BIRMINGHAM, ALA, December 11, 2000
Classic Rock WZRR-FM 99.5 will be the flagship radio station
for the XFL Birmingham Thunderbolts, Bolts general manager
Tim Berryman announced today.
Berryman also announced that Rick Burgess and Bill "Bubba"
Bussey, hosts of WYSF's popular morning show, and Jim Dunaway
of WVTM-TV, will be the team's radio voices in 2001. Burgess
will handle play-by-play, Bussey will provide color commentary
and Dunaway will report from the sideline.
In order to provide Thunderbolts fans with a radio network
in the inaugural season, Berryman also said the Thunderbolts
would team with the Alabama Digital Satellite Network. Negotiations
are under way and announcements are expected soon about stations
filling out the network.
"We are very excited about our partnership with WZRR-FM
as our flagship station," Berryman said. "Rick and
Bubba are incredible talents who have developed a very loyal
listening audience throughout the Southeast."
"They are both knowledgeable of the game of football
and they are ranked number one in morning drive because they
are fun to listen to," Berryman said. "The XFL has
been nicknamed the 'Extra Fun League.' Rick and Bubba exemplify
what the XFL is out to achieve in the area of fan entertainment."
WZRR boasts a 100,000-watt signal that reaches over 100,000
listeners in the Birmingham metro area alone. The signal covers
virtually the entire northern part of Alabama and as far south
as Greenville.
"The combination of WZRR's powerful signal, along with
Rick & Bubba serving as our game announcers, gives us
an enormous marketing advantage," Berryman said.
The son of one of Alabama's most successful college and high
school coaches, Burgess was an all-state defensive tackle
at Oxford High School before going on to play college football
at Troy State University. He did color commentary for the
Jacksonville State radio network and Bussey produced the network.
Bussey played prep basketball and baseball, and was drafted
out of high school by the Silver Run Twins.
Dunaway is the sports director at WVTM-TV, Birmingham's NBC
affiliate. Born and raised in nearby Alabaster, Ala., Dunaway
came to WVTM in the fall of 1991 from WLEX-TV in Lexington,
Ky. He began his television broadcasting career at WBMG-TV
in Birmingham.
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