Ryan Brown verified Friday afternoon that he, Lance Taylor, Jim Dunaway and Sean Heninger (Rockstar) are leaving WJOX’s “The Roundtable” sports radio present.
Their closing present, which aired from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. each day, was Wednesday, even as their contracts expired Might 31.
Brown stated the 4 very long-time radio personalities are scheduling to launch a electronic system, and the split from the Cumulus radio station was amicable.
“The final decision for us to go away JOX, frankly, was an exceptionally challenging decision,” Brown explained to AL.com on Friday. “There are no really hard feelings. We are not upset with Cumulus or WJOX. In actuality, they have been phenomenal to us. It has been amid the biggest 21 several years of our life. Merged, we have worked there for 77 a long time. We are heavily invested in that station, and they are greatly invested in us. But, for everyone who has any type of entrepreneurial spirit, you end and say what would it be like if I labored for myself? What if I controlled a ton of my long run? I feel that was the dilemma a good deal of us had in excess of the final yr.
“That created us stop and say how can we do that?”
Brown mentioned WJOX offered a likelihood at a sendoff show, but it genuinely wasn’t a thing they were being intrigued in.
“They were being quite gracious and made available any range of approaches to go away,” he defined. “They supplied the notion of executing a very good-bye display, numerous excellent-bye demonstrates, a 7 days of very good-bye shows. They have been very generous in presenting that. It was significantly appreciated. Frankly, I just do not know if that is very good radio. No person tunes in to hear sappy calls or individuals complaining or celebrating or whichever. It is not the mother nature of what we do on a every day basis. I just don’t assume it was extremely attractive to us to do a excellent-bye exhibit.
“We’re leaving radio but we are however likely to be all around, and folks will however have entry to us.”
Wednesday’s closing exhibit marks the stop of an 11-yr run of “The Roundtable” in its present-day variety. Brown, who started out at WJOX in 2001, stated the go was a shock for WJOX management.
“I imagine it caught them off guard only simply because it experienced been these kinds of a good romance,” he stated. “Had it been a strained relationship, had we been terribly unhappy or been complaining about factors, I never feel they would have been stunned.
“The character of the surprise is that we had had a quite good doing work partnership up right until the final day we ended up there. It was not any a single issue that drove us away. There was no terrible blood. No unwell will.”
Phone calls to WJOX management were not promptly returned, but Ryan Haney – method director for Cumulus Media Birmingham – tweeted a thank you to the “RoundTable” hosts.
Meanwhile, Brown mentioned particulars on their upcoming experience will quickly be introduced on social media.
“We’re 4 fellas who had an incredible run there with astounding individuals who are just deciding upon to do our very own factor.
“I simply cannot stress enough that this is a tranquil section. There is no unwell-will held by everyone. All superior emotions, even though it finished. No person is upset by this. Everyone understands what is heading on. We are not able to be much more delighted with the way Cumulus handled it, and even made available us the capacity to say superior-bye.”
Mark Heim is a sporting activities reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Stick to him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.
