ESPN Radio

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ESPN Radio

Type	Radio network
Country	United States
Availability	National, through regional affiliates and satellite radio
Owner	The Walt Disney Company (80%) Hearst Corporation (20%)
Launch date	January 1, 1992
Website espnradio.com

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 Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, Bowl Championship Series, and National Invitation Tournament games. ESPN Radio is broadcast to hundreds of affiliate stations as well as to subscribers of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio in the United States and Canada.

ESPN Radio currently has five company-owned stations in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and Pittsburgh. 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 recent sale of ABC Radio to Citadel Broadcasting; however, ESPN Radio is still considered to be a part of the ABC Radio family.[1]

Jim Cutler is the imaging voice heard on ESPN and on many other sports radio stations in the US.[2]

[edit] Brief history

logo 1992-2008

ESPN Radio launched on January 4, 1992. Keith Olbermann hosted the first program. The top story that night was that Danny Tartabull signed with the New York Yankees as a free agent. Tartabull, who had been with the Kansas City Royals, was one of the most feared sluggers in Major League Baseball at the time.

At first, ESPN Radio broadcast only on weekends. By 1996, it expanded to weekdays 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, Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic were brought together for a new morning show, which still airs today (and is also simulcast on ESPN2). By that time, Donnellan was gone and Dan Patrick replaced her. That show lasted until Patrick left 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 rights to MLB on national radio.

[edit] Current programming

Weekday programming

Weekend programming

[edit] Out-of-season shows

• ESPN Radio College GameDay (Sat, September-December)
• NFL on ESPN Radio (Sun, August-January)
• Sunday Countdown Featuring The Huddle (Sun, September-January)
• Football Friday (Fri, September-January)

[edit] Game broadcasts

• BCS on ESPN Radio (2000-present)
• ESPN Radio College Football Game of the Week (2007-present)
• Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio (1998-present)
• The NBA on ESPN Radio (1996-present)
• NIT on ESPN Radio

[edit] Daily segments

• ESPN Radio SportsCenter
• SportsBeat
• Extra Point

[edit] Former shows

[edit] Weekday

• AllNight with Todd Wright (Mon–Fri 1am–6am, 1996–2005) - Later became AllNight with Jason Smith
• The Dan Patrick Show (Mon-Fri 1pm-4pm, 1999-2007) - Replaced by The Mike Tirico Show and The Stephen A. Smith Show; Dan Patrick revived his show on another network and time slot
• Bruno-Golic Morning Show (Mon–Fri 6am–10am, 1995–1998) - Tony Bruno left, was replaced by Mike Greenberg and the show became Mike and Mike
• The Fabulous Sports Babe with Nanci Donnellan (Mon–Fri 10am–1pm, 1994–1997) - replaced by Kornheiser, Donnellan moved the show to Sports Fan Radio Network, is currently retired and doing occasional fill-in work.
• The Stephen A. Smith Show (Mon-Fri 3PM-4PM, 2007-2008) - Smith left the show on April 11, 2008 to concentrate more on television and ESPN the Magazine. SportsNation briefly expanded into the timeslot, with Scott Van Pelt set to take over on May 1st, 2008.
• The Tony Kornheiser Show (Mon–Fri 10am–1pm, 1998–2004) - replaced by The Herd, Kornheiser revived his show on WTEM, later Washington Post Radio and currently WWWT. Kornheiser's voice returned to ESPN Radio when the Pardon the Interruption simulcast returned in 2007.
• The Sports Brothers with Erik and Chris Kuselias (Mon–Fri 4pm–7pm, 2003–2005) - later The SportsBash with Erik Kuselias after Chris left the show (Mon-Fri 4pm-7pm, 2005-2007) and The SportsBash with John Seibel (January-October 2007), now SportsNation

[edit] Weekend

• SportsRadio ESPN Sunday Magazine (Sundays 8am-10am, 1994-1998), later ESPN The Magazine with Dan LeBatard (Sun 7am-11am, 1998-2004) and Mark Madden (Sun 8am-11am, 2004-2005) and finally known as Out of Bounds with Mark Madden (Sun 9am-11am, 2005)
• The Post-Game Locker-Room Report with Jack Arute (Sat–Sun 11pm–2am, 2001–2003)
• The Doug Karsch Show (Sat, January-August)
• Weekend GameDay with Mike Schopp (Sat 3-7pm, 2003-2006)
• AM GameDay (Sat 9-12 pm until 2006)
• The John Kincade Show (Sun 9-12 pm until 2007)

[edit] See also

• List of ESPN radio personalities
• List of ESPN Radio affiliates
• List of assets owned by Disney
• List of who owns what
• Radio Disney, another radio network owned by Disney
• Fox Sports Radio

[edit] External links

• ESPNRadio.com - Official site
• ESPN Radio on Sirius
• ESPN Radio on XM