Cumulus Media will flip Comedy “Funny 102.5” K273BZ Kansas City to Sports “102.5 The Fan” on Wednesday, January 2.
The station will launch with the complete national CBS Sports Radio lineup including the Tiki Barber, Dana Jacobsen, and Brandon Tierney morning show, John Fienstein, Jim Rome, and Doug Gottlieb. Network overnight host Damon Amendolara worked in Kansas City before joining CBS’ Boston sports station. 102.5 The Fan will debut with local sports updates and traffic elements in place and will add local shows in the future. The new format will compete with Union Broadcasting’s 810 WHB and Entercom’s “610 Sports” KCSP.
The press release follows:
There is a new player coming to town in the SPORTS RADIO arena in Kansas City! Starting on Wednesday Jan. 2, 2013 the 102.5 FM signal in Kansas City will become a 24-hour Sports Radio station. The station will be Kansas City’s ONLY FM Sports Radio station, and will be referred to as Sports Radio 102.5 THE FAN!
“The development of the CBS Sports Network in partnership with Cumulus Media Networks is changing the Sports Radio Broadcast landscape across the country and Cumulus Kansas City is excited to be a part of it!” said Mark Sullivan SVP and General Manager of Cumulus Kansas City, “We saw a real opportunity in the Kansas City market to give Sports fans a station that is really for the FANS! The Sports Fan listener base is STRONG in KC… we see that with our passionate fans for the Chiefs Radio Network on 101 The FOX (KCFX- FM), and also from our surrounding collegiate sports! Personally as a Sports FAN myself I am excited to give Kansas City the choice to listen to Sports Talk on the FM Dial at 102.5.”
Operations Manager Chris Hoffman added about the format change “This National Sports Network will finally give Sports Fans a choice for the national sports news content they might not be getting from the other sports properties. We will localize the station through hourly local sports updates and traffic reports… plus we are planning to integrate localized programming and partnerships to cover a wide variety of local sports topics. Most of all we are excited about exploring partnerships with local major league sports franchises and major college teams to expand our sports portfolio in Kansas City!”
Dan Mason, President and CEO, of CBS RADIO is excited about the new broadcast lineup “CBS Sports Radio has been able to attract some of the most renowned names in the business, and Tiki, Brandon and Dana are just the latest example of the network’s star-power… We’ve assembled an impressive group of professional athletes and accomplished broadcasters to bring fans unrivaled sports commentary, and the most entertaining lineup in all of sports radio” (CBS-NY)
