The new show will debut beginning Monday, April 4th, 2011, and will air Monday through Friday evenings in the 10:00 pm to 12:00 midnight timeslot.

According to 101 ESPN Program Director Jason Barrett, “Over the past year we have completed numerous listener tests to gauge our audience's interest in hearing additional local programming at night, and the results have been extremely positive. The addition of "The Late Shift" with Cliff Saunders is a reflection of the audience's demand for additional local sports programming."

He continues, "Now when local sports fans are driving home at night after the game, they can turn to 101 ESPN and enjoy local sports conversation with Cliff Saunders on the FM dial. Barrett adds, “We'll be including more audience participation and dialogue with this new program, and we'll be featuring weekly appearances from the best baseball experts in town – former Cardinal Chris Duncan, 101 ESPN’s Baseball Insider Brian Stull, along with Joe Strauss and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch".

Saunders has already been an instrumental part of the 101 ESPN broadcast team since joining the radio station in 2009. He provides the hourly news updates daily during the afternoon shows, and Saunders has hosted the Rams post-game shows, alongside Jim Hanifan, for the last two NFL seasons. Cliff has also served as a fill-in host for the daily programs and provides regular opinions and analysis on the station’s website.

"I'm excited to be part of this venture into night time local programming for 101 ESPN, and I am looking forward to connecting on the air with St. Louis sports fans five nights per week", notes Saunders.