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| ESPN Deportes To Also Debut Tomorrow On 97.5 FM |
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| Written by Larz | |||
| Tuesday, 31 January 2012 16:46 | |||
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As mentioned on here weeks ago, and confirmed on here yesterday before anywhere else, ESPN Deportes will be taking over translator W248BB, heard in the Chicago area on 97.5 FM. The Spanish-language sports & sports talk station ESPN Deportes will also take over the WNUA-HD2 signal, which is what will be transmitting over W248BB. This will happen tomorrow, February 1st, the very same day that ESPN Deportes takes over WKRS-AM 1220 in the north suburbs.
The Country music format known as "The Bull," which started a couple of weeks ago, was nothing more than a thinly-veiled smokescreen, trying to throw off competitors as to what Clear Channel's true plans were, even though, it was widely known about ESPN Deportes weeks ago. The Country music will be stopping overnight. This is far from the first time that Clear Channel has used a Country station to try and fool people as to their true intentions for a Spanish-language station. Before flipping WNUA-FM from the Smooth Jazz format to a Spanish Music station in the Spring of 2009, Clear Channel purchased a domain and started up a website called "Cat Country 95.5" and had a countdown clock to the exact time when WNUA-FM was set to flip. Of course, it never flipped to a Country format. ESPN officially announced the new partnership with Clear Channel this afternoon. ESPN Deportes will take over the WNUA-HD2 signal and the translator's signals to air the Spanish-language sports/sports talk format. Although it is only a weak signal that barely stretches past the city limits of Chicago, this marks the first time a full-time Hispanic-targeted sports format will be heard on the FM band in Chicago. Clear Channel has use of W248BB due to an agreement with EMF Broadcasting, the translator's owner. Clear Channel has now leased out their use of the translator to ESPN. The 250 watt signal of translator W248BB, located from atop downtown Chicago's third tallest skyscraper, the Aon Center, reaches all of the city of Chicago and the communities that immediately border it. It does travel somewhat into the suburbs, but is not very strong or easy to hear. (See coverage map at the end of this article.) Of course, Lake County to the north will be able to hear basically the very same programming (with the exception of some weekend shows) on WKRS-AM. The station will also be able to be streamed via WKRS-AM's website and a brand new website, ESPNDeportesChicago.com, which officially launches tomorrow. That site will stream the station on the iHeartRadio app of Clear Channel's. Oscar Ramos, General Manager, ESPN Deportes Radio, said in today's statement: "This expansion is a milestone for the ESPN Deportes brand and yet another step forward in our effort to make ESPN Deportes Radio available to Hispanic sports fans nationwide. We are thrilled with our agreement with Clear Channel Media and Entertainment to bring our comprehensive programming to Chicago fans while also providing a great platform for advertisers." Officially, WNUA-FM's Program Director Ricardo Otero will oversee WNUA-HD2 and W248BB, but in actuality, there will be nothing for him to oversee, as 100% of the content will be provided by ESPN Deportes, not Clear Channel. The majority of the content will be from the national feed of ESPN Deportes, such as the popular sports talk shows of Jorge Ramos & his Band and ESPN SportsCenter, as well as live game broadcasts of FIFA, MLS Soccer, American Football, Latin America Baseball, professional boxing, and more. There is a strong possibility that both WKRS-AM and W248BB will have some localized programming. According to insiders, the Chicago White Sox are in talks with ESPN Deportes to have the two Chicagoland stations carry a handful of Spanish-language broadcasts of this year's regular season games. While no deal is yet finalized, an announcement from the Chicago White Sox could be coming in the very near future. This is not the first time that ESPN Deportes has used a pair of frequencies to blanket a large metropolitan area. In Los Angeles, CA, ESPN Deportes Radio is currently airing on 1330 AM to cover the city of LA and simultaneously airing on 1220 AM out of Pomona, CA to cover LA's western suburbs.   Coverage map courtesy of Media Services Group.
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