For the first time, Los Angeles sports fans woke up this morning to hear its first-ever FM all-sports radio station. 97.1 The Fan has officially launched. The launch is the result of months of collaboration among Audacy’s top sports programming minds. The goal was simple. With the company continuing to push sports radio to the FM dial, focus is centered on building a full-scale, live and local sports option dedicated to serving Los Angeles sports fans, teams, and advertisers.
The local strategy explains why Jim Rome isn’t part of 97.1 The Fan’s lineup. Despite being based in the region, and distributed by Cumulus Media and Westwood One, who Audacy partners with, Rome is missing from the airwaves of the top sports radio brands in his home market. With ESPN LA, AM 570 and AM 830 all airing national shows, The Fan sees an opening for all-local content.
Following the release of the weekday daytime lineup several weeks ago, buzz throughout the sports radio community became evident. Chatter on social media and within sports radio programming circles reached a fever pitch. Questions quickly surfaced. Is FM enough to stand out in a market like Los Angeles? Can LA support four sports radio brands when similarly sized markets cannot? Which teams sign on to have their games heard on The Fan?
In seeking answers to those questions, there was no shortage of people willing to provide them.
“There’s never been a more fascinating time to be in the sports business in LA than today,” said Don Martin, former SVP of AM 570 KLAC-AM and SVP of Programming for FOX Sports Radio. “You have the World Cup coming. Plus, the Super Bowl in February, and the Olympics are coming in a couple of years. More importantly, you now have three huge brands playing in the market.”
Without a doubt, the Los Angeles market offers a massive amount of sports content for a massive population. Every professional sports league is represented. Several Division I colleges also call the market home.
Is FM Enough To Win?
However, local sports fans may have plenty of options, but Los Angeles is not known as a sports radio juggernaut. Both heritage brands in ESPN Los Angeles (Good Karma Brands) and AM 570 (iHeartMedia) are more known for generating revenue and digital success than dominant ratings. Angels Radio 830 is the Angels flagship station with less revenue and ratings impact. Even so, FM provides an opportunity for Audacy while their competitors operate on the AM dial.
But is being on FM enough of a selling point to draw a larger audience in the “City of Angels?”
“I’ve always said you give me an FM station in LA, and I’m going to kill it,” said Martin. “There’s something about being on that FM band that still matters a lot.”
Longtime SVP/GM of ESPN Los Angeles who now works with Workhouse Media Scott McCarthy added, “An FM will absolutely help grow the overall share for the sports format in LA, but I’m not sure how large that growth will be. Sports radio in LA has never seen shares like NY, Chicago or Dallas, and never will. But its slice of the overall listening pie in LA will grow with the addition of an FM.”
Former ESPN Los Angeles operations manager Dan Zampillo believes FM provides additional value for sports radio. However, the market itself may not in fact need sports talk on FM.
“LA is an interesting market. Yes, people love the Lakers and the Dodgers. But it’s just not a hardcore sports market,” said Zampillo. “FM has obviously been successful in some other markets for Audacy, but I’m not sure it’ll have a similar effect in LA like it has had in some other markets.”
97.1 The Fan joins the Los Angeles sports radio battle without a flagship team attached to the brand. Many suspect Audacy will move the FM broadcast rights of the Los Angeles Rams to the station. That content would still be shared with AM competitor ESPN Los Angeles. The two companies share a similar relationship in Cleveland with the Browns.
“Audacy’s 97.1 FM entrant has a technical signal advantage, but without a major franchise right to anchor the brand, they are essentially an engine running without gas,” said former iHeartMedia Los Angeles market president Kevin LeGrett. “The real battle won’t just be over talent and ratings, but over the skyrocketing costs of play-by-play rights, which are required to keep these lineups relevant.”
A Starting Lineup
Without broadcast rights to attract a built-in fan base, the daytime lineup faces pressure to carry the load. 97.1 The Fan features a live and local lineup built to air from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time, which distinguishes it from competitors that mix syndicated programming with local voices.
However, being a startup comes with branding challenges.
“This lineup for 97.1 is not going to be the same in 18 months,” said Martin. “You have staying power with Colin Cowherd and Dan Patrick on AM 570 even though they’re network shows.”
Both AM 570 and ESPN Los Angeles benefit from longevity. Outside of Cowherd and Patrick on AM 570, local standouts Petros and Money also bring years of familiarity to listeners. ESPN Los Angeles counters with Mason and Ireland, the market’s longest-running local program, with Ireland also serving as the radio voice of the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Petros and Money, Mason and Ireland. Those are tentpole talent and shows for the market,” said Zampillo. “When you look at 97.1 The Fan’s lineup right now, nothing feels tentpole-like for now.”
Despite the challenge of establishing longevity, the content approach could prove most vital.
“The formula for ratings and revenue success in so-called sports radio has really nothing to do with sports,” said former ESPN Los Angeles operations manager Mike Thompson. “The successful stations are personality stations that drive listeners throughout the day, breaking barriers between shows and stealing shared listening from other male-targeted formats.”
Long Term Survival
Los Angeles is now the largest market in the United States with four dedicated sports radio brands. Population aside, the market is the third-largest metropolitan economy in the world, trailing only Tokyo and New York City. By adding 97.1 The Fan to its Los Angeles sports portfolio, Audacy is planting its flag in a market that Audacy regional president Jeff Federman calls “the epicenter of the sports world.”
But can three sports stations and a team run outlet survive long term in a market like Los Angeles?
“Can three stations all be top-five billers? Unlikely,” said LeGrett. “However, LA is a unique, fragmented market with nearly 13 million people. There is enough cume to support three outlets if they differentiate their content. AM 570 can own the heritage and team-play position, with ESPN Los Angeles owning the national star-power lane. 97.1 The Fan can target a younger, FM-preferring demographic with its signal.”
Scott McCarthy shares a similar view on the format’s local profitability: “I don’t think LA can support four profitable sports stations, but I’m also not sure any of them will throw in the towel. KLAC is half-owned by the Dodgers. The Angels own KLAA. KSPN is owned by Good Karma (one of the best in the business at developing sponsor partnerships), and Audacy is the undisputed leader in local sports radio. It’s hard to imagine any of them abandoning the format anytime soon.”
For Don Martin, the question ultimately comes down to belief in the product.
“There’s no way the market can handle three sports stations. I just don’t believe so,” said Martin. “It’s going to be interesting. Bright minds are involved with all three properties. What’s going to make it interesting is which companies stick with it.”
Zampillo noted that Los Angeles is a “flashy” market, driven by celebrity, lifestyle, and tech culture. That’s a major reason why he believes that although an FM sports station may appear different from its direct competitors, it still operates in a space where digital platforms carry significant weight.
“It’s going to be hard for all three stations to exist long term,” said Zampillo. “There are so many digital content products coming out of LA. An FM sports station may seem great to some, but it’s not as flashy as it would be in other markets.”
Winning the Car Matters Most
While some skepticism exists about the long-term viability of what 97.1 The Fan can provide, one characteristic may prove to be its biggest advantage.
“Los Angeles is fundamentally different from Chicago or New York due to our commute culture, high radio usage, and pro sports density,” said LeGrett. “LA listeners spend more time in their vehicles than almost any other market, allowing three distinct signals to find their own audience lanes.”
The early building blocks for capitalizing on that culture lie in winning the drive-time dayparts, especially mornings.
“You have to build a really strong morning show for early success. There’s an opportunity for a strong local morning show on 97.1 The Fan,” said Zampillo.
“LA is a funky town. There’s still a radio audience that lives in their cars all day long,” said Martin. “No one is going to win this race overnight. It’s going to take time to figure it out, but it’s going to be interesting to watch. You got three big dogs. Which one is going to lose? It’s a great time to grab some popcorn and a soda and watch what happens.”
Scott McCarthy summed it up, adding “I think Audacy has a real opportunity to take a leadership position over time. It’s hard for AMs to compete with FMs in any format, and Audacy has some great minds behind this in Jeff Federman, Mitch Rosen, and others. I would imagine they will pursue local rights deals in LA as they come up, and teams clearly prefer FM to AM. But, in my mind, it all comes down to the personalities you have on the air. Audacy has to win at that game, and they’ve proven to be pretty damn good at it in other major markets.”
In a city fueled by stars, traffic, championships, and endless entertainment options, the arrival of 97.1 The Fan represents more than another station launch. It’s a high-stakes bet on the future of sports radio in one of the most competitive media markets in America.
Whether Los Angeles can truly sustain four full-time sports stations remains to be seen, but one thing is undeniable: the battle lines have officially been drawn.
For Audacy, simply entering the fight signals belief that sports audio still matters in a city overflowing with digital distractions. For AM 570 and ESPN Los Angeles, it means defending years of brand equity and audience loyalty against a fresh FM challenger looking to carve out its own lane.
And for listeners, it creates something the market has never experienced before — a true competition for relevance, personality, and attention. Los Angeles has officially entered a new era of sports radio. Now comes the fascinating part: finding out which brands possess the patience, strategy, and staying power to survive it.
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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.
