Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and callers. Many sports talk stations also carry play-by-play (live commentary) of local sports teams as part of their regular programming.
History The Liberty Broadcasting System was the first radio network in the United States to focus on sports. Its cornerstone programming was play-by-play of Major League Baseball broadcasts, some reconstructed from wire reports. Launched in 1948, the network collapsed in 1952 after MLB substantially raised its rights fee and imposed untenable restrictions on the network's operations.End of Liberty – TIME, June 9, 1952
In 1955, WHN New York launched the first regular sports talk program featuring a broadcaster/journalist roundtable that aired before and after Brooklyn Dodgers games. By the early 1960s, sports talk content, ranging from individual commentary to roundtable discussions, began appearing in major US markets, initially tied to play-by-play broadcasts but gradually developing unique styles and characters. Art Rust Jr. launched New York's first interactive call-in show (WMCA) in 1960 to limited initial success. Nonetheless, the interactive format spread in the 1960s with Bill Mazer, launching the first successful show in March 1964 at WNBC (AM) in New York. Soon after WNBC launched its program, in 1965 Seton Hall University's radio station, WSOU, started Hall Line, a call-in sports radio talk show focusing on the team's basketball program. Having celebrated its 50th anniversary on air during the 2015–2016 season, Hall Line, which broadcasts to central and northern New Jersey as well as all five boroughs of New York, is the oldest and longest running sports talk call-in show in the NY-NJ Metropolitan area, and is believed to be the oldest in the nation.
Enterprise Radio Network became the first national all-sports network, operating out of Avon, Connecticut, from New Year's Day 1981 through late September of that year before going out of business. ER had two channels, one for talk and a second for updates and play-by-play. It was founded by ESPN's estranged founder Bill Rasmussen. ER's talk lineup included current New York Yankees voice John Sterling, New York Mets radio host Ed Coleman and former big-league pitcher Bill Denehy.
Emmis Broadcasting's WFAN in New York in 1987 is considered to be the first all-sports radio station, with Philadelphia's WIP a close second. However, that designation is imprecise according to research by Rowan University media scholar Emil Steiner since both stations relied on non-sports content during their initial years in order to survive: It wasn't until WFAN hired Don Imus—a shock jock "who by all accounts despised sports," that the station became financially viable. The prevailing narrative across news coverage was that sports talk radio works when it focuses on entertainment first and information second. This was the model espoused by WIP's manager of programming Tom Bigby: "'If you do sports talk, it won't survive,' Bigby says. 'If you do sports entertainment, the possibilities are endless.'" Following the success of the WIP and WFAN in the early 1990s, with hit programs such as Mike and the Mad Dog, drove other stations in United States to try the all-sports talk format. By 1991 there were around 20 stations broadcasting across the country and by 2000 there were over 600. While only one other radio show besides Mike and the Mad Dog attended the 1990 Super Bowl, about 100 attended the 2004 Super Bowl's radio row.
Programming The programming of a sports radio station consists primarily of talk-based programming with a focus on sports (either in general, a specific league, or in some cases a specific local team), including news and headlines, analysis, and interviews. These shows are usually hosted by local sportswriters and media personalities, or current and former players and personnel (such as coaches). The flagship programming of a sports radio station is typically live, play-by-play coverage of sporting events, including local teams and nationally syndicated broadcasts.
In the United States, most sports radio stations are usually affiliated with one or more sports radio networks (such as ESPN Radio, Fox Sports Radio, Sports Byline USA, or Westwood One Sports, and the Spanish-language Fútbol de Primera and TUDN Radio), which provide a dayparted lineup of national programming that can fill in gaps in the schedule not filled by local programming, and may also include national play-by-play rights of their own. Among the national networks, morning drive time programs are usually considered their flagship programs, while less-prominent programs are carried in the afternoon and evening in order to accommodate pre-emptions for local shows and play-by-play. Somewhat unusually for radio, the late-night and overnight hosts have more prominence on a sports talk network, due to a near-complete lack of local preemption.
Some national play-by-play packages are distributed via syndicators such as Westwood One and the Sports USA Radio Network (both known for their coverage of the National Football League), and NASCAR's Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Performance Racing Network (PRN). Professional and college teams similarly use a network model for distribution, with one or more flagship stations, and affiliates within other parts of the team's market (which may or may not be a sports-specific station).
Sports radio stations typically depend on drawing an audience that fits advertiser-friendly key demographics, particularly young men with the disposable income to invest in sports fandom. Sports radio stations typically get their largest audiences from live coverage of major league franchises and college sports teams; less prominent stations (especially on the AM dial) may not have this option because of poorer (or for daytime-only stations, non-existent) nighttime signals and smaller budgets for rights fees. Some sports stations (either for budgetary reasons, or to serve as a companion to a sister station devoted primarily to local programs) may serve simply as a passthrough for a network's daily lineup and other syndicated programming, and originate few local programs of their own.
Some sports leagues place restrictions on how their radio broadcasts (at both the local and national level) may be distributed via internet radio, although some leagues have since loosened these restrictions in order to widen their audiences amid the growth and ubiquity of digital platforms. Sports talk programs can be syndicated as podcasts and vodcasts with relative ease, and sports teams have also launched their own online digital networks with sports talk centered around their own properties. Some television sports channels have featured video simulcasts of sports talk programs as part of their programming (including ESPN Radio shows, and syndicated shows such as The Dan Patrick Show). Some shows such as CJCL's Tim & Sid, and The Pat McAfee Show began as radio shows, but eventually migrated to video- and television-oriented formats.
Following the 2018 repeal of the United States' Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, a variant of the format focusing upon sports betting began to emerge. In August 2019, SportsMap (then SB Nation Radio) and Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN) launched the BetR Network with affiliates in Las Vegas and Atlantic City at launch, while Philadelphia's WDAS flipped to a sports format featuring local programs involving sports betting. Audacy began to deploy its BetQL Network (now the BetMGM Network) to more of its stations in June 2021 using the on-air brand The Bet, alongside an expansion of their daily schedule. Stations with such formats may still affiliate with a mainstream sports radio network to fill the remainder of their schedule, with the aforementioned WDAS otherwise carrying Fox Sports Radio and Philadelphia Union soccer, and BetMGM being often carried alongside Westwood One Sports on its owned-and-operated stations. In Australia, some sports stations are similarly devoted primarily to horse and greyhound racing.
Sports talk stations
Terrestrial
Australia RSN Racing & Sport - Melbourne, Victoria 1116 SEN - Melbourne, Victoria 91.3 SportFM - Fremantle, Western Australia Sky Sports Radio - Sydney ABC Sport - national, via DAB+ digital radio
Belgium VivaSport - national, via DAB+ digital radio; simulcast of VivaCité
Brazil Rádio Grenal FM - 95.9 MHz - Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul - Regional sports news and talk radio in Rio Grande do Sul. Its owned by Rede Pampa de Comunicação.
Canada Call signBrandingOwnershipCityProvince CKJR Sports 1440 Stingray Radio Edmonton & Wetaskiwin Alberta CFAC Sportsnet 960 Rogers Communications Calgary Alberta CFGO TSN Radio 1200 Bell Media Ottawa Ontario CISL Sportsnet 650 Rogers Communications Vancouver British Columbia CKGM TSN Radio 690 Bell Media Montreal Quebec CJCL Sportsnet 590 Rogers Communications Toronto Ontario CHUM TSN Radio 1050 Bell Media Toronto Ontario
China Beijing Tiyu Guangbo
Colombia AS Radio Colombia
Czech Republic ČRo Radiožurnál Sport - national, via DAB+ digital radio
France RMC - national, broadcast area in France and Monaco; combination of news/talk/sport format
Greece ERA Sport Bwin Sport FM 94.6 Ellada Sports
Hungary Nemzeti Sportrádió
Italy Rai Radio 1 Sport - national, via DAB+ digital radio
Mexico W Deportes RG La Deportiva
Netherlands NPO Radio 1 - national; combination of news/talk/sport format
New Zealand Radio Sport TAB Trackside SENZ
Nigeria 88.9 Brila FM: Sports Radio 88.9 Brila FM, owned by Brila Broadcasting Services, is Nigeria's first sports radio station and was launched in 2002.
Norway NRK Sport - national, via DAB+ digital radio
Philippines DZSR Sports Radio 918 kHz is the first and only sports radio station owned by the Philippine Broadcasting Service.
Spain Radio Marca
Turkey a Spor Radyo HT Spor Radyo Lig Radyo Radyospor Radyo Gol
United States In 2009, Detroit's "97.1 The Ticket" WXYT-FM, thanks to the surprising time slot dominance of shows like Valenti and Foster, in addition to holding the play-by-play rights for the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Lions and the Detroit Pistons, became the United States' only sports talk radio station to be the highest rated station in their market, according to Portable People Meter rankings. The station relocated to the FM dial in October 2007 after existing on the AM dial for seven years prior, replacing a Free FM "hot talk" station, WKRK. This ratings success has led to WXYT-FM billing itself as the country's best sports station.
WXYT-FM's recent influence has led to CBS Radio installing sports radio stations on the FM dial in Dallas (105.3 The Fan), Boston (98.5 The Sports Hub), Pittsburgh (93.7 The Fan), Washington, DC (106.7 The Fan), Baltimore (105.7 The Fan) and Cleveland (92.3 The Fan), in addition to simulcasting Philadelphia's heritage 610 WIP onto the former WYSP. Other non-CBS stations have also migrated to the FM dial, most notably Clear Channel's KFAN in Minneapolis, Greater Media's WPEN in Pennsylvania and Dispatch Media's WBNS-FM in Columbus, just to name a few.
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