ESPN Radio

ESPN Radio
Type Sports radio network
Country US
First air date
 January 1, 1992
Availability national
Founded 1991
Headquarters Bristol, Connecticut
Broadcast area
 National, through regional affiliates and satellite radio
Owner ESPN Inc.
(Disney 80%/Hearst 20%)
Callsigns ESPN
Webcast SiriusXM
Official website
 ESPN Radio

ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. The network airs a regular schedule of daily and weekly programming as well as live coverage of sports events including Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, National Basketball Association, Army Black Knights football, College Football Playoff, Championship Week, and UEFA Champions League games.

ESPN Radio is broadcast to hundreds of affiliate stations as well as to subscribers of Sirius XM Radio in the United States and Canada. The network's content is also streamed online and via mobile applications and other media devices via TuneIn, and several affiliates and owned stations are also available through the service.[1] In 2014, ESPN partnered with TuneIn to create 24/7 streams of its most popular programming including Mike & Mike and SVP & Russillo.[2] Select iHeartMedia-owned ESPN Radio affiliates are available through iHeartRadio.

ESPN Radio currently has four company-owned stations in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas, and operates an additional New York City station under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with its owner. Each station (including the second New York City station) is partnered with an ESPN local website named for the city and featuring a completely separate staff of sportswriters and reporters for each market who give their local viewpoints of local sports (for example, espnnewyork.com for New York). Most other markets have ESPN Radio affiliates, whether they be part-time or have their entire format dedicated to ESPN Radio. The Walt Disney Company did not include the ESPN Radio network or the Radio Disney network in the 2007 sale of ABC Radio to Citadel Broadcasting.[3]

History

Logo (1992–2008)

ESPN Radio Network was formed in September 1991 by both ESPN Inc. and Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.'s ABC Radio Networks. Twenty-five stations had already signed on as affiliates as of its announcement on September 5, 1991, with an expected total of 200 at the January launch. Shelby Whitfield, executive producer of ABC Radio Sports, and John A. Walsh, executive editor of ESPN, were placed in charge of the venture.[4] The network launched as Sports Radio ESPN on January 1, 1992.[5] At first, ESPN Radio broadcast only on weekends.[6] The network debut with 16 hours running on 147 affiliates in 43 states. Its initial programming consisted of news shows, update segments, and occasional features.[7]

By 1996, ESPN Radio had expanded to weekdays[6] with a show hosted by The Fabulous Sports Babe, Nancy Donnellan. One hour of that show was simulcast on ESPN2 (1-2 p.m. Eastern time). Two years later, Tony Bruno and Mike Golic were brought together for a new morning show, the Bruno & Golic Morning Show which aired until Bruno left the network in 2000. Mike Greenberg was named as Bruno's replacement, and the morning show became Mike & Mike, which aired until 2017[8] (and was also simulcast on ESPN2). In January, 2010, Mike & Mike celebrated their 10-year anniversary on ESPN Radio. Dan Patrick was a mainstay in the afternoons until his departure from ESPN in 2007.

Gradually, ESPN added more dayparts and became a 24-hour service. In 1995, ESPN Radio gained national radio rights to the NBA. In 1997, it gained the national radio rights to MLB. Disney purchased WEVD from the Forward Association in September 2002 to become WEPN, ESPN Radio's flagship station.[9] Disney spun off and merged on June 12, 2007, its ABC Radio Networks with Citadel Broadcasting into Citadel Communications while retaining its ESPN Radio and Radio Disney networks and stations.[10][11]

Current programming

Weekday programming[12]

Program Host(s) Original Run
SportsCenter AllNight Jay Reynolds (2011–present)
First And Last With Golic, Jr. Mike Golic, Jr. (2017–present)
Golic and Wingo Mike Golic, Sr., Mike Golic, Jr. and Trey Wingo (2017–present)
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz Dan Le Batard and Jon "Stugotz" Weiner (2013–present)
The Stephen A. Smith Show Stephen A. Smith (2018–present)
The Will Cain Show Will Cain (2018–present)
Spain and Fitz Sarah Spain and Jason Fitz (2018–present)
Freddie and Fitzsimmons Freddie Coleman and Ian Fitzsimmons (2016–present)
NBA on ESPN Radio (Thursday night games only) Kevin Calabro and Jon Barry (1996–present)
NBA on ESPN Radio (Doubleheader night games only) Marc Kestecher and PJ Carlesimo (1996–present)
ESPN FC Presents: The UEFA Champions League on ESPN Radio (Tuesday games only) Glenn Davis and Julie Foudy (2015–present)
ESPN FC Presents: The UEFA Champions League on ESPN Radio (Wednesday games only) JP Dellacamera and Steve McManaman (2015–present)

Saturday programming

Program Host(s) Original Run
The Sporting Life Jeremy Schaap
SportsCenter AllNight Jay Reynolds (2011–present)
Dari and Mel Dari Nowkhah and Mel Kiper Jr. (2009–present)
College Gameday Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, and David Pollack (1987–present)
ESPN Radio College GameDay Doug Kezirian, Brad Edwards, and Trevor Matich (2006–present)
espnW Presents: The Trifecta with Spain, Jane, and Kate Sarah Spain, Jane McManus, and Kate Fagan (2016–present)
Marty and McGee Marty Smith and Ryan McGee (2015–present)
College Football on ESPN Radio Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, and Ian Fitzsimmons (2007–present)
Rothenberg & Elhassan Dave Rothenberg and Amin Elhassan (2013–present)
Dickerson and Hood Jeff Dickerson and Jonathan Hood (2015–present)

MLB on ESPN Radio often airs on Saturday afternoon with varied times week to week, those times are usually in-tune with the FOX Saturday Baseball Telecast which airs its games at 4 or 7 p.m. ET, with the start time being one hour prior to first pitch.

Sunday programming

Program Host(s) Original Run
SportsCenter AllNight Jay Reynolds (2011–present)
Dari and Mel Dari Nowkhah and Mel Kiper Jr. (2009–present)
Weekend Observations with Stu and Jr. Jon "Stugotz" Weiner and Mike Golic, Jr. (2016–present)
Morning Roast Domonique Foxworth, Mina Kimes, and Clinton Yates (2016–present)
Operation Football (2016–present)
Locker Room (2016–present)
Football Sunday on ESPN Radio Adam Amin and Bill Polian (1993–present)
Football Sunday on ESPN Radio (Sunday doubleheader games only) Bill Rosinski and Shaun O'Hara (1993–present)
NBA on ESPN Radio (Sunday afternoon games only) Kevin Calabro and Jon Barry (1996–present)
NBA on ESPN Radio (Sunday afternoon doubleheader games only) Marc Kestecher and PJ Carlesimo (1996–present)

Seasonal shows

Game broadcasts

In 2013, ESPN Radio also broadcast their first non-sporting event, a radio simulcast of the Miss America 2013 beauty pageant.

Daily segments

ESPN Radio Stations

Owned and operated

[14]

Market Station Frequency
New York WEPN-FM* 98.7 FM*
Los Angeles KSPN 710 AM
Chicago WMVP 1000 AM
Dallas KESN** 103.3 FM**

Affiliated

See also

References

  1. ↑ "ESPN Radio Programs Come to iTunes, TuneIn 06/12/2014". Mediapost.com. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  2. ↑ "TuneIn Radio". Tunein.com. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  3. ↑ "Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Nielsen Ratings, Music News and more!". FMQB. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  4. ↑ "ESPN, ABC Planning to Form Sports Radio Network in 1992". Lso Angeles Times. Associated Press. September 5, 1991. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  5. ↑ Zumoff, Marc; Negin, Max (June 20, 2014). Total Sportscasting: Performance, Production, and Career Development. CRC Press. ISBN 1317906764. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Coombs, Danielle Sarver; Batchelor, Bob (2013). American History Through American Sports: From Colonial Lacrosse to Extreme Sports, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 94. ISBN 0313379882. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  7. ↑ Battema, Douglas L.; O'Dell, Cary (2010). "Sports on Radio". In Sterling, Christopher H.; O'Dell, Cary. The Concise Encyclopedia of American Radio. Routledge. ISBN 1135176833. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  8. ↑ "ESPN Radio's 'Mike & Mike' signs off after 18 years". SI.com. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  9. ↑ Hoffmann, Frank; Dempsey, Jack M.; Manning, Martin J (December 6, 2012). Sports-Talk Radio in America: Its Context and Culture. Routledge. p. 56. ISBN 1136428917. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  10. ↑ Rosenthal, Phil (February 7, 2006). "Disney in deal to merge ABC Radio with Citadel". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Disney and Citadel Announce Completion of ABC Radio Merger" (Press release). The Walt Disney Company & Citadel Broadcasting Corporation. Business Wire. June 12, 2007. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  12. ↑ "ESPN Radio Schedule - ESPN". Espn.go.com. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  13. ↑ "Sirius XM and ESPN share Wimbledon rights - Sports Broadcast news - Tennis North America Europe". SportsPro Media. 2012-06-26. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  14. ↑ "ESPN Radio: Affiliate List - ESPN Radio - ESPN". Sports.espn.go.com. 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
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