Tim Montemayor

Tim "Monty" Montemayor (February 19, 1971, Chicago, Illinois) is an American born sports talk radio host currently distributed nationally by Sporting News Radio. "The Tim Montemayor Show" also known as "The Monty Show" is broadcast live in Los Angeles between 1PM - 4PM PT / 4PM-7PM ET.

Montemayor is a graduate of Round Lake High School in Round Lake, Illinois, he attended the College of Lake County (JC) in Grayslake IL.

The Beginning

Monty often talks about his love of radio, saying he has always wanted to be on the radio. Monty sites Chicago radio legends Larry Lujack and Kevin Matthews as the main voices of inspiration in his youth. Monty has also said his earliest memories of radio come from long days in traffic as a child with his family driving home from his parents business in downtown Chicago to the family home in the North suburban Chicago when his Mother Laura would put the Lujack show on the radio so the family could listen to "Animal Stories".

Montemayor got his start in Chicago in the early 90's work at various stations around Chicago, mostly as a Producer. It was not until Monty moved to Los Angeles in 1997 that he got his true start working at 570 KLAC as a Producer and Phone Screener on the Los Angeles Lakers radio network. It was at this time that Monty met his first and only co-host, Chad Hagobian, "The Esh Man", the pair briefly hosted late nights on KLAC. After spending several years at KLAC Monty admits he had worn out his welcome at the station and moved on to what he describes as the biggest break of his career in 2000, when Sports Talk Icon Jim Rome hired Monty to be a booking producer on his FOX Sports Net program, "The Last Word with Jim Rome". Monty has often said he learned more from the way Rome conducted himself off the air than anything he ever did on the air. Montemayor also credits the producer of "The Last Work" John Entz with changing his perspective during a conversation on the streets of Minneapolis atthe 2001 Final Four Championships of College Basketball, a conversation that led Monty to get back into radio at 1540 KMPC Los Angeles, where he briefly worked as a Producer for the "Golic & Myers Show", before moving back to his home town of Chicago in May of 2002.

After a brief stint producing Jiggetts and Buffone at Sports Radio 670 "The Score" in Chicago, something Monty has called "Vital" because of his interaction with legendary host Mike North and Buffone, as well as Operations Manager Drew Hayes, all of whom saw Monty through a very difficult time where he says he and his then wife Britt were surviving on Top Ramem and Eggs. In September of 2002 Monty went to work at Sporting News Radio in Northbrook Illinois producing the Peter Brown show with Scott Wetzel. Monty has said that Brown was the most difficult person he has ever worked for but also the most talented, and has stated that Brown & Wetzel showed him how not to treat people.

acramento

After a particularly difficult stretch at Sporting News, Monty hired Candice Porten to represent him for radio work. One of her first, and only success with Monty (She was later terminated after a conflict of interest was brought to light) was to get him a guest spot on Sports 1140 KHTK in Sacramento on "The Grant Napier Show", where he used the contacts he had made in the NBA to break the news that the Kings were on the verge of trading Hedo Turkoglu. Napier, the lead PBP voice of the Kings, was angered by this and proceeded to attack Monty on the air before hanging up on him, ending the interview by calling Monty a "hack". Shortly after the interview the Kings traded Turkoglu.

In August 2003 after several more guest spots as well as a fill in appearance on the Napier show, Monty was hired by KTHK PD Mike Remy to host the "Raiders Game Day" program, as well as the "Insiders", a basketball round table. It did not take long for Monty to make a mark, during his third visit to the Oakland Raiders facility, Monty and Raider QB Rich Gannon had a run in when Monty asked Gannon if he thought he was going to lose his job, Gannon exploded on Monty, the tirade was broadcast on all the evening highlight shows and the local news. Nothing came of the incident, and after taking a week away from the team, Monty finished the season hosting the show. The rating were slightly better than the previous year.

Monty was also hosting "The Insiders" with producer Mark Demsky and Sacramento Bee columnist Scott Howard Cooper. On the show, Monty was the loudest voice and clearly cast as the anti-King voice. This quickly drew the ire of Napier and several of the Kings players as a result of his style and his brutally honest criticism of the ball club. That fall Kings star Chris Webber wrote a note to Monty on a basketball warning Monty to "watch your back", the ball was signed "Kings Players". While Napier and the players were not pleased with Monty, the listeners were, the Insiders, with Monty as a host, saw the highest ratings it had ever had.

Things continued to roll ahead for Monty, the following football season Monty was made the solo host of "Raiders Game Day" program, Demsky was taken off the show, Monty was joined by John "Slim" Dickinson on the show, Slim provided NFL Updates and breaking news on the show, and was credited as Executive Producer. Under the guidance of Dickinson, and with Monty as the solo host, the show saw a large gain in ratings. The pair was rewarded shortly after the season ended with their own show.

"Monty Til Midnight" was launched on KHTK on April 4th, 2005. Monty was the solo host, Dickinson was once again the update anchor and Executive Producer. The show aired from 9P-Midnight or following Sacramento Kings basketball. The show was an immediate success, garnering the top spot in the rating for it's first two ratings periods.

St. Louis

Monty turned his Sacramento success into a new gig in St. Louis at "The Big 550" KTRS. It was the best and worst choice Monty made as KTRS was a mess from the first day. Monty was hired with roughly 20 other hosts, while the entire existing staff, with the exception of the five afternoon show employees, were fired the week of Christmas 2005. Most of the new staff washed out within five months. Monty was one of only three hosts to make it to the one year anniversary of the Christmas massacre, and before he was let go in February 2007, Monty was the only one of the new hires left.

However, in November 2006 Monty began filling in at Sporting News Radio. While he did not have a regular shift, Monty was a regular voice on SNR from November 2006 to March 2007 when he was given his own weekend show, Saturday overnights. Once he was fired from KTRS, Monty was almost immediately promoted at SNR. Monty had his airtime more than doubled during a reshuffling of the weekend line up at SNR. Monty was given full weekend overnights, Friday 2A-7A ET and 1A-7A on Saturday. The show was live for 10 hours every weekend, while one hour on Saturday night was "re-racked". The show was marked by large growth, according to SNR sources Monty began the show with little phone call volume even though it aired on over 100 stations nation wide, as well as XM and Sirius Satellite radio. Monty quickly began building the show around the larger markets the show aired in, including his former employer WSCR Chicago, WXYT Detroit and The Ticket in Dallas. On the show Monty did not hide his love for the Chicago Cubs, often playing the "Go Cubs Go" song and singing along to the chorus. Most caller would add a "Go Cubs" to their thoughts.

The Monty Show

In April 2008, building on his success on weekends, Monty was rewarded with "The Tim Montemayor Show", a regular day part, Monday through Friday 1P-4P PT / 4P-7P ET. The show is not heard in most parts of the country. "The Monty Show" is a mix of edgy opinions, interviews and banter with callers. Some of the highlights during early stages of the show include a two day guest appearance by former NFL QB and ESPN cast off Sean Salisbury, the two were wildly entertaining and a great match of wits. The two days were followed with a phone interview with Salisbury where the two continued their lively exchanges. By far the most compelling guests to date has been UCLA Freshman basketball player Kevin Love who admitted he probably should stay at UCLA instead of entering the NBA draft early, and that he did not have a working cell phone, not even for "my girl", and former MTV host Riki Rachtman who said "you are supposed to date porn stars not fall in love with them".

The show is produced by David Tambrovic with a mix of players in the "Sporting News Flash" chair, including newbies Dave Denicke and Larry Brown (www.larrybrownsports.com). Monty has continued his love affair with Cubs baseball, the Detroit Pistons and his so called first love "The Silver & Black" of the Oakland Raiders. Monty also talks often about his love of America, including the US Auto Industry. Monty often refers to UAW members as "The finest auto workers on the planet" and is a strong believer in buying American cars. He is also a staunch opponent of Toyota in NASCAR and sparred with MWR's and TRD driver David Reutimann over the issue.

Currently Monty is represented by Jason Insalaco of the Kelton Agency in Beverly Hills California.

Personal life

Monty almost never talks about his personal life on the air. The only consistent reference he makes to his personal life relates to his only child Jacob Tyler, "JT" or "Deuce" (December 18, 1993). Monty has openly talked about the pain he feels about his separation from "JT", who lives in Chicago. He has said the greatest joy and the greatest pain in his life "is my boy".

Monty is Christian and ends each of his shows with a verse of sorts, a reference to John: 14:6: "My name is Monty, and I remind you the Truth, the life and the way will set you free....See ya.". He has engaged in great debate about his faith with callers. He also states that he is a "Christian, Conservative, Republican".

Monty has 4 older siblings, Mike, Merrillee, Sharon, and Katie. His Parents, Rick and Laura, reside in Glendora, California, Laura is a TV host, Rick is a CFO for a privately held company. It is speculated that there is considerable strife in the family, but Monty does not speak publicly about this subject, only saying that he speaks with his brother Mike, who is a Police Sargent in suburban Chicago, Monty often mentions his brother is "on the job" and thanks law enforcement and military personnel often.