WFNI

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WFNI, known as 1070 The Fan, is a radio station in Indianapolis, Indiana owned by Emmis Communications. The station operates on the AM radio frequency of 1070 kHz. The studios are located at 40 Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis. Transmitter and antenna are located near Interstate 65 and Indiana SR 334 in Boone County, northwest of Indianapolis.

The 1070 frequency is the former home of WIBC, which had broadcast on that frequency since 1938. On October 8, 2007, it was announced [1] that effective December 26, the WIBC call letters and news/talk programming would move to 93.1 FM, and that WIBC's sports programming would remain on 1070 AM, joined by programming from ESPN Radio effective January 7, 2008. The new call letters were announced in December [2].

[edit] Station broadcasting information

WFNI broadcasts using 50 kW of directional power during the daytime and 10 kW of directional power at night. Both the daytime and night time directional focus more attention on the southeast direction from the antenna site. The daytime directional also includes a small bubble to the southwest.

[edit] Programming

WFNI was born as a result of a three frequency, two company station swap. These moves were provoked in part due to the fact that Emmis had acquired the rights to the Indianapolis Colts for the 2007 season, which left the station with the rights to all major sports teams in Indianapolis. To avoid tedious shuffling of games among its stations and frequent preemption of regular programming, Emmis decided to clear a frequency for a new all-sports station in Indianapolis. The move began on October 8, 2007, when the format and branding of Top 40 WNOU ("Radio Now") was sold to Radio One and moved to 100.9 MHz, the former frequency of now defunct smooth jazz WYJZ. This was done so that Emmis Communications could clear the 93.1 frequency for news/talk WIBC, which had been on 1070 kHz on the AM dial. That move was made on December 26, 2007, with 93.1 airing an all-Christmas music format as "WEXM" between October 8 and December 25. With the 1070 frequency open, Emmis launched its sports radio format on December 26 with a series of classic Indianapolis sporting events, ahead of its official launch date, January 7, 2008.

(effective January 7, 2008)

Prior to WFNI's launch, ESPN Radio talk programming had been heard on WXLW, a lower-power station whose tower is located in nearby Franklin, Indiana, from 2002-2007; WNDE was an ESPN Radio affiliate from 1992 till 1994 and again from 1996 until switching to Fox Sports Radio in 2002. WIBC was an ESPN Radio affiliate from 1994-1996. (From 1992-1996, the network's only long-form programming was GameNight on weekend evenings.)

ESPN Radio's national sports broadcasts (MLB baseball, college football and NBA basketball) had been split up in various combinations among WIBC, WNDE and WXLW for years. WFNI currently airs weekend NBA games, while Sunday Night Baseball is heard on WNDE.

[edit] Local sports

WFNI is the AM flagship station of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, simulcasting the games with sister station WLHK-FM. In addition, WFNI is the flagship for the NBA's Indiana Pacers and the WNBA's Indiana Fever. WFNI also airs Indiana University football, while WLHK airs that school's basketball games.

WFNI is also the flagship of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network, carrying the IRL IndyCar Series (and its crown jewel event, the Indianapolis 500), as well as the NASCAR Brickyard 400 and, beginning in 2008, the Indianapolis motorcycle Grand Prix. IMS historian Donald Davidson traditionally hosted a nightly call-in show, The Talk of Gasoline Alley, on WIBC throughout the month of May leading up to the Indianapolis 500; that show will continue on WFNI (and in 2008, will expand to two hours nightly).

Sister company Network Indiana produces Indiana Sports Talk, hosted by Bob Lovell, Friday and Saturday nights, focusing primarily on high school sports scores and results. The program is syndicated throughout the state.

In March 2008, WFNI added two new programs. Trackside is a weekly two-hour auto racing discussion hosted by The Indianapolis Star's racing reporter Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee, who formerly hosted Sports Talk on WIBC. Also added was The Heavyweights, a roundtable discussion hosted by Jeffrey Gorman and former Colts Joe Staysniak (who also co-hosts Dave Wilson's show on WIBC), Tarik Glenn and Will Wolford.

[edit] External links

• WFNI Website
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WFNI
• Radio Locator Information on WFNI
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for WFNI