ESPN Radio


ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. The network airs a regular schedule of daily and weekly programming as well as live coverage of sports events including Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, National Basketball Association, Army Black Knights football, College Football Playoff, Championship Week, and UEFA Champions League games.
ESPN Radio is broadcast to hundreds of affiliate stations as well as to subscribers of Sirius XM Radio in the United States and Canada. The network's content is also streamed online and via mobile applications and other media devices via TuneIn, and several affiliates and owned stations are also available through the service. In 2014, ESPN partnered with TuneIn to create 24/7 streams of its most popular programming including Mike & Mike and SVP & Russillo. Select iHeartMedia-owned ESPN Radio affiliates are available through iHeartRadio.

History

ESPN Radio Network was formed in September 1991 by both ESPN Inc. and Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.'s ABC Radio Networks. Twenty-five stations had already signed on as affiliates as of its announcement on September 5, 1991, with an expected total of 200 at the January launch. Shelby Whitfield, executive producer of ABC Radio Sports, and John A. Walsh, executive editor of ESPN, were placed in charge of the venture. The network launched as Sports Radio ESPN on January 1, 1992. At first, ESPN Radio broadcast only on weekends. The network debut with 16 hours running on 147 affiliates in 43 states. Its initial programming consisted of news shows, update segments, and occasional features.
By 1996, ESPN Radio had expanded to weekdays with a show hosted by The Fabulous Sports Babe, Nancy Donnellan. One hour of that show was simulcast on ESPN2. Two years later, Tony Bruno and Mike Golic were brought together for a new morning show, the Bruno & Golic Morning Show which aired until Bruno left the network in 2000. Mike Greenberg was named as Bruno's replacement, and the morning show became Mike & Mike, which aired until 2017. In January, 2010, Mike & Mike celebrated their 10-year anniversary on ESPN Radio. Dan Patrick was a mainstay in the afternoons until his departure from ESPN in 2007.
Gradually, ESPN added more dayparts and became a 24-hour service. In 1995, ESPN Radio gained national radio rights to the NBA. In 1997, it gained the national radio rights to MLB. Disney purchased WEVD from the Forward Association in September 2002 to become WEPN, ESPN Radio's flagship station. On June 12, 2007, Disney spun off and merged its ABC Radio Networks with Citadel Broadcasting into Citadel Communications while retaining its ESPN Radio and Radio Disney networks and stations.
On July 7, 2020, ESPN announced major changes to its weekday radio schedule. Effective August 17, 2020, Keyshawn, Jay and Zubin will become ESPN Radio's new weekday morning show, replacing Golic and Wingo, and will air from 6-10 a.m. ET. The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz will follow, airing from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET. The Mike Greenberg Show will air from 12-2 p.m. ET, followed by The Max Kellerman Show from 2-4 p.m. ET. Chiney and Golic Jr. will air from 4-7 p.m. ET, and Jason Fitz will join Sarah Spain for Spain & Fitz from 7-9 p.m. ET.

Current programming

Weekday programming
ProgramTime HostOriginal Run
SportsCenter AllNight1am-6am Jay Reynolds
Golic and Wingo6am-10amMike Golic, Sr., Mike Golic, Jr. and Trey Wingo
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz10am-1pmDan Le Batard and Jon "Stugotz" Weiner
First Take, Your Take1pm-3pmJason Fitz
ESPN Radio Afternoon3pm-6pmRotating Hosts
Spain and Company6pm-9pmSarah Spain
Freddie and Fitzsimmons9pm-1amFreddie Coleman and Ian Fitzsimmons

Saturday programming
ProgramTime HostOriginal Run
SportsCenter AllNight1am-6amJay Reynolds
The Sporting Life6am-7amJeremy Schaap
Marty and McGee7am-9amMarty Smith and Ryan McGee
Dari and Mel9am-12pmDari Nowkhah and Mel Kiper Jr.
GameDay12pm-4pmEmmett Golden and Amber Wilson
Dickerson & Hood4pm-8pmJeff Dickerson and Jonathan Hood
GameNight8pm-2am

MLB on ESPN Radio often airs on Saturday afternoon with varied times week to week, those times are usually in-tune with the FOX Saturday Baseball Telecast which airs its games at 4 or 7 p.m. ET, with the start time being one hour prior to first pitch. They might also line up with the other game of the series of whoever is playing on the Sunday Night Baseball game the next day. NBA on ESPN Radio also plays on Saturdays, usually being the same matchup for the Saturday Primetime game that is airing as a part of the NBA on ABC.
Sunday programming
ProgramTime HostOriginal Run-
SportsCenter AllNight2am-6amJay Reynolds-
The Sporting Life6am-7amJeremy Schaap-
Best Week Ever7am-10am-
Sunday Morning10am-12pm-
GameDay12pm-4pmChris Carlin
Dickerson & Hood4pm-7pmJeff Dickerson and Jonathan Hood-
NBA Insiders7pm-10pm-
GameNight8pm-2am-

As with Saturdays, MLB on ESPN Radio and NBA on ESPN Radio air Sundays as well. They coincide with Sunday Night Baseball, the NBA on ABC Sunday Showcase, or with a Sunday Night NBA on ESPN game if there is no Sunday Showcase that day.

Seasonal shows

ESPN Radio currently has four company-owned and/or operated stations in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas, with the Chicago station managed by Good Karma Brands, which owns and operates a number of other ESPN Radio stations in Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida; the Dallas station is operated by Cumulus Media. Each station is partnered with an ESPN local website named for the city and featuring a completely separate staff of sportswriters and reporters for each market who give their local viewpoints of local sports. Most other markets have ESPN Radio affiliates, whether they be part-time or have their entire format dedicated to ESPN Radio.

Owned and/or operated

MarketStationFrequency
New YorkWEPN-FM¹98.7 FM
Los AngelesKSPN710 AM
ChicagoWMVP²1000 AM
DallasKESN³103.3 FM