After 50 years as a Bengals player-turned-radio analyst, Dave Lapham is finally getting some relief.
The Bengals’ “expanded partnership” with WXIX-TV and iHeartMedia will allow Lapham, who entered the team’s Ring of Honor last October, to back off some of his weekday duties.
“It was time!” Lapham tells me.
Tony Pike, the former University of Cincinnati and NFL quarterback who does analysis for Bearcats football radio games, will join Lapham and play-by-play man Dan Hoard in the booth starting with the preseason opener Thursday, Aug. 13.
Pike, who does Cincy 360 and the Tony and Mo Football Show with Mo Egger on WCKY-AM (1530), also will replace Lapham as Lance McAlister’s partner on the weekly Bengals Line show 6-9 p.m. Mondays.
WXIX-TV sports director Joe Danneman will serve as a sideline reporter for the Bengals preseason TV games. He will replace Lapham as co-host the Bengals Pep Rally radio show 3-5 p.m. Fridays with Hoard and serve as a guest co-host with Hoard on Bengals Weekly 10-11 a.m. Sundays on Channel 19.
“Being from the Cincinnati area, being part of a live Bengals broadcast is a box that I’m not sure I thought I would ever check, but it’s a massive honor and a great platform to help share some of the great stories on the team in a new role,” Danneman told me.
The new TV gig is “energizing,” says Danneman, who started at Fox 19 in 2001, left for a couple years (2019-11) and returned to the station in 2011.
“When you’ve been doing the job for 25 years, you think you’ve done everything there is to do, but it’s exciting to have some real butterflies to perform," he says.
Pike’s star continues to rise at iHeartMedia, a rather miraculous turnaround considering he was laid off last October as part of a nationwide corporate budget cut. Pike was rehired in less than two weeks.
Lapham told me before he was inducted into the Ring of Honor last October he wanted to reduce his six-day work week by doing fewer weekday shows when his contract expired after the 2027 season. He wanted time off during the season to watch his two grandsons play youth football here in Greater Cincinnati. He’s getting a break a year early.
“The only off day is Saturday if the Bengals are playing a home game. But if it’s a road game you’re traveling,” he said a year ago. Lapham, who turned 74 in June, was drafted out of Syracuse University in 1974, and retired to the Bengals radio team in 1986.
This year the Bengals Preseason TV Network announcers will be Mike Watts, Anthony Muñoz and Joe Danneman. WXIX-TV, the flagship station, will feed the games to WKEF-TV in Dayton; WSYX-TV in Columbus; WLIO-TV in Lima, WLEX-TV in Lexington and WDRB-TV in Louisville.
The Bengals Radio Network announcers will be Dan Hoard, Dave Lapham, Tony Pike and Wayne Box Miller. Coverage starts 90 minutes before kickoff on the Bengals Radio Network, Bengals.com and the Bengals app.
Here are Bengals programs from the club’s release:
- Bengals Weekly: Hosted by Dan Hoard and rotating guest co-hosts. Sundays 10-11 a.m. on Fox 19.
- Bengals Line: Hosted by Lance McAlister and Tony Pike. Mondays 6-9 p.m. on WLW-AM (700).
- Bengals Game Plan: Hosted by Dan Hoard and Wayne Box Miller. Wednesdays 6-8 p.m. on WCKY-AM (1530).
- Bengals Pep Rally: Hosted by Dan Hoard and Joe Danneman. Fridays 3-6 p.m. on WCKY-AM.
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