ESPN will move its Denver radio affiliation to the Bonneville International-owned 1600 AM, the sister station of 104.3 The Fan, following Front Range Sports Network’s agreement to sell 105.5 FM to Greeley-based community radio station KUNC.
The sale of 105.5 FM, announced on Monday, will allow non-commercial KUNC to split music and news formats, offering expanded news and information broadcasts on its current dial position, 91.5 FM, and launching its non-commercial music format full-time on the new frequency. The move is similar to one undertaken by Colorado Public Radio, which split its programming between 90.1 FM for news and 102.3 FM for music in January.
The agreement in principle between Bonneville and ESPN came together about two weeks ago but has not been formally signed, according to Bob Call, the market manager for KKFN 104.3 FM and KEPN 1600 AM. The move will put ESPN’s nationally syndicated programming – including the “Mike & Mike Show” and “The Dan Le Batard Show” – on 1600 AM full-time and on The Fan after midnight, which is currently filled with NBC radio programming.
“I don’t see any local programming changes,” Call said. “However, we will be adding some ESPN ‘insiders’ who will be appearing on various shows.”
ESPN programming will move to 1600 AM on Jan. 4 after 105.5 ends its sports programming on Jan. 3. Call declined to disclose the terms of the deal.
Local hosts on The Fan will have access to ESPN’s stable of “insider” talent for commentary and insight on its programs that could include former Denver Post reporter Adam Schefter, now one of ESPN’s “NFL Insiders.” The Fan was last ESPN’s radio affiliate in 2012, when it moved to the Front Range Sports Network. Conversations between The Fan and ESPN have been off-and-on for several years, Call said.
The move accelerates a contraction of local sports programming seen in Denver over the last few years. The loss of 105.5 FM means that hosts Nate Kreckman and Cecil Lammey will be out of work.
“The writing has been on the wall for a while,” said Kreckman, who said the station’s staff was informed of the sale on Friday. “This had much more to do with station ownership looking to get out of the sports market.
“I was long overdue to have a shakeup (in my career), but whatever happens, happens.”
On 105.5 FM, KUNC’s new music format will launch on Feb. 29 with “a combination of emerging and established artists, blending rock, blues, soul and more, reflecting Colorado’s unique lifestyle.” Colorado artists past and present will be prominently featured.
This means instead of switching to music at 9 a.m. – and then back to news and information at 2 p.m., as has been KUNC practice – the stations will offer round-the-clock options of both music and news. Program schedules are yet to be determined.
Bonneville-owned 104.3 The Fan is already the dominant sports radio broadcaster in the market, with extensive local programming and some national programming. Since Front Range Sports Network had moved to broadcasting ESPN radio on 105.5 FM, it had struggled with market penetration in Denver. Its signal was strongest in northern Colorado and weakest in Denver, where many of its most lucrative advertisers were based.
The station was not owned and operated by ESPN (as some stations in larger markets are), but structured instead around an affiliate model, which will continue at 1600 AM. That arrangement means that Bonneville pays ESPN an affiliate fee, allowing 1600 AM to brand itself using ESPN logos and promote ESPN programming. In return, ESPN maintains a presence in the Denver market, one of the top 20 in the nation, and allows Bonneville to sell advertising around programming from a prominent worldwide sports brand.
Broadly, Disney-owned ESPN has struggled with seismic changes in the media business as more people have cut pay-television subscriptions in favor of over-the-top programming from the Internet, including Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon Prime and others. Sports programming has been somewhat insulated from those shifts because local sports teams are still carried on regional TV affiliates, though the NFL this year experimented with live-streaming a game on Yahoo!. ESPN has lost seven million subscribers during the last two years and has dumped high-priced talent as a result, including Keith Olbermann, Colin Cowherd (who just moved to FOX Sports).
Front Range Sports’ move to sell the station was not believed to be related ESPN’s troubles. Fragmentation in media consumption – with so many options available for consumers – means that attracting large enough audiences to traditional radio broadcasts has become more difficult in recent years. Tom Manoogian, who owns Front Range Sports Network, said he was unavailable to immediately comment about the sale.
“For us, it’s actually gotten easier,” said Mile High Sports president James Merilatt, who has operated an independent sports talk radio station in Denver since 2007, now on 1340 AM. “For traditional stations, it’s gotten harder. They sell ratings, and they need to attract huge audiences.”
Mile High Sports operates a brokered model in which radio hosts pay for time at the station, provide their own producers and talent and sell the show on their own. In return, they get a distribution channel and some resources from the station. Each show, in other words, is its own business entity.
“Radio is not dying,” said Merilatt, whose company also produces a magazine and website. “How you run the business is changing. What some people would consider the heyday of radio in the 1980s and 1990s, it’s not that. There’s just not that many people listening for that length in time anymore.”
KUNC will broadcast its current lineup on both frequencies after repairs and upgrades to the 105.5 transmitter site, beginning in January.
“We are also in the process of developing a new app for your phone and tablet created expressly for our Music Discovery station,” KUNC president and CEO Neil Best said.
Staffing and technical considerations have yet to be addressed.
