There is a revolutionary concept quietly breaking out in Sports radio.
Putting people on the radio who actually know the city they’re talking about.
Wild, right?
Cromwell Media is doubling down on local Nashville Sports radio, partnering with Greg Pogue’s Pogue Media Inc. to launch The Greg Pogue and Darren McFarland Show on 94.9 The Fan W235BW and WBUZ-HD3.
Beginning with the new lineup, Pogue and McFarland will take over weekdays from 10 a.m. until noon, giving The Fan another locally produced daily program alongside veteran Nashville broadcaster George Plaster, whose show airs from 3 to 5 p.m.
And this isn’t two guys parachuting into Nashville with a Titans media guide, a Google search and directions to Broadway.
These guys KNOW Middle Tennessee sports.
That’s exactly why this has the potential to work.
Greg Pogue Has About Seventeen Jobs Because Apparently Sleep Is Optional
Let’s start with Greg Pogue.
Trying to describe Pogue simply as a Sports radio host doesn’t come close.
He’s Chief Operating Officer and Partner of the Nashville Kats of Arena Football One.
He’s the play-by-play voice of Tennessee State football.
He’s the play-by-play voice of Middle Tennessee State women’s basketball.
Now he’s adding a weekday Sports radio show.
And because apparently somebody forgot to tell Greg that human beings are supposed to have weekends, he’ll also be working Saturdays.
Pogue will host Prep Football Talk at 9 a.m. Saturdays through November, joined by Craig Ladd and Bubba Spears.
Then, immediately afterward at 10 a.m., he’ll host One on One with Greg Pogue.
At this point, Greg Pogue doesn’t need a parking space at the station.
He needs an apartment.
But seriously, look at the advantage that résumé brings to a local Sports station.
This isn’t somebody observing the Nashville sports ecosystem.
He’s inside it.
Then Put Darren McFarland Across From Him
Now things get really interesting.
McFarland has been doing Nashville Sports radio since 1998.
Let that sink in.
That’s nearly three decades of talking sports in one of America’s fastest-changing cities.
He has been heard on multiple Nashville Sports outlets, including 104.5 The Zone WGFX and Cromwell’s 102.5 The Game WPRT-FM.
He has also worked around one of Nashville’s most important professional sports properties, serving as a pregame and postgame host for the NHL’s Nashville Predators.
That means McFarland isn’t going to need somebody whispering Nashville history into his headphones.
He lived it.
He remembers the market before Nashville became the Nashville we know today.
He watched the Predators become part of the city’s identity.
He watched Tennessee sports evolve.
He watched Nashville Sports radio evolve.
And he’s been talking to those fans for almost thirty years.
That kind of market equity cannot be manufactured.
That’s Why This Pairing Makes Sense
Pogue brings an extraordinary current connection to the local sports world.
McFarland brings decades of Nashville Sports radio familiarity.
Put those ingredients together and you’ve got the potential for something terrestrial radio desperately needs:
A show that couldn’t simply be picked up and moved to Phoenix tomorrow.
That’s important.
National Sports radio is everywhere.
Podcasts are everywhere.
YouTube Sports shows are everywhere.
Every human being with a webcam apparently now has a three-hour opinion about the NFL.
So why should somebody in Nashville listen to 94.9 The Fan?
Because it can give them something the national platforms can’t.
Nashville talking about Nashville.
And The Fan Is Building an Interesting Local Island
The addition gives 94.9 The Fan local programming from Pogue and McFarland between 10 a.m. and noon, while The George Plaster Show occupies afternoons from 3 to 5 p.m.
That’s noteworthy.
Because rather than attempting to fill every hour immediately, The Fan is establishing recognizable local destinations within the schedule.
Morning happens.
Then at 10:
Pogue and McFarland.
Later in the afternoon:
George Plaster.
Now you’ve got appointments.
And appointment listening still matters.
And George Plaster Gives This Whole Thing Even More Nashville DNA
You can’t discuss Nashville Sports radio history without George Plaster.
So consider what Cromwell is assembling.
Pogue.
McFarland.
Plaster.
Different generations.
Different experiences.
Different relationships.
But all deeply connected to the market.
That’s not accidental.
That’s positioning.
If 94.9 The Fan wants to distinguish itself in a crowded sports-content universe, becoming aggressively Nashville is a pretty damn good place to start.
Don’t Try to Out ESPN ESPN
Here’s the alternative perspective.
A smaller Sports station can spend enormous amounts of energy trying to sound as polished and national as the gigantic networks.
Why?
ESPN already exists.
Fox Sports already exists.
CBS Sports already exists.
Thousands of national podcasts already exist.
You aren’t going to beat national Sports media by becoming a smaller imitation of national Sports media.
Go the other direction.
Be ridiculously local.
Talk Tennessee State.
Talk MTSU.
Talk the Predators.
Talk the Titans.
Talk Vanderbilt.
Talk the Vols.
Talk high school football.
Talk about the story everybody at the sports bar is arguing about.
Bring in coaches.
Bring in players.
Bring in reporters.
Bring in the people who actually make Middle Tennessee sports happen.
And for the love of radio, take some damn phone calls.
Let Nashville argue with Nashville.
That’s fun radio.
Prep Football Talk Could Be More Important Than It Looks
Don’t overlook the Saturday component.
High school football remains deeply woven into communities throughout Tennessee.
And there’s something terrestrial radio can still do extraordinarily well:
Own local high school sports.
The giant national streaming platforms aren’t going to obsess over every Middle Tennessee matchup.
A local station can.
That’s not filler programming.
That’s community-building programming.
Pogue hosting Prep Football Talk alongside Craig Ladd and Bubba Spears creates another entry point into the station for listeners who may care deeply about local football even if they aren’t spending twelve hours debating an NFL depth chart.
Then Pogue rolls directly into One on One at 10.
That’s three additional local hours every Saturday.
Good.
Local Sports Radio Needs Characters Not Just Analysts
This is another opportunity.
Please don’t make every conversation sound like a television panel show.
Sports radio is supposed to have personality.
Laugh.
Argue.
Tell stories.
Be wrong occasionally.
Admit you were wrong.
Take a ridiculous caller.
Let somebody say something so outrageous that the entire show derails for seven minutes.
That’s radio.
Pogue and McFarland have enough experience to understand that the magic isn’t simply having the correct sports opinion.
It’s creating a conversation people don’t want to leave.
There are box scores on everybody’s phone.
Personality is what keeps the radio on.
Pogue Media Partnership Is Worth Watching Too
There’s another interesting element here.
Cromwell isn’t merely hiring a host.
It’s partnering with Pogue Media Inc. to bring the program to the station.
That kind of arrangement deserves attention as radio continues looking for more flexible ways to create compelling local programming.
Could we see more partnerships like this?
Absolutely.
Independent content creators and established broadcasters don’t have to be enemies.
Radio has distribution.
Creators have content and relationships.
Combine them correctly and both sides can win.
Maybe the future of local radio isn’t always another traditional employment arrangement.
Maybe sometimes it’s partnership.
The Real Test Comes After the Launch
Putting two recognizable Nashville Sports personalities together is the easy part.
Now make the show indispensable.
Break news.
Create moments.
Get guests people can’t hear everywhere else.
Own Middle Tennessee stories.
Make the audience participate.
Don’t simply recap yesterday’s national Sports headlines.
If Patrick Mahomes sneezes, approximately 8,000 national shows will analyze the velocity.
Nashville doesn’t need number 8,001.
Tell Nashville something about Nashville.
That’s the lane.
An On The Dial Perspective
Cromwell Media’s partnership with Pogue Media to launch The Greg Pogue and Darren McFarland Show is interesting because it leans directly into the thing local Sports radio can still do better than almost anybody: know its own backyard. Greg Pogue is actively embedded in Tennessee sports through the Nashville Kats, Tennessee State and Middle Tennessee State. Darren McFarland brings nearly three decades of Nashville Sports radio experience. Add George Plaster elsewhere on the weekday lineup and 94.9 The Fan is assembling a local identity instead of simply becoming another delivery system for national sports conversation.
That’s the opportunity.
Don’t make 94.9 The Fan sound like Sports Radio Anywhere USA.
Make it sound unmistakably like Nashville.
Give Greg Pogue and Darren McFarland room to be themselves.
Let them argue.
Let them laugh.
Let them tell stories.
Let Nashville call them crazy.
Let them call Nashville crazy right back.
And then do it again tomorrow.
Because Nashville already has unlimited access to sports information.
What it needs from local radio is something entirely different:
People who know the city telling stories about the teams and people the city actually cares about.
Pogue knows Nashville sports.
McFarland knows Nashville Sports radio.
George Plaster certainly knows Nashville.
Put all of that together and 94.9 The Fan suddenly has something worth turning up.
Welcome to middays, gentlemen.
Now go make some noise.
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