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ESPN to move in Birmingham

passtheword

passtheword

...according to "the other radio board"...

"Cox’ “97.3 The Zone” WZNN picks up the ESPN national feed for nights and weekends. 1320 WENN and new translator 107.3 W294BL will carry ESPN programming around the clock. Classic Hip-Hop “Power 102.1” W270BW will continue to air the programming that had originated at 1320, with programming now fed off of an HD subchannel of one of Cox’ FMs."
 
Zach said:
Cox doesn't have any active hd stations that I'm aware of.
Click to expand...

I don't know if they're actually running HD, but Cox is licensed to run it on 95.7 and 97.3. Cox rarely runs multiple channels on the stations it has that run HD, though they have a few, mostly Atlanta, Orlando and Miami. Also, they've been using HD to add stations in Greenville/Spartanburg, even though they say they're getting out of that market, too.
 
Zach said:
D'oh. I completely forgot about 97.3. It runs HD with no subchannels. I think they're also licensed to use 107.7 in addition to 95.7.
Click to expand...

Couldn't be 107.7. WUHT is owned by Cumulus.
 
D'oh again, then.

Another radio site is saying this switch has already happened, and that 102.1 is still urban through one of Cox's HD stations. I guess that's WZNN. Can anyone tell if they've added a subchannel, and if WJOX is off ESPN now?
 
Zach said:
D'oh again, then.

Another radio site is saying this switch has already happened, and that 102.1 is still urban through one of Cox's HD stations. I guess that's WZNN. Can anyone tell if they've added a subchannel, and if WJOX is off ESPN now?
Click to expand...

Not sure, but as of this afternoon, WENN-AM was still programming the Power 102.1 format.

Just a side note...I was up in Hoover today and thought I'd check and see if W294BL (107.3) might be on the air (or testing) from their new Red Mtn facilities. I heard a fairly good signal on 107.3, so I figured that must be it. Then the station IDed as WVLL, Alabaster/Pelham, "The Valley". It appears those folks aren't quite ready to surrender the frequency to Cox just yet... :D
 
WJOX is now airing Fox Sports on both AM and FM. WZNN is now branding themselves as ESPN Radio 97-3 the Zone, and is airing ESPN programming when they aren't local. As for what's airing on WENN-AM....I don't know. I can't pick them up in Shelby County, and even where I work in Homewood (off Lakeshore Drive, near Robert Trent Jones and Ross Bridge), I can't get them in my car.
 
Personally I think it'd be smarter to keep the Power format on 1320 and the translator since they probably compliment each other, reception-wise, and use the new translator and an HD-2 for ESPN 24/7. That way ESPN would always be available in some form on WZNN. WMFS-FM & AM in Memphis do this and it seems to work OK. I remember hearing the Alabama/Auburn game a few years ago on the HD-2 while the main channel carried something more locally-oriented to that market.
 
Charles1 said:
WZNN is now branding themselves as ESPN Radio 97-3 the Zone, and is airing ESPN programming when they aren't local.
Click to expand...

Goodness, that name is a mouthful. Don't most ESPN affiliates brand themselves simply as "ESPN Radio (frequency)" or "ESPN Radio (city)"?
 
whitfm said:
Charles1 said:
WZNN is now branding themselves as ESPN Radio 97-3 the Zone, and is airing ESPN programming when they aren't local.
Click to expand...

Goodness, that name is a mouthful. Don't most ESPN affiliates brand themselves simply as "ESPN Radio (frequency)" or "ESPN Radio (city)"?
Click to expand...

Most do what you described--but searching the web a bit, WZNN isn't the only one using both ESPN branding and a [now] secondary tag like 'The Zone' or 'The Ticket'. Albany, NY's affiliate is 'ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team'.

For that matter, some of ESPN stations (most notably ESPN/Disney-owned stations) have de-emphasized direct mention of 'radio': 710 ESPN Los Angeles, ESPN 1000 Chicago, or the new 'ESPN New York, 98.7 FM'
 
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