Sportsradio WIP is now the exclusive home of the Philadelphia Phillies in the Philadelphia listening area. A new radio deal, announced yesterday, makes WIP the flagship station for Phillies radio coverage and confirms the traditional AM signal heard for decades on 1210 AM will no longer be supported.
“We are happy to continue the tradition of broadcasting Phillies baseball,” said David Yadgaroff, the Senior Vice President and Market Manager of CBS Radio in Philadelphia. “SportsRadio 94WIP is proud to be the radio home of the fightin’ Phils and we look forward to an exciting 2016 season.”
“This is an exciting time for the future of Phillies baseball,” said David Buck, Senior Vice President Marketing and Advertising Sales for the Phillies. “Thanks to our long-time partner CBS Radio, fans will be able to follow all of the action from spring training through the regular season on SportsRadio 94WIP.”
The radio booth will be unchanged this season. Scott Franzke will continue to be the play-by-play radio voice of the Phillies and Larry Andersen will be by his side providing his signature commentary. Jim Jackson, when not occupied by his duties with the Philadelphia Flyers, will continue to be involved with his pre and postgame work as well as sitting in for the middle innings while Franzke gets a break.
The big news here, of course, is the decision to drop the AM radio signal. As much as a tradition as listening to he Phillies on AM radio has been for any number of fans out there just beyond the typical reach of the FM signal, the evolving landscape of sports media should have suggested a move away from the AM signal entirely was bound to happen at some point. WIP phased out its longtime AM signal on 610 AM years ago as it moved to FM. I would be curious to see if any AM signals are picked up outside of the Philadelphia market. I personally have used the AM signal at times when on the road outside of the Philadelphia market but I would also venture to guess the number of fans tuning in to listen to game son AM signals has been dwindling by the year. Between the increased focus on moving sports talk to FM signals, the rise of satellite radio and the growth of MLB’s own mobile apps for listening to games, the death of the AM signal had the tombstone ready to go.
Terms of the new deal with regard to length and finances has not been reported.
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