John Kentera, the former midday talk-show host on San Diego sports radio station KWFN-FM 97.3 The Fan, said the response to his recent firing has been “absolutely incredible.”
The San Diego native, who has been heard on local radio waves for the past 30 years, was informed he would be terminated a few days before his final show was scheduled to air on Friday, Dec. 22.
“They said they wanted to make a change in the midday,” Kentera told Times of San Diego. “They said they wanted a less caller-driven show. Okay, whatever. Sometimes, the reason that changes are made is just to make changes.”
Kentera said he has been inundated with hundreds of emails and text messages of support from people he knows and others he didn’t know were listeners.
“I’ve heard from very well-known people who said they grew-up listening to me or were listeners for years, I had no idea about them,” Kentera said. “I’ve also heard from professional athletes and coaches, fellow broadcasters in other states, former athletes that I coached. The list goes on and on.
“It’s been absolutely incredible. People from all walks of life have contacted me. Even an email from former Padres manager Bob Melvin. I had no idea he even listened to the show. It’s been crazy.”
Kentera, a broadcaster in the San Diego market since 1987, is nicknamed “Coach” because he coached at the high school and college levels before starting his radio career.
He coached several sports at Torrey Pines High School, MiraCosta College, Southwestern College and Texas Tech before transitioning into the radio business. In high school at Torrey Pines, he played basketball and baseball, and went on to play both sports at MiraCosta College and United States International University.
Over the years, Kentera has worked at several radio stations, including a 12-year stretch from 2003 to 2015 at XPRS 1090-AM The Mighty 1090. He also has worked as a color commentator on San Diego State University football and basketball broadcasts, as well as basketball games for the University of San Diego. For many years, Kentera hosted a high school football show on Friday nights.
In October 2015, Kentera took a break from radio to focus on working as general manager of the San Diego Sockers, which he did for six years (2010 to 2016).
Then, Kentera returned to the airwaves with the 2018 baseball season, hosting San Diego Padres pre-game and post-game shows. In 2019, he was named midday host on KWFN, the English-speaking flagship station for the Padres.
“Nobody has come close to my midday ratings over a several-year period,” Kentera said. “I’ve been at the top among men ages 25-to-54 for a long time. And, that’s out of 30 or so stations in town.”
Kentera never had the opportunity to host a final farewell show. On Friday, Dec. 22, he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “I have been notified by station management that I will not be on the air today to do my final show. Thanks for all your support.”
A sports broadcasting blog called “Awful Announcing” wrote, “It’s one thing to be let go from your job when you work in sports media. It’s another thing to have the rug pulled out from underneath you and your final show unceremoniously canceled. A radio station wanting to change directions is their prerogative, but to then not allow Kentera to do one final show seems like an unnecessary move.”
Kentera, 65, said he is not planning to retire, but is definitely planning to enjoy the holidays.
“Look, I’ll be fine,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the holidays. We’ll be with our grandkids for Christmas Eve dinner. We will enjoy spaghetti using my mom’s sauce recipe. It’s really tastes good.”
Kentera said his wife joked that there might be fewer yellow pads with scribbled show-preparation notes scattered around the house.
“I said to her, ‘Not so fast.’ That’s because in a couple of days, I’m scheduled to call a high school basketball game over an ESPN app,” he said. “I’m not done yet.”
In addition to KWFN-FM, Philadelphia-based Audacy, previously known as Entercom, owns and operates five other San Diego radio stations, including KBZT-FM ALT 94.9, KYXY-FM 96.5, KXSN-FM Sunny 98.1-FM, KSON-FM 103.7 and KXSN-HD3 Channel Q.
Audacy officials have not announced Kentera’s replacement.
DirecTV Sponsors Holiday Bowl, Eyes Other College Sports
DirecTV has turned to college sports sponsorship to bolster its brand image and public awareness.
The digital entertainment TV service, based in El Segundo, is the title sponsor of the 44th annual Holiday Bowl, San Diego’s college football bowl game to be played this week on Wednesday, Dec. 27 at Petco Park.
The game, called the DirecTV Holiday Bowl, will match the University of Louisville Cardinals (10-3) facing the University of Southern California Trojans (7-5) playing in a downtown baseball stadium with a newly-built football field. The two schools have never met on the football field, but the Trojans have played in three previous Holiday Bowl games.
The Fox network will have the national live broadcast starting at 5 p.m. Game announcers will be Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft. A Fox spokesperson told Times of San Diego the trio is regarded as Fox’s top college sports broadcast team.
DirecTV already has multi-year sports sponsorship agreements with the University of Notre Dame Athletics Department and its 26 varsity athletic teams, along with the Big Ten Conference, which includes being named a presenting sponsor for at least one Big Ten Championship event in each year of the agreement. Both sponsorships were announced earlier this year.
“The 44th DirecTV Holiday Bowl is just one of an incredible group of college sponsorships for DirecTV this year,” said Vince Torres, DirecTV chief marketing officer, in an email to Times of San Diego. “We are looking forward to having USC and Louisville and their fans at the DirecTV Holiday Bowl.”
Launched in 1994, DirecTV distributes sports and entertainment programming, primarily through digital satellite service on customers’ TVs or on mobile devices through the DirecTV app.
In recent years, similar to other cable and satellite TV providers, DirecTV has been hit hard by cord-cutting as consumers embrace streaming. Currently, DirecTV has about 13.5 million subscribers, according to industry news sources. Five years ago, DirecTV had more than 20 million customers.
Another setback for DirecTV happened at the end of 2022 when the company lost the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, a subscription-only package that allows customers viewing access to National Football League (NFL) games. DirecTV had been paying the NFL $1.5 billion per season for both residential and commercial rights.
Replacing DirecTV for the 2023 NFL season has been YouTube, a division of Alphabet Inc.’s Google. YouTube has the residential rights in a seven-year deal that is costing roughly $2 billion per season, a price that could increase if certain benchmarks are reached.
DirecTV signed its Holiday Bowl sponsorship agreement with Sports San Diego, a nonprofit that produces the game. Officials have not revealed the financial terms of the deal or the length of the agreement with DirecTV. However, the sponsorship will enable the bowl to guarantee a $6.5 million payout split between the two participating teams.
“DirecTV is a respected industry leader, a sports powerhouse and an incredible brand,” said Dennis DuBard, president, Sports San Diego.
“The DirecTV Holiday Bowl is a powerful moment to celebrate the achievements of two of the top college football teams in the country,” said Torres. “We look forward to showcasing DirecTV as the destination for all your favorite sports, with or without a satellite, during the bowl season and in the exciting matchup at Petco Park on Dec. 27.”
Previous sponsors of the game, which first kicked off in 1978, have included SeaWorld (1986–1990), Thrifty Car Rental (1991–1994), Plymouth (1995–1997), Culligan (1998–2001), Pacific Life Insurance Company (2002–2009), Bridgepoint Education (2010–2012), National University (2013–2014), National Funding (2015–2016) and, most recently, San Diego County Credit Union (2017-22). Prior to the Holiday Bowl, the credit union spent 12 years (2005-2016) as title sponsor of the Poinsettia Bowl.
Prior to Wednesday’s 5 p.m. kickoff, the first 10,000 fans through Petco Park’s three main entrances will receive a one-day admission ticket to SeaWorld San Diego. Gates open at 3 p.m. SeaWorld tickets are valid through Jan. 31, 2024. It’s the second consecutive year for SeaWorld to offer park admission tickets to bowl game attendees.
For the second straight year, after the game’s conclusion, the downtownskies above Petco Park will glow with a massive fireworks display called the KGB Sky Show, named after San Diego radio station KGB-FM 101.5, one of eight local stations operated by iHeart Media San Diego. The fireworks display will be synchronized to music and aired over the radio station.
“101.5 KGB and the entire iHeartRadio group are excited to partner again with the Holiday Bowl,” said Noreen Ippolito, iHeart Media San Diego market president. “The football match followed by the KGB Sky Show is a San Diego tradition.”
The KGB Sky Show began in 1976 with the fireworks set off from Fiesta Island and Cholas Lake. Then, the fireworks display became part of a San Diego State football game played in Mission Valley from 2004 to 2019. The 2023 Sky Show will be the 46th time for the event.
Last year at the 2022 Holiday Bowl before 36,242 fans, Oregon defeated North Carolina 28-27, scoring the winning come-from-behind touchdown with 19 seconds remaining. The TV broadcast, which reportedly drew 3.97 million viewers on the Fox Network, was the fourth most-watched game among 37 college football bowl games, not counting the college championship playoff games.
TV Schedule Announced for San Diego Seals Lacrosse Team
The San Diego Seals, a professional indoor lacrosse team, has announced that seven home games will air on local TV during the 2023-2024 season.
The home games at Penchanga Arena, formerly the San Diego Sports Arena, will air on either KUSI-TV Channel 9 or KSWB-TV Fox 5 San Diego. Both stations are owned by Nexstar Media Group. Also, two games will be seen on ESPNU, a cable TV channel owned by ESPN, Inc.
The current TV broadcast schedule includes:
- Dec. 29, 7 p.m., KUSI-TV, Seals vs. Calgary Roughnecks
- Feb. 4, 3 p.m., ESPNU, Seals vs. Colorado Mammoth
- Feb. 23, 7 p.m., ESPNU, Seals vs. Georgia Swarm
- March 2, 7 p.m., KUSI-TV, Seals vs. Toronto Rock
- March 9, 7 p.m., KUSI-TV, Seals vs. Halifax Thunderbirds
- April 5, 7 p.m., KUSI-TV, Seals vs. Panther City Lacrosse Club (based in Ft. Worth, Texas)
- April 19, 7 p.m., KUSI-TV, Seals vs. Vancouver Warriors
Additional broadcasts may be announced in early 2024, officials told Times of San Diego.
The San Diego Seals play in the 35-year-old National Lacrosse League, the world’s only professional box lacrosse league. The league currently has 15 teams, including five in Canada.
The Seals entered the league with the 2018-2019 season. The 2023-2024 season began Dec. 9. The Seals won the NLL West Conference regular-season title during the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons.
Biden Campaign Ads Airing on Black, Latino Radio Stations
Months before the presidential election, President Biden’s reelection campaign has begun airing campaign ads targeting Black and Latino voters airing on minority-owned radio stations.
As reported by Inside Radio, an industry trade news outlet, the $25 million media buy is the earliest-ever investment in Black and Hispanic radio stations for a Democratic reelection effort. The ads have been airing the past two months on stations in swing states, including Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada.
“Tapping into trusted messengers early with such a robust radio buy is the latest example of how we’re showing up and meeting Black and Latino voters where they are,” Julie Chavez Rodriguez, President Biden’s campaign manager, said in a statement.
Inside Radio said the ads focus on the Biden administration’s accomplishments for Black and Latino families.
A 60-second spot highlights Biden’s nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court justice. The Spanish-language radio ad claims that Republicans work only for the rich and powerful while Biden is fighting for Latino businesses and families to get ahead.
Rick Griffinis a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.
