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ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American
sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...
radio network and extension of the
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". The network is based out of the ESPN campus in
Bristol, Connecticut Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, southwest-west of Hartford. The city is also 120 miles southwest from Boston, and approximately 100 miles northeast of New York City. As of the 2020 census, th ...
, with multiple studio facilities nationwide, along with home studios. The network airs a regular schedule of daily and weekly programming as well as live radio play-by-play of sporting events. ESPN Radio is broadcast to hundreds of affiliate stations, along with national and Canadian carriage on Sirius XM. The network's content is also available online through its affiliates via
Audacy Audacy, previously known as Radio.com, is a free broadcast and Internet radio platform owned by the namesake company Audacy, Inc. (formerly known as Entercom). The Audacy platform functions as a music recommender system and is the national um ...
, iHeartRadio and TuneIn, and the network also makes its programming available via
podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...
feeds and providers, with some additional content audio and video available through an ESPN+ subscription. Several of its programs are also featured as fully live or "best-of" video
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...
s on the ESPN family of television networks.


History

ESPN Radio Network was formed in September 1991 by both ESPN Inc. and
Capital Cities/ABC Capital Cities/ABC Inc. was an American media company. It was founded in 1985 when Capital Cities Communications purchased the much larger American Broadcasting Company. It eventually proposed a merger of equals with The Walt Disney Company and ...
, Inc.'s
ABC Radio Networks ABC Radio may refer to: Australia * History of ABC Radio (Australia), the division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) responsible for: ** ABC Classic, a classical music radio station ** ABC Classic 2, an un-presented streaming-only c ...
. 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. The network launched as Sports Radio ESPN on January 1, 1992. At first, ESPN Radio broadcast only on weekends. 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. By 1996, ESPN Radio had expanded to weekdays with a show hosted by The Fabulous Sports Babe, Nancy Donnellan. One hour of that show was simulcast on
ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...
(1-2 p.m.
Eastern time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...
). Two years later,
Tony Bruno Anthony Joseph Bruno (born June 13, 1952) is an American sports talk radio host. He has worked for national American sports broadcasters including ESPN Radio, Fox Sports Radio, Premiere, and Sporting News Radio. Early life His father served in ...
and
Mike Golic Michael Louis Golic Sr. (; born December 12, 1962) is a former National Football League (NFL) defensive lineman and television host. Golic is well known for his 25-year association with ESPN, most notably co-hosting ESPN Radio's '' Mike & Mike'' ...
were brought together for a new morning show, the ''Bruno & Golic Morning Show'' which aired until Bruno left the network in 2000.
Mike Greenberg Michael Robinette Greenberg (born August 6, 1967) is a television anchor, television show host, radio show host for ESPN and ABC, and novelist. At ESPN, he hosted the weekday evening, most often Monday, ''SportsCenter'' and previously ESPN Radi ...
was named as Bruno's replacement, and the morning show became ''Mike & Mike'', which aired until 2017 (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. On June 12, 2007, Disney spun off and merged its
ABC Radio Networks ABC Radio may refer to: Australia * History of ABC Radio (Australia), the division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) responsible for: ** ABC Classic, a classical music radio station ** ABC Classic 2, an un-presented streaming-only c ...
with
Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Only iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media ...
into Citadel Communications while retaining its ESPN Radio and Radio Disney networks and stations. Currently ESPN Radio is streamed over 215 stations and is ranked first nationally as a sports broadcasting program.The company ESPN is putting a lot of focus on radio specifically lately. With more resources and money spent on it, ESPN radio is expanding rapidly.


Current programming


Game broadcasts


Current rights

*'' NBA on ESPN Radio'' (1996–present) *'' College Football on ESPN Radio'', including the Bowl Championship Series, then the current College Football Playoff (2000–present) *''
Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio ''Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio'' is the brand name for exclusive play-by-play broadcast presentation of Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio. The coverage has most recently been presented by Indeed, along with AutoZone for the postseason; ...
'' (1998–present) *'' Caribbean Series'' (2015–present)


Past rights

*'' ESPN FC Presents: EFL Championship on ESPN Radio'' (2016–present) *'' ESPN FC Presents:
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...
, on ESPN Radio'' (2016–present) *'' ESPN FC Presents: UEFA Euro on ESPN Radio'' (
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
,
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
,
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
, along with Champions League, Europa Leage and Super Cup) *''
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
on ESPN Radio'' (2010, 2014) *'' FIFA Women's World Cup on ESPN Radio'' (2011) *'' MLS Soccer Sunday on ESPN Radio'' (2015–2022) *''
MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...
on ESPN Radio'' (2007-2014) *'' NIT on ESPN Radio'' (2002–2011) *''
The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later t ...
on ESPN Radio'' (2010–2015) *'' U.S. Open on ESPN Radio'' (2010–2014) *''Live @ Wimbledon on ESPN Radio'' (2012–2013) *''
World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Lea ...
'' (2013, 2017)


Daily segments

*'' ESPN Radio SportsCenter'' * SportsBeat *
Extra Point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...


ESPN Radio stations

Prior to 2022, ESPN Radio had four company-owned and/or operated stations in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
,
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
,
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, and
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, as well as in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
prior to 2010, with the Chicago station managed by
Good Karma Brands Good Karma Brands, LLC (GKB, formerly Good Karma Broadcasting) is an American conglomerate. Based in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, it has interests in radio broadcasting, sports marketing, retail, and real estate. GKB was founded in 1997 by Craig Karma ...
, which owns and operates a number of other ESPN Radio stations in Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. The Dallas station was operated by
Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 8 ...
until October 2020, when ESPN took back operational control. Before the conversion of the sites to general blog presences requiring an ESPN+ subscription to access, each station was partnered with an ESPN local website named for the city and featuring a completely separate staff of sportswriters and reporters for each market who gave their local viewpoints of local sports (for example, espnnewyork.com for New York); some stations remain hosted on ESPN.com, including audio and FCC disclosures. Most other markets have ESPN Radio affiliates, whether they be part-time or have their entire format dedicated to ESPN Radio. WEPN converted back to ESPN Radio after the demise of ESPN Deportes Radio in 2019, while KRDC is currently in the process of being sold by Disney after the wind-down of the Radio Disney network, carrying a KSPN simulcast and overflow programming during the sale process. All the other owned or operated stations are also in the sale process; WEPN, KSPN, WMVP, and WEPN-FM's local marketing agreement are being sold to
Good Karma Brands Good Karma Brands, LLC (GKB, formerly Good Karma Broadcasting) is an American conglomerate. Based in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, it has interests in radio broadcasting, sports marketing, retail, and real estate. GKB was founded in 1997 by Craig Karma ...
, while KESN is being sold to the religious
VCY America VCY America, is a traditional, evangelical, conservative Christian ministry based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The VCY America Radio Network maintains a format of Christian talk and teaching, as well as traditional Christian music through its broadca ...
network. The sales to Good Karma Brands and VCY America closed in 2022, with all of the Good Karma stations remaining a part of ESPN Radio. , KRDC is currently the only broadcast radio asset owned by Disney.


Former owned and/or operated stations

*''Note ¹:
WEPN-FM WEPN-FM (98.7 MHz) branded as ''ESPN New York'', is an all-sports radio station licensed to New York City. The station is owned by Emmis Communications and its operations are controlled by Good Karma Brands, under a local marketing agreeme ...
98.7 is currently owned by
Emmis Communications Emmis Communications is an American media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Emmis, based on the Hebrew word for Truth (Emet) was founded by Jeff Smulyan in 1980. Emmis has owned many radio stations, including KPWR and WQHT, which h ...
, but was operated by ESPN under a local marketing agreement.'' *''Note ²:
WMVP WMVP (1000 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, carrying a sports format. Owned by Good Karma Brands, the station serves the Chicago metro area as the market affiliate of ESPN Radio, the flagship station of the Chica ...
was operated and managed by
Good Karma Brands Good Karma Brands, LLC (GKB, formerly Good Karma Broadcasting) is an American conglomerate. Based in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, it has interests in radio broadcasting, sports marketing, retail, and real estate. GKB was founded in 1997 by Craig Karma ...
under a local marketing agreement.'' *''Note ³: WEAE was shifted to Radio Disney in 2010 and sold in 2015.''


Affiliated


See also

* CBS Sports Radio * Fox Sports Radio *
NBC Sports Radio NBC Sports Radio was a sports radio network that debuted on September 4, 2012. The network content was produced by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and distributed by Westwood One, which is the corporate successor to the remains of ...
*
Sports Byline USA Sports Byline USA is an international sports radio network based in the United States. ''Sports Byline USA'' is also the name of the flagship program on the network. It was the first national sports talk show and was launched on October 24, 1988. ...
*
TSN Radio TSN Radio is a semi-national sports radio brand and part-time network in Canada carried on AM radio stations owned by Bell Media.SportsMap SportsMap is a sports radio network that is distributed by Gow Media. The SportsMap Radio Network supplies its network affiliates with a 24-hour schedule of sports programming, including call-in shows and sports updates. Over its history, through ...


References


External links


ESPN RadioSiriusXM , ESPN Radio
{{Navboxes, list1= {{ESPN {{ESPN Radio stations {{Disney {{American broadcast radio {{Sports networks in the United States {{Sirius XM Channels
Radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
Sports radio networks in the United States Radio stations established in 1992 American radio networks ABC Radio Networks Franchised radio formats College football on the radio Sirius XM Radio channels