Enterprise Radio Network

Last updated

Enterprise Radio Network was an all-sports radio network which operated briefly in 1981. It featured sports newscasts twice an hour, [1] and sports talk [2] during the evening and overnight.

Contents

Creation and programming

Enterprise Radio was created by Scott Rasmussen, the son of Bill Rasmussen, who was the founder of ESPN. The all sports radio network went on the air in January 1981 and lasted until September 21, 1981. The network broadcast sports reports twice an hour and did live phone in sports talk from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. Eastern Time seven days a week.

Talk show hosts and update announcers included John Sterling, [3] the current voice of the New York Yankees; Don Chevrier, the longtime TV voice of the Toronto Blue Jays; network radio veterans John O'Reilly, Dan Davis and Bob Buck; Curt Chaplin, the announcer for the iconic TV show, The People's Court ; Jay Howard, the radio voice of the San Antonio Spurs' first NBA championship; and Bill Denehy, a former major league pitcher. The network reached approximately 74 stations [4] [5] nationwide at its peak, with most local stations broadcasting the talk shows and the sports reports to supplement their local programming.

ER also carried the 1981 Stanley Cup Finals [6] and did extensive coverage of the National Sports Festival in Syracuse, New York. Network radio veteran John Chanin was the executive producer.

Struggle to keep afloat

While the station had hired over 100 reporters, announcers and producers from across the country, they failed to secure enough advertising to keep the operation afloat. The final six weeks of existence saw the staff go without pay, hoping an investor would save the network. It did not happen and the last broadcast was the overnight show with Greg Gilmartin that ended at 8 a.m. on the 21st.

Aftermath

Two Enterprise Radio interns, Kevin Harlan and Sean McDonough, became network play-by-play announcers.

The Rasmussens failed to pay [7] into State of Connecticut unemployment fund and were arrested in late 1981. ( Hartford Courant ) A settlement where employees received a small percentage of money owed was finalized in 1982 (Hartford Courant).

In 2010, John Birchard, who served as auto racing reporter for the network, wrote a book about Enterprise titled Jock Around the Clock - The Story of History's First All-Sports Radio Network.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charley Steiner</span> American sportscaster and journalist

Charley Steiner is an American sportscaster and broadcast journalist. He is currently the radio play-by-play announcer for the Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, paired with Rick Monday.

<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.

CKO was a Canadian radio news network which operated from 1977 to 1989. The CKO call sign was shared by twelve network-owned stations, as listed below.

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.

<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 and is 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 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.

The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by MSG Entertainment, Inc.—a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation.

The Yankee Network was an American radio network, based in Boston, Massachusetts, with affiliate radio stations throughout New England. At the height of its influence, the Yankee Network had as many as twenty-four affiliated radio stations. The network was co-founded by John Shepard III and his brother Robert, in 1929–1930. The beginnings of what became the Yankee Network occurred in the mid-1920s, when John Shepard's Boston station WNAC linked by telephone land lines with Robert Shepard's station in Providence, Rhode Island, WEAN, so that the two stations could share or exchange programming. Those two stations became the first two Yankee Network stations. In 1930, they were joined by the first affiliated radio stations, including WLBZ in Bangor, Maine; WORC in Worcester, Massachusetts; WNBH in New Bedford, Massachusetts; and WICC in Bridgeport, Connecticut. During the 1930s, the network became known for developing its own local and regional news bureau, the Yankee News Service. The Yankee Network and the Yankee News Service operated until February 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WVEI (AM)</span> WEEI sports radio station in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

WVEI is an AM sports station in Worcester, Massachusetts, operating with 5,000 watts. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. Most programming is provided by Boston sister station WEEI-FM.

KUGN is a commercial radio station, owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasting a news/talk format. Licensed to the city of Eugene, Oregon, it serves the Eugene-Springfield media market. KUGN partners with local CBS television affiliate KVAL Channel 13 for breaking news and weather coverage. National news is supplied by CBS News Radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WPOP</span> News/talk radio station in Hartford, Connecticut

WPOP is a commercial radio station in Hartford, Connecticut, broadcasting a news/talk/sports radio format. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are located on Columbus Boulevard in Hartford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Yankees Radio Network</span> Official radio network of MLBs New York Yankees

The New York Yankees Radio Network is an Audacy-owned radio network that broadcasts New York Yankees baseball games to 52 stations across 14 states. 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. 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."

Robert E. Neumeier was an American sportscaster for several Boston-area media outlets. He also appeared on NBC Sports, specializing in Thoroughbred racing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Burkhardt</span> American sportscaster

Kevin Burkhardt is an American sportscaster. He is currently the lead play-by-play voice for the NFL on Fox and lead studio host for Fox Major League Baseball.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WLAD</span> Radio station in Danbury, Connecticut

WLAD is a commercial radio station licensed to Danbury, Connecticut. It broadcasts a talk format. WLAD is owned by Berkshire Broadcasting. The studios and offices are located on Mill Plain Road in Danbury and the transmitter is off Brushy Hill Road, also in Danbury.

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.

Rickie Ricardo is a Spanish- and English-language sportscaster, talk show host, and voice-over actor. He calls games in Spanish for the New York Yankees, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Philadelphia Phillies. He also hosts programs related to these teams.

References

  1. ↑ "1981 Enterprise Radio Network Sports Broadcasting Original Print Ad". Pic Click.
  2. ↑ "Harrisburg Daily Register". Newspaper Archives. July 17, 1981.
  3. ↑ Kirschner, Chris (June 15, 2020). "Now a Yankees radio icon, John Sterling was launched to stardom in Atlanta". The Atlantic.
  4. ↑ Hoffmann, Dempsey, Manning, Frank, Jack M., Martin J. (6 December 2012). Sports-Talk Radio in America: Its Context and Culture. p. 8. ISBN   9781136428913.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ Prince, Greg (August 17, 2007). "Every FAN Needs Its Rose". Faith and Fear in Flushing.
  6. ↑ Golembeski, Dam (June 20, 1981). "ITS PRODUCT: RADIO SPORTS". Boston Globe Archive. Archived from the original on 2012-11-02.
  7. ↑ "Scott Rasmussen, the RNC & the Religious Right". Constantine Report. November 4, 2010.


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.