In Miami, Barry Jackson reports the Dolphins are "still mulling how best to replace" longtime radio announcer Jim Mandich, who passed away in April. Jimmy Cefalo and Joe Rose will announce Friday’s preseason opener against the Falcons on WINZ-AM and "will be fixtures all season, as expected." However, former Dolphins G Keith Sims said that he was "left with the impression that the team plans to use a third person alongside them for at least some games." A team official said that a "permanent third person remains a possibility." The team also is "considering Bob Griese for that role, and Kim Bokamper is another candidate." Meanwhile, the Dolphins again have asked Dick Stockton "to call three games on radio that do not conflict with his Fox TV duties, as he did last season." If he accepts, Cefalo "would either work as a pregame and postgame host, or as Rose’s co-analyst, on those games" (MIAMI HERALD, 8/12).
CHANGES IN ST. LOUIS: In St. Louis, Dan Casear reports former NFL coach Jim Hanifan, who was a Rams analyst for WXOS-FM "until being removed two seasons ago when he was relegated to the more sterile environment of contributing to pre-and postgame programming, will be gone altogether this year on Rams game-day radio coverage other than a brief taped appearance." WXOS' plans now "center on having Rick Venturi and Tony Softli more heavily involved in the coverage." Howard Balzer and Zach McCrite also will be "on pregame or postgame," and former Rams QB Gus Frerotte "will participate." In addition, "station mainstays Randy Karraker and Tom Casey will be hosts" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 8/12).
GATEWAY TO THE WEST: ESPN Radio 710 L.A. on Thursday announced that it has reached an agreement with the Jets to broadcast all 16 of the team's regular-season games this season. Notably, the Jets are led by former Univ. of Southern California QB and Orange County native Mark Sanchez (THE DAILY).
HALL PASS: ESPN averaged 1.162 million viewers for its coverage of the Pro Football HOF induction ceremony last Saturday night, down 23.5% from 1.518 million viewers last year. Meanwhile, NFL Network averaged 513,000 viewers for its coverage of the event, marking the net's best HOF audience ever. This year's viewership mark is also up 16% from last year. NFL.com also saw traffic increase 56% on Saturday compared to the same day last year (THE DAILY).
