Third all-sports radio station coming in January
KFNC (97.5 FM) will become ESPN Radio’s Houston affiliate in January, giving the city three all-sports radio stations, the general manager of the Cumulus Media-owned station said Tuesday.
Pat Fant, the longtime Houston radio executive who is Cumulus’ Houston market manager, said the station will mix ESPN Radio programming with one or more local shows and, if the opportunity presents itself, local sports play-by-play.
“This opportunity presented itself to us, and it was a clear fit for the goals of our company and for ESPN to leverage that big brand name on an FM station in this market,” Fant said. “We’re excited about the talent we’re going to put front and center on the FM version of ESPN Radio.”
ESPN Radio will switch from KBME (790 AM), which signed on as Houston’s second all-sports station in late 2004, in early January.
KFNC will continue with its current program mix, which includes syndicated shows with the Jim Pruett and Brian Shannon morning show, until making the format switch, its third in a year, at that time.
ESPN reportedly made the move in part to obtain full clearance for its Mike Greenberg/Mike Golic morning show, but Fant said KFNC will look at options for local shows at other times of the day.
“There’s no way we would do this without local content,” he said. “We’re also leaving the door open for play-by-play. Our phones work, our doors are open, and we’re ready to have conversations about play-by-play sports that make sense for us on this station.”
Fant said the station “has a number of options and is talking to some great talent right now” about local talk shows. KFNC currently carries a weekend auto racing show and Joe Pogge’s weekend golf show.
KFNC operates at the maximum 100,000-watt signal strength from a transmitter east of Houston near Winnie.
Its signal is stronger on the east side of the city but can be heard throughout Houston, Fant said.
Ken Charles, regional vice president for Clear Channel Communications, which owns KBME, said he questions whether there is room for a third all-sports station that emphasizes national programming.
“We learned when we launched (KBME) that you have to have good local personalities,” he said.
Bill Van Rysdam, program director for all-sports market leader KILT (610 AM), had no comment on Tuesday’s announcement.
