It’s been a busy year for Audacy’s sports radio’s shift to the FM dial. First came The Score in Chicago, then WGR in Buffalo. That was followed by the launch of 97.1 The Fan in Los Angeles, and yesterday Sportsradio 610 announced it will rebrand as 95.7 The Fan beginning August 13.
Make no mistake about it, Audacy has been very intentional about putting sports talk radio on the FM dial in 2026. The company owns some of the format’s most heritage brands, from WFAN in New York City to WIP in Philadelphia. Both have called the FM dial home for years.
I’ve said previously that the additions to FM in Chicago and Buffalo were long overdue. They were, and both stations have produced encouraging results since making the move. But another Audacy announcement this week carried far greater significance than simply moving another sports radio station to FM.
Beginning September 1, 23 of Audacy’s sports talk brands will make another shift. The company announced SiriusXM will begin carrying the broadcasts of many of Audacy’s top sports radio properties to a nationwide audience. From 105.1 The Fan in Portland to WEEI in Boston and most Audacy sports stations in between.
For Audacy, the strategy is simple: get its content in front of as many listeners as possible, wherever they are. It’s no longer just about owning a strong FM signal in a single market. It’s about nationwide distribution across every platform available. That’s also why the company set aside traditional competitive boundaries and partnered with iHeartMedia to place Audacy’s sports stations on the iHeartRadio app.
Living Everywhere
Audacy has heard the message loud and clear because it’s willing to listen. Sports talk on the radio is no longer the only destination for the medium. It hasn’t been for quite some time. Podcasts started that evolution. Moving away from AM and streaming apps accelerated it. Expanding beyond local markets with satellite radio distribution is the next step.
Winning in sports radio is no longer about who beat whom in the Nielsen ratings. Those battles are dead and gone long ago. Today, it’s about making your content available wherever audiences choose to consume it.
Think of it from a sales perspective. Beginning in September, WFAN and the rest of Audacy’s sports portfolio can now offer advertisers over-the-air radio, streaming, podcasts and satellite distribution. Video could easily become the next piece of that equation if it isn’t already.
If you’re an advertiser, you want your message everywhere, and you’re willing to pay a premium for that reach because it’s everywhere. Literally. That’s the formula Audacy is chasing. Right now, it’s putting the company in position to lead sports radio’s next evolution.
The Era Of Licensing
It also should serve as a wake-up call for sports radio talent that hasn’t begun building a brand beyond the station they work for. What Audacy and SiriusXM are arranging is a licensing deal. A satellite radio distributor is paying Audacy like a content creator with a network of content options for its platform.
That same reality applies to talent. The companies creating the most opportunities today aren’t just looking for hosts. They’re looking for brands with built-in audiences that can travel across radio, streaming, podcasts, video and social media.
It’s no secret that companies such as ESPN, SiriusXM, FOX Sports, iHeartMedia and Netflix are increasingly licensing proven content creators instead of building every show themselves. Pat McAfee didn’t start at ESPN. Wake Up Barstool isn’t owned by FOX Sports. iHeartMedia partners with established podcast creators across its iHeartRadio app. Netflix doesn’t own The Breakfast Club, and SiriusXM doesn’t employ Rich Shertenlieb.
SiriusXM wanted more content, so it turned to companies already creating it, including Audacy.
The era of exclusivity is over.
Root For The “Competition”
Funk Flex said it best on stage at the Barrett Media Audio Summit in the days after iHeartMedia made another round of nationwide roster cuts.
“Listen, it’s never going to return. There was a time in the NBA you could be a carpenter and play NBA basketball. That’s no longer true with radio,” said Flex. “We could look at the iHeart cuts as other companies snicker. But I’m going to tell you something. iHeart is the big 100-pound gorilla. If they don’t make it, nobody makes it. They believe in it like we believe in it.”
Without question, you can say the same about Audacy and the future of sports talk. The company owns many of the format’s biggest brands in the nation’s largest markets. The risks it takes and the partnerships it forges will help determine where sports radio goes next.
Audacy isn’t simply betting on FM. It’s betting on the future of sports audio itself.
FM is just one distribution point in a much larger ecosystem that includes streaming, podcasts, satellite and whatever comes next. The goal is no longer to own a frequency. It’s to own every moment a sports fan wants to listen, whether that’s live, later, at home, in the car or on demand.
That’s a much bigger vision than moving from AM to FM, and every sports talk talent around the country should celebrate these initiatives. It’s a strategy built on making sports talk available everywhere, all the time. In today’s media landscape, the broadcasters that win won’t necessarily have the strongest signal.
They’ll have the strongest presence wherever sports fans choose to listen.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.