Sports radio station WKNR, 850 AM ESPN Cleveland, was off the air Friday morning due to a transmitter that was damaged during last Monday’s snowstorm.
As the station told listeners on Twitter and Facebook, ESPN Cleveland programming was still available on the ESPN app, The Land on Demand website, the TuneIn App, and smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home.
So features like an NFL roundtable with the station’s Cleveland Browns analyst Tony Grossi could still be heard by ESPN Cleveland listeners, just not on the radio via 850 AM for most of the workday.
But the transmitter issues were fixed later in the day and ESPN Cleveland was back on the air shortly after 4 p.m. Friday, as announced on social media.
Afternoon drive-time listeners got to hear The Next Level with Emmett Golden, Jerod Cherry, and Matt Fontana on their way home from work. (Well, some listeners probably only got an hour’s worth of programming before the station powered down its signal at 5 p.m.)
As some listeners pointed out on Twitter, it seemed strange for the transmitter to break down four days after the snowstorm. But the damage obviously wasn’t an immediate problem and apparently something that deteriorated. Or it was an issue that needed to be addressed for the transmitter to continue working properly.
Monday’s snowstorm was no joke. Snowfall totals at the Cleveland airport were measured at 8.2 inches. The region was also battered by 35 mph winds, temperatures in the mid-20s, and wind chills in the teens. At least sports fans could listen to ESPN Cleveland at the time…
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
