On the day that Entercom Communications takes over operations of CBS Radio stations all across the country, they saved one special announcement for baseball fans in Minneapolis. The company revealed that they have agreed to a fully-integrated radio partnership with The Minnesota Twins, returning the team to its original radio broadcast home, WCCO-AM 830. The newstalk station aired the club’s games for its first 46 seasons through 2006.
WCCO will broadcast all Twins regular and postseason games and cover its metropolitan area Spring Training, starting with the 2018 season. Entercom Minnesota stations 104.1 Jack-FM and BUZ’N 102.9 will also cover Twins’ players, coaches and broadcasters year-round.
“We are thrilled to welcome the Twins back to their iconic home on WCCO,” said Mike Dee, Entercom’s President of Sports. “As the unrivaled leader in local audio sports rights across the nation, Entercom is committed to growing our play-by-play roster where it makes smart, strategic sense. Clearly the Twins are a blue chip franchise on the rise. As a newcomer to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul market, we are especially grateful to the Pohlad family and Dave St. Peter for their confidence in us. With the addition of the Twins, we are proud to be the flagship home for 45 professional teams across the four major sports, including 14 in Major League Baseball.”
“The Minnesota Twins are ecstatic to be in partnership with Entercom and eager to play a role in helping the company implement a new vision for their radio properties across our marketplace,” Twins President and CEO Dave St. Peter said. “The Twins are beyond thrilled to have this opportunity to return our radio broadcasts to WCCO-AM 830. Twins baseball on WCCO Radio was an Upper Midwest tradition for more than four decades. We look forward to building on that tradition with a new era of Twins baseball starting in 2018.”
As part of the partnership, all Entercom properties will feature comprehensive Twins coverage including special promotions and game day shows, spring training from Fort Myers, FL. and at community events across Minnesota. The Twins will continue to produce the game broadcasts including 30-minute pre-game and post-game shows.
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
