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TuneIn, the world’s largest audio network, today announced the talent lineup for its new show covering the 2016 Major League Baseball season on the “MLB on TuneIn” station, starting today, Monday, May 16.
21-year veteran pitcher LaTroy ‘Hawk’ Hawkins, former Dodgers General Manager and current team advisor Ned Colletti, World Series-winning infielder Geoff Blum and versatile radio host Holden Kushner round out TuneIn’s lineup of baseball voices bringing live daily coverage to its dedicated “MLB on TuneIn” station.
Hawkins, Colletti and Blum will rotate in the analyst role alongside Kushner Monday through Friday from 7:00 p.m. – Midnight ET. Broadcast live from TuneIn Studios in Venice, CA, the five-hour show will provide listeners with drop-ins from local radio coverage of in-progress MLB games, plus postgame interviews and analysis. Among the guest on Monday’s debut show are MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark and former six-time All-Star Kenny Lofton.
“We are excited to have assembled an informative group of talent to kick off our latest original content venture that highlights the action and provides insightful analysis to break it down for the fans listening on TuneIn,” said Kevin Straley, TuneIn Chief Content Officer. “Baseball is the original audio sport and we are excited to enhance the experience for TuneIn listeners with the most timely updates from across all thirty Major League ballparks.”
Despite holding the distinction of the league’s oldest active player at the time of his retirement in 2015, Hawkins is the broadcast rookie amongst the foursome, beginning his career in sports broadcasting with TuneIn. Hawkins capped off an incredible 21-year playing career with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015, making 18 regular season appearances on the mound for a 1-0 record, earning 14 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings. Throughout his career, Hawkins played for 11 different clubs, making an appearance in the 2007 World Series with the Colorado Rockies, as well as an ALCS appearance in his final playing year with the Blue Jays. His 1,042 games pitched make him the most-recent member of the 1,000-games pitch club.
As a native of Illinois, Colletti began his MLB front office career in 1982 with his hometown Chicago Cubs. He spent 13 years there before joining the San Francisco Giants, first as the Director of Baseball Operations before being promoted to Assistant General Manager in 1996. During the 10 years he spent in San Francisco, the Giants compiled an 813-644 (.558) record. In 2005, Colletti became the 10th General Manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers where over the nine seasons he was at the helm, the Dodgers won five division titles in nine years, 14 playoff games and made back-to-back NLCS appearances in 2008 and 2009. Colletti remains active within the Dodgers organization as Special Advisor to the President and CEO. He also contributes to Dodgers broadcast coverage on Sportsnet LA.
During his 14-year career in the majors, Blum was an infielder for six different teams. He retired with an impressive batting average of .250, 99 home runs and 479 RBIs. Blum played a pivotal role in the Chicago White Sox’s 2005 World Series Championship, hitting a home run in the top of the 14th inning of game three to give Chicago the win. Following his playing career, Blum immediately transitioned to broadcasting, serving as the Houston Astros TV analyst since 2013, and is also a college baseball analyst with Pac-12 Networks.
Kushner brings more than 15 years broadcasting experience to TuneIn, as a sports radio and television host. Most recently, Kushner was a studio host for MASN, which broadcasts Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles games. He was also the midday host on 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C. covering the D.C. sports landscape. Prior to WJFK, he could be heard on a number of Sirius XM channels including “MLB Network Radio” and the “SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Channel.”
TuneIn’s daily MLB show will be available to all subscribers on the “MLB on TuneIn” station, which currently features daily recaps and press conferences from around Major League Baseball, plus team-specific channels with news and analysis. Programming on the “MLB on TuneIn” station complements the MLB content offering on the TuneIn Premium level of service that includes home and away feeds for every game, from Spring Training to the World Series.
Fans can subscribe to TuneIn Premium or sign up for a free trial via TuneIn.com, iOS and Android apps.
TuneIn is the most popular way to listen to streaming audio from around the world. With more than 60 million monthly active users, TuneIn lets people listen to the world’s sports, news, talk, and music from wherever they are. TuneIn has over 100,000 radio stations and more than 5.7 million on-demand programs stemming from every continent, and is available for free across many connected devices. TuneIn Premium lets subscribers listen to the NBA, NFL, MLB, over 40k audiobooks, and commercial-free music stations. TuneIn has venture funding from IVP, Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, and Icon Ventures, and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Brenna Webb, TuneIn
bwebb@tunein.com
