Chicago Cubs Radio Network

Last updated

The Chicago Cubs Radio Network comprises 30 stations in six states. [1]

Contents

Pat Hughes has been the play-by-play announcer since 1996. From 1996 to 2010, Hughes was partnered with Ron Santo. After Santo's death, Keith Moreland took over as color analyst, lasting three seasons (2011–13). Ron Coomer became the color analyst in 2014. Zach Zaidman handles the Cubs Central pre- and post-game shows, and takes over the play-by-play for the fifth inning of most games.

All 162 regular season baseball games, some spring training games, and all postseason games are broadcast by the network, though not all affiliates distribute the entire slate. The games are transmitted to stations via C-Band satellite service on AMC-8.

From 1925 to 2014 (continuously from 1958 to 2014), the Cubs' flagship station was WGN, 720 AM, the lone radio station of the Tribune Company (which for many years simultaneously owned the Cubs, TV station WGN-TV and its national superstation, and the local newspaper from which it gets its name, the Chicago Tribune ). When it was part of the Tribune Radio Network, the network's non-sports programming included the National Farm Report, a farm news feature hosted by Orion Samuelson; Samuelson Sez (a weekly commentary hosted by Samuelson); and Farming America, a farm news feature hosted by Steve Alexander (previously by Max Armstrong).

In 2015, the Cubs' broadcast rights moved to CBS Radio after Tribune Co. declined to renew its longstanding broadcast rights. [2] The 2015 season was broadcast by WBBM. After sister station WSCR's loss of radio rights to broadcast the Chicago White Sox games to WLS in July 2015, it was widely expected that the Cubs would move to WSCR as a replacement. This move was confirmed by CBS Radio on November 11, 2015 [3] [4] and finalized before the start of the 2016 Cubs season. Through WSCR, the games also air on the FM dial via HD Radio through WSCR's subchannel on WBMX (104.3-HD2).

Affiliates

StateCityStationFrequency
Illinois Champaign WGKC FM 105.9
Chicago WSCR
WBMX-HD2
AM 670 (Flagship Station)
FM 104.3-2
Decatur WDZ AM 1050
Lawrenceville WAKO
W257DW
AM 910
FM 99.3
Lawrenceville WAKO-FM FM 103.1
Monmouth WRAM AM 1330
Peoria WZPN
WHPI
FM 101.1
FM 96.5
Springfield WFMB AM 1450
Sterling WSSQ FM 105.5
Tower Hill WRAN AM 1050
Indiana Boonville WBNL AM 1540
Lafayette WASK AM 1450
Marion WBAT AM 1400
Rockville WAXI FM 104.9
Elkhart WTRC AM 1340
Iowa Boone KWBG AM 1590
Bloomfield KUDV FM 106.9
Carroll KCIM AM 1380
Cedar Falls KCNZ AM 1650
Des Moines KRNT AM 1350
Dubuque WDBQ AM 1490
Elkader KADR AM 1400
Fairfield KMCD AM 1570
Harlan KNOD FM 105.3 (pending)
Iowa City KXIC AM 800
West Burlington KCPS AM 1150
Michigan Kalamazoo WQLR AM 1660
Petoskey WJML AM 1110
Traverse City WJNL AM 1210
Minnesota Sauk Rapids WBHR AM 660
North Dakota Fargo WDAY (AM) AM 970
Nebraska Omaha KIBM AM 1490
South Dakota Vermillion KVTK AM 1570
Wisconsin Madison WTSO [5] AM 1070

See also

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References

  1. "Affiliate List". cubs.com.
  2. Marek, Lynne (May 30, 2014). "WGN America to drop Chicago sports". Chicago Business. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  3. "Cubs make their radio move to WSCR official". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  4. Sherman, Ed (July 23, 2015). "Bulls, White Sox deals put WLS-AM back in the game in a big way". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  5. "Brewers games on Bally Sports Wisconsin will look similar, but some streaming services lack deals".