Area Commuters Will Now Have Indy Sports Chatter To Start Their Day.
The below report was published Friday by IndyStar’s Dana Hunsinger Benbow.
ESPN The Fan’s “Jeff & Big Joe Show,” which launched in January replacing the “Grady & Big Joe Show,” is getting another new name and a new time — and Indianapolis is getting a show to fill commuters’ morning drives with local sports talk.
“The Fan Morning Show with Jeff & Big Joe” will debut May 6, featuring co-hosts Jeff Rickard, a radio veteran, and former Indianapolis Colts player Joe Staysniak. It will air 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on WFNI-AM (1070) and -FM (107.5), leaving behind its 10 a.m. to noon time slot.
“It quite honestly makes a lot more sense,” said Rickard, who joined Staysniak in January when co-host Michael Grady left the show after eight years for the YES Network. “We just think we can get a lot more bang for our buck. People need sports in the morning as they’re driving to work, as they’re in the kitchen getting breakfast ready.”
Indianapolis doesn’t have a local early morning sports radio show. The 10 a.m. to noon slot left empty by Rickard and Staysniak’s current show will be filled by ESPN’s “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz.”
Rickard describes Le Batard’s show as one that “subtly makes fun of sports radio and sports while celebrating it at the same time.”
On Thursday the national show covered, among other topics, Magic Johnson stepping down from the Lakers, whether Game of Thrones is overrated and debated if The Moon’s voice would sound like Calais Campbell.
Rickard said the format of the Indy show won’t change drastically as it moves to mornings, other than adding an hour in length, featuring more guests and giving listeners an early morning chance to air their grievances about a game the night before. The popular pop quiz at the end of the show will continue.
The announcement of the show’s changes was made to staff Friday morning and then to listeners at 11 a.m.
“Indianapolis is a sports mecca and our listeners are keyed into that and they want more,” Staysniak said. “There is a craving for more. There is a craving for a sports morning show and it just so happens you and I are morning people. And we are more than happy to do that.”
In a statement announcing the changes, Bob Richards, vice president/market manager of Emmis Indianapolis said: “We are thrilled to give Indianapolis sports fans a place to start their day talking about the Colts, Pacers, IU, Butler and everything else going on in the wide world of sports…We’re also excited to bring an extra hour of local programming every weekday on The Fan.”
