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ECU network announces blowtorch flagships
From staff reports and an
ECU Athletics release.
East Carolina's sports
radio network is poised to receive a jolt of new energy.
The university's
athletic department and ISP Sports have reached a deal with one of Eastern
North Carolina's most powerful radio stations to serve as the FM anchor for
the Pirate ISP Radio Network's football broadcasts beginning this fall.
WSFL-FM, a 100,000-watt
New Bern station which bills itself as Classic Rock 106.5, will be the FM
flagship for Pirate football for the next five years, according to a Friday
release from the ECU athletic media relations office.
WSFL is a property of
the Florida-based Beasley Broadcasting Group, which also owns WNCT-AM Talk 1070, a
Greenville station that ECU and ISP announced will serve as the AM flagship
for the network and provide exclusive coverage of ECU men's basketball and
baseball.
Talk 1070 is
transitioning from a 10,000-watt analogue daytime broadcast to a 50,000-watt
high-definition signal that is expected to enhance the station's reach and
quality of reception,
particularly within many of the communities towards Interstate 95 and the North
Carolina coast.
WSFL's signal reaches
Wake County to the west and nearly the entire coastline of the state to the
south and east, noted ECU's news release.
In recent years — in
the face of mergers, acquisitions and subsequent management turnover and
strategy changes affecting many stations within ECU's target markets — the
in-house-run Pirate Sports Radio Network has struggled annually to assemble
an assortment of lower-power AM and FM stations. The dilemma has led to
complaints of inadequate broadcast reception from fans in many areas of the
state, including large swaths of the region east of I-95 the Pirates call
home.
The network's boost
comes less than five months after athletic director Terry Holland predicted
"a new day in ECU athletics" in announcing in January
a deal with ISP Sports to become the multimedia rights
holder for Pirate sports.
The new arrangement
appears to have validated Holland's expectation.
"We are delighted to
join with ISP Sports and the Beasley Broadcast Group ... in providing this
outstanding flagship partnership beginning with the upcoming football
season," Holland said in a statement. "Interest in our
athletics program has never been higher and our fans are deserving of the
best possible radio coverage. WSFL's 100,000-watt FM signal adds
significantly to our football coverage and the addition of 50,000-watt AM as
our basketball and baseball flagship station is a very positive step in that
direction as well."
Officials with the
broadcasting conglomerate that owns WSFL and WNCT were equally enthusiastic
with the announcement.
"We are very excited
about the new affiliation between Beasley Broadcast Group, East Carolina
Athletics and ISP Sports," Bruce Simel, Beasley's vice president and market
manager, stated. "Beasley is dedicated to providing Eastern North Carolina
the best in local programming and information and ECU athletics play an
important role in that effort."
"Having always had a
strong presence in the Eastern Carolina market, we are delighted that
Classic Rock 106.5 WSFL-FM and Talk 1070 WNCT-AM will be the home to
Pirates' football," stated George G. Beasley, the company's chairman and
CEO. "Under the leadership of Terry Holland and his team, ECU is poised for
a great future and we want to be a part of it."
The Beasley Group,
headquartered in Naples, FL, owns 26 FM and 15 AM stations, according to
the company's Web site.
A Winston-Salem-based
company, ISP Sports is a collegiate sports marketing company with a
nationwide presence, including partnerships with 27 major college sports
programs, according to
ISP's Web site.
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02/23/2007 11:43:17 AM |
