30 Years For ESPN Radio

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Launched on January 1, 1992 ‘Sports Radio ESPN’ started with only weekend broadcasts. The debut offering of 16 hours of programing was carried on more than 140 affiliates in 43 states. By 1996, now branded ESPN Radio; had expanded to weekdays with more dayparts being offered as a 24-hour service.

Amanda Gifford is ESPN Coordinating Producer, Content Strategy & Audio.

Radio Ink: You’ve been with ESPN Radio for 17 years. What is it that attracted you to sports broadcasting?
Gifford: “I grew up in a sports family in Western New York. Actually, my mom was a bigger fan than my dad. We were always at the gym for basketball practice or game. Sports was something that I always loved. So, when the opportunity came to work as an intern for ESPN, I couldn’t pass it up. I had previous experience in radio and had some other internships in radio. I realized that being in radio was fun and being in the sports genre was probably the most fun you were going to have.”

Radio Ink: Why has Sports Talk Radio become so popular?
Gifford: “People listen to the radio for its intimacy. People love their sports talk. They also want to know who they’re listening to. I’d like to think it has to do with the great talent that is on the air. Mike and the Maddog (Mike Francesa and Christopher ‘Maddog’ Russo) sort of set the tone. Then as Mike and Mike (Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic) started to develop you not only started your morning with them because you liked your sports talk, but also you got to know them and their families. ‘Greenie’s’ children were born during the Mike and Mike era; and Golic’s children were growing up during that time.”

Radio Ink: OTA is still with us, but digital has taken a big piece of the listening pie. Where does digital fit into the ESPN future?
Gifford: “That’s one thing I commend our business for to make sure we are on every platform that the consumer is on. Whether that is the ESPN App, SiriusXM, Home Smart Speakers or Podcasts; we work to keep our content wherever the users are. It’s very important for us. The Podcast space is great for our re-purposed talk shows and some of our original content. Digital is not just a fad. It’s here and the wave of the future. The people that are going to be successful are the ones that are able to figure out how to navigate both terrestrial and digital.”

Radio Ink: The emergence of sports betting is big. How does that fit into the overall ESPN game plan?
Gifford: “We are hopeful that gets more people interested in Sports Talk Radio. You know you have to get the latest on the teams and the games. You want to know who’s in and who’s out. This is one thing that we have ramped up in our programing over the last year or so. Joe Fortenbaugh is a weekly contributor to the network’s betting news and information program Daily Wager. We also do special betting relating specials around big events. It is something in our programming that has our attention so we can really serve the sports fan beyond just the numbers on an app. We can go in depth on trends and what that might mean in a particular game.”

Radio Ink: Where do you see ESPN Radio in next 10 to 20 years?
Gifford: “It is interesting on how much the radio medium has changed in the last five to 10 years with the changing technology. The advent of Podcasts, and how many people can have a platform these days has really exploded. ESPN Radio and ESPN has one big mission to serve sports fans anytime and anywhere. We want to put on the best line-up, the best games and the best talent. It’s a lot more competitive, that’s for sure so, you have to be that much better than we were 10 to 15 years ago. You have to work hard to hold people’s attention span and keep listeners.”

3 COMMENTS

  1. I read this with a bit of personal interest. While people working at ESPN radio today can’t really care. But, that Sunday night after Chris Berman’s pre-recorded announcement, the first sports center hit the air. I am rather proud because I delivered that first sports center and we were on our way! And I closed it “I’m John Cloghessy, ESPN radio sports😀

  2. The product is terrible now. ESPN is “woke” radio. It fails in delivering compelling content, with so many hosts from what Howard Cosell brilliantly coined “the Jockocracy”. Except now it’s joined by Black and Female talent that lack the resume and ratings to be working at ESPN. The Disney factor favors inserting female reporter and hosts everywhere. Nothing wrong with that if they were proven talent and have strong takes. Just the other day an ESPN host’s reference point to the death of NFL and TV Sports legend John Madden was that he was “the guy that did Tinactin TV spots”. We love to compete and smash ESPN Radio, it’s not a competitive product.

    • Perfectly said, Wade. I no longer watch ESPN and its fellow woke idiots at the NFL and NBA.

      Fans turn to sports (and Hollywood) to get away from the challenges of life and from politics; not to have our noses rubbed in their you-know-what.

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