iHeartMedia Sports/Hot Talk “97.1 The Freak” KEGL Fort Worth/Dallas TX will be revamping its programming lineup on Monday, July 24.
Kevin ‘KT’ Turner will remain in mornings, but will now be joined by afternoon co-hosts Mike Sirois and Dany Balis. Sirois and Balis were both longtime producers and hosts at Cumulus Media’s “The Ticket” 1310 KTCK/96.7 KTCK-FM before departing last summer ahead of joining KEGL. Turner moved to mornings from being part of the Ben & Skin show as a producer and co-host. The morning show will take on the “Downbeat” name that had been utilized in afternoons, while also moving up an hour to run from 6-10am as opposed to 7-11am.
With the morning show moving up an hour so will midday hosts Ben Rogers & Jeff ‘Skin’ Wade. Ben & Skin will now run from 10am-2pm. The duo pre-dated the launch of the “Freak” on KEGL last October, previously hosting a 2-5pm show at the station since February 2020. The duo hosted middays and then afternoons at “105.3 The Fan” KRLD-FM from 2013 until October 2019, middays at “ESPN 103.3” KESN and middays at Hot Talk “Live 105.3” KLLI. They also have worked at 1190 KFXR, 1310 KTCK and on Dallas Mavericks broadcasts.
The Mike Rhyner led afternoon show will now run from 2-6pm as opposed to 3-7. Jeff Cavanaugh and Julie Dobbs will bring the “Speakeasy” show name from mornings to join Rhyner and producer Michael ‘Grubes’ Gruber. Cavanaugh previously co-hosted “G-Bag Nation” on “105.3 The Fan” KRLD-FM from 2010 until February 2022. Dobbs previously served as an update anchor on KTCK and was a reporter for Fox Sports Southwest.
Dallas Mavericks basketball and “Real Radio 104.1” WTKS-FM Orlando midday show “The News Junkie” will continue to be heard at night.
The lineup change comes after the arrival of Dominic ‘Zakk’ Zaccagnini as Program Director last month. Zaccagnini had been programming News/Talk 1180 WHAM Rochester, and Hot Talk “Radio 95.1” WAIO Honeoye Falls/Rochester, and News/Talk 570 WSYR Syracuse/106.9 WSYR-FM Solvay NY for iHeart since May 2022. He has held on-air and programming roles including Program Director of Classic Rock “107.7 The Bone” KSAN San Francisco, APD/MD/afternoon host of KSAN, Music Director for Westwood One’s Steve Gorman Rocks, part-time host at Sports 680 KNBR/104.5 KNBR-FM San Francisco, and hosting a Kansas City Chiefs pregame show for KCFX Kansas City while at Cumulus between 2015 and 2021. He previously has also worked at WLUP Chicago, WRRK Pittsburgh, WTFX Louisville, WMFS Memphis, WTPT Greenville, KSJO San Jose, and WZGC Atlanta as well as co-hosting the national “Zakk & Jack” morning show on Fox Sports Radio from 2010-2012. Zaccagnini has also been part of radio coverage for the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, and Kansas City Chiefs broadcasts.
Zaccagnini told the Dallas Morning News, “The catalyst for this change was to make a better fit for our same staff to further excel in a weekday lineup that best suits their professional and personal lifestyles.”
The Freak had a 1.1 share in the June 2023 Nielsen Audio ratings, well behind KRLD-FM’s 2.4 share and KTCK/KTCK-FM’s 5.1 (down from a market leading 6.6 in May).
