ESPN New York will move to 880 AM on Aug. 26, a dramatic shift in the decades-long local sports radio battle with WFAN, whose parent company owns 880 AM.
Audacity and Good Karma Brands, owners of ESPN New York, announced a local marketing agreement Monday that paves the way for the surprise deal.
The move is good news for ESPN New York, which will leave its 98.7 FM signal on August 23 and was scheduled to be downgraded to 1050 AM.
The 880 AM signal is much stronger than the 1050 AM signal and will therefore provide a larger stage for the station, which is also shifting focus to its digital presence.
Mets games will continue to be broadcast on 880 AM.
The station’s new call letters will be WHSQ-AM (pending FCC approval), ending WCBS-AM’s run as a news station that began in 1967 and evolved into a 24-hour operation in 1972. The station’s first sports director was Pat Summerall.
Audacy also owns WINS News, which began as a news station in 1965. Having two stations like that was redundant. The company will retain ownership of the 880 AM frequency while Good Karma controls programming.
ESPN New York carries New York Knicks and Rangers games, so those games will also get a stronger signal than 1050-AM alone. However, New York Mets games will take priority on 880-AM in the event of a conflict.
The New York Jets announced earlier this year that this season’s games would move from their longtime radio home on ESPN New York to Q104.3-FM.
“New York has always been unique in supporting two news broadcast brands, but the news industry has gone through major changes,” Chris Olivero, New York market president for Audacity, said in a press release.
“The headwinds facing local journalism nationwide have made it necessary to reimagine the way we deliver news to achieve maximum impact. WCBS-880 has been one of the most respected radio stations in history, with a legacy cemented by hundreds of world-class journalists, on and off the air, who have wanted it to exist over the decades.”
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