Radio host Nick Wright leaving Houston for job with Fox Sports – Chron.com

Nick Wright, the popular and, on occasion, polarizing morning drive time talk show host for sports talk station KILT (610 AM), said Monday he will leave the CBS Radio outlet next month to join Fox Sports in Los Angeles.

Wright, who has hosted KILT’s morning show with John Lopez since 2012, said he will have a regular role on a Fox Sports 1 weekday show, the details of which have yet to be announced by the network, to be hosted by “one of the network’s most recognizable personalities.”

His final show on KILT will be Friday, April 8.

“As much as I enjoyed my time in Houston, I told the people at CBS four years ago that if I left Houston the only place I would go was Los Angeles for some kind of national opportunity, and that is what I have,” Wright said.

He told listeners on Monday, “This has been the best four years of my life and the most important four years of my life for me and my family, and I will be forever indebted to the people at this radio station … and the listeners who embraced me.”

Fox had no immediate comment on Wright’s hiring, but his opinionated style fits with the desire of Jamie Horowitz, the president of Fox Sports National Networks and a former ESPN executive, to bring “opinionists” for FS1 and FS2 to compete against ESPN’s established shows.

RELATED: UH coach Tom Herman blasts 610’s Nick Wright, John Lopez 

Ryan McCredden, KILT’s program director, said he has received more than a hundred applications for the morning drive time opening and said he hopes to have a replacement for Wright on board as soon as possible.

“It’s a great opportunity for (Wright), and I know the national platform was a goal for him,” McCredden said. “I could not be prouder and happier that were able to help him achieve that goal.”

Wright, 31, a 2007 graduate of Syracuse University, came to Houston from KCSP in Kansas City to replace longtime Texans play by play voice Marc Vandermeer alongside Lopez.

Particularly in comparison to his predecessor, Wright drew attention for his willingness to discuss social issues, including matters of race, both within and outside the context of sports.

His Twitter bio, as an example, reads, “no justice, no peace is more than just a catchy slogan on a t shirt.”

Wright, however, said most listeners accepted his viewpoints, adding, “I’m a Yankee, I’m liberal, I am a lot of things that sports radio and radio in Houston very often is not, and a lot of you were able to look past that. I truly, deeply appreciate it.”

Oddly enough, Wright said he regrets not being more strident regarding his beliefs.

“Early on, I revealed who I was politically on a non-sports plane, and then I was afraid and kind of almost intimidated out of standing by that as I should have,” he said. “I alienated some people early on by making it clear where my politics were and didn’t reap the benefits by standing by them.”

That willingness to venture into such areas, however, drew attention to Wright, who hosted a weekend show on the CBS Sports Radio Network and has made several appearances on a Fox Sports 1 panel discussion show, and led the way to his move to Los Angeles.

“What I have found in my career is that I see the world in a very different way than the average sports fan, and so things that are clear to me, some people think they’re shocking and ridiculous and that I’m playing with them,” he said. “But I see things differently.”

“I don’t see race as political, but many people do. People know I have a wife and three children, and I’m the only one who could check the white box (on a census form). It’s a part of my life and part of the sports world, and I think it is important to talk about it.”

After struggling in the monthly Nielsen Audio ratings for several months against sports talk rival KBME (790 AM), the “In the Loop” show hosted by Wright and Lopez with producer Jim Mudd and sports director Robert Henslee has regained the lead in morning drive against Houston’s four all-sports stations.

While he looks forward to the new job, Wright said he will miss working at KILT, noting in particular his morning show colleagues and fellow Syracuse alumnus Mike Meltser, who hosts for the station at middays.

“John Lopez is the greatest person I have ever met.” He said. “I have learned so much about what it takes to be a parent and a husband and a man from him, and I could not have created a better partner in a lab.

“I never once had anybody say don’t talk about this or that. We were able to put together a successful straightforward sports show my first year and a half and then with Robert and Jim do more of a lighter, funnier show.”

Wright attracted notice on occasion for testy on-air exchanges, including one with University of Houston football coach Tom Herman regarding a story reported by his co-anchor Lopez. He said he also had some anxious moments when he was questioned by authorities on how he obtained a police report in the Adrian Peterson child abuse case in Montgomery County and thanked station officials for helping him resolve that situation.

As he prepares to wrap up his time in Houston, Wright said he never set out to incite some of the hard feelings that he said listeners have expressed to him via calls or text messages when he took more outspoken stances on social issues.

“One thing I know about myself is that I am often wrong, but I never think I’m wrong,” he said. “Over the course of a month, some of the opinions I have will be bad ones that will be proven in the long run. But in the moment, I feel that if you don’t agree with me that it must be because you don’t understand what I am saying.

“I know that can be cutting for people because it sounds like I’m talking down to them. I know that I might be wrong, but in the moment, it’s impossible for me to see where I might be wrong.”