With the football season upon us, here’s a look at which stations are serving as flagship stations for their networks in their local markets.
AFC East
Buffalo Bills – Entercom’s 550 WGR takes over as the local flagship for a nineteen station network serving Upstate New York and Ontario.
Miami Dolphins – Clear Channel’s combo of 940 WINZ and 105.9 WBGG lead a 14 station network, while Univsion’s 1140 WQBA heads a five station Spanish language network.
New England Patriots – CBS’ “98.5 The Sports Hub” WBZ-FM heads up a 40 station network serving eight states including one station in Nebraska.
New York Jets – English broadcasts moved with WEPN from 1050 AM to 98.7 FM this year. The network features stations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and “ESPN 710” Los Angeles. The new “ESPN Deportes 1050” will carry Jets games in Spanish.
AFC North
Baltimore Ravens – Hearst’s 1090 WBAL and “98 Rock” WIYY serve as flagships for a thirteen station network.
Cleveland Browns – Clear Channel’s 1100 WTAM and 100.7 WMMS lead a 28 station network.
Cincinnati Bengals – Clear Channel’s trio of 700 WLW, “ESPN 1530” WCKY, and 102.7 WEBN all carry broadcasts locally, while 24 other stations serve four states.
Pittsburgh Steelers – Clear Channel’s “970 ESPN” WBGG and 102.5 WDVE serve as flagships. 48 other stations are members of the network, while Grupo Imagen carries the Steelers throughout Mexico.
AFC South
Houston Texans – CBS’ “Sportsradio 610” KILT and Country 100.3 KILT-FM while the network serves 28 stations in Texas.
Jacksonville Jaguars – Cox’ 690/106.5 WOKV leads 10 other stations in the Jaguars radio network.
Indianapolis Colts – Emmis’ “1070 The Fan” WFNI and “97.1 Hank-FM” WLHK lead a 43 station network.
Tennessee Titans – Cumulus’ “104.5 The Zone” WGFX returns as flagship for a network stretching throughout five states.
AFC West
Denver Broncos – Clear Channel’s 850 KOA is head of a 59 station network.
Kansas City Chiefs – Cumulus’ “101 The Fox” KCFX serves as flagship for a network with affiliates in seven states. Rob Zerwekh adds on Twitter that 1340 KDTD will air Chiefs home games in Spanish.
Oakland Raiders – CBS’ “Live 105” KITS returns as flagship for a network that is offered nationally by Compass Media.
San Diego Chargers – Clear Channel’s “Rock 105.3” KIOZ and “Xtra Sports 1360” KLSD head up the english network, while “Pulsar 107.3” XHFG leads a four station spanish network.
NFC East
Dallas Cowboys – CBS’ “105.3 The Fan” KRLD-FM leads the local radio network, while Compass Media Networks distribute the Cowboys nationally. “Mega 107.5” KMVK and 1270 KFLC head the largest spanish radio network in the NFL.
New York Giants – CBS’ 660 WFAN (with some games bumped to 101.1 WCBS-FM) is the flagship with 22 affiliates on the network.
Philadelphia Eagles – CBS’ 610/94.1 WIP leads a 12 station network, while 1680 WTTM offers Spanish broadcasts.
Washington Redskins – Redskins broadcasts are led by Red Zebra’s “ESPN 980” trimulcast of 980 WTEM, 92.7 WWXT, and 94.3 WWXX. 27 stations in four states make up the rest of the network.
NFC North
Chicago Bears – CBS’ 780 WBBM/105.9 WCFS serves as flagship. The Bears do not offer any information regarding their affiliate stations.
Detroit Lions – CBS’ 1270 WXYT and “97.1 The Ticket” WXYT-FM serves as flagships for a 36 station network.
Green Bay Packers – Journal’s 620 WTMJ Milwaukee serves as flagship, while Midwest Broadcasting’s trio of 1360/97.5 WTAQ and 101.1 WIXX carry the broadcasts in their hometown. 49 stations in six states make up the rest of the network.
Minnesota Vikings – Clear Channel’s “KFAN” 100.3 KFXN and “News/Talk 1130” KTCN lead the network that features 69 stations.
NFC South
Atlanta Falcons – Lincoln Financial Media’s “790 The Zone” WQXI and “Star 94” WSTR are flagships. The Falcons network serves stations in six states.
Carolina Panthers – Greater Media’s 1110 WBT is flagship for a 51 station network.
New Orleans Saints – Entercom’s 870/105.3 WWL lead a 27 station network, while Sunburst Media’s 830 WFNO carries the team in Spanish.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Clear Channel’s 620 WDAE and “US 103.5” WFUS are co-flagships. The Buccaneers do not feature any network information on their website.
NFC West
Arizona Cardinals – Bonneville’s “Sports 620” KTAR and “News/Talk 92.3” KTAR-FM lead a 12 station network. “ESPN Deportes 710” KBMB carry the team in Spanish.
San Francisco 49ers – Cumulus will carry the 49ers on 810 KGO, “107.7 The Bone” KSAN, and when there’s no conflicts 680 KNBR. 20 stations make up the network, while “ESPN Deportes 860” KTRB carries Spanish broadcasts.
Seattle Seahawks – Bonneville’s “ESPN 710” KIRO and News/Talk 97.3 KIRO-FM are the flagships for a 39 station network.
St. Louis Rams – Hubbard’s “101 Sports” WXOS leads a 20 station network.
National
All games are available on SiriusXM to owners of Sirius radios or subscribers to the Sirius Premier package on XM radios as well as their internet radio packages.
In addition to their Cowboys and Raiders broadcasts, Compass Media Networks offers three games per Sunday.
Dial Global offers programming packages of a Sunday afternoon doubleheader, all night games, and exclusive national coverage of the playoffs and Super Bowl.
Tidbits
Only five franchises have an AM only flagship in their primary market. Seven teams can be heard only on FM, while the other twenty have an AM/FM simulcast in their home city.
Flagships By Group Owner:
8 – CBS (Bears, Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Lions, Patriots, Raiders, and Texans)
8 – Clear Channel (Broncos, Browns, Bengals, Buccaneers, Chargers, Dolphins, Steelers, and Vikings)
3 – Cumulus (49ers, Chiefs, and Titans)
2 – Bonneville (Cardinals & Seahawks)
2 – Entercom (Bills & Saints)
1 – Cox (Jaguars)
1 – Emmis (Colts)
1 – ESPN (Jets)
1 – Greater Media (Panthers)
1 – Hearst (Ravens)
1 – Hubbard (Rams)
1 – Journal (Packers)
1 – Lincoln Financial Media (Falcons)
1 – Red Zebra (Redskins)
Interesting list and must have taken a lot of homework to put it together.
Question: Do any these “flagship” stations actually produce and originate the broadcasts, using their own people and feed them to out-state and out of town stations (like back in the day)? Or do the teams actually produce the broadcasts (and hire – and fire – personnel), thereby reducing the so-called “flagships” to hometown affiliates? Clearly, the teams control the broadcasts. We hear from time to time of some broadcaster getting fired for saying something the team or the league doesn’t like. But do these “flagships” play any role at all beyond carrying the games?
The Chicago Bears do offer a radio network. They have several stations across the state of Illinois. WBBM (780) is 50,000 watts. All games are streamed live at CBSChicago.com.
We know that they do. The team is just one of two that doesn’t offer any information about the affiliates online.