Looks like this may be done to prepare for possible loss of Cubs by WGN.
Wonder if NIU could hook up, or would a NW deal with WGN interfere.
http://thegamechicago.com/shows/
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/c...1004.story
WGN Radio joins Chicago sports-talk fray
By Robert Channick and Ellen Jean Hirst, Tribune reporters
7:20 p.m. CST, February 17, 2014
Chicago, which has one NFL football team and two major league baseball teams, now has three all-sports radio stations.
Discuss.
Just after 1 p.m. Monday, at 87.7 FM, the alternative rock station playing the Beastie Boys gave way to Griff & Quigs, a sports show hosted by Howard Griffith and Alex Quigley.
Related
WGN launching new FM station Monday
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435 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
The new station, known as "The Game" and operated by Tribune Co.'s WGN-AM, moves the conversation about the Bears, the Bulls and Da Coach to the FM band.
The Game will take on WSCR-AM 670 and WMVP-AM 1000.
Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers Magazine, a radio trade publication, said he thinks growth in sports interest in America means there's space for a third station in Chicago.
"There's always room for competition, because competition makes for better radio," Harrison said. "At first blush, it's a very good thing for the listeners."
In order for The Game to succeed as a third all-sports station in Chicago, Harrison said, it needs to combine sports culture with general entertainment.
"Sports talk radio is a fabulous arena because nobody gets hurt. It's not like news talk radio, where you're dealing with the cutting sword of politics and real issues and real life and real sensitivities," Harrison said. "Sports talk taps into emotion, it taps into mathematics, into business, into all kinds of things, but it's not so serious as to have that downside that political talk and public policy talk does."
WGN Radio President and General Manager Jimmy de Castro said the station will also focus on culture, music, movies and other buzz surrounding the sports world.
"It's talk about sports in a pop culture kind of way," de Castro said, "and the DNA of the station is all about having fun."
While the lineup card may change, former WGN-AM 720 morning host Jonathon Brandmeier is set to run the morning show from 6 to 9 a.m. along with Buzz Killman. Longtime WGN-AM sports talk host David Kaplan, who agreed to a multiyear deal in December, will shift to the FM station from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., co-hosting until noon with Chicago Tribune sports columnist David Haugh.
The rest of the day includes Griffith and Quigley from 1 to 3 p.m.; former ESPN 1000 teammates Harry Teinowitz and Spike Manton from 3 to 7 p.m.; Mark Carman from 7 to 10 p.m.; and NBC Sports Radio programming overnight.
The station is also planning on hiring several women as hosts, two of whom, with Comcast and ESPN, are under contract, de Castro said, though declining to identify them. The two will likely be announced this week.
Having an FM station means WGN won't need to farm out broadcasts of concurrently scheduled Blackhawks and Cubs games; one can air on each station.
Tribune Co., which also owns the Chicago Tribune, announced plans Friday to operate WGWG-LP, technically a low-powered TV station that can be heard at 87.7 FM, through a lease with its owner, Los Angeles-based Venture Technologies Group. It became available after Cumulus Media took over operations last month of WLUP-FM 97.9 (The Loop) and WIQI-FM 101.1 from Merlin Media.
The alternative rock station heard on 87.7 moved back to its previous home, at 101.1 FM.
WGN's agreement to lease 87.7 FM runs through September 2015, coinciding with a Federal Communications Commission mandate ending all analog low-power television service. Current FCC cross-ownership rules prohibit owning a newspaper and radio station in the same market.
Tribune Co.'s co-ownership of WGN Radio and the Chicago Tribune predates that rule, and the planned spinoff of its newspaper business this year opens the door to radio acquisitions in Chicago, which means The Game could move elsewhere on the dial.
Sports talk is the 10th-most-popular radio format, with a 3.1 percent share of total listening in 2013, according to Nielsen. It also has the highest-educated and highest-income listeners of any format.
CBS Radio's WSCR, which pioneered the format in Chicago in 1992, is the market leader, with a 2.4 share in the current Nielsen Audio ratings. ESPN Radio's WMVP has a 1.6 share.
The entrance of The Game could make for fierce competition.
"It will be a war, it will be a battle," Harrison said. "I hope it's a win-win for everybody."
rchannick@tribune.com
ehirst@tribune.com
Twitter @RobertChannick
Twitter @ellenjeanhirst
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87.7 FM new format....possible new outlet for NIU sports????
