Krikorian Firing Is Difficult to Explain

In one of the late Jim Healy’s classic sound bites, Bob Costas, while working in sports talk radio at KMOX in St. Louis, says, “Look, it’s a wacky business. Who cares?”

The wacky side of sports talk radio struck again this week when KSPN (710) executives told Doug Krikorian his services would no longer be needed.

It didn’t matter that, while partner Joe McDonnell took time off to have gastric bypass surgery in October, it was Krikorian who gave continuity to the station’s marquee program, “The McDonnell Douglas Show.”

It didn’t matter that Krikorian and McDonnell, first paired on the old KMPC in 1992, had been together at 710 for five years.

It didn’t matter that Krikorian, as a sportswriter, has more than 37 years of experience covering teams in Los Angeles -- 21 with the old L.A. Herald Examiner and 16 with the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

It didn’t matter that the ratings for “McDonnell Douglas” were on the upswing.

The day after Krikorian was dismissed, Arbitron trends came out showing that the audience share among men 18-plus had gone from a 1.0 to a 1.2, although Angel baseball, carried by 710, may have played a role in that. The trends showed that the cumulative number of different listeners over a seven-day period went from 101,200 to 107,700.

So if it wasn’t ratings, then what was it?

Granted, the show has it critics. McDonnell and Krikorian are often off the wall, and sometimes the show is somewhat of a train wreck. But isn’t that what much of sports talk radio has become?

Word is there was pressure on the corporate side from people who don’t know the market -- an ESPN Radio network executive in Dallas, Scott Masteller, and a Seattle-based consultant, Rick Scott -- to get rid of Krikorian.

Bob Koontz, KSPN general manager, denied there was any outside pressure.

“This is a decision [program director] Ray [Kalusa] and I made internally,” he said, adding that the station was able to opt out of Krikorian’s contract now, even though it doesn’t expire until November.

“Personally, I love Doug,” Koontz said.

Said Krikorian: “I’m sure my age, which unfortunately I have no control over, was not a positive factor.”

Krikorian turns 62 on Aug. 12, but Koontz said his age had nothing to do with the decision.

Kootnz said he hopes to extend McDonnell’s contract, which also expires in November.

Jay Mohr was paired with McDonnell on Thursday, and today, when the show will originate from Angel Stadium, Gary Miller will be McDonnell’s sidekick. McDonnell will then take a two-week vacation.

Jason Smith, who works for the ESPN Radio network, will help fill in for McDonnell while he is gone, then work with him for a while when he returns. Smith is probably the leading candidate to replace Krikorian.

A Roaring Finish

Fox concludes its portion of the NASCAR season with Sunday’s Nextel Cup race from Sonoma, Calif., and the network expects to finish with an overall national rating of 5.9, which would be a record for any NASCAR television package.

“Look at the flip-flop that took place five years ago, with NASCAR becoming basically a network sport at a time when the NBA was going from a predominantly network sport to a predominantly cable sport,” Fox Sports President Ed Goren said. “I think the growth in NASCAR audiences year after year speaks for itself.”

Short Waves

Roger Lodge, formerly of 1540, can be heard on 570 for four days beginning July 5 when he fills in for the vacationing Lee Hamilton.

The Women’s U.S. Open on ESPN2 today and NBC Saturday and Sunday is this week’s big golf event. Then Monday and Tuesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2 will be the ING Par-3 Shootout from Gaylord, Mich. This will be the first high-definition golf telecast on any ESPN channel. ... Here’s something different: Sirius is offering daily satellite radio coverage of Wimbledon.

Julie Foudy, former captain of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, makes her commentating debut on ESPN2’s coverage of the match between the U.S. and Canada on Sunday at noon. ... ESPN will televise Tuesday’s NBA draft, beginning at 4 p.m. Jim Gray will report on the Lakers from Los Angeles. ... What have hockey announcers been doing with all their free time these days? One thing King television commentator Jim Fox has been doing is preparing to teach a UCLA extension class on sports public relations, beginning with a one-day seminar July 9. Information: uclaextension.edu/journalismPRFundraising.

“Speedfreaks,” with Kenny Sargent, a nationally syndicated radio show heard on 710 Sundays at 10 p.m., celebrates its fifth anniversary this weekend. “Speedfreaks” became a weekly TV show as well last year, airing on the Speed Channel. ... During this weekend’s Angel-Dodger telecasts, Channel 9 will be giving away nine opportunities for fans to take batting practice with Angel batting coach (and former Dodger) Mickey Hatcher at Angel Stadium this season. There will be three winners a game selected from those who answer a poll question via text message or the Internet.