Tony Kornheiser returns to radio on ESPN 630’s ‘The Sports Capitol’

Tony Kornheiser is returning to the airwaves in Washington, D.C. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

Story by the Washington Post
Written by Cindy Boren

Three years after leaving local radio to start a podcast, Tony Kornheiser is returning to terrestrial radio.

Kornheiser, the co-host of ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” and a former Washington Post columnist, has joined Washington’s new all-sports radio station, ESPN 630 “The Sports Capitol,” with an hour-long show airing at noon weekdays starting Tuesday. Portions of the podcast will be included in the show along with unique content, a spokeswoman wrote in an email.

Kornheiser will also join other ESPN 630 shows occasionally as part of his new relationship with the station, according to the spokeswoman.

According to Cumulus Media, “This marks the first time that ‘The Tony Kornheiser Show,’ a daily podcast and exclusive partnership between leading premium podcast company Cadence13 and Tony Kornheiser, will air on terrestrial radio.”

Cumulus Media and ESPN launched “The Sports Capitol” July 1 on WMAL’s 630 AM station, changing it from news talk to an all-sports ESPN radio affiliate. The syndicated weekday lineup includes “Golic and Wingo” hosted by Mike Golic and Trey Wingo from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., “The Carol Maloney Show” from 10 a.m. to noon and “The Stephen A. Smith Show” from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The station carries Redskins games and national NBA and MLB broadcasts.

Kornheiser, 71, did his last radio show on ESPN 980 in the summer of 2016 after becoming a radio fixture in Washington for 24 years. He began hosting for “Sports Radio 570 — The Team” in 1992 when the radio station debuted; the station moved to 980 AM in 1998.

“I’m tremendously excited to be heard once again each day in the town where I live and on a radio frequency I’ve listened to for 40 years,” Kornheiser said in a statement.

Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, another former Post columnist, have been hosting “PTI,” one of ESPN’s anchor shows, since 2001.