SportsMap

Last updated
SportsMap
SportsMap Radio.png
Type Sports
Country
Ownership
ParentGow Broadcasting
History
Launch date1991 (1991)
Links
Webcast Listen Live
Website SportsMapRadio.com

SportsMap is a sports radio network that is distributed by Gow Media. [1] [2]

Contents

The SportsMap Radio Network supplies its network affiliates with a 24-hour schedule of sports programming, including call-in shows and sports updates. Over its history, through cross-branding agreements, the SportsMap Radio Network has gone by the names SB Nation Radio, Yahoo! Sports Radio, Sporting News Radio, and One-on-One Sports.

History

SEN (1991–1993)

Originally, the network was called the Sports Entertainment Network and was headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. Founded in 1991, it was the third all-sports radio network in the United States. [ citation needed ] The prior two networks were Enterprise Sports Network which existed briefly in the late '70s and early 1980s, and RTV Sports which operated out of Mashpee, Massachusetts (on Cape Cod) in 1987 and 1988 and was syndicated on 27 stations across the US. RTV's owner, Tom Star, abruptly shut it down and absconded with the assets and paychecks suddenly in the summer of 1988 without a word to the staff and talent.[ citation needed ]

One on One Sports (1993–2001)

In 1993, One on One Sports bought Sports Entertainment Network, moved it to Northbrook, Illinois, and renamed it. One on One Sports was founded in 1991 and delivered closed-circuit broadcasts to spectators attending sporting events such as golf tournaments and auto races, utilizing custom radio receivers. They audio coupled play-by-play commentary with special programming for the listeners at the event. One on One Sports had sports updates every 20 minutes, that it called "One On One Sports Flash". SEN/One on One Sports was the nation's first 24/7 sports radio network; beating out SportsFan Radio Network, Prime Sports Radio (based in Dallas), and ESPN Radio (which was mainly nights and weekends through the late 1990s).[ citation needed ] One on One Sports' program clock mirrored WFAN's with "One on One Sports Flash" updates at :00, :20, & :40, past the hour. During its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, major market affiliates for One on One Sports included KTCK, Dallas/Ft. Worth; KILT, Houston; KDUS, Phoenix; KJR, Seattle; WQAM, Miami; WNST, Baltimore. Hosts & Sports Flash anchors from the One on One Sports-era included: Art Mehring, Bruce Jacobs, Scott "Football" Franzke, Bob Kemp, Jay Mariotti, Peter Brown, Kevin Wheeler, Scott Wetzel, Andy Masur, Rick Ballou, Arnie "Stinkin' Genius" Spanier, plus Bob Berger and Bruce Murray hosting the 6-hour long weekend scoreboard shows from 1-7p.m. ET (Berger and Murray were also the main fill-ins for the weekday daytime shows).

One on One eventually acquired several O&O owned and operated radio stations including 620 WJWR (now WSNR) in New York City, 950 WIDB (now WNTD) in Chicago, 1540 KCTD (now KMPC) in Los Angeles, California and 1510 WNRB (now WMEX) in Boston, Massachusetts. Most of One on One's O&O stations were low-rated, but they had high-profile local hosts including Brian Kilmeade (now of FOX News) hosting on WJWR, Tony Bruno on KCTD, and Bill Simmons and Sean McDonough on WNRB, [3] plus the flagship rights to the Boston Celtics on WNRB[ citation needed ] .

Sporting News Radio (2001–2011)

One On One Sports was bought by The Sporting News magazine in 2000, and thus the network was renamed Sporting News Radio in early 2001. The only real change SNR made was in August 2005, when it received an updated program clock and music package.

In 2006, SNR owner Paul Allen (best known as the co-founder of Microsoft) sold SNR and The Sporting News. The network and magazine went to American City Business Journals of Charlotte, North Carolina, while the three remaining stations (KMPC, WWZN, and WSNR) were then re-sold to other companies.

In 2007, Sporting News Radio moved its network headquarters from Northbrook, Illinois to Santa Monica, California. In 2010, the network headquarters were relocated once again to Houston, Texas, with the de facto network flagship becoming 1560 KGOW.

Yahoo! Sports Radio (2011–2016)

On August 1, 2011, Sporting News Radio re-branded as Yahoo! Sports Radio as part of a marketing relationship with Yahoo!. The partnership included the co-development of content for the network, and access to resources and personalities from Yahoo! Sports and its college sports website Rivals.com. David Gow explained that with the partnership, GOW was "picking up one of the most recognizable brand names in the world. We're getting access to some of the best sports journalism in the country, and we get to link ourselves together in a way that will accelerate the growth of our digital business." No financial details of the relationship were announced, and GOW remained the sole operator of the network. [2]

SB Nation Radio (2016–2020)

SB Nation Radio, 2016 to 2020 SB Nation Radio.png
SB Nation Radio, 2016 to 2020

On July 18, 2016, Gow announced a partnership with Vox Media-owned sports blog network SB Nation, with the network renamed SB Nation Radio on August 1, 2016, and collaborating with SB Nation's personalities and local sites to co-develop content for on-air and digital platforms (such as podcasts). [4]

In November 10, 2017, VSporto, a sports podcasting network, reached an agreement with SB Nation to provide different podcasts to fill-in airtime for Saturday overnight/Sunday morning slot (midnight-8:00 a.m. EST).

In August 2019, SB Nation Radio launched a spin-off service, The BetR Network, in partnership with Vegas Stats & Information Network; the network initially combines programming from SB Nation Radio with programming from VSiN, but there were plans for additional programs specific to the network (with the first, The Lombardi Line with Michael Lombardi, airing on weekends). The network's launch stations were WBSS in Atlantic City and KBAD in Las Vegas. [5]

SportsMap Radio Network (2020)

On July 27, 2020, Gow Media dropped the SB Nation brand in favor of its own SportsMap brand, as it felt the network no longer benefited from cross-branding and had lost operational control in the process. [6]

Personalities

Prominent personalities on SportsMap Radio Network as of 2020 include Scott Ferrall, Jake Asman, Eytan Shander, Bill Schmid and Denton Day.

Related Research Articles

Sports 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 of local sports teams as part of their regular programming. Hosted by Bill Mazer, the first sports talk radio show in history launched in March 1964 on New York's WNBC (AM).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KLAV</span> Radio station in Las Vegas, Nevada

KLAV is a commercial radio station located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Owned by Lotus Communications, the station airs a betting-focused all-sports radio format featuring programming from the locally-based "BetR Network" and programming from SportsMap. Its studios are located in the unincorporated community of Spring Valley in Clark County and its transmitter is located in North Las Vegas.

KMPC is a commercial AM radio station in Los Angeles, California. It is owned by P&Y Broadcasting Corporation. Radio Korea is a division of the Radio Korea Media Group. The station airs Korean–language programming, a blend of talk, news, information, and music for the largest Korean–American community in the United States, and the largest Korean community outside Korea. KMPC is one of four radio stations in the greater Los Angeles area that broadcast entirely in Korean. The others are 1190 KGBN Anaheim, 1230 KYPA Los Angeles and 1650 KFOX Torrance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KSPN (AM)</span> ESPN radio station in Los Angeles, California

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KXST is a commercial radio station licensed to North Las Vegas, Nevada, and broadcasting to the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs a sports gambling format, carrying programming from the BetQL network. The studios and offices are located in the unincorporated Clark County area of Spring Valley. In April 2018, KXST became the official Las Vegas affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers Radio Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WEEI-FM</span> Sports radio station in Lawrence, Massachusetts, serving Boston

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Rose City Radio Corporation was the owner of two radio stations in Portland, Oregon, NewsRadio 750 KXL and KXTG-FM 95.5 The Game, until those stations were sold to Alpha Broadcasting. Rose City also owns the Radio Northwest Network which airs programming on KXL to 17 affiliates throughout Oregon. Featured programming includes the Lars Larson show, Around the House, In the Garden, Mr Barbeque and NW Vine Time. All the shows are locally produced by Rose City Radio and focus on Oregon issues and trends.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Bruno</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">WMEX (AM)</span> Radio station in Quincy, Massachusetts, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">KRLV (AM)</span> Radio station in Las Vegas, Nevada

KRLV is a commercial AM radio station in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, serving the Las Vegas area. Owned by Lotus Communications, KRLV airs a sports radio format focused on the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League. The station's studios and offices are located in the unincorporated community of Spring Valley in Clark County. A secondary studio is located at the Raiders headquarters and practice facility in Henderson. The transmitter is located off Wild Jan Drive, northwest of downtown Las Vegas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXYT (AM)</span> Radio station in Detroit, Michigan

WXYT is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Detroit, Michigan, broadcasting a sports talk format. The station serves the Detroit-Windsor market and the Southeastern Michigan and Southwestern Ontario areas. Its transmitter is in Monroe County at Ash Township and operations and studios are at Entercom's facilities in Southfield, Michigan. WXYT is a 50,000–watt, Class B station broadcasting on a regional frequency. It is not a clear-channel station because of its frequency and highly directional antenna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KPTR (AM)</span> Talk radio station in Seattle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">ESPNU Radio</span> Radio station

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WSNR is a commercial radio station, licensed to Jersey City, New Jersey, and serving the New York metropolitan area. It airs a brokered time radio format. The station is co-owned by Gregory Davidzon and Sam Katsman, through licensee Davidzon Radio, Inc. Davidzon is a Russian-American media mogul who also publishes a weekly newspaper under his name. Weekday programming consists of Russian pop music and talk shows as "Davidzon Radio," named after the station's co-owner. Nighttime and weekend hours are leased to various ethnic and specialty programmers. During part of the weekend, the station airs a Caribbean format, "One Caribbean Radio."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KFNC</span> Radio station in Mont Belvieu, Texas

KFNC is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Mont Belvieu, Texas. KFNC is paired with an on-channel FM booster, KFNC-FM1, licensed to Houston. The facilities serve the Greater Houston and Golden Triangle areas of southeast Texas. The station is owned by David Gow, through licensee Gow Media, LLC, with studios and offices in Uptown Houston one block from The Galleria. KFNC is a network affiliate of ESPN Radio, carried late nights and weekends. Local sports shows are heard weekdays from 7 a.m. to midnight and on weekend mornings.

KQPN is a commercial AM radio station licensed to West Memphis, Arkansas, and serving the Memphis metropolitan area. It is owned by F.W. Robbert Broadcasting. The station is branded as "Memphis' Sports Station," and is commonly referred to as 'SportsMap Radio 730'. Much of its programming comes from the SportsMap Sports Network. KQPN is also Memphis' home for Mississippi State University Bulldogs athletics.

WBSS, is a 400-watt radio station operating with a sports betting talk format, licensed to Pleasantville, New Jersey. This station is under ownership of Longport Media and it serves three counties in New Jersey: Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May. Along the Garden State Parkway the station can be heard clearly from Exit 74 to Exit 10.

Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company based in Washington, D.C., and New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass SB Nation and The Verge. Bankoff had been the CEO for SB Nation since 2009.

<i>SB Nation</i> American sports blogging website

SB Nation is a sports blogging network owned by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Tyler Bleszinski, Markos Moulitsas, and Jerome Armstrong in 2005. The blog from which the network formed was started by Bleszinski as Athletics Nation in 2003, and focused solely on the Oakland Athletics. It has since expanded to cover sports franchises on a national scale, including all Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Football League, and National Hockey League teams, as well as college and soccer teams, mixed martial arts and professional wrestling, totaling over 300 community sites. In 2011, the network expanded into technology content with The Verge, leading to the parent company Sports Blogs Inc. being rebranded as Vox Media. SB Nation operates from Vox Media's offices in New York City and Washington, D.C.

References

  1. "Yahoo! Sports and Gow Broadcasting Hit the Radio Airwaves with Yahoo! Sports Radio". Yahoo! . Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  2. 1 2 David Barron (August 1, 2011). "Sporting News Radio becomes Yahoo Sports Radio". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  3. "An oral history of Boston sports radio's 1510 The Zone". BostonDotCom. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  4. "SB Nation Expands Into Radio Programming With Gow Media Accord". Bloomberg. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  5. "The BetR Network To Debut August 5 On KBAD Las Vegas & WBSS Atlantic City". RadioInsight. 2019-07-24. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  6. "SB Nation Radio To Rebrand As SportsMap Radio Network – RadioInsight".