Alan Hahn admits he’s got big shoes to fill in his new role replacing Michael Kay’s afternoon spot on ESPN New York.
But he has a plan to help him make the move.
Familiar to many as a studio analyst on MSG Network, Hahn is helming the new show Don, Hahn and Rosenberg, which will air weekdays on ESPN New York 880 AM from 3-7 p.m. It replaces The Michael Kay Show.
Kay broadcast his final show Dec. 13, ending a 22-year run, and will now do a solo program from 1-3 p.m. on the station. Meanwhile, Hahn will join Kay’s former co-hosts, Don La Greca and Peter Rosenberg, on the new program. While some will see it as just a reboot of The Michael Kay Show with a new frontman, Hahn has something different in mind.
Hahn joined the Awful Announcing Podcast this week. There, he admitted to host Brandon Contes he’s in a tough situation joining this new show.
“It’s a very delicate path I’m walking here, because first of all, I’m replacing the station’s marquee, in Michael Kay,” Hahn said. “And I don’t want it to sound like I’m filling in for Michael Kay, I want our show to have its own sound. But I also don’t want to step in and say, ‘OK, I’m the main voice, and Peter and Don are still the supporting cast guys.’ Like I don’t want that either.
“So it is delicate. I want to make sure that I have a strong enough voice…but I also don’t want to be overwhelming and make those guys feel like they’re still — I hate using the word ‘sidekicks’ — but where they have been all along, because Michael was such a powerful voice.”
Hahn said he wants to be a “John Stockton-type” point guard type role, who gets everyone involved, rather than a James Harden type who controls everything. But he admits the show’s chemistry will have to develop over time as everyone figures out their roles.
“It is definitely delicate. We’re going to have figure that part of it out,” Hahn said. “I think that’s got to come in time, where everyone will just figure out the role — I don’t want to say hierarchy — but the understanding of, I’m the guy who’s going to bring us in and take us out, I’m the guy that’s going to move the conversation along.
“I think there’s a lot more out of Don La Greca than everybody has heard. I think there’s a great opportunity for him to really emerge. And then Peter also, who had been used a lot as like the funny guy on the show, there’s more in him too that I want to get out.”
The new show did a soft launch Monday, with a formal launch coming Jan. 6. The new show was not simulcast on YES, as The Michael Kay Show had been. Hahn said that while La Greca and Rosenberg see it as a new beginning, he will strive to keep the best elements of The Michael Kay Show while trying new things.
“From talking to them, they want it to feel like a new show,” Hahn said. “There are some elements from the former Michael Kay Show that were very entertaining, that were very good radio that I do think are worth carrying over. Look, my ego’s not that big, that I need to feel like, ‘No, wipe it all away, this is my show now, we’re going to do it my way.’ I was a fan of The Michael Kay Show.”
Listen to the full episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast featuring Peter King beginning Friday, Nov. 15. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. For more content, subscribe to AA’s YouTube page.
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.