More on Michael Irvin and ESPN 103.3
10:31 AM Fri, Feb 05, 2010 | Permalink
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Here's what I know:
For months I have been hearing rumors that the radio station was unhappy with Irvin's ratings. I was on an airplane headed off on a December vacation when a friend called to tell me that the firing was imminent and he would be replaced by Ben & Skin. When I landed I made some calls and no one would confirm it.
At the Cowboys-Eagles playoff game in January, I talked to several people from the radio station and they said Irvin's show was on life support and there were talks about dumping the show and perhaps finding another roles for Irvin at the station.
I called Irvin a few days later and asked him for comment about the rumors. He said he hadn't heard them and asked for time so he could talk to station officials. I also told him that the word was that Kevin Kiley would be let go.
I connected with Irvin again last Friday morning. He was already in Fort Lauderdale for the Super Bowl. He told me he had talked to station management and was told there were no plans to end the show. I then checked with Pete Dits, the station general manager, and he told me while he hoped for better ratings, there were no plans to end the show. I wrote about it for last Saturday's Hot Air.
After news broke last night about a civil lawsuit for an alleged Irvin rape in Fort Lauderdale back July, 2007, I started making calls about his media future.
I got a definitive answer about the radio show this morning from ESPN headquarters in Bristol. ESPN stressed it had made the decision. ESPN said it planned to make the move after the Super Bowl but decided to move up the schedule after news of lawsuit hit.
Irvin was a no-show this morning for a scheduled event wit the North Texas Super Bowl Committee. I have a call in to him and will call ESPN 103.3 in a couple of minutes.
P.S. I was up at ESPN 103.3 FM a couple of months ago and asked station manager Tom Lee about Irvin's contract status. He told me a new contract was a done deal. I also talked to Nate Newton, who is savvier about these things than he lets on, and he asked me one question: "What's wrong with our show?"