Best FM Station
1. WEVL-FM 89.9 Volunteer
Supported Radio
2. WKIM-FM 98.9 Gen X Music
3. WXMX-FM 98.1 The Max
With healthy doses of Memphis music, regional roots genres, and the kind of indie/underground rock you can’t hear on any other local station, the listener-supported, volunteer-programmed WEVL is the jewel of Memphis’ airwaves. Something tells us that legendary Memphis disc jockeys like Dewey Phillips and Nat D. Williams would approve.
Best AM Station
1. WREC-AM 600 News Radio
2. 560 WHBQ-AM 560 Sports
3. ESPN 680 AM Sports
In the Year of the Tea Party, WREC-AM 600 fills the local airwaves with all the titans of white whine, bombarding us daily with a murderer’s row of right-wing talk-radio stars: Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity. Gee, um, thanks.
Best Drive-Time Show
1. Drake & Zeke in the Morning, WXMX-FM 98.1 The Max
2. Bad Dog & Ric, WEGR-FM 102.7 Rock 103
3. Maney & Riley in the Morning, WHBQ-FM 107.5 The Q
Best Local Radio Talk Show
BOM 1. Drake & Zeke in the Morning, WXMX-FM 98.1
The Max
2. Maney & Riley in the Morning, WHBQ-FM 107.5 The Q
3. Chris Vernon Show, 730 Fox Sports Radio
Once again, Drake & Zeke pull off the double-dip, topping our readers’ vote for both Best Drive-Time Show and Best Local Radio Talk Show. Their brainier brand of drive-time talk conquers the local airwaves each weekday morning from 6 to 10 a.m. But if you’re not a morning person, you can still get your fix with a re-edited broadcast Monday through Thursday from 7 to 11 p.m.
Best Sports Radio Show
1. The Gary Parrish Show with Geoff Calkins, ESPN 680 AM
Sports/92.9 FM ESPN
2. Chris Vernon Show, 730 Fox Sports Radio
3. Memphis Sport Live, 560 WHBQ-AM 560 Sports
First Gary Parrish went national, moving from his post as the University of Memphis men’s basketball beat reporter at The Commercial Appeal to become a national college basketball columnist at CBSSports.com. Then he took local sports-talk radio to the FM dial with a station move that allows his afternoon show to be simulcast on both AM and FM, breaking new ground in a suddenly saturated local sports-talk market.
Best Radio Personality
1. Bad Dog McCormack, WEGR-FM 102.7 Rock 103
2. Drake Hall, WXMX-FM 98.1 The Max
3. Ron Olson, WMC-FM 99.7 FM100
Memphis has lots of cultural “kings” — from Elvis Presley to Jerry Lawler to Yo Gotti. But after 22 years as an immensely popular and immediately recognizable voice on the local airwaves, John “Bad Dog” McCormack can probably claim his own little piece of the crown.
Best Newspaper Columnist
1. Geoff Calkins, The Commercial Appeal
2. Wendi Thomas, The Commercial Appeal
3. Michael Donahue, The Commercial Appeal
In a category that proves the objectivity of the Flyer‘s Best of Memphis poll, the daily paper The Commercial Appeal sweeps the columnist category. The winner, Geoff Calkins, is a superstar of local media. He writes sports and metro columns; he co-hosts another Best of Memphis winner, The Gary Parrish Show with Geoff Calkins, on 92.9 FM ESPN; and he’s now entered the TV realm, hosting the weekly Sports Files with Geoff Calkins on WKNO.
Best TV Weatherperson
BOM 1. Dave Brown, WMC-TV,
Channel 5
2. Ron Childers, WMC-TV, Channel 5
3. Joey Sulipeck, WHBQ-TV, Fox 13
TV meteorologists don’t actually decide what the weather’s going to be that day. Memphians can’t blame them for unending weeks of triple-digit highs or rain during Memphis in May or ice-storm-induced power outages. Not that we don’t want someone to hold responsible, mind you. In light of that, it must be a tribute to his charisma, his trustworthy mien, and his composed bedside manner in the midst of a storm that year after year voters hail Dave Brown as the conquering hero of TV weather.
Best TV Sportscaster
BOM 1. Jarvis Greer, WMC-TV, Channel 5
2. Glenn Carver, WREG-TV, Channel 3
3. Carrie Anderson, WMC-TV, Channel 5
Though the names on the back of the jersey change, the front’s still the same, and Jarvo is always there to give us the good news when it’s a win or let us down easy when it’s a loss.
Best TV Anchor
BOM 1. Joe Birch, WMC-TV, Channel 5
2. Mearl Purvis, WHBQ-TV, Fox 13
3. Kym Clark, WMC-TV, Channel 5
Completing a BOM trifecta for Channel 5, Joe Birch gets the nod as Best TV Anchor. He’s been the face of Action News 5 for decades, but Birch may be Memphis’ Dick Clark: Share some of that fountain of youth, would ya, Joe?
Best Website
Yep.
Best Local Blog
1. I Love Memphis Blog, ilovememphisblog.com
2. Eat Local Memphis, eatlocalmemphis.com
3. Dining with Monkeys, diningwithmonkeys.blogspot.com
— tie — Paul Ryburn’s Journal, paulryburn.com/blog
Civic boosterism meets hurricane-like force of nature in the person of Kerry Crawford-Trisler. “I Love Memphis” isn’t blog-name jingoism. It’s a way of life. Crawford-Trisler pushes all things Memphis with event recommendations, food and music reviews, and her ever-growing photo gallery of Memphians proud to proclaim their ardor.
Best Twitter
1. @ilovememphis
2. @MemphisFlyer
3. @ArtsMemphis
More than 3,000 followers and growing.
