Back to sports after this short break for your weekly breaking radio news:
Richard “Big Dick” Hunter, host of the always innovative and usually intoxicating Wild Ass Circus on Live 105.3, is going big time. I mean, BIG time. How large?
An industry source whispered to me last night that none other than radio icon and Weekly Top 40 poobah Rick Dees was trying to sign Hunter for national syndication. One call to Hollywood this morning and sure enough: Done deal.
“We think Richard Hunter is the next voice of a generation, like Rush or Hannity,” says Dees Director of Sales and Marketing Josh Cooperman, who, by the way, cut his radio teeth a decade or so ago on Dallas’ 99.5 KPLX. “The guy’s range is amazing. He can talk everything from politics to mixed martial arts with expertise and passion, and that’s a rarity. He’s got a phenomenal Rolodex and he’s an amazing talent.”
Other than Hunter’s amplified fame and fortune, what it means isn’t exactly clear yet.
Right now – in the wake of Pugs & Kelly’s departure – Hunter is filling in middays on Live 105.3. But from the outset that’s been a temporary arrangement. I keep hearing that the station is leaning toward a sports-heavy show from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and that Greg Williams and Mike Fisher are still on the verge of a tryout. But the fact it hasn’t happened yet makes you start to wonder, eh?
As for Hunter, he’ll be heard on tons of stations across the country. Live 105.3 would be a fool to not be one of them. -- Richie Whitt
