Ken Dito debuts at 9 AM Monday with "The Press Box" on XTRA Sports 860 AM. The first guest is ex A's, and now scout/Comcast commentator, Shooty Babitt.
Dito is a Bay Area broadcast veteran; he spent a bulk of his career at KNBR before knibber got knibbed by the lovely folks from Cumulus.
The show will be a staple of simple, non-shticky, but informative sports talk, heavy on writers, broadcasters, opinion and solid sports fare.
Not coincidentally, the one-hour-long program competes with Gary Radnich. Radnich dominates in his time-slot from 9-Noon, but Raddy's mix of inside baseball, off-sports topics and inside kitsch isn't necessarily for the average sports fan that still yearns for the x's and o's, pertinent discussion, and conversation fixated on sports.
To be fair, Radnich has cultivated a fan base that gravitates to his style and has done well because of it; Dito is more 'meat and potatoes', more Oakland A's talk, CAL football, the Niners, Giants, Warriors etc. His style is fairly "to-the-book" and there's a market for that simple formula. Whether or not he and the show can sustain a following remains to be seen, but give the folks at XTRA some credit for at least trying.
I hope it does work, it would be an option to go to instead of the daily Radnich comedy show, which is getting tired.
ReplyDeleteFunny, when Radnich goes on vacation, his hosts talk more sports, but it is a more interesting show, despite what he might think.
I listened to Ken Dito's "Sportsphone 68" every night when I was a kid 30 years ago. I loved that program, and unlike the obsequious hosts that currently occupy the air on KNBR, Dito was never afraid to call out management for their idiotic moves. I still rememember that all through the early 1980's, he pleaded with the Giants' management to not trade Jack Clark, because he always said that Clark was a true slugger and in those pre-steroid/HGH days, real power-hitting stars were rare. I enjoyed his show in those days. He wouldn't fit in with KNBR today because he would never be a boot-licker to Larry Baer, Jed York, and Chris Cohan, like the repitilian Fitz, and those other frauds like Murph and the Razor.
ReplyDeleteOne thing about Radnich's show is-only in the first-say 45 minutes-will he bring up anything interesting or talk hot subject sports..after that its all the routine,talking about himself,the hip hop world, and the now boring 20 minutes of Bruno. They just imitate each other and laugh in hysterics.
ReplyDeleteXTRA ,KTRB, or whatever they want to call themselves got off to slow start. First, it was a morning sports trio who were as un PC as they get..or it was a national sports instead of bay area talk.
But,you can feel them cutting into KNBR land. The ratings are going one direction every time..a slow climb is better than a free fall. The Savage hate all show just doesnt belong on family sports radio. If XTRA does at all better-they cut him loose.
I just hope they dont stick to the KNBR/Comcast formula of all white men and a few black men to represent every other person of color in the bay area. With the increase of Latins and now Asians in baseball it seems criminal that its still that 3 white men hired,maybe a black man..unless its KNBR who dont even hire any more black men since Rod Brooks as we all know IS every minority in this country as how they see it...
I thought I was the only one that thought the Bruno segment was getting stale. And it's not necessarily Bruno's fault...
ReplyDeleteHi Ken,
ReplyDeletejust want to let you know you are being missed. totally enjoyed your show. this tittle guy is a snorer, dull and boring. Mediocrity wins again!! Hope you're doing o.k. thanks
harold banks
walnut creek