Update 10/4: 850 has begun stunting with a loop directing listeners to 93.7 in preparation of flipping to ESPN Radio at 6am on Friday.

Update 9/18: WEEI has officially announced that 850 WEEI and 93.7 WEEI-FM will break their simulcast on Friday, October 5. 850 will carry the ESPN national programming feed billed as “ESPN on WEEI“.

Part of the arrangement will see WEEI’s local programming carries on ESPNBoston.com while ESPN will power the video on WEEI.com.

The press release follows:
BOSTON, MA – Entercom Boston and ESPN Radio today announced that starting on Friday, October 5, WEEI will split its AM/FM simulcast and begin broadcasting ESPN Radio on 850 AM. “ESPN on WEEI” will air ESPN’s entire national lineup, including the entire upcoming Major League Baseball postseason schedule, the NBA, and college football and college basketball. ESPN Radio on 850 AM will debut with Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic, of “Mike and Mike in the Morning,” broadcasting live from Foxboro’s Gillette Stadium beginning at 6 a.m. ET on October 5.

WEEI’s legendary local lineup of “Dennis and Callahan,” “Mut and Merloni,” “The Big Show with Glenn Ordway and Michal Holley,” and “Planet Mikey with Mike Adams” will now be broadcast solely on the 93.7 FM frequency. In addition, 93.7 FM will be the exclusive home of Red Sox baseball, Celtics basketball, Patriots’ Monday and Friday, NFL football and the NFL playoffs.

As part of this expanded partnership, listeners will be able to access 93.7 WEEI’s live audio stream through the popular ESPNBoston.com website. At the same time, ESPNBoston.com’s video channel will now power WEEI.com’s video player with the most up-to-date ESPN video content.

“Since 1991, WEEI has been the gold standard in sports radio. This strategic alliance with ESPN allows WEEI to deliver to the most passionate sports fans in America the very best in local sports talk and play-by-play on WEEI FM and the very best in national sports talk and play-by-play with ESPN on WEEI AM,” said Jeff Brown, Entercom Vice President and Market Manager. “WEEI 850 AM is a proven sports brand. Joining forces with ESPN provides advertisers an additional touch point to connect with a highly valuable and sought after consumer.”

“We’re pleased to team with Boston’s preeminent sports radio outlet and one of the nation’s best radio broadcasting companies in Entercom to bring the number one national network into New England,” said Traug Keller, ESPN Senior Vice President, Production Business Divisions. “This move coupled with the existing presence of ESPNBoston.com provides Boston’s passionate fans the best of ESPN’s national and local coverage and analysis.”

“We are excited to be expanding our partnership with ESPN in such a meaningful way,” said Entercom President and CEO David Field. “Combining Boston’s leading sports station, WEEI-FM, and the new ESPN on WEEI 850 AM, together with our ability to cross promote content through our existing mobile and digital platforms, gives passionate Boston sports fans the very best in local and national sports content.”

Beginning Friday, October 5, the new ESPN on WEEI 850 AM ESPN lineup will be:

6 a.m. to 10 a.m. “Mike & Mike in the Morning”
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. “The Herd with Colin Cowherd”
1 p.m. to 4 p.m. “The Scott Van Pelt Show”
4 p.m. to 7 p.m. “ESPN Today”
7 p.m. to 10 p.m. “Hill and Schlereth” / ESPN Play-by-Play
10 p.m. to 12 a.m. “SportsCenter Tonight”
12 a.m. to 6 a.m. “SportsCenter All Night”

Original Report 8/3: Chad Finn of The Boston Globe is reporting that Entercom will break Sports 850 WEEI Boston off of its simulcast of 93.7 WEEI-FM and shift it to the national feed of ESPN Radio.

ESPN has not had a fulltime affiliate in Boston since 890 WAMG dropped Sports in September 2009. It’s programming has been heard in overnights and some weekend dayparts on WEEI since then. WEEI began simulcasting its programming on 93.7 in September 2011.