The Dimino Difference
Atlanta is lucky. We have two sports talk stations.
Competition is good. 680 ‘The Fan’ was the first Atlanta Sports station and then the Dickey Broadcasting folks changed formats for a while. When they ceased to be sports oriented, Steak Shapiro and his Big League Broadcasting partners leased WQXI’s AM station and put up 790 The Zone. Then, in 2000, WCNN switched back to Sports Radio.
Now the competition is fierce. Perhaps even too fierce. (A recent spot on 680 labels 790 as not accessible enough for the white guys in the suburbs- real overtones of prejudice against hip hop culture)
Structurally, 680 has the edge. Their signal is stronger, they are the ESPN affiliate, and should they ever resume play, 680 will be the Thrashers home. The problem is that the programming is not all that good. Midday, it’s not even sports, but rather the rantings of Bill O’Reily. They shove Dan Patrick, who’s a real sports talent, on to 1340 AM. Their morning team? Christopher Rude and Jamie Dukes. Dukes is the real deal. He knows football and knows about the business of sports, but that’s where it ends. Christopher Rude? Good broadcaster, not an excellent sports guy. The rest of the line up is just sad and angry. They even admit their personalities know little about sports!
Compare this to 790. They do their homework. Dukes is good on football, but Chuck Oliver is better. No one researches the college game as he does. Numbers, homework, and thoughtful analysis go a long way… Which brings us to Dimino
Chris Dimino that is. There is no substitute. His interviews of OJ Simpson and Pete Rose are legendary. He’s very thoughtful and he cares about sports, what they mean, and how reality meshes with them. He’s intensely well prepared and expects his callers to be as well. He is sports talk for smart people. Why ESPN or NPR has not snapped him up is beyond me.
Oddly, at night, ESPN seems to be calmer and less vitriolic than Fox and so the dial goes back to ESPN’s All Night program. However, once you wake up and hit the car, 790 is the answer.
July 6th, 2005 at 10:23 am
Every time 790 juggles its lineup I seem to listen for fewer hours. I can’t get into “The Stews”, so their move into the 4-7 timeslot has ruined my drive-time sports talk listening habit.
July 21st, 2005 at 8:24 pm
680 is terrible compared to 790 the zone. 680’s personalities either know very little about sports or talk only about Georgia football. 790’s lineup is diverse, knowledgeable about all sports (like even motorsports and hockey), and smart.
i don’t even know who is on their morning show. ever since arnie spanier (sp?) i couldn’t tolerate that station. no one knows more about baseball than dimino, their football coverage is great, hitting all teams in the area instead of catering only to UGA fans.
i remember one instance where “fro” from 680’s evening show didn’t know the name of the falcons bryon scott. he kept referring to him as former laker great byron scott. it’s the little things like this that make you realize you’re not really listening to a sportstalk radio station, but rather, a sorry excuse for one.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Way off on Chris Dimino. He is the Alan I verson of Atl talk radio the way he spews fourth 20 sec + discussions and circular dialogues which really amount to him chewoing up air time. Chris is like AI in that he’s deemed a talent but is very tough to build a Team around (dribbling the clock shot out (or in CD’s case talking way too much).
Let’s face it, I am sure he’s a great person but he turns off the audience. There is a reason he has been tossed from show to show and that his own show was cancelled. At least Mike Bell is free in the afternoon.
The PMan