Bengals Radio Network
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Cincinnati Bengals Radio Network is an American
radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass media, mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio (Duplex (teleco ...
consisting of 37 radio stations which carry coverage of the
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...
, a professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
team in the
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...
. Three
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
radio stations— WCKY (1530  AM),
WEBN WEBN (102.7 FM) – branded as 102-7 WEBN – is a commercial active rock radio station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio, serving Greater Cincinnati. Owned by iHeartMedia, WEBN serves as the FM flagship for the Cincinnati Bengals Radio Net ...
(102.7  FM), and
WLW WLW (700 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial news/talk radio station city of license, licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as "The Big One". Its studios ...
(700 AM)—serve as the network's
flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyal ...
s; WLW also simulcasts over a low-power FM
translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...
. The network also includes 39
affiliate Affiliation or affiliate may refer to: * Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law * Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship * Affiliate marketing * Affiliate network or affiliation platfo ...
s in the U.S. states of
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
,
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
,
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
, and
West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
: 27 AM stations, 18 of which extend their signals with one or more low-power FM translators; and 12 full-power FM stations.
Dan Hoard Dan Hoard is an American radio and television sportscaster who calls games for the National Football League's Cincinnati Bengals with Dave Lapham. He is also the play-by-play announcer for University of Cincinnati Bearcats football and men's ba ...
is the current
play-by-play announcer In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present tense. There are two main types of sports broadcast ...
, while
Dave Lapham Dave Lapham (born June 24, 1952) is an American former professional football guard for the National Football League (NFL)'s Cincinnati Bengals from 1974 to 1983 and the United States Football League (USFL)'s New Jersey Generals (1984–1985). ...
serves as
color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...
. In addition to traditional over-the-air AM and FM broadcasts, the Bengals are available on
SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...
satellite radio, and online with
NFL Audio Pass NFL+ is an over-the-top subscription service operated by the National Football League (NFL) in the United States. The service offers live-streaming of the radio broadcasts of all NFL games, streaming of the television broadcasts of in-market gam ...
.


History

Following the 1996 Bengals season, the team ended its radio partnership with Jacor Broadcasting. Jacor had also been responsible for overseeing a network of 35 stations for the team, which had been fronted by WLW (the flagship station from 1968 to 1981 and from 1993 to 1996). Citing a desire to "control content... outside the parameters of gameday broadcasts", the Bengals opted for a new three-year agreement with Chancellor Media. Cincinnati sports talk WKYN and country station
WUBE-FM WUBE-FM (105.1 MHz) is a radio station broadcasting a country music radio format. Licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio, it is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting. WUBE-FM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 14,500 watts. It broadcasts using HD Radio t ...
took over as flagship stations for a new network also run by Chancellor. Soon, however, both Chancellor and Jacor would be acquired by Clear Channel, and in 1999, the team itself signed a six-year contract with the radio giant. The team renewed this agreement with Clear Channel in 2005; Cincinnati stations
WSAI WSAI (1360 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned and operated by iHeartMedia, its studios, as well as those of iHeartMedia's other Cincinnati stations, are in the Towers of Kenwood building next to I-71 in the Kenwo ...
(which was WCKY (1360 AM) prior to 2005; WSAI's programming and co-flagship rights were transferred to WCKY (1530 AM) in July 2006) and WOFX-FM continued to share flagship duties for the Bengals Radio Network, which by this time included 23 stations in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Former network flagship WLW served as a co-flagship station when it did not conflict with game broadcasts over the
Cincinnati Reds Radio Network The Cincinnati Reds Radio Network is an American radio network composed of 69 radio stations which carry English-language coverage of the Cincinnati Reds, a professional baseball team in Major League Baseball (MLB). Cincinnati station WLW (700&n ...
, a practice which continues to the present day. As WLW and WCKY are both 50,000-watt
clear-channel station A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...
s, their combined footprints allow Bengals night games to be heard across almost all of North America. Rock station
WEBN WEBN (102.7 FM) – branded as 102-7 WEBN – is a commercial active rock radio station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio, serving Greater Cincinnati. Owned by iHeartMedia, WEBN serves as the FM flagship for the Cincinnati Bengals Radio Net ...
became the network's new FM flagship in 2008, a change resulting from Clear Channel's sale of WOFX-FM to
Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...
(the U. S. Department of Justice had required the sale of WOFX-FM and WNNF to approve a
leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money (Leverage (finance), leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of t ...
of Clear Channel itself). The team subsequently renewed its agreement with Clear Channel (now
iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...
) again in 2011 and 2014.


Station list

Blue background indicates low-power FM
translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...
.


Network maps


References


External links


Cincinnati Bengals Radio

SiriusXM.com: Cincinnati Bengals

NFL Audio Pass
{{Sports networks in the United States Cincinnati Bengals Mass media in Cincinnati NFL on the radio Sports radio networks in the United States