As part of a multi-year renewal with iHeartMedia, the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers are moving their game broadcasts to Rock “98 Rock” 97.9 WXTB Clearwater.
WXTB will succeed Country “US 103.5” WFUS and Sports 620 WDAE as the home for the franchise’s gameday broadcasts. WDAE will continue to be the home for ancillary programming including weekly coach and player shows.
WFUS had been the Buccaneers flagship station since Clear Channel took over the franchise’s radio rights in 2004. Prior to that the team had been heard on then CBS Radio Country 99.5 WQYK. Gene Deckerhoff, Dave Moore, and TJ Rives will remain in place as the broadcast team for the Buccaneers.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced today a multi-year agreement with iHeartMedia Tampa Bay as the home of the Buccaneers Radio Network, extending the partnership that began in 2004. New in 2017, the team’s games will be heard over the air on 98Rock (WXTB-97.9 FM), Tampa Bay’s Rock Station, as well as online at Buccaneers.com and on the Buccaneers mobile app.
“We are thrilled to continue our long-standing radio partnership with iHeartMedia Tampa Bay,” said Buccaneers Chief Operating Officer Brian Ford. “One of the most exciting aspects of this partnership is the ability to consolidate all of our gameday programming on 98Rock. Our fans will now be able to listen to the pre-game shows, the game broadcast and the post-game shows all on 98Rock’s strong FM signal.”
For the first time in the team’s history, game days will feature seven-and-a-half-hours of Buccaneers programming completely on the FM dial, including pre- and post-game shows bookending the action on the field. The Buccaneers Radio Network can also be heard on affiliates throughout the state of Florida. Weekly head coach and player radio shows will continue to be broadcast on WDAE 620-AM, Tampa Bay’s Sports Radio.
“We are very proud to continue our partnership with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,” said Sam Nein, President of iHeartMedia Tampa Bay. “98Rock’s music programming in addition to pre- and post-game shows and live Buccaneer game action on Sundays will make for very compelling radio.”
Legendary voice of the Buccaneers, Gene Deckerhoff, will handle the play-by-play duties for the 29th consecutive season. He will again partner with former Buccaneers tight end Dave Moore, working his 11th season as the team’s color analyst. T.J. Rives will serve as the sideline reporter for the 13th consecutive year.
Since iHeartMedia already has a “98 Rock” branded station in Tampa, I would like to see iHeartMedia acquire 98 Rock and NewsRadio 1090 in Baltimore from Hearst, as those are the only 2 stations that Hearst hasn’t sold yet.
If Hearst really wanted to sell, it almost certainly would’ve done so years ago; I also think that the company somewhat regretted spinning off radio in Pittsburgh and Milwaukee as quickly as it did. In addition, WBAL Radio is probably too integrated with the TV side to spin it off easily; even in the ’90s, there may have been closer programming ties between radio and TV there than had been the case with WTAE and WISN.
The stations that Hearst sold in Pittsburgh and Milwaukee are now both owned by iHeartMedia. I bet that 98 Rock in Baltimore would be also a good station for iHeartMedia to own.