Denver Radio: 105.5 ESPN Pulls the Plug January 3

As of January 4, 2016 Denver will have only one FM sports talk station.

Front Range Sports Network on Monday said it would sell KJAC 105.5 FM ESPN to Greeley-based KUNC.

KUNC expects to expand news and information broadcasting at 91.5 FM and launch full-time non-commercial music programming at 105.5 FM at the end of February.

According to the Denver Post, KEPN 1600 AM, the sister station of KKFN 104.3 The Fan, is expected to affiliate with ESPN.

The agreement in principle between The Fan’s owner, Bonneville International, and ESPN came together about two weeks ago but has not been signed, said Bob Call, the market manager. If the deal comes together, as it is expected to, ESPN programming will run full-time on 1600 AM and on The Fan after midnight starting Jan. 4. The Fan currently broadcasts FOX Sports radio programming from midnight to 6 a.m.  The Fan was last ESPN’s radio affiliate in 2012. Conversations between The Fan and ESPN have been off and on for several years, said Call, who declined to disclose terms of the deal.

KJAC 105.5 FM (50 Kw) Red=Local Coverage

Denver was one of very few cities in America with three sports talk signals to choose from (four if KOA is to be included).  The move accelerates a contraction of local sports programming seen in Denver over the last few years. The loss of 105.5 FM means that hosts Nate Kreckman and Cecil Lammey will be out of work. The station’s staff was informed on Friday.

“The writing has been on the wall for a while,” Kreckman said. “This had much more to do with station ownership looking to get out of the sports market.

On 105.5 FM, KUNC’s new music format will launch on Feb. 29 with “a combination of emerging and established artists, blending rock, blues, soul and more, reflecting Colorado’s unique lifestyle.” Colorado artists past and present will be prominently featured.

This means instead of switching to music at 9 a.m. — and then back to news and information at 2 p.m., as has been KUNC practice — the stations will offer round-the-clock options of both music and news. Program schedules are yet to be determined.