What to expect with Dolphins’ changes on TV and radio. And a Wade/Zach Thomas message

Dolphins radiocasts are moving down the dial, but it will be difficult to tell the difference between WQAM’s presentation in past years and iHeartMedia’s Dolphins coverage this season.

iHeart — which outbid WQAM for radio rights — is keeping announcers Jimmy Cefalo and Joe Rose; they will call Friday’s preseason opener against visiting Atlanta (7 p.m., CBS 4). Rose will be permitted to do both his morning talk show for WQAM and Dolphins games for iHeart.

And the pregame and postgame hosts will feature familiar names and voices.

Steve Goldstein and O.J. McDuffie will anchor the iHeart pregame show, and Seth Levit, McDuffie and Travis Wingfield will handle the postgame shows.

In this market, no sportscaster without an NFL playing background knows the game, and its nuances, better than Wingfield, who writes for the Dolphins website. McDuffie doesn’t sugercoat; he’s critical when needed. And Goldstein and Levit have a comfortable chemistry with the analysts.

Goldstein will handle most of the preseason pregame shows on radio, alongside McDuffie, before moving over to the TV booth to call the three preseason games live on CBS 4.

On radio, Dolphins games will air on iHeart stations BIG 105.9 FM (WBGG) and 940 AM (WINZ), but the games will air on FM (105.9) and 610 AM (WIOD) when there are Marlins conflicts. The Marlins say they will stay on WINZ 940 when there are Dolphins conflicts, including Friday night this week.

Meanwhile, there’s a major change in CBS 4 WFOR’s live preseason coverage: Kim Bokamper replaces Jason Taylor alongside Goldstein; Taylor gave up the gig to move from an on-field analyst job to a full-time assistant coaching role at UM.

Bokamper, who has handled sideline reporting for years on CBS 4’s preseason games, gets a well-deserved chance to work in the booth.

Working as an analyst in the booth “never entered my mind much,” Bokamper said this week. “I never dreamt about it. I appreciate the opportunity and the trust they have in me. I think of J.T., Nat Moore, Bob Griese and the people that have had the job before. I respect the job, and I hope I have the ability to live up to the opportunity they’re giving me.”

CBS 4 sportscaster Mike Cugno will replace Bokamper as sideline reporter on preseason games.

▪ WQAM 560, which lost Dolphins radio rights, will continue carrying a postgame show (curiously called “Gameday Uncensored”), featuring Brendan Tobin, Alejandro Solana and Omar Kelly.

▪ Bally Sports Florida and Bally Sports Sun announced their Dolphins ancillary programming for 2023.

Bally’s magazine show, “Dolphins Today” promises “more exclusive behind-the-scenes content” this year; it will air every other week in August and weekly in September at various times.

Bally Sports Florida will carry coach Mike McDaniel’s show at 11:30 a.m. Sundays.

And Bally also picked up episodes of the Fish Tank podcast, hosted by Levit and McDuffie. Times have not been set.

Bally will replay all Dolphins preseason games after they air live on CBS 4. Nationally, NFL Network will carry Dolphins-Falcons on replay at 4 a.m. Saturday.

The Aug. 19 Dolphins-at-Texans game will air live nationally at 4 p.m. on NFL Network and locally on CBS 4.

ZACH/DWYANE MEDIA COMMONALITY

As Dolphins legend Zach Thomas and Heat legend Dwyane Wade enter their respective sports’ Hall of Fames on consecutive weekends, this must be noted:

Besides their extraordinary contributions on the field, both men set a gold standard for interaction with the media, and by extension, their fans. They were far more giving with their time than many players who accomplished far less.

Wade was accessible to reporters nearly every day the Heat practiced, which is unusual for a star. If you needed to speak to him alone after he conducted a group interview, Wade accommodated. He was always thoughtful, answering every question posed to him, even those that seemed repetitive.

Even when Thomas seemed emotionally devastated after losses, he always made time for media. Reporters approaching his locker stall were met with patience and professionalism.

He would jokingly ask reporters to write negative pieces to motivate him, would ask the media relations staff to give him the articles and then good-naturedly joked with those who wrote them.

As Five Reasons’ Ethan Skolnick noted recently, “On the day he was unceremoniously cut by the [Bill] Parcells regime, he called a handful of reporters he knew for years. Not to complain. He wanted to make sure he said goodbye and we had ‘all we needed.’”

On the field, Wade and Thomas accomplished far more than anyone could have imagined.

Off the field, they comported themselves with kindness and decency and displayed a keen understanding of our jobs and a deep respect for people in those jobs.

And that humanity should be a part of their legacies as they’re celebrated on consecutive weekends.

FYI: NBA TV will carry the Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement speeches, including Wade’s, at 8 p.m. Saturday.

AROUND THE DIAL

▪ We’ll never agree with ESPN’s decision to dump Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, whose humor, chemistry and candid criticism — and Mike Breen’s excellence — made them as good as any lead announcing team in sports.

The Breen, Doris Burke, Doc Rivers team has a chance to be good, or potentially very good, depending on how Burke and Rivers interact, and Rivers’ willingness to criticize players and coaches.

My concern would be ESPN’s depth, which was weakened by the decision to dismiss Jackson instead of moving him to the No. 2 team.

Hubie Brown, still going strong at 89, has been invited back, and smart, thoughtful JJ Redick has considerable potential to grow into a No. 2 analyst role. Richard Jefferson, whose playful style seems better suited for the studio than games, also could get more opportunities working games.

ABC also is making a change in the studio; “NBA Today” host Malika Andrews will host the NBA Finals, replacing Mike Greenberg, who will focus on his TV and radio shows.

▪ Noah Eagle, Ian’s son, will call NBC’s prime time Big Ten football games with longtime ABC analyst Todd Blackledge, who moved over to NBC.

This week, ESPN promoted Greg McElroy to its No. 2 college football announcing team, with Sean McDonough. The Chris Fowler-Kirk Herbstreit lead team and the McDonough-McElroy No. 2 team will call the two national semifinal playoff games.

▪ With many viewers canceling cable and opting for streaming services instead, the penetration for national cable networks continues to plummet.

ESPN, which was in more than 100 million homes 12 years ago, is now at 71.3 million. July marked the first month that FS1 had a higher subscriber figure than ESPN, although narrowly. According to Nielsen, FS1 is in 71.375 million homes.

NFL Network is in 51 million (down from 72.5 a decade ago), MLB Network is in 41 million and NBATV is in 38 million homes.

▪ For cord-cutters without cable who want to watch the Marlins, Heat or Panthers — among other Bally programming — Bally Sports’ streaming service is now available for $14.99 a month, down from the original price of $19.99. Viewers get the $14.99 monthly price for 12 months if they sign up by the end of August...

Marlins viewership on Bally Sports Florida is up 19 percent over a year ago and July ratings were up 44 percent from last July.