The Chicago White Sox Radio Network is an American radio network airing baseball games from the Chicago White Sox. The English-language flagship is WMVP in Chicago, with Spanish language coverage airing on WRTO (1200). The English language network consists of 19 stations [1] For the 2019 season, the play-by-play announcers were Ed Farmer and Jason Benetti (who joins the broadcast team for national broadcasts and for White Sox's games where Ken Harrelson and Chuck Swirsky fills-in for him); the color commentator was Darrin Jackson. [2] Farmer died on April 1, 2020, after a long-term battle with polycystic kidney disease. [3] Pre-game host Andy Masur substituted for Farmer during 2020's truncated spring training, and was named as Farmer's successor on June 30, 2020, a role that would be temporary due to the team's radio rights expiring at the end of the season. [4] [5]
WSCR's contract with the White Sox expired after the 2015 season. WLS (890) was to be the new White Sox flagship station from the 2016 through the 2021 seasons; however, WLS owner Cumulus Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2017 and entered into a restructuring agreement with certain of its lenders to reduce more than $1 billion in debt. [6] The Bankruptcy Court allowed Cumulus and WLS to end its contract with the White Sox. WGN became the new flagship station of the Chicago White Sox on February 14, 2018. [7] WGN's contract expired after the 2020 season, with WMVP, an ESPN Radio-owned station operated by Good Karma Brands, taking over beginning with the 2021 season, WMVP had previously carried the White Sox for 11 seasons between 1995 and 2005. [8] Shortly thereafter, Len Kasper, formerly the television voice for the Chicago Cubs, was hired as the radio play-by-play announcer for the White Sox. [9] Connor McKnight succeeded Masur as pre-game host and fill-in play-by-play announcer.
Callsign | Frequency | Band | Location | Language | Additional notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
WMVP | 1000 | AM | Chicago | English | |
WSHE-FM-HD2 | 100.3-2 | FM | HD Radio simulcast of WMVP | ||
WRTO | 1200 | AM | Spanish |
Callsign | Frequency | Location |
---|---|---|
WBIG | 1280 AM | Aurora |
WCEZ | 93.9 FM | Carthage |
WLBK | 1360 AM | DeKalb |
WAIK | 1590 AM | Galesburg |
WCMY | 1430 AM | Ottawa |
WZOE | 1490 AM | Princeton |
WRHL | 1060 AM | Rochelle |
WSDR | 1240 AM | Sterling |
WSPL | 1250 AM | Streator |
WVIL | 101.3 FM | Virginia (Jacksonville area) |
Callsign | Frequency | Location |
---|---|---|
WMRI | 860 AM | Marion |
WMRS | 107.7 FM | Monticello |
WSJD | 100.5 FM | Princeton |
WRIN | 1420 AM 104.5 FM | Rensselaer (daytime only on AM) |
WLQI | 97.7 FM | Rensselaer |
WRDI | 95.7 FM | South Bend |
WSLM | 1220 AM | Salem |
Callsign | Frequency | Location |
---|---|---|
KCPS | 1150 AM | Burlington |
KBOB | 1170 AM | Quad Cities |
KQWC | 95.7 FM | Webster City |
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and plays its home games at Guaranteed Rate Field, located on Chicago's South Side. The White Sox are one of two MLB teams based in Chicago, the other being the Chicago Cubs of the National League (NL) Central division.
WLS is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Cumulus Media, through licensee Radio License Holdings LLC, the station airs a talk radio format. WLS has its radio studios in the NBC Tower on North Columbus Drive in the city's Streeterville neighborhood. Its non-directional broadcast tower is located on the southwestern edge of Tinley Park, Illinois in Will County.
WGN is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a talk radio format. WGN's studios are in the Chicago Loop, while the transmitter is in Elk Grove Village. WGN also features broadcasts of Chicago Blackhawks hockey and Northwestern University football and basketball.
WLS-TV is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's ABC network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on North State Street in the Chicago Loop, and its transmitter is located atop the Willis Tower.
WCIU-TV is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is the flagship television property of locally based Weigel Broadcasting, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to two low-power stations: independent outlet WMEU-CD and MeTV/Heroes & Icons flagship WWME-CD. The stations share studios on Halsted Street in the Greektown neighborhood, while WCIU-TV's transmitter is located atop the Willis Tower in the Chicago Loop.
Len Kasper is an American sportscaster. As of 2023 he is the radio play-by-play announcer for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball, teaming with color analyst Darrin Jackson on ESPN 1000 and the Chicago White Sox Radio Network.
Robert Arthur Elson was a pioneering American sportscaster who was the voice of the Chicago White Sox for all or parts of four decades. Known as "The 'Ol Commander", he broadcast an estimated 5,000 major league baseball games. In his prime, was among the leading play-by-play men in the game. In 1979, he received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame for his excellence and longevity in the industry.
Chuck Swirsky is an American–Canadian radio sports announcer. He is the play-by-play voice of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Swirsky's association with Chicago sports started in 1979 with his WCFL AM 1000 talk show, which debuted on August 27 of that year. Outside Chicago, Swirsky called play-by-play for both University of Michigan basketball and football and was formerly the play-by-play voice of the Toronto Raptors.
WSCR – branded as 670 The Score – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, the Chicago metropolitan area and much of surrounding Northern Illinois, Northwest Indiana and parts of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Owned by Audacy, Inc., WSCR is a clear-channel station with extended nighttime range in most of the Central United States and part of the Eastern United States. WSCR is the Chicago affiliate for the BetQL Network, CBS Sports Radio, the Fighting Illini Sports Network and the NFL on Westwood One Sports; the flagship station for the Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bulls radio networks; and the home of radio personalities David Haugh and Matt Spiegel.
David Lawrence Kaplan is an American columnist, radio and television personality who currently co-hosts Kap and J. Hood weekday mornings from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. CST on ESPN 1000. He also has a highly popular YouTube page where he posts what he has popularized as the reKAP after every Cubs, White Sox, Bears and other Chicago and major sporting events.
Andy Masur is an American sportscaster who was formerly the radio play-by-play announcer for the Chicago White Sox Radio Network for WGN (720).
NBC Sports Chicago is an American regional sports network that broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports teams in the Chicago metropolitan area, as well as college sports events and original sports-related news, discussion and entertainment programming. It is branded as part of the NBC Sports Regional Networks.
Several Major League Baseball teams have historically carried their games on superstations, which are broadcast television stations that are distributed on a regional or national basis on cable and satellite television.
The Chicago Cubs Radio Network comprises 30 stations in six states.
WGN Sports was the programming division of WGN-TV, an independent television station located in Chicago, Illinois, United States—which is owned by the Nexstar Media Group—that was responsible for all sports broadcasts on the station, some of which were previously also broadcast on its former national superstation feed, WGN America.
Major League Baseball on NBC Sports Regional Networks refers to Major League Baseball television coverage on the chain of NBC Sports regional networks.
Marquee Sports Network is a regional sports network operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group and the Chicago Cubs, launched on February 22, 2020. It is devoted exclusively to Cubs baseball, replacing a trio of channels as the exclusive broadcaster of Cubs games not shown on national TV.