Type | Radio network |
---|---|
Country | |
Headquarters | Green Bay, Wisconsin |
Broadcast area | Wisconsin Michigan Minnesota Illinois (limited) South Dakota (limited) North Dakota (limited) |
Owner | Green Bay Packers |
Affiliation(s) | NFL |
Affiliates | 50 |
Official website | Packers Radio Network |
The Packers Radio Network is a broadcast radio network and the official radio broadcaster of the Green Bay Packers, fully under the team's control in regards to technical productions and on-air personnel. The network's flagship is iHeartMedia's WRNW in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and its coverage is also heard nationwide through NFL Game Pass, Sirius XM, and TuneIn.
The team's play-by-play announcer is Wayne Larrivee, with former Packer center Larry McCarren providing color commentary since 1995. Former Packers fullback John Kuhn serves as the network's sideline reporter.
The Packers radio network was previously with WTMJ, which has broadcast the games since November 24, 1929, and was the former flagship station of Journal Communications until the E. W. Scripps Company and Journal completed their broadcast merger and publishing spin-off on April 1, 2015 (Good Karma took over WTMJ's operations on November 1, 2018 upon Scripps' second withdrawal from radio). [1] It was one of the few arrangements where a team's flagship radio station was not based in their home market and the local station served as a network affiliate only; WTMJ can be heard at city-grade strength in most of eastern Wisconsin, including Green Bay. Meanwhile, the rights for Packers games in the Green Bay are held by Midwest Communications's WIXX, with Midwest Communications acquiring the Fox Cities rights to the team in 2022 for WYDR, resolving an oddity in the network where former Fox Cities affiliate WAPL transmits from the same tower site as WIXX. [2]
In situations where Milwaukee Brewers baseball playoff games conflicted with Packers games (WTMJ and Good Karma Brands originate that team's broadcasts as the Brewers Radio Network) in September and October, WTMJ's FM sister station WKTI (94.5) originated the games in Milwaukee, with other stations in the Packers Radio Network continuing to determine how to carry both games, depending on whether they have a sister station to broadcast both games.
Though its broadcasts began in 1929, WTMJ did not begin paying the Packers for broadcast rights until 1943; it paid the team $7500 to broadcast the season. In the early 1930s, there was no exclusive right given to broadcast games, and WHBY, then based in Green Bay, often sent its own announcers to call the game. From 1933 to 1936, three additional stations carried WTMJ's radio broadcasts of Packer games: WLBL in Stevens Point (a non-commercial station owned by the state commerce department decades before the creation of Wisconsin Public Radio), WTAQ in Green Bay and WKBH in La Crosse. WSAW in Wausau and WJMS in Ironwood, Michigan started carrying the feed in 1937. [3]
On October 27, 2021, the Packers announced that its longtime association with WTMJ would end at the end of the season, and that it had signed a deal with iHeartMedia to make sports radio station "The Game", WRNW (97.3), the team's new Milwaukee radio affiliate in 2022. Packers broadcasts already aired on iHeartMedia stations in Madison, Wisconsin, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and Moline, Illinois. Production of the Packers Radio Network had been transferred from WTMJ to the team in 2018. [4]
Two internal radio stations are operated within the area surrounding Lambeau Field during Packers home games. The first features the Packers Radio Network play-by-play, along with public address and scoreboard announcements, providing the game call to those in attendance without the delay experienced by the uploading of the network feed via satellite. Another station carries the game's television network audio, also in sync with the PA/scoreboard.
Both feeds are located within VHF television channel 5 (76–82 MHz) and operated by the external vendor Live Sports Radio, LLC. [5] [6] They are FM broadcasts on frequencies below the standard FM band, intended to require the purchase of a purpose-built Live Sports Radio tuner from the team's pro shop. However, any radio capable of receiving the Japanese FM band can be used.
WIXX is considered an additional "primary" station in the network. This designation only truly comes to use in the later stages of the NFL Playoffs if the Packers make it to the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl, where WIXX is allowed to carry the Packers Radio Network local call. All other network stations, including those licensed to communities in the Fox Cities, must carry the national Westwood One call instead in line with NFL rules, which included WAPL in the past, despite transmitting from the same tower site as WIXX.
Its primary programming consists of broadcasts of Packer home and away games to a network of 56 stations in Wisconsin, the U.P., Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota, along with a two-hour pre-game show and three-hour postgame show which allows listeners to call, email, or text in a sports talk format about the finished game. Wayne Larrivee has been the play-by-play announcer since 1999, while former Packer center Larry McCarren has worked as the color commentator since 1995. Both Larrivee and McCarren contribute to the team's television programs, in addition to work with Spectrum News 1 statewide, WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee and WGBA-TV in Green Bay, where McCarren was sports director from 2013 until 2015 when he began to focus exclusively on his Packers network duties.
WRNW is the current Milwaukee station airing Learfield coverage of Wisconsin Badgers sports, and its sister stations WOKY (920) and WRIT-FM (95.7) already handle conflict situations between the Badger football and men's basketball teams, giving the Packers contractually-steady coverage throughout the season on WRNW on a full-market FM signal (through full-market stations and FM translators of AM stations and migration of AM stations over to full-power FM stations, Packers play-by-play has shifted to that band throughout the network, as with most of the league's teams). The shift away from WTMJ (whose transmitter is based in the Racine County community of Union Grove, de facto giving Racine and Kenosha a very strong signal) also compelled the team to add a Racine/Kenosha station to the network for the first time in WRJN to make up for WRNW's transmitter position being stronger to the north in the market than the south. [2]
Callsign | Frequency | Band | City | State | Network status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
WRNW | 97.3 | FM | Milwaukee | Wisconsin | Co-Flagship |
WRLO-FM | 105.3 | FM | Antigo | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WATW | 1400 | AM | Ashland | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
W267CS | 101.3 | FM | Ashland | Wisconsin | WATW relay |
WBSZ | 93.3 | FM | Ashland | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WBOO | 102.9 | FM | Baraboo | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WBEV-FM | 95.3 | FM | Beaver Dam | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WJMQ | 92.3 | FM | Clintonville | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WBIZ-FM | 100.7 | FM | Eau Claire | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WGLQ | 97.1 | FM | Escanaba | Michigan | Affiliate |
KFIZ | 1450 | AM | Fond du Lac | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
W264DN | 100.7 | FM | Fond du Lac | Wisconsin | KFIZ relay |
WFON | 107.1 | FM | Fond du Lac | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WFAW | 940 | AM | Fort Atkinson | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WIXX | 101.1 | FM | Green Bay | Wisconsin | Co-Flagship |
WRLS-FM | 92.3 | FM | Hayward | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WCUP | 105.7 | FM | Houghton | Michigan | Affiliate |
WOBE | 100.7 | FM | Iron Mountain | Michigan | Affiliate |
WIMI | 99.7 | FM | Ironwood | Michigan | Affiliate |
WCLO | 1230 | AM | Janesville | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
W224DE | 92.7 | FM | Janesville | Wisconsin | WCLO relay |
WJVL | 99.9 | FM | Janesville | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
W277DV | 101.1 | FM | Janesville | Wisconsin | WFAW relay |
W251BU | 98.1 | FM | Kenosha | Wisconsin | WRJN relay |
WKTY | 580 | AM | La Crosse | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
K244FM | 96.7 | FM | La Crosse | Wisconsin | WKTY relay |
WGLR-FM | 97.7 | FM | Lancaster | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WIBA | 1310 | AM | Madison | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WIBA-FM | 101.5 | FM | Madison | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WOMT | 1240 | AM | Manitowoc–Two Rivers | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
W300EE | 107.9 | FM | Manitowoc–Two Rivers | Wisconsin | WOMT relay |
WLST | 95.1 | FM | Marinette | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WUPZ | 94.9 | FM | Marquette | Michigan | Affiliate |
WKEB | 99.3 | FM | Medford | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WFXN | 1230 | AM | Moline | Illinois | Affiliate |
WYDR | 94.3 | FM | Neenah–Menasha–Fox Cities | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WCCN | 1370 | AM | Neillsville | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
W253CN | 98.5 | FM | Neillsville | Wisconsin | WCCN relay |
WCCN-FM | 107.5 | FM | Neillsville | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WCQM | 98.3 | FM | Park Falls | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WCMP | 1350 | AM | Pine City | Minnesota | Affiliate |
W293DA | 106.5 | FM | Pine City | Minnesota | WCMP relay |
WQPC | 94.3 | FM | Prairie du Chien | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WRJN | 1400 | AM | Racine | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
W260CV | 99.9 | FM | Racine | Wisconsin | WRJN relay |
WCYE | 93.7 | FM | Rhinelander | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WJMC-FM | 96.1 | FM | Rice Lake | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WRCO-FM | 100.9 | FM | Richland Center | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WEVR | 1550 | AM | River Falls | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
W226CK | 93.1 | FM | River Falls | Wisconsin | WEVR relay |
WEVR-FM | 106.3 | FM | River Falls | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WTCH | 960 | AM | Shawano | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
W241CJ | 96.1 | FM | Shawano | Wisconsin | WTCH relay |
WHBL | 1330 | AM | Sheboygan | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
W268BR | 101.5 | FM | Sheboygan | Wisconsin | WHBL relay |
KSOO | 99.1 | FM | Sioux Falls | South Dakota | Affiliate |
WXCX | 105.7 | FM | Siren | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WCOW | 97.1 | FM | Sparta | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WSAU-FM | 99.9 | FM | Stevens Point | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WQDC | 97.7 | FM | Sturgeon Bay | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WDSM | 710 | AM | Superior | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WDUX-FM | 92.7 | FM | Waupaca | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WSAU | 550 | AM | Wausau | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
W236CO | 95.1 | FM | Wausau | Wisconsin | WSAU relay |
WAUH | 102.3 | FM | Wautoma | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WHTL-FM | 102.3 | FM | Whitehall | Wisconsin | Affiliate |
WACY-TV is an independent television station licensed to Appleton, Wisconsin, United States, serving the Green Bay area. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside NBC affiliate WGBA-TV. The two stations share studios on North Road near Airport Drive/WIS 172 in the Green Bay suburb of Ashwaubenon; WACY-TV's transmitter is located in the Shirley section of Glenmore, Wisconsin.
WGBA-TV is a television station in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Appleton-licensed independent station WACY-TV. The two stations share studios on North Road near the WIS 172 freeway in Ashwaubenon ; WGBA-TV's transmitter is located in the unincorporated community of Shirley, east of De Pere, Wisconsin.
WTMJ-TV is a television station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Kenosha-licensed Ion Television station WPXE-TV. WTMJ-TV's studios are located on Capitol Drive in Milwaukee, and its transmitter is located approximately four miles (6.4 km) north of downtown Milwaukee.
WTMJ is a commercial AM radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Owned by Good Karma Brands, the station has a news/talk radio format. Its sign-on dates back to 1922 and for most of its history it was owned by The Milwaukee Journal newspaper. On weekdays, it airs news blocks during drive time, local talk shows in middays, sports in the evening and syndicated shows in late nights. It is the flagship station for Milwaukee Brewers baseball and Milwaukee Bucks basketball.
WRNW is a commercial radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, known as "97.3 The Game". It airs a sports radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios are on West Howard Avenue in Greenfield.
WKTI – branded 94.5 ESPN Milwaukee – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, serving the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Owned by Good Karma Brands, WKTI is an affiliate for ESPN Radio. WKTI is known as ESPN Milwaukee; also jointly identified as ESPN Wisconsin alongside Madison-based sister station WTLX, which simulcasts much of WKTI's local programming. WKTI also serves as the flagship station for the Marquette Golden Eagles; and the radio home of Mark Chmura, Mark Tauscher, Tony Smith and Steve True. WKTI shares its transmitter and tower facility with WTMJ-TV from its former studio located off of Capitol Drive in Milwaukee, an Art Deco facility known as "Radio City", in tribute to the New York complex of the same name. WTMJ radio, WKTI and WGKB moved to a new studio within the Third Street Market Hall in downtown Milwaukee at the end of 2022.
WRIT-FM is a radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It carries a classic hits radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. The rest of the year, WRIT focuses on hits from the 1980s and 1990s, along with a few '60s, '70s and early 2000s titles. WRIT is used as an overflow for sports coverage when there are conflicts on co-owned sports radio station WRNW 97.3 with Wisconsin Badgers football and basketball or Green Bay Packers football.
WOKY is a commercial AM radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It is one of two sports radio stations owned by iHeart in Milwaukee. WRNW focuses on Wisconsin-based sports shows, while WOKY mostly airs national programs from Fox Sports Radio, including Dan Patrick and Colin Cowherd. WOKY's studios and offices, which became the home of all iHeart Milwaukee stations in 2000 after a building expansion, are on West Howard Avenue in Greenfield.
WTAQ and WTAQ-FM are conservative news/talk-formatted radio stations, licensed to Green Bay, Wisconsin (AM) and Glenmore, Wisconsin (FM), that serve the Green Bay and Appleton-Oshkosh areas. The stations are owned by Midwest Communications.
WPXE-TV is a television station licensed to Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Milwaukee area. It is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company alongside NBC affiliate WTMJ-TV, with engineering and some master control operations run out of WTMJ-TV's Radio City facility on East Capitol Drive in Milwaukee. WPXE's transmitter is located on the WITI TV Tower on East Capitol Drive in Shorewood, Wisconsin.
The NFL on Westwood One Sports is the branding for Cumulus Broadcasting subsidiary Westwood One's radio coverage of the National Football League. These games are distributed throughout the United States and Canada. The broadcasts were previously branded with the CBS Radio and Dial Global marques; CBS Radio was the original Westwood One's parent company and Dial Global purchased the company in 2011. Dial Global has since reverted its name to Westwood One after merging with Cumulus Media Networks.
WMLW-TV is an independent television station licensed to Racine, Wisconsin, United States, serving the Milwaukee area. It is owned by Weigel Broadcasting alongside CBS affiliate WDJT-TV and two low-power stations: Telemundo affiliate WYTU-LD and Class A MeTV owned-and-operated station WBME-CD. The stations share studios in the Renaissance Center office complex on South 60th Street in West Allis; WMLW-TV's transmitter is located in Milwaukee's Lincoln Park.
Wayne Larrivee is an American sportscaster. Larrivee is currently the radio play-by-play voice of the Green Bay Packers on the Packers Radio Network alongside color commentator Larry McCarren and calls college football and basketball for the Big Ten Network on television. Despite his current job with the Packers, Larrivee has long been associated with Chicago sports, having spent time as the voice of the Chicago Cubs, over a decade as the voice of the Chicago Bears and nearly twenty years as the television voice of the Chicago Bulls.
WAPL is a classic rock formatted radio station licensed to Appleton, Wisconsin, that serves the Green Bay and Appleton-Oshkosh areas. The station is owned by Woodward Communications, and has studios on College Avenue in Appleton, with transmitting facilities located near the WGBA Tower west of unincorporated Shirley in the Town of Glenmore in southeastern Brown County.
Jim Irwin was an American sportscaster at WTMJ Radio in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is best known for being the radio voice of the Green Bay Packers for 30 years.
Laurence Anthony McCarren is an American sports broadcaster and former professional football player. He played as a center for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers. McCarren had a long career as the Packers' starting center. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 1982 and 1983. After his playing career ended, he was inducted in the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.
WYDR is a radio station broadcasting a variety hits music format, licensed to both Neenah and Menasha, Wisconsin and transmitting from High Cliff State Park in Northwestern Calumet County. WYDR has its studios at Midwest Communications' facilities on Bellevue Street in the Green Bay suburb of Bellevue, adjacent to the tower site of sister station WNFL.
The Milwaukee Brewers Radio Network is a 34-station radio network in Wisconsin and Michigan that broadcasts baseball games and related programming for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball, and is operated in lieu of the Brewers by Good Karma Brands. The network's flagship is WTMJ/620 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which was purchased by Good Karma Brands in 2018. WTMJ served as the flagship station for the network for all but three years of the Brewers' existence.
The Milwaukee Bucks Radio Network is a 16-station radio network in Wisconsin and Michigan that broadcasts basketball games and related programming for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association. Since the Bucks inaugural season, WTMJ/620 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has served as the flagship station for the network.
Russell Griffith Winnie was an American sports commentator. A pioneer in his field, he was the first broadcaster for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL), announcing their games for WTMJ from 1929 to 1946. He also announced games for the Wisconsin Badgers football and basketball teams, as well as for the minor league Milwaukee Brewers baseball team.