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Monday, September 26, 2022

D/FW Radio: iHM's KEGL Flipping To Hot Sports Talk

iHM's KEGL To Drop Rock

Building a sports talk-radio dynasty may not have been enough for the iconic Mike Rhyner, a Dallas radio legend. He may have co-founded Sportsradio 1310 The Ticket in 1994, but now he could compete against it.

The Dallas Morning News is reporting Si.com’s Richie Whitt posted a story Sunday morning that Rhyner was unretiring to host on the new 97.1 The Freak, a replacement for iHeartMedia's The Eagle. The Freak could debut as early as this coming Friday, with Rhyner, Ben Rogers and Jeff “Skin” Wade from The Eagle, former 105.3 The Fan host Jeff Cavanaugh and former Ticket staples Mike Sirois and Julie Dobbs.

Whitt reported: "Multiple radio industry sources have confirmed the shocking news that will add a third sports-talk station to the local landscape and force long-time listeners to reassess their loyalty: Rhyner is coming out of retirement to be the signature voice on a new 97.1 The Freak, which will replace DFW's heritage brand "The Eagle."

DFW will soon have three different sports talk-radio options to choose from now with The Ticket, The Fan and now The Freak.

Rhyner announced his original retirement from radio in January 2020. He left a 40-year radio resume, but retirement felt like the right move at the time.

“It just reached a point to where it really felt like the right thing to do,” Rhyner told The Dallas Morning News in 2020. “I started to think about it early in the fall and kept waiting for something to jar me out of that idea. And it never came. Before long I reached — it almost sounds crazy — an almost Zen-like state with it. I guess I hit such a point of acceptance nothing could shake me. And nothing has.”

Now Rhyner just keeps hinting at his return. He was “jonesin to go on the air,” Friday, and left another subtle hint Saturday, asking where his freaks were at.

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