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News Nuggets, 08.05.05
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

"Pirate Talk" gets more time, more stations

East Carolina sports talk in the Raleigh-Durham area is in line for a big boost this fall in both duration and signal coverage. And the over-the-airwaves interviews and banter will be heard Down East as well.

Triangle Sports Talk 1490/1090, which last year broadcast a weekly one-hour show dedicated to ECU sports topics over WTSB-AM 1090, announced Thursday that "Pirate Talk with Denny O'Brien" will expand to two hours and be carried by two more stations as it returns for a second season.

The show will air over WDUR-AM 1490, a Durham affiliate added by Triangle Sports Talk since last season, and will be simulcast live on Greenville's WNCT-AM Talk 1070, making it what is touted as the most widely distributed, independently-produced radio program on ECU sports.

"Pirate Talk," slotted for Thursday nights from 7:00-9:00 p.m., will again be hosted by O'Brien, a Bonesville.net columnist and an ECU alum.

The program, which aired on Thursdays last fall from 12:00-1:00 p.m., warranted a bigger window in a primetime slot, stated a Triangle Sports Talk executive.

"Last year, Denny's show had too much quality without enough time to get it in, an obvious good problem to have," Taylor Zarzour, the station's programming director, said in a press release. "This is why we are very excited that the show is two hours, filled with coaches and media interviews, and former players. More importantly, Denny is an on-air professional who isn't afraid to be objective and frank."

ECU athletic director Terry Holland, Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky, Pirate football coaching staff members, college and NFL coaching icon Bobby Ross, and former ECU football stars David Garrard and Leonard Henry were among the guests during the inaugural season of Pirate Talk.

Members of the media also made regular appearances on the show, which this season will follow the same general format but with an expanded and more favorable time slot. The result, the station said in its release, will be more guests on each show and more time for listeners to call in and talk ECU sports.

O'Brien offers his opinions and commentary on East Carolina sports in particular and college athletics in general in a weekly column on Bonesville.net. He also co-hosts WNCT-AM Talk 1070's Gameday Countdown with Patrick Johnson, which precedes the Pirate Sports Radio Network's play-by-play coverage of ECU's football games.

From staff reports and a Triangle Sports Talk news release.

Pirate Radio 1250 launching expanded lineup

WGHB-AM Pirate Radio 1250, which for two years has aired Greenville's most extensive roster of local sports shows, says it is poised to roll out an even bigger lineup of programming.

The station announced Thursday what it called an "unprecedented" array of fall programs covering East Carolina athletics, high school football and the National Football League.

The new programming schedule, which will begin this month, will be comprised of the biggest collection of locally hosted and produced shows about the Pirates in the history of ECU athletics, the station said in a press release.

Pirate Radio 1250 also reaffirmed its announcement last spring that it will expand in late August with the addition of WDLX-AM 930 in Beaufort County. That station is expected to beam a stronger signal of Pirate Radio 1250's original programming to the Washington-New Bern area.

Highlights of Pirate Radio 1250's announced fall lineup:

   • Football pre-game and post-game shows will be enhanced and extended in length. The station will be on the air four hours before kickoff on ECU's game days with the Budweiser Pre-Game Tailgate. The show will feature Jeff Charles, Kevin Monroe, Kevin Wiggins, Josh Spence, Brian Bailey, Billy Weaver, Brian North, Dan Eberhard, Brian Meador, Nate Summers, Allen Thomas, Eric Gilmore, Mark "The Packman" Packer, Troy Dreyfus, Jonathan Ellerbe and Shirley Rhodes. Coverage will include scores from around the country and reports and features on the upcoming game.

   • The Bill Clark Homes 5th Quarter call in show is back for the third year in a row. The program will air immediately after the Pirates Sports Radio Network's game broadcast and will feature phone calls from fans, player interviews and a recap of that days game.

   • Local weeknight coverage will be expanded. In addition to the Skip Holtz Radio Call-In Show, "Voice of the Pirates" Jeff Charles and ECU Associate Head Basketball Coach Mack McCarthy will also be regulars on the weekly lineup. A number of longtime programs, including The Press Box, Sportsline, The Locker Room, Extra Point and Miller Lite Sports Bar, will also return.

   • The station's weekend play-by-play coverage will feature up to six games most weekends. The Hardee’s High School Game of the Week returns on Friday nights for a third year in a row, and Pirate Radio 1250 will carry three NFL games each Sunday as well as Monday Night Football, the NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl XL.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007 12:26 PM