Jim Rome | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Phillip Rome (1964-10-14)October 14, 1964 (age 60) |
| Career | |
| Show | The Jim Rome Show |
| Station(s) | Westwood One,X, FAST, PLEX (simulcast) |
| Time slot | 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.ET Monday-Friday |
| Style | Sports radio |
| Country | United States |
| Website | The Jim Rome Show |
James Phillip Rome (born October 14, 1964) is an Americansports radio host. His talk show,The Jim Rome Show, is syndicated byWestwood One.
Broadcasting from astudio near Los Angeles, California, Rome hostsThe Jim Rome Show on radio. He hosted TV shows on ESPN, TSN2 (in Canada), Showtime and CBS, but since 2024 has streamed on X. He has also formed a free, ad-supported streaming channel.[2]
For a number of years Rome hosted atelevision showJim Rome Is Burning (formerlyRome Is Burning), which aired onESPN in the United States andTSN2 inCanada. In 2011, Rome ended his relationship with ESPN to join the CBS network where he hosts his own show, as well as an interview-format show on theShowtime channel.[3] His past hosting jobs included sports discussion television showsTalk2 (ESPN2),The FX Sports Show (FX), andThe Last Word (Fox Sports Net). The Jim Rome Show is tied for the #21 most listened to talk radio show in the United States[4] and Rome is the #29 most influential talk radio personality[5] according toTalkers Magazine.
From April 2012 to March 2015, Rome had a television sports talk show onCBS Sports Network namedRome. During the same time period he had a monthly TV sports/entertainment talk show onShowtime namedJim Rome on Showtime.
Born inLos Angeles,California, Rome graduated fromCalabasas High School in 1982[6] and theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) with a degree in Communications in 1987.[7][8][disputed –discuss] He lives inIrvine, California, with his wife, Janet, and their two sons, Jake and Logan.[7][9]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2019) |
Rome started his radiocareer atcollege radio stationKCSB-FM while at UCSB, where he was sports director for one quarter, and atnews station KTMS, also located inSanta Barbara, where he began as a traffic reporter and became a sports talk host in summer 1987.[10] At the end of 1990, he moved to XTRA Sports 690 inSan Diego, where he started what is now known asThe Jim Rome Show, or "The Jungle," with a loop of the instrumental intro ofIggy Pop's song "Lust for Life" and the instrumental intro ofGuns N' Roses' song "Welcome to the Jungle" as the show's signature music.
The show's production moved to a studio in downtown Los Angeles in spring 1994, though the broadcast was still originated by XTRA San Diego. At the same time as the studio move, the show start time shifted to 9am Pacific/12pm Eastern, where it remained until the end of 2024. The program wassyndicated in 1996 throughPremiere Radio Networks, which sold it to an assortment of local stations includingESPN Radio affiliates. A new contract that took effect in January 2013 brought the program to theCBS Sports Radio network, which simulcasted the program on its local FM/AM stations, itsSiriusXM satellite channel (now known as Infinity Sports), and its cable TV channel. As of February 2024 the television version of the program was dropped by CBS Sports. The video feed is now marketed as a co-production with theX/Twitter platform and is also available on various other streaming services.
Beginning with the first new show of 2025 in January, the show moved to the 3-6 pm Eastern/12-3 pm Pacific timeslot. Many local stations and the Infinity Sports channel on Sirius chose to retain their pre-existing shows in that timeslot and no longer carry the Rome show, which is currently available ononly 60 local affiliates and is seeking listeners on its streaming platforms instead.
Over time, the show's production facility moved to the Premiere Radio building inSherman Oaks, then an undisclosed Orange County location, and finally, as part of the start of TV simulcasting in January 2018, a custom-built studio inCosta Mesa. Due to past incidents of overzealous fans trespassing at the studio, the exact addresses of the former and current Orange County studios are not publicized. To provide continuity across the show's eras in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange County, it is consistently referred to as originating from "Southern California." In 2005, the TV versions of the show were criticized for obscuring the studio's location by using the "Southern California" terminology and footage of the downtown Los Angeles skyline despite originating almost 40 miles away in the Costa Mesa area.
The radio show was formerly heard on more than 200 stations across the United States and Canada and had an audience of approximately 2.5 million.[8] In 1998, Rome released an album entitledWelcome to the Jungle, which featured memorablesound bites and music from the show.
In early 2003, Rome was interviewing friendMark Shapiro, executive producer of programming and production at ESPN, on his radio program. Unexpectedly, the two began to discuss a possible return of Rome to ESPN, and within a few months, Rome was officially rehired to hostRome Is Burning. Rome openly attributes that interview as the impetus to his return to television.
Rome gained notoriety in 1994 for an incident on hisESPN2 television show,Talk2, when his guest wasNFLquarterbackJim Everett. Rome had often referred to Everett on radio as "Chris" (afterChris Evert, the female tennis player), suggesting that Everett was less than a man whenever he shied away from getting hit. Everett appeared as a guest on the television show, where he warned Rome about repeating the insult. Rome continued to address Everett as "Chris" and Everett overturned the table between them and shoved Rome to the floor while still on the air. Their confrontation resulted in no legal action, although Rome publicly apologized to Everett. Rome considers that event one of his early career mistakes.[11]
In 1997, hockey legendGordie Howe announced an attempt to play a shift with theInternational Hockey League'sDetroit Vipers, which would allow Howe to claim having played professional hockey in six decades. Rome challenged the 69-year-old ex-hockey star, offering a bounty of $3,000 to any player on the team playing against the Vipers to take Howe out of the game permanently by saying, "Putting this old fool back to reality." Rome clarified that the statements were a joke.[12]
In 2012, Rome was involved in a controversy with NBA CommissionerDavid Stern. During an interview, Rome asked Stern about the conspiracy theories that the NBA Draft Lottery was fixed in favor of theNew Orleans Hornets, and he asked, "Was the fix in for the lottery?" Stern replied with two answers: "Number one, no; and a statement, shame on you for asking." He then proceeded to ask Rome theloaded question example of "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?" and accused Rome of "making a career out of cheap thrills". This led to a heated exchange between Rome and Stern, ending when Stern said he had "to go call someone important likeStephen A. Smith."[13]
On January 1, 2015, Rome sent out a tweet that stated, "Is there anyone not in a marching band who thinks those dorks running around with their instruments are cool?" After a backlash, he later deleted the tweet and issued an apology. The incident also inspired the hashtag "#MarchOnRome".[14]
Rome made cameo appearances in the moviesSpace Jam,Two for the Money, and the 2005 remake ofThe Longest Yard. He appeared inBlink-182's music video "What's My Age Again?"[15] and appeared on theHBO sitcomArliss. Rome was parodied in theSouth Park episode "Sarcastaball", and the Jim Everett altercation was spoofed in the episode "The F Word".
On May 3, 2004, Rome hosted the memorial service forPat Tillman.[16] On January 28, 2006, Rome was elected to theSouthern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[17]
TheOliver Stone filmAny Given Sunday featuresJohn C. McGinley playing the brash sportscaster "Jack Rose," a character based on Jim Rome.[18]
After poking fun at horse racing for some years, saying "it's not a sport, it's a bet," Rome seemed to take more interest in horse racing after interviewing Hall of Fame jockeyKent Desormeaux many times on his radio talk show. Rome thereafter took up a stronger interest in buyingThoroughbreds. He first became a part owner inWing Forward, who, in his North American debut, made a dramatic last-to-first comeback to win the race. Rome mentioned it as "one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had." In 2008, Jim and his wife Janet purchased a stake in a two-year-old colt, giving them a potential shot at theTriple Crown stakes races in 2009. Listeners suggested names for the horse, who was eventually namedGallatin's Run.[19]
By 2012, Rome owned part or all of 14 horses in connection with multiple partnerships including his own stable, Jungle Racing, LLC.[20] The first to gain national attention was the winner of the 2012 and 2013Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, afilly namedMizdirection. He described his feelings upon winning the Breeder's Cup race, saying, “I’ve just had a moment I’ve never experienced in my life. That was absolutely awesome.” He purchased an interest in her for $50,000 in 2010. He co-owned themare with Bill Strauss, Danny Gohs, Borris Beljak, and Kevin Nish.[21] As of September 2013[update] Mizdirection won 11 of 17 starts and retired from racing with $1,719,621 in earnings. She was usually ridden by jockeyMike Smith.[22] Two days after her 2014 Breeders' Cup win, Mizdirection was purchased for $2.7 million at theFasig-Tipton sale by Al Shaqab Racing of Qatar, owned by SheikhJoaan Al Thani, and retired to become abroodmare.[23]
Rome's next significant race horse wasShared Belief, agelding byCandy Ride, named theEclipse Award winner in the two-year-old male division for 2013.[24] As a three-year-old, he continued winning, and closed out the 2014 year with a record of eight wins in nine races (Five of six races in 2014 alone) and over $2 million in earnings, again with Mike Smith as his regular rider.[25] As a four-year-old, the horse defeated2014 Kentucky Derby winner and horse of the yearCalifornia Chrome in both horses' first race of the season, then Shared Belief went on to a decisive win in theSanta Anita Handicap.[25]
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