| City of license | Indianapolis, Indiana |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Branding | 1070 The Fan |
| Slogan | Indy's Sportscenter |
| Frequency | 1070 kHz |
| First air date | December 26, 2007 |
| Format | Sports |
| Power | 50,000 watts (day) 10,000 watts (night) |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 19521 |
| Callsign meaning | FaN Indianapolis |
| Former callsigns | WIBC (1938-2008) |
| Affiliations | ESPN Radio |
| Owner | Emmis Communications |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 1070thefan.com |
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].
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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.
WFNI was born as a result of a three frequency, two company station swap. These moves were provoked in part because 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.
Prior to WFNI's launch, ESPN Radio talk programming had been heard on WXLW, a lower-power station, 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.) As WFNI has increased its local programming, some ESPN Radio network programming has returned to WXNT.
ESPN Radio's national sports broadcasts (MLB baseball, college football and NBA basketball) are, as of the 2009 baseball season, all heard on WFNI - finally sorting out an unusual rights division among as many as four stations in the market during the 2000s (the NBA had often been heard on WIBC and Sunday Night Baseball on WNDE, regardless of which station had the main network affiliation).
WFNI is the AM flagship station of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, simulcasting the games with sister station WLHK-FM. As such, daily updates from Colts play-by-play voice Bob Lamey are heard in-season.
In addition, WFNI is the flagship for the WNBA's Indiana Fever and was the flagship for the NBA's Indiana Pacers from 2007–2010; on June 22, 2010, it was announced the Pacers would move to WIBC. WFNI also airs Indiana University football (WIBC airs that school's basketball games) and the Indiana High School state championship games in football and girls' and boys' basketball.
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 the Indianapolis motorcycle Grand Prix.
In June 2010, it was announced that Butler Bulldogs men's basketball would move from WXNT to WFNI beginning in the 2010-11 season.
As of June 2010, WFNI programs three daily local sports talk shows; The Grady and Big Joe Show with Joe Staysniak and Michael Grady airs at 10 a.m., followed by The Dan Dakich Show from noon - 3 p.m. and The Ride with JMV (aka John Michael) from 3 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Kravitz and Eddie was the station's inaugural afternoon-drive (3-6 p.m.) talk show, co-hosted by Eddie White and Indianapolis Star sports columnist Bob Kravitz, with producer Grady. Kravitz left the station on March 15, 2010, leaving White as a solo host. An Emmis press release on May 15 announced White would transition to a part-time station contributor; he filled in frequently for Dakich before leaving for good in late 2010 to work for the Indiana Pacers. On May 24, The Ride with JMV took over the afternoon-drive slot. JMV had previously hosted the afternoon-drive slot on rival WNDE from 2004-2009. Grady remained as producer until becoming morning co-host in early 2011.
On October 6, 2008, former Indiana and Bowling Green basketball coach Dan Dakich was added in the 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. timeslot. On April 5 2010, Dakich moved to 12 noon to 3 p.m., making room for former Indianapolis Colts lineman and longtime WIBC personality Joe Staysniak.
Indiana Sports Talk, hosted by Bob Lovell, airs Friday and Saturday nights from August through May and focuses primarily on high school sports scores and results. The program predates WFNI, having been syndicated statewide since 1994 by the Emmis-owned Network Indiana.
WFNI, like 1070-WIBC before it, is the home of Indianapolis Motor Speedway historian Donald Davidson's nightly call-in show, The Talk of Gasoline Alley, throughout the month of May leading up to the Indianapolis 500. The show began in 1970.
Other local programs include Trackside, 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; and Colts Friday, hosted by Lee and Bob Lamey. During the offseason, Colts Friday is replaced by The Heavyweights, a roundtable discussion hosted by Jeffrey Gorman and former Colts Staysniak, Tarik Glenn and Will Wolford. "Jersey" Johnny Cimasko hosts a pre- or post-game show on Colts gameday Sundays, in addition to a weekend show in the offseason. One on One is a weekend longform interview show hosted by former Star writer Mark Monteith.
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