L.A.’s A.M. Talk Down to Bruno

Tony Bruno will be doing what he calls a “victory tour” next week. Proclaiming a victory at this point is premature, but what the heck, this is sports talk radio, where just about anything goes when it comes to self-promotion.

KMPC (1540), where Bruno began doing the morning drive-time show April 4, still hasn’t shown up in a ratings book. But the KMPC spin is that Bruno and sidekick Mark Willard, beginning Monday, will have the only local morning sports talk show in Los Angeles. Bruno’s show may eventually become a Sporting News Radio network show, but for now it is L.A. based.

XTRA Sports 570 is dropping its Fox Sports Radio network morning sports show in favor of a syndicated Howard Stern-type show out of Chicago with Erich “Mancow” Muller. And L.A.’s other sports talk station, KSPN (710), carries an ESPN Radio network show with Colin Cowherd in the mornings.

Don Martin, XTRA’s general manager, says he believes his new show will drive up ratings, and he probably is right. No sports talk morning show has pulled a decent rating in L.A.

But Bruno says he believes sports talk in the mornings can get good ratings if it is done right, although his ratings were never anything to brag about when he was formerly on XTRA in the mornings.

Bruno says a morning sports show has to emphasize entertainment. But then is it really a sports show?

Bruno and Willard certainly stray from sports topics. On Thursday they devoted considerable time to the opening of “Star Wars,” which was also a topic on Cowherd’s show.

Bob Koontz, KSPN’s general manager, said he is happy with Cowherd in the morning and the rest of his station’s lineup.

“We made good gains in the winter [ratings] book in all day parts,” Koontz said, “and we again have had double-digit increases in sales this year.”

KMPC, which bills itself as “The Ticket,” hasn’t been competitive even though it is the flagship for USC football. Beefing up a weak signal should help.

“We are in the final testing of improvement to the signal that you can already hear,” new General Manager Roger Nadel said. “Those improvements are based on FCC approval of our request to increase power to 50,000 watts daytime and 37,000 watts at night. All the hardware is in place. We’re tweaking the signal now to ensure that it meets FCC guidelines.”

Said Bruno: “In the end, people will determine what is best for them. They will determine whether we win or lose.”

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Money Talks

Former baseball agent Dennis Gilbert, who has crossed over to the other side and has played a major role in the success of the Chicago White Sox as special assistant to team owner Jerry Reinsdorf, was an in-studio guest of Joe McDonnell and Doug Krikorian on KSPN on Wednesday. Krikorian, pointing out that former agent Jeff Moorad is now a part-owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, asked Gilbert, “Why haven’t you become an owner? You’re wealthier than Jeff Moorad.” Quipped Gilbert: “Because I lent Jeff the money.”

Reinsdorf, among the guests on the show, praised Gilbert for his contributions to the team, and Gilbert in turn asked some softball questions of Reinsdorf. “Dennis, you know the answer to that,” Reinsdorf said of a question about the White Sox coaching staff having all played in the organization. Said Gilbert: “Of course I’m going to give the boss a few layups.”

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Short Waves

There will be 109 1/2 hours of French Open coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN Classic beginning Monday, with 80 1/2 hours live. The finals June 4 and 5 will be on NBC. ... ESPN tennis commentator Pam Shriver missed last year’s French Open because she was pregnant with her first child, a son born July 12. Shriver, who turns 43 on July 4, is pregnant again. She and husband George Lazenby, 65, are expecting twins, but not until November. So this year she won’t miss the French Open.

Fox Sports this weekend opens its Saturday game of the week baseball coverage with regionally televised interleague games from New York, Chicago; Arlington, Texas, and L.A., with Thom Brennaman and Steve Lyons announcing Saturday’s Angel-Dodger game.

Bud Greenspan tells the story of Whirlaway, the 1941 Triple Crown winner, in an excellent documentary that will be televised on ESPN Classic today at noon and repeated Saturday at 8 a.m. The one-hour show was inspired by Fred C. Broadhead’s 1995 book, “Here Comes Whirlaway.” ... HBO reports last Saturday’s Winky Wright-Felix Trinidad pay-per-view fight generated 510,000 buys and $25.5 million in revenue. The fight will be replayed Saturday night at 6:45 as part of a live boxing show.

ESPN “SportsCenter” editions on Sunday will profile Conrad Dobler, once called the dirtiest player in pro football. He has had to care for his wife since she was paralyzed from the neck down after falling from a flipped hammock and severing her spinal cord on July 4, 2001.

ESPN and the ABC Radio network announced they will join forces to launch ESPN Deportes Radio, a Spanish-language sports network this fall. Los Angeles’ KWKW (1330), owned by Lotus Communications, will serve as the flagship for the new network.