Birmingham sports fans looking for a new sports talk show can find it starting next Wednesday on 97.3 FM The Zone. Eli Gold will fill a spot on the new Cox sports radio station. The deal to bring the Voice of the Crimson Tide back to sports talk radio was reached late Thursday evening.

Gold launched the first sports talk radio program in Alabama in 1979 when WERC aired “Calling All Sports.” The show featured a wide range of sports talk covering a diverse set of sports ranging from college football, the NHL, major league baseball and pro football.

“We did something very different back then,” Gold said. “We talked about sports.”

And that is what Gold wants to bring to his new radio show in Birmingham—real sports talk.

“Sports talk is talking about sports, “Gold said. He also said “craziness” was not his brand of talk radio early in his career, and that same philosophy would guide his show today. Gold said a few radio stations like WFAN in New York exemplify this type of programming, as well as others around the country.

One thing is certain—this will shuffle sports radio in Birmingham. And in a good way.

While the Eli Gold situation is settled, other options remain in limbo.

Cox is waiting on the outcome of Paul Finebuam’s lawsuit against Citadel Broadcasting. Cox covets Finebaum’s market dominance, but looks like it is moving forward while Finebaum’s availability remains unclear. (Cox has registered a new domain name for 97.3 The Zone.)

Details of Finebaum’s lawsuit against WJOX’s corporate parent were sealed, but Friday morning redacted court filings are expected to be available for the press. Check back tomorrow for details on the lawsuit.

10 thoughts on “Alabama’s Eli Gold set for radio show on new 97.3 FM The Zone”

  1. The only thing I’ll say is that his show on JOX years ago wasn’t that great. Like it seems all Bama personalities do when they hit the airwaves, he played it right down the middle, not willing to take a stand or really say anything. He talked sports, but not the issues. Maybe that’ll change this time around.

  2. I agree ITK. Gold is too vanilla to make any kind of impact on Birmingham radio. They may as well put Doug Layton and John Ed Willoughby back on. They would be more controversial. Eli is fine for Bama games & NASCAR but he doesn’t translate well to this type of format.

  3. Please go after Herb Winches…his sports knowledge would be an asset to this station and was always better than finebaum!!… Finebaum is not sports minded, just likes to gossip about sports.

  4. I liked Gold’s show. It was refreshing I didnt hear barner fans talking crap on his show, didnt hear Bama fans talking crap. It was just sports. It was nice change of pace. Maybe they can get Matt Coulter.

  5. Eli’s Show sucked. Would not talk about Bama in any kind of objective way. His excuses for Baby Shula was horrendous. I hear the official douche of Auburn will co- host . Stan the “Boy”. Oh well. Maybe Jay Evans will grow some balls along with that sad sack crew on the Joker.
    Competition is good – even when everybody sucks.

  6. I think it is great for a new radio show if they take calls. WJOX is still king until they come out. I will be looking forward to it. I would like to see from both aisles maybe older popular players as guests. One thing WJOX doesn’t do a good job on that this new show will do is relay commitments from 4 and 5 star players as they occur and place relevance on positions they will fill on respective teams.

  7. Eli was horrible on JOX. He talked a lot of hockey. We are in Alabama, who wants to talk hockey. I never understood why UofA has a northerner calling its games. I want a homer, Chris Stewart would be awesome!!

  8. There is really nothing – that stands out at the new station. It is going to take Paul to give the station the boost. Paul’s Show is going to be 3 hours long – if that is the case – and the ads to pay for all of this – may be close to 30 minutes per hour. PFRN is going to be different. Much more scripted and fewer callers.
    I must wonder if Coulter can carry a show for 3 hours. PFRN callers will avoid him like the plague.

  9. Dunnaway and Clown will be the dead weight along with L.T. — WJOX will absolutely BLOW without Finebaum and they KNOW IT.

    Anyone noticed they are not promoting Finebaum’s show AT ALL anymore — even Dunnaway and Clown who usually says, “F-Bomb’s next” at their 1:59pm mark — that’s gone! Haney know’s he’s about to get the middle finger and he’s trying to flick his middle finger first — Pawl will wind up winning in the end — and THEY KNOW IT! LMFAO!!! Sometimes you just can’t stop a snowball which might turn into an avalanche. Haney, rot in hell for this one!!! You aubie suckass!!! Your “bammer” homer who “anchored” your station is now going to leave you looking for a new job! HAHHA!

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