OT-WGR Lineup Change

[inkman]

I went delving into WGR this morning looking for Sabres talk and much to my surprise the whole 10-2 programming is completely different.  No more Sal Capaccio from 10-12, no more Sabres Live from 12-1, and no more Bills Live from 1-3. I understand the Bills live moving as WGR is no longer the flagship for the Bills. I just don't understand why all the other changes. Here is the current lineup:

New WGR Daily Schedule (September 2026)

TimeShow / Hosts

6:00 AM – 10:00 AMJeremy White and Joe DiBiase

10:00 AM – 12:00 PMBrad Riter with Tim Graham

12:00 PM – 2:00 PMBrad Riter with Owen Parker

2:00 PM – 6:00 PMMike Schopp and Chris "Bulldog" Parker

6:00 PM – 8:00 PMZach Jones and Derek Kramer

8:00 PM (non-game nights)Sabres Live (delayed broadcast)

 

I'd appreciate any insight any fellow SabreSpacers could bestow on the masses.  

[mjd1001]

I would have been okay had they kept everything the way it was or if they moved things around.... Doesn't really matter to me but there's one thing I wanted changed personally:

Schopp and Bulldog. Schopp is so annoying to me that I can't listen to the show most of the time, and even when I do their show is very very stale. The one thing I think needed to change, to be broken up, or just to go totally.... Is pretty much staying there.

But then again, they don't really care about one individual person's opinion and even myself, as one person, I'm not listening to wgr all that much anymore anyway.

[Porous Five Hole]

I just miss the Sabres being important to WGR. I get it…the Bills are the big ticket in town.  Perhaps now that they’re the flagship station for just the Sabres, that will change. 

[Jävə Keith]

I really do enjoy the addition/return of Brad Riter. I especially love the additiin airtime of Owen Parker. Respect his hockey insights, unique pro goalie perspective, and young dude who grew up with a passiionate Bills/Sabres dad (Bulldog/Chris Parker).

 

I totally agree on Mike Schopp. His absolutism arrogance and obsession with fantasy football and himself often make him unlistenable.

I do generally enjoy the next generation of WGR young talent.

Jeremy White is often still great, and while younger than me, maintains representation of the older generation. He is a genuine Sabres fan and I found myself bonding with his dedication and perspective during the drought years. Oh yeah, and I join his call to make "Swords of 1000 Men" the Sabres Goal Song that could include fan participation with "Who-ra who-ra yay, Who-ra who-ra yay" similar to our beloved Bills Shout song "Hey-ey-ey-ey."

[LGR4GM]

I like the morning show but miss Sabres live. Really a shame it's just moved to late night. 

I don't listen to Schopp and Bulldog. They once spent an entire segment talking about the most mundane thing like camping or having a boat, idk something, and it was terrible radio. They also talk way to much gambling and fantasy. So many segments about the odds or the prop bets, or that guy on their ffb team. It's just not interesting. 

[mjd1001]

12 minutes ago, Jävə Keith said:

I really do enjoy the addition/return of Brad Riter. I especially love the additiin airtime of Owen Parker. Respect his hockey insights, unique pro goalie perspective, and young dude who grew up with a passiionate Bills/Sabres dad (Bulldog/Chris Parker).

 

I totally agree on Mike Schopp. His absolutism arrogance and obsession with fantasy football and himself often make him unlistenable.

I do generally enjoy the next generation of WGR young talent.

Jeremy White is often still great, and while younger than me, maintains representation of the older generation. He is a genuine Sabres fan and I found myself bonding with his dedication and perspective during the drought years. Oh yeah, and I join his call to make "Swords of 1000 Men" the Sabres Goal Song that could include fan participation with "Who-ra who-ra yay, Who-ra who-ra yay" similar to our beloved Bills Shout song "Hey-ey-ey-ey."

I agree with just about all of this. 

Because I don't listen to him that much anymore in addition to be annoying, I almost forgot about Schopp and him constantly talking about gambling and fantasy sports. 

If he really has that much pull at wgr and that's his passion, give him a bi-weekly show by himself on the weekend. He can talk about it. It's just so annoying on so many levels.

[PromoTheRobot]

I think Sabres Live is still on at noon on their Rochester station 950/95.7. You can stream it on the Audacy app.

[mjd1001]

5 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Schopp and Bulldog. They once spent an entire segment talking about the most mundane thing like camping or having a boat, idk something, and it was terrible radio. They also talk way to much gambling and fantasy. So many segments about the odds or the prop bets, or that guy on their ffb team. It's just not interesting. 

As far as them talking about random things.. I almost think that is there "thing", their "schtick", especially opening their show. 

Maybe it has changed. Maybe it hasn't but I know for years it would frustrate me. 

There would be a big savers game the night before, there could be a big transaction that happened... And yet they would open their show talking about some random thing he did on Grand Island or some vacation they're taking on the shore in Canada. 

I'm 100% serious when I say that the majority of time I would turn on the show to listen to updates or opinions about the topic that just happened and you'd have to go 10 to 15 minutes before they topped stop talking about their personal lives. 

So many reasons. I don't listen, him being condescending, the gambling, the fantasy, but them just talking about random things in their personal lives, especially at the opening of their show all the time, is near the top of the list.

[That Aud Smell]

47 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I like the morning show but miss Sabres live. Really a shame it's just moved to late night. 

I don't listen to Schopp and Bulldog. They once spent an entire segment talking about the most mundane thing like camping or having a boat, idk something, and it was terrible radio. They also talk way to much gambling and fantasy. So many segments about the odds or the prop bets, or that guy on their ffb team. It's just not interesting. 

i’ve posted it here before: i think schopp is burned out. he doesn’t actually care about the fates of the bills or sabres. he generally finds the fans of the teams to be contemptible idiots and cannot suffer them during their calls.

bulldog is a good dude and still brings the guy sitting on the next barstool (ha - sorry) vibe.

[Porous Five Hole]

5 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

bulldog is a good dude and still brings the guy sitting on the next barstool (ha - sorry) vibe.

As true as that is, he cannot spit out a sentence without stuttering and it is very hard to listen to. 

[That Aud Smell]

20 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

As true as that is, he cannot spit out a sentence without stuttering and it is very hard to listen to. 

it’s a matter of personal taste. i quite like his cadence and vocal idiosyncrasies.

[PromoTheRobot]

The top qualification for getting hired at WGR is being related to someone who works there.

[shrader]

The station is typically an occasional distraction during the work day. So I’m glad that I won’t ever again randomly turn it on during the college radio segment they used to have around noon. 

[That Aud Smell]

14 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

The top qualification for getting hired at WGR is being related to someone who works there.

Not unfair.

That said, I think Owen Parker's solid and will only improve as he gets more reps.

I have by now established that I like the Parkers. 😂

[shrader]

Just now, That Aud Smell said:

Not unfair.

That said, I think Owen Parker's solid and will only improve as he gets more reps.

I have by now established that I like the Parkers. 😂

And on that note, is anyone else in that entire lineup related to someone else?

[pastajoe]

I like the new lineup. The veterans they added who still remember the “old days” of Buffalo sports is refreshing. And I like Owen’s hockey insights from someone who played the game. I also like when Schoop and Bulldog talk about fantasy and non-sport topics. There’s only so many times they can talk about Sabres line combinations or who’s the Bills third DB. Buffalo isn’t a big city with multiple sports teams to talk about.

[JoeSchmoe]

I mostly just listen to Sabres podcasts (or Conan O'Brien) now.

On Monday, I thought I'd give them WGR a listen since I wanted to hear what they had to say about the Bills game that I was lucky enough to attend. On the 3 attempts thoughout the day to switch over to AM there were commercials every time. 

Could that have been a coincidence, or are they actually advertising more now?

[PromoTheRobot]

48 minutes ago, shrader said:

And on that note, is anyone else in that entire lineup related to someone else?

Listening to WGR this morning, the sports update guy keeps saying the Sabres start at Key Bank Center Thursday. 🙄

Edited September 30 by PromoTheRobot

[That Aud Smell]

18 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Listening to WGR this morning, the sports update guy keeps saying the Sabres start at Key Bank Center Thursday. 🙄

the rotating cast of NPC's they have to do the sports updates is generally underwhelming.

they had a woman on those spots for a while - a decade ago? she was good. had a good sound and vibe. i presume she moved onto something else?

[PromoTheRobot]

1 hour ago, That Aud Smell said:

the rotating cast of NPC's they have to do the sports updates is generally underwhelming.

they had a woman on those spots for a while - a decade ago? she was good. had a good sound and vibe. i presume she moved onto something else?

Yeah, it weird they have no women at all on staff.

[Malazan]

WGR is still alive?

[Eleven]

6 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

the rotating cast of NPC's they have to do the sports updates is generally underwhelming.

they had a woman on those spots for a while - a decade ago? she was good. had a good sound and vibe. i presume she moved onto something else?

Sloane Martin?  Last I knew she's the PBP for a WNBA team.

[Taro T]

6 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Listening to WGR this morning, the sports update guy keeps saying the Sabres start at Key Bank Center Thursday. 🙄

Did C-Bus change the name of their rink recently? 

If so, cool.

If not, D'OH!!!!!!!!!!

[Wyldnwoody44]

Idk, I use The audacy app and usually listen the Jeremy and Joe and sometimes shopp and bulldog after the fact; this way I can skip chapters that are boring and skip commercials. 

I don't know how they compare nationally, but I usually like to listen the day after the game or randomly sometimes in the sauna at home or whatever. 

Usually perusing here and being a guest at TBD and looking at the topics gets me most of the stuff I want/need. You won't catch me ever logging in and posting there, woof. 

[SabreFan78]

I like Jeremy White but its so ironic how he used to bag on Howard Simon constantly for taking days off, and now he takes twice as much time as Howard ever did. The student really has become the teacher