The NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and its co-owned minor league franchises have announced a multiyear contract extension to remain on iHeartMedia owned stations.
The deal will keep the Cavaliers on News/Talk 1100 WTAM/106.9 W295DE and Rock 100.7 WMMS. WTAM and predecessor WWWE have carried the Cavs since the 1990-91 season as well as from 1973-81 and 1984-88. WMMS began simulcasting the coverage in 2014.
The American Hockey League’s Cleveland Monsters will move to Sports “1350 The Gambler” WARF Akron after airing on now defunct Alternative “Alt 99.1” W256BT/WMMS-HD2 the past few years.
The NBA G-League’s Canton Charge will remain on Country “99.7 Canton’s New Country” W259BW Canton/WHOF-HD2. W259BW has carried the Charge’s games for all three years of their existence.
The NBA Cleveland Cavaliers, AHL Cleveland Monsters and NBA G League Canton Charge and iHeartMedia Cleveland announced today a multiyear, multi-team broadcast agreement beginning with the 2020-21 season.
The agreements for iHeartMedia’s network of official flagship stations include
WTAM 1100 AM/106.9 FM and WMMS 100.7 FM for Cavs basketball; FOX Sports 1350 AM “The Gambler,” the new home for Monsters hockey; and 99.7 FM Canton’s New Country for Charge basketball. The stations will broadcast each team’s preseason, regular season and postseason games as well as pre-and postgame programming. In addition, the agreement includes extensive promotional elements featuring many exclusive fan-engagement opportunities for each team and station across the full iHeartMedia Cleveland platform.“We are excited to extend our already successful relationship with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Monsters, and Charge,” said Keith Hotchkiss, Metro President for iHeartMedia Cleveland. “These teams are an important part of the iHeartMedia family, and this multiyear agreement allows us to continue delivering content to fans who listen to iHeartRadio’s WTAM, WMMS, and FOX Sports 1350 The Gambler.”
“Our decades-long partnership with iHeartMedia Cleveland reflects a mutual commitment and collaboration by all involved to continually find ways to deliver the highest quality broadcast and fan experience possible,” said Cavaliers and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse CEO Len Komoroski. “We’re excited to keep the good times rolling with the great team at iHeartMedia as we introduce a new level of broadcast and promotional inclusion across all of the flagship stations for the Cavs, Monsters and Charge.”
WTAM 1100 AM will continue as the Cavaliers’ long-time flagship station, broadcasting all 82 Cavs regular season games, select preseason games and all playoff games, which will also simulcast live on sister station 100.7 WMMS, Cleveland’s Rock Station. Both WTAM 1100 AM and 100.7 WMMS will also serve as flagship stations for the 30-station Cavs Radio Network that reaches 38 states and half of Canada. The extension marks the 31st consecutive season that WTAM 1100 AM has been the official flagship radio home of the Cavaliers, which began in 1990-91 when the station was then WWWE 1100 AM. It is the 46th season that Cavs games have been broadcast on 1100 AM, starting in the 1971-72 season.
Veteran broadcaster Tim Alcorn will return for his 2nd season as the radio play-by-play voice of the Cavaliers and will be joined by Cavaliers legend, Jim Chones, as the game analyst, who will be back for his 11th season as the game analyst. Returning for his 29th year is studio host Mike Snyder, who will anchor all pregame, halftime and postgame shows. Former OSU great and NBA player Brad Sellers will be back for his 11th year as a postgame studio analyst.
Each broadcast on the Cavaliers Radio Network begins 30 minutes prior to game time with the “Huntington Tip-Off Show,” an inside look and preview of the upcoming game with the Cavs coaching staff and Alcorn. Following each game is “Tito’s Nightcap Recap,” a postgame recap with Snyder, Chones and Sellers taking fan calls and providing game analysis, along with comments from players in both locker rooms, and Coach Bickerstaff’s postgame conference.
The AHL Cleveland Monsters radio broadcasts are moving from iHeartMedia Cleveland’s Alt 99.1 (99.1 FM WMMS HD2) to sister station FOX Sports 1350 AM “The Gambler” beginning in the 2020-21 season. Veteran hockey broadcaster Tony Brown will return for his 6th season as the radio and television play-by-play voice of the Monsters. Games can also be heard live on the station’s website 1350thegambler.iheart.com, the Monsters Mobile App presented by University Hospitals, as well as iHeartRadio.com and the iHeartRadio mobile app, available on over 250 platforms.
NBA G League Canton Charge powered by the Cleveland Cavaliers game broadcasts will return to 99.7 FM Canton’s New Country for the 3rd consecutive season, with play-by-play voice of the Charge Scott Zurilla beginning his 10th season. Games will also stream live on CantonCharge.com as well as the Charge mobile app, available free for all Android and iPhone users.
*The start of the Cavs, Monsters and Charge 2020-21 seasons are delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A return to play for all leagues are to be announced.