ESPN Radio

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 sports events including 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. The network's content is also streamed online and via mobile applications.

ESPN Radio currently has four company-owned stations in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas. Each station is partnered with an ESPN local website named for the city (for example, espnnewyork.com for New York).

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 2007 sale of ABC Radio to Citadel Broadcasting.^[1] However, ESPN Radio as well as its Spanish counterpart ESPN Deportes Radio are still considered to be a part of the Cumulus Media Networks (Formerly ABC Radio and Citadel Media) family because Cumulus Media (new owners since September 16, 2011) sells the advertising time on both services.^[2]

History

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.

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, Tony Bruno and Mike Golic were brought together for a new morning show, the "Bruno & Golic Morning Show" which aired until Bruno left the network in 2000. Mike Greenberg was named as Bruno's replacement, and the morning show became "Mike & Mike", which still airs today (and is also simulcast on ESPN2). In January, 2010, Mike & Mike celebrated their 10 year anniversary on ESPN Radio. Dan Patrick was a mainstay in 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 rights to MLB on national radio.

Current programming

Weekday programming

• The Freddie Coleman Show airs at 8pm on Fridays.
• The Sporting Life airs at 7pm and 10pm on Fridays.

Saturday programming

MLB on ESPN Radio often airs on Saturday afternoon with varied times week to week.

Sunday programming

Seasonal shows

• College GameDay (Sat, September–December)
• NFL on ESPN Radio (Sun, September–February)
• Baseball Tonight (March–October)
• Mike Tirico's Weekend Blitz - Pro Football
• Mike Tirico's Weekend Blitz - College Football
• The Mort Report with Chris Mortensen

Game broadcasts

• BCS on ESPN Radio (2000–present)
• ESPN Radio College Football Game of the Week (2007–present)
• ESPN Radio SpeedWorld (1996-present)
• Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio (1998–present)
• NBA on ESPN Radio (1996–present)
• NIT on ESPN Radio (Until 2010)
• 2010 FIFA World Cup on ESPN Radio
• US Open on ESPN Radio (2010–Present)

Daily segments

• ESPN Radio SportsCenter
• SportsBeat
• Extra Point

Former shows

Weekday

• The Fabulous Sports Babe (Nanci Donnellan) (Mon–Fri 10am–1pm, 1994–1997) - replaced by Kornheiser; Donnellan continued the show on Sports Fan Radio Network until 2001, and re-emerged in 2008 co-hosting a local show in Tampa Bay, Florida.
• Bruno-Golic Morning Show (Mon–Fri 6am–10am, 1998–1999) - Tony Bruno left ESPN and was replaced by Mike Greenberg (title change to Mike and Mike). Bruno was an original host of Gamenight; in mid-2009, he began his second stint on Fox Sports Radio.
• AllNight with Todd Wright (Mon–Fri 1am–6am, 1996–2005) - Later became AllNight with Jason Smith. Wright moved to Sporting News Radio, still broadcasting there as of December 2009.
• The Tony Kornheiser Show (Mon–Fri 10am–1pm, 1998–2004) - replaced by The Herd. Kornheiser later revived his show on Washington, D.C. stations WTEM, Washington Post Radio and WWWT during Monday Night Football offseasons, until 2008. Revived again in mid-2009 on WTEM, which is now an ESPN Radio affiliate.
• The Dan Patrick Show (Mon-Fri 1pm-4pm, 1999–2007) - Dan Patrick left ESPN after 19 years; his show was replaced by The Mike Tirico Show and The Stephen A. Smith Show (both see below), following several weeks of guest hosts; Patrick revived his show later in 2007 in syndication (and beginning in 2009, on Fox Sports Radio).
• 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), finally SportsNation with John Seibel and Orestes Destrade (to February 2009; occasionally aired under different titles but with same hosts)
• The Pulse with Doug Gottlieb (Mon-Fri 7-10 pm, 2006-February 2009): Gottlieb moved up to the afternoons to replace SportsNation; Brian Kenny and Football Tonight took over this timeslot.
• Pardon the Interruption with Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon (Mon-Fri, 2001–2004, 2007–2008, 6:30pm-7pm). Edited audio-only version of the D.C.-based ESPN television show, which has aired continuously since 2001. Continues to air on WTEM in D.C. and on WMVP in Wilbon's hometown of Chicago.
• GameNight (7p-1a to 2006; 10p-2a to 2008): the weeknight version of the network's original program ended in 2008, coinciding with the debut of Football Tonight and the movement of The Pulse with Doug Gottlieb from 7pm-10pm to 8pm-11pm.
• The Mike Tirico Show/"Tirico and Van Pelt (Mon-Fri 1PM-3PM or 2PM-4PM, 2007-09): Debuted in 2007 with Tirico as host and Van Pelt, Kirk herbstreit and Michelle Tafoya as guest hosts. Became "T&VP" on May 1, 2008, followed by Van Pelt hosting a solo hour at 3. Moved to 2PM-4PM in March 2009 due to the lengthening of The Herd to four hours nationwide; Van Pelt's solo hour ended, but he took over the main show in July 2009 as Tirico left to focus on television.
• 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 taking over on May 1, 2008. Smith later left ESPN completely and joined Fox Sports Radio in early 2010, then returned to ESPN in 2011 and began hosting local radio shows for both the Los Angeles and New York affiliate stations.
• The Brian Kenny Show (Mon-Thurs 8PM-10PM, 2009-2011) Kenny left ESPN Radio to work at the MLB Network.
• AllNight with Jason Smith (Mon 12AM-5AM, Tue-Fri 1AM-5AM, 2005-2011) Jason Smith left ESPN Radio to work at the NFL Network.

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 Erik Kuselias Show (Saturday mornings, 2008–2010)

ESPN Radio Stations

Owned and operated

Affiliated

See also

• TSN Radio

References

External links

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