ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

But now, less than four months after being fired as part of cost-cutting moves at WXOS (101.1 FM), they’re about to reunite at an upstart new media company that’s set to debut Monday.

They will be the lead hosts on Sports Hub STL, what co-owner Dave Greene says will be the first media outlet in the market to offer a wide array of video sports content that’s delivered strictly digitally.

“That’s a big, big differentiator,� he said. “Most traditional media outlets are ... doing some digital as a side business. We have no expensive (radio) signal to protect; we have no other properties we need to worry about that if they’re failing they would affect us. That’s a key.�

The focus is on a young audience, one that is accustomed to consuming media digitally. To that end, an array of its employees who will be on and off camera are in college or are recent graduates.

“They understand the content that their friends want,� said Greene, who has had a long career in traditional radio sales and management including in sports-talk radio as well as podcasting.

But there also are many veterans in the market who will be involved, including Cardinals broadcaster Mike Claiborne, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ University basketball announcer Bob Ramsey, longtime sports radio figure Joe Roderick and former local sportscasters Charlie Marlow, Sara Dayley and Chris Pelikan.

“We are at a time in media that’s unprecedented, we all know that,� Greene said. “The older generation now has as much — if not more — to learn from the younger generation. It used to always be the opposite.�

The channel is to be available for free on YouTube, online at as well as on major podcast platforms including Apple and Spotify (though the Karraker-Grimsley show will not debut there until May, after his noncompete clause from 101.1 expires). An app is to be included later this year.

Karraker, who this week also began doing a TV sports show on Matrix Midwest, said he’s looking forward to also branching into new media.

“Rather than going through terrestrial radio, people are going to their computers or phones now,� he said.

Grimsley, who was a TV sportscaster before moving to radio, concurs.

“That’s how I consume all my sports content, and I have for a long time,� she said. “So it’s exciting to now be a part of that space.�

On the air

There will be two anchor programs.

“The Randy Karraker Show Featuring Brooke Grimsley� will begin at 10 a.m. weekdays and cover anything in sports. It will be produced by Matthew Rocchio, who also will contribute on air — as he did when they all were at 101.1.

There also will be the baseball-centric “Cards Hub 365,” with Roderick as the primary host in a mix-and-match lineup including Claiborne, Ramsey, former Sporting News baseball writer Ryan Fagan and ’s Brenden Schaeffer. It generally will be on at 1 p.m. seven days a week but likely will change if the Cardinals are playing then. That’s usually the case in spring training, so the show on those days often will run after games end.

The length of all Hub programs will vary and can be accessed on demand after they end.

“One of the beauties of this is there is no clock, there is no set time� for shows to last, said Roderick, who also is overseeing the outlet’s content. “If it’s a dead news day, nothing going on, they can end in 45 minutes. If (there is breaking news) they could go as long as they need.�

Another staple will be shows following the Cardinals, Blues, City SC games as well as Missouri football and basketball contests and ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ University basketball matches. Several former athletes — Jamal Mayers, Howard Richards and Kareem Rush — are among the commentators. Kansas City Chiefs coverage is expected to be added before the next NFL season begins.

The outlet also plans to react quickly when there is breaking news about one of the area teams, something radio and TV have trouble doing outside of their normal local sports programming hours. The Hub can add a show in just a few minutes if a major story emerges.

“When they approached me about it, I was really struck by the organization and the way we will be able to serve fans with immediacy,� Karraker said.

Youth movement

There will be a sports betting program at noon Fridays, and covering gambling will be an integral aspect of the company’s strategy especially with such wagering expected to begin legally in Missouri during the baseball season.

With the Hub shooting to attract what Greene calls “the lower end of the sports (age) demographic,� he says he was visiting the Mizzou campus recently and “that’s all they talk about.�

Betting is to be covered in much of the outlet’s content, and Greene said its website will include a preview of area teams’ games from a gambling perspective with a selection being made.

Karraker is adapting to include betting talk on his TV show and is ready to do it on the new program, too.

“I’m not an inveterate gambler,� he said. “But I know I have to understand the business and so I’ve made (learning more) a point. It’s an important part of what people are doing.�

Fantasy sports talk also figures to be a topic, and that’s more to Grimsley’s preference than wagering on games — “I don’t like losing my money,� she said, chuckling.

She added that she’s glad to be returning to a show with Karraker.

“I’m really excited to be able to do this and continue to talk about sports here in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½,â€� she said. “I love living here, being involved in the sports scene and being able to bring a new format to the people here.â€�

A driving force behind Sports Hub STL is Hayden See, a 23-year-old University of Missouri-ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ student majoring in strategic communications who after finishing the current term will have one semester remaining before graduating. He has plenty of experience in digital sports media, having founded STL Sports Central in 2016 — on the night of his eighth-grade graduation.

“I saw how much my friends were using social media and I know how popular sports are in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, so I just thought it was a great opportunity to not only gain experience in what I wanted to do but to give fans a place to interact with each other,â€� he said.

His content now attracts nearly 200,000 followers on social media, so Greene and company sought him when developing their business plan.

“He’s brilliant and of that generation and he’s done it for so many years now, he’s learned what not to do, (also) what works,� Greene said. “The beauty of it is, his content has been graphic based. Most of our content is going to be short- and long-form video and audio content, so the marriage made a whole lot of sense. He’s our secret sauce.�

Added Roderick: “The stuff he knows — I’m 39 and he makes me feel like I’m 80.�

See, who is organizing social media and merchandising aspects for the Hub, was ready to take a bigger step.

“I reached a point I hit a wall in providing content,� he said. “I’d been looking for ways to get more content to people, to get them more engaged. This aligns with I wanted to do for six months now.�

It’s been a whirlwind.

“I went from sitting in my room making my stuff on a phone to now having arguably one of the biggest voices in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ sports,â€� he said of Karraker.

Karraker emphasizes the importance of incorporating that younger perspective.

“There isn’t as much chitchat on (an operation like this), young people aren’t interested in hearing about you or your day,� he said. “They want to dive in and hear about their sports.�

Capitalizing on new media will be a key to the venture’s vitality, and Greene cites the success of See and Marlow (who also has a big social media following) in that realm as important additions. He said they will rebrand their content under the Sports Hub STL banner.

The bottom line

Greene said Sports Hub STL has three owners — Claiborne, Podcast Heat (a company Greene has with Conrad Thompson) and Dave Zobrist, owner of KFNS (590 AM). The business is based in KFNS’ facilities but there are no plans for the Hub’s content to air on that Kirkwood-anchored sports station, which dropped local programming last summer in a cost-saving move.

Greene added that the group has enough financing to cover “a couple years� of operations, with the intent to “raise around $1.5 million from outside investors to add to roster, facilities and marketing.� He said the company is close to securing a major advertiser, hinting at a sports-betting entity. He expects more backers to come aboard once the product is operating.

“We also want to bring in high profile people like (former Blue) Jamal Mayers for people not just to hear him but to hang out,� he added. “The whole thing is built around the reaction of the engaged sports fan. When do they want to engage and react the most? It’s after games are played and when big news happens. That’s a big part of our strategy, to be on then.�

Karraker, who has been in the traditional radio business for more than four decades, is so bullish on this new media concept that he said he might not seek a return to his former format.

“I wonder right now about the future of terrestrial radio and whether enough young people that are consuming this (new media) are going to be willing to consume radio,� said Karraker, 62. “It’s amazing how when you talk to young people they just don’t listen to radio, they’re listening to podcasts. They’re consuming everything on their phone. I owe my (professional) life to terrestrial radio. But I just don’t know that in the long term if that’s going to be something that is valued enough by people for me to be able to get (and keep) a job there.�

Karraker summed things up about the new venture.

“If we do it right, people will find us pretty quickly,� he said. “It’s that simple.�