News reporter career Finebaum became a columnist and reporter for the
Birmingham Post-Herald in 1980. Finebaum earned more than 250 national, regional, and area sports writing awards, including an award for his
Alabama basketball player
Buck Johnson recruitment stories. In 1993, he wrote the story of
Antonio Langham, a
University of Alabama football player who signed a contract with a
sports agent while playing for the school, which led to an
NCAA probation for the school. Finebaum joined the
Mobile Press Register in 2001, where he wrote a twice-weekly (later weekly) column that was syndicated to other newspapers. Finebaum discontinued the column in December 2010. On September 1, Finebaum returned to writing with his first column for
Sports Illustrated.
Radio career Finebaum started his radio appearances in the mid-1980s by giving morning commentary on the
Mark and Brian Radio Show on
WAPI-FM (I-95). He later started his own afternoon radio show on
WAPI-AM, which became the highest-rated sports talk show in Birmingham. In October 1993, Finebaum moved his
sport talk show to
WERC.
The Paul Finebaum Radio Network In 2001, Finebaum, along with Network Director Pat Smith and Producer Johnny Brock, launched
The Paul Finebaum Radio Network, syndicated with affiliates across the southeast. It was named in 2004 by
Sports Illustrated as one of the top 12 sports radio shows in the United States. In January 2007, his radio show moved to
WJOX. In 2010, the
Alabama Crimson Tide was defeated by their rivals the
Auburn Tigers in the
Iron Bowl. Alabama entered the game as the reigning national champions game with a 10-2 record and ranked 9 in the country, whereas Auburn entered undefeated ranked 2. Despite Auburn's better record, Alabama was largely favored to win the game. In response to this loss, a caller to the Paul Finebaum Show who called himself "Al from Dadeville" on air stated that he poisoned the famous trees at
Toomer's Corner on the campus of
Auburn University. "Al from Dadeville" was later identified as Harvey Updyke, a lifelong Alabama fan. Finebaum's show went off the air temporarily on WJOX on January 21, 2013, when his contract with Cumulus and WJOX expired.
The New Yorker reported he "had talks with ESPN and CBS, about joining their national radio networks, and with SiriusXM, about moving permanently to satellite." In May 2013, Finebaum signed with ESPN to appear on its new SEC Network beginning in 2014 and also host a daily radio show based out of Charlotte.
Television Finebaum appeared as a sports analyst for
WBRC in Birmingham. He was sports director for
WIAT-TV from 1998 to 2002 and co-hosted individual shows on
WVTM-TV and
WBMA. Finebaum also had a leading role in ESPN's documentary
Roll Tide/War Eagle. The producers used Finebaum and his program as the voice of the documentary, which debuted on November 8, 2011. As part of the deal Finebaum signed with ESPN in May 2013, he agreed to appear on its new
SEC Network starting in 2014, hosting
The Paul Finebaum Show in simulcast for ESPN Radio. ==Publications==