CLEVELAND, OH - October 6, 2011 - The Cleveland Cavaliers today announced their new radio broadcast team. John Michael has been selected as the team’s new play-by-play announcer, Jim Chones will join the broadcasts as the game color analyst and Mike Snyder will return as the studio host anchoring pre-game, halftime and post-game shows, as well as serving as host of the weekly Coach Byron Scott Show. All Cavaliers games are broadcast on the team’s flagship station News Radio WTAM 1100 AM, Akron’s AM 1590 WAKR and across the Cavaliers Radio Network.
“We feel great about our new radio broadcast team and having John, Jim and Mike deliver the best radio listening experience possible for our fans. John is a great play by play announcer that we feel is the perfect style and fit for the future of our game broadcasts. Jim brings a very credible and deep level of understanding and insight to the game, our team and the league, and Mike is simply the best studio host in the business,” said Cavaliers President Len Komoroski. “This trio will complement and support each other’s contributions to our radio broadcast experience in a new, exciting way as we now enter a new era of Cavs radio.”
Michael has over 10 years of pro sports play-by-play experience. He joins the Cavaliers from the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL, where he served as the team’s television game host, in-game reporter and pregame and postgame contributor on FOX Sports Ohio for the past two seasons. Immediately prior to that, he served as the first-ever radio/TV broadcaster with the Lake Erie Monsters for the first two seasons of the AHL franchise that also calls Quicken Loans Arena home.. Prior to embarking on his broadcasting career, he practiced law as a trial attorney after graduating from the University of Notre Dame with mechanical engineering, law and MBA degrees, all cum laude.
“I am absolutely thrilled to be back in Cleveland, while also being humbled to be selected for this tremendous opportunity. I will work extremely hard to help carry on the tradition of radio excellence with the Cavaliers. Of course, Joe Tait can never be replaced or replicated. He’s a Hall of Famer that many of us in the broadcasting community will always consider the best that ever was,” said Michael. “With that in mind, our focus as a new broadcast team will simply be to do everything we possibly can to enhance our fans’ enjoyment of the game. Our fans will always be the focus of what we are doing and why we’re doing it.”
Chones becomes the full-time game analyst after filling in last season along with studio host Mike Snyder, when Tait missed 77 games due to health issues in his 39th and final season. Chones had spent the previous four seasons as the radio team’s postgame analyst. An eight-year NBA veteran, Chones played five seasons with the Cavaliers, including the “Miracle of Richfield” season in 1975-76, when he averaged a career-best 15.8 points and 9.0 rebounds in 33.4 minutes per game. He has also been an active member of the Cavaliers Legends player alumni group.
After subbing in for Tait as the play-by-play announcer for the majority of last season, Snyder returns to his previous role as the Cavaliers Radio Network Studio Host for his 20th season. He will launch each Cavaliers Radio Network game broadcast with the “FirstMerit Tip-Off Show,” host the halftime report and follow each game with the “Verizon Wireless Call-In Show,” which features game analysis, special guests and player interviews, as well as Head Coach Byron Scott’s postgame press conference. Snyder will also continue to host the weekly Byron Scott Radio Show on WTAM 1100 and the Cavs Radio Network as well.