Zobrist Media Sports “590 The Fan” KFNS Wood River IL/St. Louis will eliminate its local lineup at the end of the week.
Owner Dave Zobrist told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the station will eliminate its thirteen hours of weekday local programming for Fox Sports Radio’s national lineup while he attempts to sell the station. He said, “It became apparent in April that marketing budgets are shrinking in this economy. 590 not being a Nielsen-rated radio station for national business attention was too tall a task to overcome.”
Zobrist worked at KFNS prior to acquiring the station in 2021 for $450,000. The Sports format originally launched in April 1993 and was the primary all-Sports station in the market until Hubbard’s launch of “101 ESPN” WXOS in 2009. The station flipped to Hot Talk in 2013 as “590 The Man” and then went silent in November 2014 ahead of a failed sale out of bankruptcy to a religious group. The Sports format returned in November 2015 just days prior to when the license would have expired.
Zobrist added, “It’s disappointing that the shows are ending, because the guys are all incredibly talented. I’m bummed out that I couldn’t make this financially stable, because I still believe in each and every host. The AM standalone category is absolutely a big challenge,” Zobrist said. “I invested into the signal strength when I first purchased it, and it didn’t seem to be a worthwhile investment in the end. I do still believe St. Louis is big enough for two sports radio talk format stations.”
The current KFNS local lineup includes “Hot Take Central” with Cam Janssen, Charlie Marlow, and Jim Hayes from 7-10am, “The Pressbox with Frank Cusumano” from 10am-12pm. “The Kings Court with Kevin Slaten” from 12-2, “The Verdict with Nate Lucas” from 2-3, Bernie Miklasz from 3-6pm, and ‘Charlie Tuna’ Edwards from 6-8pm. Slaten’s show will continue daily on his website.
With the change, KFNS will rebrand as “Fox Sports 590” running the national lineup 24/7 outside of some play-by-play. In a press release Zobrist added, “We’re excited to expand our partnership with FOX Sports Radio to bring the biggest names in the sports talk format to St. Louis. Broadcasting FOX Sports Radio’s lineup, along with local play-by-play, will continue our commitment to delivering bold, exciting and entertaining sports talk to our listeners.”
