The news, which The NY Post’s Andrew Marchand broke on Monday, was that as a part of sweeping changes at ESPN Radio, Le Batard’s show was cut from three hours to two hours. Marchand reported that there were internal discussions about pulling the show off radio completely.
“I viewed it and said to people above us, ‘hey, this is a demotion,’” Le Batard said in a Mystery Crate post with executive producer Mike Ryan.
“And the answer I am getting is, ’No, it’s not. We are making a concerted effort to move into the digital space because of the changing needs of listeners.’”
Le Batard’s show will now air from 10 a.m. to noon — it previously ended at 1 p.m. — with an hour-long podcast going online before that. Mike Greenberg’s new radio show will start airing at noon. Le Batard said he was promised by ESPN bosses that more resources would be poured into the show, despite less time on terrestrial radio.
The timing is still dubious, however, given Le Batard’s strong political stances and this cutback coming with social justice unrest permeating throughout the country. Le Batard has previously been at odds with ESPN for using his platform to talk politics and cultural matters as the the network has tried to veer more toward sports-only topics — a goal which is becoming harder and harder during a global coronavirus pandemic and racial tensions following the police-related death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Le Batard, though, said he hopes that the online-only hour will allow his show more freedom to discuss these topics.
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