New ESPN show coming to 105.1
Zubin Mehenti realizes he isn’t exactly top-billing material when it comes to the national ESPN Radio show he will be hosting along with Keyshawn Johnson and Jay Williams.
Johnson, after all, was an All-America receiver at Southern California, the No. 1 pick of the 1996 NFL draft and a threetime Pro Bowl selection, while Williams helped lead Duke to the 2001 NCAA title and was the No. 2 selection in the 2002 NBA draft behind Yao Ming.
“The only thing I can tell you about the title of the show, besides its lack of creativity, is that the last two words were going to be ‘and Zubin,’” Mehenti said. “I had no idea who was going to be first, but I knew who was coming in third.”
Beginning Monday, Mehenti will look to guide Johnson and Williams on “Keyshawn, JWill and Zubin” weekday mornings from 6 to 10. The show is replacing “Golic & Wingo,” which began in November 2017 but endured criticism for a lack of chemistry between hosts Mike Golic and Trey Wingo and failed to live up to its “Mike & Mike” predecessor with Golic and Mike Greenberg.
On air from 2000 to 2017, “Mike & Mike” became so popular that it was even a television simulcast hit on ESPN2 during its last 12 years.
“We would like to do half as well as they did as far as everything they were able to do over their 18-year career, but they launched in a way different and simpler time,” Mehenti said. “When ‘Mike & Mike’ started, they had one affiliate in Chicago, got a second one in Norfolk, Virginia, and then grew to 375 across the country. There was no Sirius XM radio and no social media at that time.
“We’re obviously launching in a different age, but we still have the great resources that ESPN provides.”
ESPN Radio can be heard in the Chattanooga area on WALVFM 105.1.
The success of “Mike & Mike” came to an abrupt end when Greenberg desired to leave ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, for a morning television opportunity with the network in New York. That came to fruition with “Get Up, which launched in April 2018.
There were initial struggles for both “Get Up” and “Golic & Wingo,” but the latter had a continued decline that became quite profound. Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported that “Golic & Wingo” had a 1.4 rating this past spring in New York City, good for only 20th in its time slot.
Marchand wrote that Mehenti, an ESPN television studio anchor since 2011, is viewed as “a very nice guy and a workaholic,” but he is unknown to many and could be challenged when the topics veer from the comfort levels of Johnson talking about the NFL or Williams discussing college or professional hoops.
“I pretty much love everything, and being on ‘SportsCenter’ sort of tests you,” Mehenti said. “If the other two want to talk about Tiger Woods the day after the Masters, then great, but if the topic becomes Bryson DeChambeau or Justin Thomas winning some other tournaments, then that’s when I’ve got to step in. They may want to talk about social justice and Bubba Wallace, but if a race comes down to Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin, I can talk about that with Marty Smith or Ryan McGee.
“My job is to get the most out of these two dudes and be there on other topics, because you never know what might come up. My job is to be ready for anything.”
ESPN’s “Keyshawn, JWill and Zubin” show will be followed by the “Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotz” from 10 to noon. Greenberg will continue to host “Get Up” on television but is returning to the radio lineup with “The Mike Greenberg Show” from noon to 2.
Golic is no longer on ESPN’s listening lineup and recently said of the changes, “It was certainly not my choice. I would have loved to have kept doing the show.”
Now steering the coveted ESPN morning drive slot is Mehenti, who somehow has a deep passion for college football despite being a Rutgers University graduate.
“Rutgers actually beat Princeton 6-4 in the first college football game ever played,” said Mehenti, who was a recent guest of “Press Row” on 105.1 FM. “We’re still waiting for victory No. 2. College football is my favorite sport by far. We’re going to talk mostly NFL and college football, and obviously the NBA is huge and expanding its fan base with the under-35 audience.
“I don’t know if there are nerves for me going into this or not. For me, the nerves would be meeting the bar of what’s been done here before and not any actual nerves of doing a show.”