Jonathan Zaslow on joining ‘The Dan Le Batard Show’: ‘I’m not trying to do a Stugotz impression’

Credit: The Dan Le Batard Show

Jonathan Zaslow has become full-time personality on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz since Stugotz’s departure, but that doesn’t mean he was tasked with being Stugotz’s replacement.

Zaslow joined the latest episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast to discuss his career as a longtime Miami sports media personality. He’s been one of the leading voices on the Miami Heat, he was there for the entirety of 790 The Ticket, he also hosts nationally on ESPN Radio. In recent years, however, Zaslow has built a digital following with Zaslow Show 2.0, and now as a full-time host on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, a show he was loosely associated with earlier in his career as a colleague of theirs at 790 The Ticket.

But as Zaslow admitted, nothing in his career compares with the reach of joining Le Batard’s show full-time. And while his addition coincided with Stugotz’s departure to Fox Sports Radio, Zaslow doesn’t consider himself Stugotz’s replacement.

“I’m not Stugotz’s replacement, I’m part of the cast,” Zaslow said. “They’ve opened up the cast and I’m a cast member. But no, not Stugotz’s replacement.”

Asked whether he believes the audience views him as Stugotz’s replacement, Zaslow said “yes” without hesitation, adding that he’s accepted the inherent comparisons.

“They could compare me to him,” Zaslow said of the audience. “But I think they know I’m not trying to do a Stugotz impression. So it’s okay.”

Even with those comparisons to someone as vital to the show as Stugotz once was, Zaslow has quickly ingratiated himself to the audience and been embraced by Le Batard fans. And he’s doing it just by being himself on-air, Zaslow is not playing a character.

“I think they probably like my energy. I come off generally happy,” Zaslow said of Le Batard’s audience accepting him so quickly. “They see that I’m a pretty happy and positive person. I like being here, and I love sports. I’m pretty well-rounded, especially because of ESPN Radio…I think the audience appreciates that I can talk intelligently about everything going on.”