POST Wrestling

''Live Audio Wrestling'' (also known as ''The LAW'') was a Canadian sports radio talk show hosted by "The Mouth" Dan Lovranski and Jason Agnew. The program primarily focused on news and events related to professional wrestling (such as WWE) and mixed martial arts.

First premiering in May 1997 as an internet radio show, ''LAW'' later shifted to conventional radio on several stations in the Toronto area, and moved to CHUM-AM in 2011. Due to the show's popularity, TSN's Off the Record has featured past and current co-hosts of the radio program as guest panelists over the years.

''Live Audio Wrestling'' announced its cancellation on October 30, 2017, due to cutbacks following Anthem Sports & Entertainment's acquisition of TNA Wrestling, which impacted ''The LAWs syndicator, Fight Network Radio. Most of its segments and spin-off shows have since migrated to a new website, known as "Post Wrestling".

History

''Live Audio Wrestling'' premiered on May 23, 1997 as an internet radio show through ''Virtually Canadian,'' with Faarooq as its first guest. The show aired online for a year and a half before moving to CJCL, ''The Fan 590''however, it was still only broadcast online, since the show was broadcast as replacement programming due to NBA policies prohibiting the station's online feed from airing Toronto Raptors games. In an effort to secure studio time, the show was taped early in the morning. Due to popular demand and listener support, ''The LAW'' soon became part of ''The Fans normal lineup, airing in the early afternoon on Saturdays.

The show later expanded to include a two-hour late-night program on Sunday nights from 1:00 to 3:00 a.m., later moved to Saturdays at 11:00 p.m. in late 1999, while the afternoon edition moved to 5:00 p.m. In February 1999, Dave Meltzer of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' began a weekly segment during the program.

''The LAW'' aired on The Fan 590 until September 2000 when it moved to rival station CFYI Talk 640 as a companion to the station's recently acquired radio broadcasts of Toronto Maple Leafs games. The evening broadcast was moved from Saturdays to Sundays. In April 2001, the afternoon edition of ''The LAW'' was dropped during the station's re-launch under the Mojo Radio format, while ''The LAW'' remained on the station through 2006

In January 2005, Fight Network purchased a majority stake in ''The LAW'', and in February of that same year announced that they had secured an agreement with Broadcast News for national syndicated the program through Fight Network Radio. Affiliates of the group (aside from its flagship Toronto stations) included: CKST Vancouver, CFRN Edmonton, CFGO Ottawa, CHMJ Vancouver, and CJOB Winnipeg.

In July 2006, ''The LAW'' moved to CFRB and retained its 11pm time-slot. In the Fall 2006, ''LAW'' announced that the show would eventually begin to air in simulcast on Fight Network, though nothing came of it.

The show is ranked No. 1 in the demographic of male, on talk radio in the Toronto market, in its time slot. In April 2006, The Bureau of Broadcast Measurement released their spring ratings with The LAW ranking No. 1 among Males 25 - 49 on Sunday nights with an 18.7 share and also scoring a 17.8 share among Males 18 – 34.

Starting in the winter of 2007, John Pollock began to host an extended, online edition of ''The LAW'' called ''Live Audio Xtra''. The segment is available to those who listen to the archived edition of the show on ''The LAW'' website, as an add-on to the original radio production. Shortly after its launch, Dan Lovranski began to co-host the segment, answering e-mail questions. Starting with the January 20th 2008 edition, ''Live Audio Xtra'' began to take call-in questions from listeners who were unable to get on the air during the radio portion of the program. This segment of the show was discontinued for a brief period of time, but returned to ''The LAW'' in 2011.

Satellite radio, interim podcast, and CHUM

''The LAW'' aired its final edition on CFRB on January 11, 2009, moving to the Sirius Satellite Radio channel Hardcore Sports Radio (later known as The Score Satellite Radio), maintaining its Sunday night timeslot, and still being produced from CFRB's studios. After the closure of The Score Satellite Radio in August 2011, ''The LAW'' briefly became a podcast on the Fight Network website; using the same format as the radio versions but without call-in segments.

On October 9, 2011, ''The LAW'' moved to CHUM AM; while the program maintained its traditional 11:00 p.m. timeslot, it is preempted by '' Sunday Night Football'' during the NFL season.

''The LAW'' began airing on CHUM's sister station CFTE in Vancouver on September 9, 2012. ''The LAW'' currently does not air on any other TSN Radio

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases