Media Frenzy

By Rob Holbert Managing Editor

It seems Paul Finebaum’s show has been “snaked” out of the Mobile market—at least for a little while.

Kenny “Snake” Stabler’s new daily sports/talk radio program “The Ultimate Sports Show” found a place on the Port City’s airwaves beginning March 26. Unfortunately for Finebaum’s show, that spot is on WPMI 710 AM at precisely the time his show airs. On the plus side, it seems Finebaum’s show quickly landed a new home on WNSP 105.5 FM, but he won’t be going head-to-head with The Snake.

There had been some speculation that Finebaum’s tenure with Clear Channel stations might be in danger when he left WERC, 960 AM in Birmingham last month, taking his show to WJOX, a high-powered FM station in “The Magic City.”

WPMI programming director Scott O’Brien confirmed the switch from Finebaum’s to Stabler’s show, saying Finebaum’s last day on the air was March 23. O’Brien said he was not aware of all the details involving Stabler’s show statewide, but added that the former University of Alabama and Oakland Raider quarterback would have a place on Clear Channel stations in several Alabama markets.

“Kenny described the program as one that’s going to take calls and have special guests and will discuss all types of sports. Obviously they will deal heavily with football, but they’ll also discuss baseball, basketball and even NASCAR,” O’Brien said.

The show airs from 2-6 p.m. weekdays.

Stabler has been a regular on Alabama football broadcasts for some time. Stabler and his co-host Chris Stewart began hosting “The Ultimate Sports Show” on WERC, 960 AM, in Birmingham a couple of weeks ago. O’Brien said now that the show is carried in Mobile, Stabler will do much of his broadcasting from here. Stewart will usually broadcast from WERC, so the two will frequently not be in studio together.

“The show will originate live from Mobile and Birmingham. I believe Kenny has a studio downtown and Chris will be doing it in a studio at WERC. It takes some getting used to not having your co-host there,” O’Brien said. “Take it from me, it is easier to do with the co-host there, but it’s just a matter of getting comfortable with it.”

Meanwhile, WNSP’s Tim Camp said his station is in the midst of wrapping up a deal to broadcast Finebaum’s show on a delayed basis weekdays from 6-10 p.m. Camp said WNSP’s “Sports Drive” show routinely outperformed Finebaum’s show in the local ratings, justifying moving Finebaum to a later time slot.

“We were not going to pre-empt ‘Sports Drive’ for Finebaum. ‘Sports Drive’ kicked his butt at that time, so it didn’t make sense,” Camp said.

Camp said they are working on some technical issues with getting Finebaum’s show in a delayed format, so it won’t be back on the air locally until the second Monday in April. Finebaum also writes a sports column for the Mobile Press-Register.

“He elected to leave Clear Channel, so from the standpoint of an independent broadcaster, I’m glad to give him a chance to get back on the air in Mobile,” Camp said.

Stabler’s new show will not affect his status with the Crimson Tide Sports Network, which he has done color commentary for over the past several years.

Rob Holbert is Lagniappe managing editor. Contact him at rholbert@lagniappemobile.com.

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