For the second time in 18 months, Lee Hamilton has been demoted at XX 1090 Sports Radio.
When the move takes effect Monday (March 26), the longtime San Diego sports-talk host technically will work weeknights from 5 to 8 p.m. But with Padres season starting April 5, and so many games scheduled at night, in reality Hamilton will be pre-empted more often than not. Most nights he will be on the air only from 5-6 p.m., or not at all.
Hired at XX Sports in the fall of 2009 to work the 3-7 p.m. afternoon-drive shift, Hamilton was dropped to the less prestigious time slot of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. a year later. That spot is being taken over by Josh Rosenberg and Charod Williams, who are moving over from XTRA Sports 1360.
Mike Shepard, programming and operations manager at BCA Radio, denied Hamilton was being demoted. Shepard said the lineup changes, which mean no solo show will last longer than three hours, “mark a renewed dedication to providing the best possible product around the clock.”
Still, it must be noted that while Darren Smith will do a solo show for 15 hours most weeks, Hamilton’s air time will often be just one-third of that.
Dave Palet and Jeff Dotseth will continue in the 6-10 a.m. slot, and Smith will be on from 2-5 p.m. Another veteran, John Kentera, is now scheduled to be on from 8-11 p.m., although obviously during Padres season that means his schedule will be fluid. In the past Kentera has hosted Padres pregame and postgame shows.
