long on college prospects.

“For the bulk of my viewing this year I opted for ESPN. Some of it is probably subconscious remnants of watching it growing up on Saturday afternoons when it was only on ESPN. But I also enjoy Mel Kiper’s authority in the space. Draft analysts are all guessing, so the idea that Kiper created the industry of draft analysts gives him gravitas in my mind. I also think Greeny does a nice job of setting up picks and discussion points and then getting out of the way for his analysts to dig in. Plus, Louis Riddick does a nice job of having strong opinions without it being a hot take. I also generally like ESPN’s football game coverage, so the graphics, wide shots, and produced pieces are tight and professional. So as a blend, I tend to lean on ESPN for my draft coverage.”

101 ESPN in St. Louis morning host Dan McLaughlin said he flipped around throughout the night but spent most of the time watching ABC. “I was curious how Nick Saban would do on that type of show. You already knew the College GameDay crew would be awesome as usual, but adding Saban just brought another element to it. I thought he was great, huge addition for them.”

Dave Rothenberg from DiPietro & Rothenberg on ESPN New York said, “I watched the draft on ESPN, I’m a creature of habit and that’s what I’ve been doing for 30 years plus. I considered ABC, but they just don’t have Mel Kiper, Jr. The ESPN coverage is always informative, and this year was no different.

SportsRadio 610 in Houston afternoon drive host Ron Hughley said he watched on ESPN and added, “I really enjoyed the draft, it had everything you want in terms of entertainment. Maintaining my interest, even with me knowing what would happen at the top of the draft, all the while having that element of surprise (especially the Penix Jr. selection). The draft was what the league is about, THE QUARTERBACK, STUPID (shoutout to James Carville)”

Brendan Wiese, Sports Director for KTRS St. Louis said, “I actually thought the ESPN broadcast felt really stale. They miss [Chris] Berman or [Trey] Wingo as the host. When I flipped from ESPN to ABC, it was like a breath of fresh air. [Nick] Saban seems like a natural and comes from a place of real credibility. It probably helps that the GameDay crew already has the built-in chemistry.”

Others took to social media and expressed their NFL Draft coverage thoughts:

A report from Athlon Sports’ Richie Whitt says Dallas radio station 97.1 The Freak, which changed to a sports/hot talk format less than two years ago, will make a programming change due to low ratings. The report says an emergency meeting was held this morning with the staff and those present did not have positive feelings coming away from it.

One source told Whitt, “The staff is going to be let go,” while another said, “We all see the writing on the wall. It could all come down today.”

Whitt has now spoken with afternoon host Mike Rhyner and confirmed the 73-year-old and all other hosts have been let go. Speculation is the station will return to a rock format. Rhyner told Whitt, “…This thing didn’t end well, but I had a lot of fun along the way, and it rejuvenated me.”

97.1 The Freak launched on October 3, 2022, and Rhyner, a longtime host at Dallas sports radio station The Ticket was the first voice heard. Dallas has been a very successful market for sports stations and The Ticket was built on branching out outside of sports.

The Freak, owned by iHeartMedia, has been featuring a lineup of The Downbeat with Mike Sirois, Danny Balis and Kevin Turner from 6 a.m.-10 a.m. followed by The Ben and Skin Show from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with Ben Rogers and Jeff ‘Skin’ Wade and The Speakeasy with Mike Rhyner, Jeff Cavanaugh and Julie Dobbs in afternoon drive.

The station is also home to the Dallas Mavericks who are getting set for Game 3 of their playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers later tonight.

Updated: The Ben & Skin show has posted the following message to their X account:

No formal announcements have been made by iHeartMedia. BSM will update this story as more information becomes available.