New York Yankees Radio Network

Last updated
Map of radio affiliates (US Northeast). New York Yankees radio affiliates.png
Map of radio affiliates (US Northeast).
Map of radio affiliates (Florida). New York Yankees radio affiliates (Florida).png
Map of radio affiliates (Florida).

The New York Yankees Radio Network is an Audacy-owned radio network that broadcasts New York Yankees baseball games to 52 stations across 8 states. [1] The network's flagship station is WFAN, which succeeded sister station WCBS as the flagship in 2014; WCBS had aired Yankees broadcasts since the network was founded in 2002 while WFAN had been the flagship station for the Yankees' crosstown rivals, the New York Mets, since the station's founding. (In a rare move, WFAN carried the live broadcast of the Yankees day/night doubleheader at the Baltimore Orioles on August 28, 2011, so WCBS could remain within its usual news format for live, continuing coverage of Hurricane Irene. [2] ) The full on-air name of the broadcasts is the WFAN Yankees Radio Network Driven by Jeep , with the Chrysler LLC subsidiary continuing its sponsorship of the network while games are broadcast from the "Duck Duck Go broadcast booth."

Contents

The YES Network provides some technical support for each broadcast, and Sirius XM carries the network's feed for every home game the Yankees play per their contract. A separate, Spanish-language broadcast airs on New York's WADO, 1280 AM.

The Yankees formed their own radio network in 2002 after WCBS outbid longtime Yankees home WABC for the rights.

Broadcasters

Since 2005, John Sterling (play-by-play) and Suzyn Waldman (color commentary) have been the Yankees Radio Network broadcast team. Waldman is the first and one of the few women to hold a full-time position with a major league team, and had served as a Yankees beat reporter for the YES Network before moving to the broadcast booth. Waldman was also one of the original personalities at WFAN upon its 1987 launch, where she served as a studio host for various teams (including the New York Knicks, for whom she hosted the pregame show) and also was the station's Yankees beat reporter. [3]

Sterling joined the Yankees in 1989 (or more accurately rejoined; he had done work for the Yankees in the 1970s) after calling games for Turner Sports for the previous decade and has been at the mic for every Yankee game since, having never missed one game in his more than 25 years as Yankees play-by-play man. Prior to the Yankee broadcasts moving from WABC to WCBS, Sterling worked with Jay Johnstone, Joe Angel, and Michael Kay. He is widely known (and perhaps infamous) for his home run calls, which often involve one of his player nicknames or catchphrases and for saying "Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeeeee Yankees win!" after a Yankee victory. Sterling will often stretch out "the" for dramatic victories as well as say "Yankees win" in a more excited voice. (If the team loses, Sterling will end with a more subdued "Ballgame over, (opposing team) wins".)

The network uses the instrumental version of "Here Come the Yankees" as its theme song, and highlights from past games are dubbed over it for game opens.

For the inaugural season of the Yankees Radio Network, the team continued the longstanding tradition carried on by WABC, WINS, and other Yankee flagship stations by having a two-man booth where both broadcasters would share play-by-play duties during the game. Because 2002 was also the first season of the YES Network and Michael Kay was called upon to be the team's new lead television voice, the Yankees decided to replace him with longtime ESPN SportsCenter anchor Charley Steiner, who was no stranger to calling baseball on the radio (having been ESPN Radio's lead baseball voice for the previous four seasons) nor to New York sports (having covered New York sports on radio for almost a decade and serving as the voice of both the New Jersey Generals and the New York Jets football teams). The duo worked together for three seasons, with perhaps their most notable call being Steiner's call of Aaron Boone's 2003 American League Championship Series-winning home run.

The Sterling-Steiner partnership lasted until the end of the 2004 season, with their final game together being Game 7 of that year's American League Championship Series that the Yankees lost to become the first team in Major League Baseball history to lose a series they led 3-0. After that season, to make room for Suzyn Waldman's move to the broadcast booth, Steiner was to become the YES Network's studio host for Yankee games as well as for its coverage of the then-New Jersey Nets, a spot that opened after Fred Hickman left YES for ESPN. This did not come to pass, however, as Steiner elected to go west and replace the fired Ross Porter at the Los Angeles Dodgers Radio Network.

Format

The broadcast begins with the pregame show, which begins approximately forty minutes prior to first pitch and runs for approximately twenty-five minutes. It is sponsored by BMW's New York dealer network, and the proper name for the show is the "Nissan New York Yankees Pregame Program". Sterling opens the broadcast by introducing himself, Waldman, and his producer, then leads into the Manager's Show. This portion of the show features an interview by Waldman with Yankees manager Aaron Boone. Sterling then follows with Diamond Notes, relaying news from around the league. The Leadoff Spot feature is next, with Waldman usually talking to a member of the opposing team.

In the opposing half of the fifth inning, a reporter from one of the New York newspapers has joined the broadcast booth to offer some insight on team business. For many years, the reporter was the beat writer from the New York Daily News and the half-inning was known as the Daily News Fifth. Beginning in 2014 the fifth inning segment is called Post Time and a reporter from the New York Post joins the booth.

For the last inning or so, depending on how long the game continues, Sterling will announce the game by himself so Waldman can get a head start on her postgame duties. After the game ends Waldman will choose a player for her "Star of the Game" interview and then head into the clubhouse. Beginning in 2014, the Star of the Game segment is featured after every game; it used to be only featured if the Yankees won the game. Regardless of whether the Yankees win or not, after the final out (and the proceedings to follow), Sterling returns from one last commercial break with the totals and the winning and losing pitchers and closes the broadcast.

After another commercial break the postgame show begins, with Sweeny Murti hosting. The program starts with a recap of the game, with highlights interspersed where necessary. Included in the recap are the Drive of the Game, a home run or extra base hit that drove in multiple runs sponsored by Audi, the best defensive play of the game, and the play determined to be the turning point of the game. As has been the case for years, remembering the turning point of the game could win a fan a prize during the midday show the next morning; in 2014, the prize is a team watch and a pair of tickets to a future home game.

Waldman follows with the Clubhouse Report, relaying information from the postgame press conferences and interviews with players. This is followed by a rundown of scores from other MLB games from the evening and an update on the Yankees' minor league affiliates. An interview from the clubhouse is then played and after this, Murti reviews the next night's pitching matchup and game time and closes the broadcast.

Affiliate stations

The current affiliates are: [4]

Connecticut

Hawaii

Florida

New Mexico

New York

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Former affiliates (9 stations)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Sterling (sportscaster)</span> American sportscaster (born 1938)

John Sterling is an American sportscaster, best known as the radio play-by-play announcer of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees. Sterling called 5,060 consecutive Yankees games, beginning in 1989, before taking a four-game break in July 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Nelson (pitcher)</span> American baseball pitcher

Jeffrey Allan Nelson is an American sports broadcaster and former baseball relief pitcher who played 15 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He batted and threw right-handed. Nelson had two stints with the New York Yankees, the team with whom he won four World Series championships. Nelson retired from playing in 2007 after signing a minor league contract with the Yankees.

WABC is a commercial radio station licensed to New York City, carrying a conservative talk radio format known as "Talkradio 77". Owned by John Catsimatidis' Red Apple Media, the station's studios are located in Red Apple Media headquarters on Third Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and its transmitter is in Lodi, New Jersey. Its 50,000-watt non-directional clear channel signal can be heard at night throughout much of the Eastern United States and Eastern Canada. It is the primary entry point for the Emergency Alert System in the New York metropolitan area and New Jersey. WABC simulcasts on WLIR-FM in Hampton Bays, New York, on eastern Long Island.

WFAN is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, carrying a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New York metropolitan area while its 50,000-watt clear channel signal can be heard at night throughout much of the eastern United States and Canada. WFAN's studios are located in the Hudson Square neighborhood of lower Manhattan and its transmitter is located on High Island in the Bronx. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WFAN is simulcast over WFAN-FM, and is available online via Audacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Kay (sports broadcaster)</span> American sportscaster

Michael Kay is an American sports broadcaster who is the television play-by-play broadcaster of the New York Yankees and host of CenterStage on the YES Network, and the host of The Michael Kay Show heard on WEPN-FM in New York City and simulcast on ESPN Xtra on XM Satellite Radio. Kay also works on the MLB on ESPN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WEPN (AM)</span> ESPN Radio station in New York City

WEPN is an sports radio AM radio station licensed to New York, New York. The station is owned-and-operated by Good Karma Brands and its transmitter site is located in North Bergen, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WCBS (AM)</span> All-news radio station in New York City

WCBS is a radio station licensed to New York, New York, owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. WCBS's studios are located in the combined Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Lower Manhattan and its transmitter site is located on High Island in the Bronx. Its 50,000-watt clear channel signal can be heard at night throughout much of the eastern United States and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suzyn Waldman</span> American sportscaster

Suzyn Waldman is an American sportscaster and former musical theater actress. Since the 2005 season, she has been the color commentator for New York Yankees baseball, working with John Sterling on radio broadcasts, first for WCBS-AM and currently for WFAN in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YES Network</span> American regional sports network

The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios, Amazon, and The Blackstone Group, RedBird Capital and Mubadala Investment Company, which each own 13%. Primarily serving New York City, New York and the surrounding metropolitan area, it broadcasts a variety of sports events, as well as magazine, documentary and discussion programs; however, its main emphasis is focused on games and team-related programs involving the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, the NBA's Brooklyn Nets, the WNBA's New York Liberty and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Eagle</span> American sports announcer (born 1969)

Ian Eagle is an American sports announcer. He calls NBA, NFL, and college basketball games on CBS, TNT, and TBS, as well as Brooklyn Nets games on the YES Network and French Open tennis for Tennis Channel. Other announcing experiences include Army–Navy football games, boxing, and NCAA track and field for CBS.

Major League Baseball on CBS Radio was the de facto title for the CBS Radio Network's coverage of Major League Baseball. Produced by CBS Radio Sports, the program was the official national radio broadcaster for the All-Star Game and the postseason from 1976 to 1997.

Robert Wischusen is an American sports commentator who is currently a hockey, college football and basketball voice for ESPN and the radio voice announcer for the New York Jets on WEPN-FM.

The Atlanta Braves Radio Network is a 171-station network with terrestrial coverage in eleven states Southeastern United States that airs Major League Baseball games of the Atlanta Braves. The flagship station is WCNN in Atlanta, Georgia. The primary booth announcers are Ben Ingram and Joe Simpson, who alternate between play-by-play and color commentary on most game broadcasts. Chris Dimino and Kevin McAlpin host the pregame and postgame shows. The engineer and game producer for Braves Network broadcasts is Jonathan Chadwick. Network producers include Chris Culwell, Cullen Madden, David Holloway, Brody King, and Brett Barney.

The New York Mets Radio Network, referred to on air as the WCBS Mets Radio Network, is a radio network owned by Audacy, Inc. that broadcasts New York Mets baseball games. It consists of 14 stations in the states of Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, and New York. A Spanish-language broadcast airs separately from the English-language network.

The New York Sports radio WFAN, first broadcast on July 1, 1987 at 1050AM replacing WHN. WFAN was the first all sports station in the United States. The station's current frequency, 660AM. was formerly known as WNBC and first transmitted on March 2, 1922. WFAN moved to 660AM at 5:30PM Eastern Time on October 7, 1988 when WNBC signed off for the last time.

Justin V. Shackil is an American sportscaster for the YES Network and WFAN, covering the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball.

References

  1. ↑ Wallace, Tim (2011-07-10). Two nations, over the air. The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2011-07-11.
  2. ↑ "Hurricane Irene even affects radio broadcast, Yankees will be on WFAN 660 AM, the Mets station". Daily News. New York. August 28, 2011.
  3. ↑ Yankees Broadcasters' Biographies
  4. ↑ "Yankees Radio Network". newyork.yankees.mlb.com. MLB.com. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.