The Lounge moves to Tuesdays, starting with #125

By Rick Morris

This week’s 125^th episode of THE FDH LOUNGE on SportsTalkNetwork.com not only marks a milestone – Quasquicentennial Anniversary Episode! – but it also, coincidentally, will be our first one on our new night. Starting this week, we move up exactly 24 hours in the rotation at the Sports Talk Network, now on Tuesdays from 7-10 PM EST.

We also moved approximately two years ago, roughly halfway through the history of the program. The first 39 episodes were held from January 14, 2007 to November 30, 2008 on a biweekly basis on Sunday nights before making the jump to weeknight programming and new episodes every week starting on December 10, 2008. And as the Sports Talk Network makes its move back towards emphasizing nationally-oriented programming – like The FDH Lounge – and away from the heavier concentration on our flagship city of Cleveland, we are glad to support a move that we have thought for years was the best direction for the network carrying our program.

When we hit Episode #100 back on April 28 of this year, I wrote at some length about my feelings of fulfillment and accomplishment at having received the chance to lead such a talented, dedicated and varied crew forward as we charted the brand-new terrain called “nothing is off-topic.” I have nothing to add to that except to note with pride and happiness that the seven months between #100 and #125 have been marked by more big guests – famous and otherwise – as well as more great segments with our Dignitaries, more inventiveness in terms of the direction of the show and more of what made us what we were in the first place. That last point refers to the strides we have made in the past 25 episodes at reaching back out to core Dignitaries whose schedules had rendered regular appearances difficult. Contributors like Tim Foust and Ken Detwiler have helped shape this program from the outset and even before that and the chance for me to have even more pieces to move around our chessboard is almost indescribable for me.

In addition to thanking all of our FDH Lounge Dignitaries, of course I have to mention my partners, who have each picked up an additional title since the 100^th Episode. Senior Editor/Creative Director Jason Jones continues to be very strong as an “idea man” and in controlling all aspects of our imaging. Whether we’re talking audio production, video production or artwork regarding issues like our various logos, Jason brings it like nobody else could. And Senior Producer/Vice President for Strategic Programming Steve Cirvello – our vaunted “FDH New York Bureau” – has continued to blaze his tireless and fearless path of forging insanely valuable relationships for our show and our company. Our “black belt networker” books guests that continue to amaze and he continues to confront and surmount a variety of challenges as he exposes us to the right people through sheer force of will. Our rate of growth as a show is unimaginable without his efforts.

Most of all, thanks to you, our viewers, for patronizing our show and proving that there is an audience for something that is unique and does not seek to be a dumbed-down, cookie-cutter version of what everyone else in the talk/variety biz is trying to accomplish. We know that you will follow us to our new night – either live or via archives that include free episodes through iTunes – and we’ll keep working to enlighten and entertain on every interesting topic under the sun as we move into 2011 and beyond.