Jimmy “Mad Dog” Matis, the popular radio disc jockey who was fired in January after 23 years at WFBQ-FM 94.7,
has a new gig—or two.
Emmis Communications Corp. on Thursday announced that Matis will be taking a job as a sales executive starting Aug. 2. And
in a separate announcement, the Indianapolis Colts said Matis will co-host the team’s post-game show this season; the
radio show airs on 47 stations across Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.
At Emmis, Matis will be working sales for Emmis sports talk station WFNI-AM 1070 and news/talk station WIBC-FM 93.1.
For the Colts’ radio network, Matis will be paired with former Colts player Barry Krauss. The 11-year NFL linebacker
will enter his fourth season on the post-game show, which airs locally on Emmis' WFNI, also known as The Fan, and WLHK-FM
97.1, also known as Hank.
Matis, 52, hosted his own afternoon show on Clear Channel-owned WFBQ-FM and made regular guest appearances on "The Bob
and Tom Show," a nationally syndicated morning show produced in Indianapolis. Matis also did guest stints on Clear Channel’s
local sports-talk station, WNDE-AM 1260.
Clear Channel did not renew his contract when it expired Dec. 31. Local market manager Rick Green called it a business decision.
Matis, who has five children ranging from a senior in college to a pair of fifth-graders, said he had no desire to leave
the Indianapolis market.
Emmis officials said they had no hesitancy about hiring Matis in sales despite his lack of experience in that area.
“Jim’s high energy and passion for radio and sports will be a great asset to our sales efforts on WFNI,”
said Eric Wunnenberg, general sales manager for WIBC and WFNI.
Matis thinks the array of corporate contacts he’s made during his on-air career will assist him in sales. He said it’s
also possible that he could do some voice work for Emmis advertisers.
“People always said I’d be great at sales,” Matis said. “Now I get to find out. I’ve been around
a long time, and I know a lot of people. And because of my on-air work, a lot of people know me. I think that was part of
the attraction by Emmis, and I’m really excited to begin this new phase of my career.”
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