ESPN Radio Plans a Move to FM in New York
For 11 years, ESPN has built its New York radio outpost at 1050 AM, using local and national shows to challenge the power of the older, more established WFAN, which resides down the AM dial at 660.
But now, ESPN is trying to transform the landscape in its rivalry with WFAN on the biggest stage in sports radio, where Mike Francesa is still the biggest name. On Thursday, the ESPN media empire announced that ESPN Radio New York would shift at 12:01 a.m. Monday to 98.7 FM; in mid-September, the 1050 AM slot will become ESPN Deportes New York, a full-time Spanish-language station.
“Now they’ll have to deliver the goods,” said James Miller, the co-author of “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN.” “They can’t just fly the ESPN flag at FM and expect everyone to come.”
He added, “If they didn’t grab an FM opportunity, it would be contrary to everything they’re about.”
The move to FM might be a strong sign that ESPN Radio will chase the rights to carry Yankees games, for which WCBS-AM is paying $14 million under a one-year contract. If the Yankees do not exercise their option to stay with WCBS through 2013, ESPN could bid right after this season.
“In some ways, our AM signal might have kept a baseball team from wanting to be with us,” said Traug Keller, an ESPN senior vice president in its business divisions. “We’re always looking for a sports deal.”
ESPN Radio carries Knicks, Rangers and Jets games. The Mets, the Giants, the Nets and the Devils are on WFAN.
Neither station would discuss the effect of ESPN Radio’s switch to FM, where signals are clearer and have a better geographic reach, and where most listeners have migrated. About 37 percent of ESPN’s 364 full-time affiliates are FM stations.
“We had something that can make us better and allow us to add a Hispanic element,” Keller said.
Don Bouloukos, a senior vice president of CBS Radio, which is WFAN’s parent, said in a statement that the station “remains singularly focused on producing the best local sports news and commentary.”
ESPN Radio New York — with national programs like “Mike & Mike in the Morning” and local hosts like Michael Kay, Mike Lupica and Stephen A. Smith — made its grab for FM leverage in local sports-talk without having to purchase 98.7.
Instead, in a 12-year deal to replace WRKS — or Kiss FM, as it is better known — ESPN will rent the station from Emmis Communications for $8.4 million in the first year, with 3.5 percent annual increases.
“We were going to do whatever was the best deal,” Keller said.
WRKS will merge with its R&B rival, WBLS, at 107.5 FM.
It’s not the first time Emmis has played a role in a New York sports-radio shuffle. In 1987, it started WFAN at 1050 AM; a year later, WFAN moved to 660, replacing WNBC. Now because of Emmis’s financial difficulties at Kiss FM, the company is providing ESPN with a platform to better compete against WFAN.
Among men ages 25 to 54, the Arbitron ratings from March show WFAN with commanding leads over ESPN New York in the morning and afternoon drive times and in the 10 a.m.-to-3 p.m. slot.
Keller sounded even more enthusiastic about starting what he said was the first 24/7 Hispanic sports-radio station in the United States than the New York station’s AM to FM shift.
“The real gem is ESPN Deportes,” he said. “Ten percent of the U.S. Hispanic population lives here in the New York area, and that’s a sports-hungry crowd.”
