 | |
| Type | Radio network |
|---|---|
| Country | |
| Headquarters | Bristol, Connecticut |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sports radio |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | ESPN Inc. |
| Operator | Good Karma Brands |
| History | |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Launch date | January 1, 1992 (1992-01-01) |
| Coverage | |
| Availability | National, through regional affiliates andsatellite radio |
| Links | |
| Webcast |
|
| Website | espnradio |
ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically asESPN Audio, is anAmericansportsradio network and extension of theESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The network is based at the ESPN campus inBristol, Connecticut, with multiple studio facilities nationwide, along withhome 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 onSiriusXM. The network's content is also available online through its affiliates viaAudacy,iHeartRadio andTuneIn, and the network also makes its programming available viapodcast feeds and providers, with some additional content audio and video available through anESPN+ subscription. Several of its programs are also featured as fully live or "best-of" videosimulcasts on the ESPN family of television networks.
ESPN Radio Network was formed in September 1991 byESPN Inc. andCapital Cities/ABC, Inc.'sABC Radio Networks. Twenty-five stations had already signed on as affiliates at its September 5, 1991 announcement, 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.[1] The network launched as Sports Radio ESPN on January 1, 1992.[2] At first, ESPN Radio broadcast only on weekends.[3] The network debuted with 16 hours running on 147 affiliates in 43 states. Its initial programming consisted of news shows, update segments, and occasional features.[4]
By 1996, ESPN Radio had expanded to weekdays[3] with a show hosted byThe Fabulous Sports Babe (Nancy Donnellan). One hour of that show was simulcast onESPN2 (1-2 p.m.Eastern time). Two years later,Tony Bruno andMike Golic were brought together for a new morning show, theBruno & Golic Morning Show which aired until Bruno left the network in 2000.Mike Greenberg was named as Bruno's replacement, and the morning show becameMike & Mike, which aired until 2017[5] (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 moredayparts 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.[citation needed] Disney purchasedWEVD from the Forward Association in September 2002 to becomeWEPN, ESPN Radio's flagship station.[6] On June 12, 2007, Disney spun off and merged itsABC Radio Networks withCitadel Broadcasting into Citadel Communications while retaining its ESPN Radio andRadio Disney networks and stations.[7][8][9]
ESPN Radio is streamed over 215 stations and is ranked first nationally as a sports broadcasting program.[10][11] The parent company ESPN focused on radio as of 2006[update]. With more resources and money spent on it, ESPN radio expanded rapidly.[12]
On July 28, 2023, amid layoffs occurring across ESPN,Good Karma Brands—an operator of ESPN Radio affiliates in multiple markets that had also acquired the network's New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago flagships in 2021—assumed the day-to-day operations and advertising sales for the ESPN Radio network.[13]
Prior to 2022, ESPN Radio had four company-owned and/or operated stations inNew York City,Los Angeles,Chicago, andDallas, as well as inPittsburgh prior to 2010, with the Chicago station managed byGood Karma Brands, which owns and operates a number of other ESPN Radio stations in Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. The Dallas station was operated byCumulus Media until October 2020, when ESPN took back operational control. Before the conversion of the sites to general blog presences requiring anESPN+ 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 onESPN.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 ofESPN Deportes Radio in 2019. All the other owned or operated stations were sold; WEPN, KSPN, WMVP, and WEPN-FM's local marketing agreements were sold toGood Karma Brands, while KESN was being sold to the religiousVCY America network.[15][16] 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.[17][18] On June 12, 2023, Disney sold KRDC, its last broadcast radio asset, toCalvary Chapel Costa Mesa, for $5 million, the station had carried a simulcast of KSPN along with selected overflow programming during the sale process after the wind-down of theRadio Disney network in 2021.[19] The sale closed on September 8 of that year, with KRDC changing its callsign to KWVE and subsequently simulcasting the existingKWVE-FM.[20]
ESPN Xtra is a satellite radio station that carries sports talk programming produced byESPN. The channel was originally onXM 141,[21] but is now broadcast onSiriusXM Radio channel 81.[22]XM announced the addition of this channel on January 28, 2008.Sirius Satellite Radio announced changes to its audio simulcast of ESPNEWS, now calledESPN All Access, on December 12, 2007, but would not be adding any content announced for XM, as it will be exclusive to XM.
