http://www.epltalk.com/espn-to-broadcast-all-2010-world-cup-games-on-espn-radio-exclusive/15754 Interesting?
I don't know but you can find stream links to their affiliates here. Should be interesting how many stations take the World Cup feeds. I know ESPN has strict rules about how much stations can customize (for instance, I believe they ALL have to take at least one hour of Mike and Mike) but I'm not sure how the network games work. I think their only carve-out is if the station broadcasts games for a local team in action that day - and given that this is in summer, there's probably very little overlap.
It does stream live, and in addition to the national feed, you can also listen to several affiliates in the larger markets.
True. it's streams the National ESPN radio feed plus ALL the feeds from the other ESPN affiliates. ESPN radio ESPN Deportes ESPNews ESPN New York 1050 ESPN Chicago 1000 ESPN Pittsburgh 1250 ESPN Dallas 103.3 ESPN LA 710 ESPN DC 980 ESPN Baton Rouge 104.5 ESPN Cleveland 850/1540 ESPN Milwaukee 540 ESPN Madison 100.5 ESPN West Palm Beach 760 ESPN Tampa 1040 ESPN Orlando 1080 ESPN Denver 1600 ESPN Atlantic City 97.3 ESPN Seattle 710
I'll be interested to see if this means they will pre-empt their regular programming for these games. The weekday games kickoff on the East Coast at 7:30, 10, and 2:30, mostly...does that mean Mike & Mike, The Herd, etc. will not go on that day? I actually work for the ESPN Affiliate here in Atlanta, and we only carry the first 2 hours of The Herd (10am to Noon), and none of Mike & Mike...the rest of the main hours (6am-7pm) are local shows. If ESPN carries the games as their main feed, I would guess we'd have no choice but to run the games...unless the Braves are playing a day game at 1pm that particular day. IF this happens (I trust EPL Talk, but until ESPN formally announces...), I would have to say this shows, more than ESPN picking up EPL TV Rights, how far soccer has come in this country. Think about it - soccer has been on National TV in the US for most of the last 2 decades...but to have ESPN air radio play-by-play in every major market, and many smaller ones...would be absolutely huge. Consider that US National Team games don't even get broadcast on radio...but do on TV.
Plus satellite radio. Golazo on beach, beer in hand, watching pretty girls go by, listening to the game. I love me some World Cup.
Hate that EPL Talk posted this and then has been largely quiet about any further speculation. Saying ESPN Radio will carry play-by-play is vague...if it's an option for stations, it's not that big of a deal. If it's a mandatory part of their programming, it's huge!
how does your station handle it when ESPN runs games on the national feed like with the NBA playoffs - do you get an alternate feed to run? If not, I agree - it's huge!
I am not on the programming side, so I can't say for sure. We generally only run something different from our local stuff or ESPN Radio if we're carrying a game from Westwood One or something...but that's usually on nights and weekends. With the majority of these games going on in the morning, or mid-afternoon, there won't be a ton of conflicts with other play-by-play. We are local from 6am-10am, Monday thru Friday, so it's doubtful that we'll carry any of the 7:30 kicks. From 10 to Noon, however, we carry the first 2 hours of The Herd and then go back to local. Obviously - an entire soccer match can be played in that time frame, so unless ESPN is offering an alternate feed during that time, I would imagine we'll carry those games! Especially since 2 of them are US matches.
---------------- Let me tell you a little tale or two. When your beloved team was laughed at in England by The Guardian newspaper. Do you know who stood up and said yes they should be in the top 25 in the world. You guessed it Smyth did. Its nice to know that fans are so loyal. When the WC is over with a steady stream of Brits who will tear the USA and Mexico apart at every opportunity you might be saying Smyth would not do that. bottom line is Tommy will get to be at the WCF and call the game live from south africa.I for one am glad that someone who has always been supportive of soccer in this region will get to the final. ESPN showed their lack of class by cutting JP Dellacamera who has been the voice of US soccer all his life.Do you really think that Martin Tyler has any feeling for fans in North America. He may be the voice of soccer but he is the voice of English soccer. How many games you think Derek Rae will get during the finals.He is in the pecking line behind Tyler, Ian Dark and Adrian Healy. Some of this blame falls on your shoulders, you have a go at the ESPN guys all the time. Lets see you have a go at ESPN British invasion that exactly what it is.If there will be a voice from NA it will be John Harkes so you guys get exactly what you wanted no Smyth but Harkes.
You think I give a f'k what the English media thinks? The last place I'd go to for opinions on International football is the English press, they don't know crap about anything outside the Premiership. Anyone outside that press could educate them on teams around the world, thats not saying much. I don't give a crap about who Espn hired for TV, I watch it in Spanish. But since I have to work during most of the games, I was interested in who was broadcasting in radio. I don't think Smyth brings anything to the table, he might be a little more familiar with players from outside of Europe but thats about it. I'll give Espn props for not hiring Sean Wheelock yet though, that guy is horrible.
Well from my understanding I think Martin Tyler will be calling all the big games and JP will do all the US games.
Doesn't ESPN Radio offer live event feeds that are almost always separate from the backdrop national news/talk feed? Also, doesn't ESPN Radio's live event feeds cost radio stations extra money? I had always understood that the ESPN Radio's backdrop national news/talk feed is offered to most radio stations on a barter basis.
I think that was traditionally the case, especially since I think the backdrop feed on Sirius/XM is constant. However, posts on some radio boards indicate that ESPN has definitely tried to get more stations to carry its MLB/NBA/NCAA Football play-by-play in recent years when possible. Not sure why, maybe ad revenue related. The talk shows may be bartered, but ESPN expects all affiliates or O&O stations to carry "Mike & Mike" and "The Herd" unless they are in markets where competition dictates a larger percentage of locally originated programming. Atlanta, NYC, Los Angeles, Philly, Chicago, Dallas, and Boston are examples of the latter condition.
Tommy Smyth is a great ambassador for the game. He just sucks as an analyst for footie fans who have graduated past the hand-holding stage. He's a caricature and uses his silly turn-of-phrases and memes to make the broadcast about him, not about the action. The best commentators don't get in the way of the action, let the game breathe, and don't try to identify every name of every player that touches the ball (JP). I'm not saying Martin Tyler is Jesus-with-microphone - I kind of find him a bit too low key for my tastes, but I'd rather listen to him than JP and Tommy. I love Derek Rae and think he got screwed during WC 2006. But ESPN didn't know what it was doing back then. They're showing signs now, so I hope it works out.
No way that happens here in Omaha!! The ESPN radio guys have already said on air that nobody cares about soccer, it is boring and they won' talk about it!! I stopped listening to them after that! They talk about football(college), basketball(college) and pretty much any other college sport.
ESPN guys thinking soccer is boring? Why do they know the entire channel is moving to South Africa in a few months? Methinks they will be fired soon! or not.
Well - as far as I know - "flagship" type live events (i.e., Sunday Night Baseball, Monday Night Football, etc.) are carried across the board unless the station chooses to carry non-ESPN programming. That said - I find it hard to believe that any station that would normally run ESPN programming in those time slots would intentionally switch away and run programming they never run, or create a show to fill that time. I guess we'll see as more details become available. I also find it hard to believe ESPN would essentially give Mike and Mike and The Herd a month off as well...but we'll see.
True, they may go off the radio, but those shows are also broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPNU (I think) as well. As long as there are no WC games on ESPN2, they'll be fine for a TV audience. I'm sure that something could be done to put M&M on ESPNU for when games are broadcast live on ESPN2. ...or, they could just get those 2-3 weeks off, considering that the WC comes during a regular summer vacation.