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Friday, July 5, 2013

Sports Talk Booms With 677 Stations

Sports talk radio can be described in so many ways.

According to  media writer John Tuscano at pennlive.com, it’s loud, opinionated, controversial and bombastic, yet informative and even comforting for the true sports fanatic.
And judging from recent trends, the best adjective you can give this long-standing format is popular. 
John Ourand’s 2012 piece in Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal documented the rapid growth of sports talk radio. Here is the most important excerpt from that article: 
The number of sports talk radio stations in the United States has grown by a whopping 64 percent in the 10 years since 2002. In 2002, 413 radio stations were sports talkers. By last year, that number had jumped to 677. 
677. 
Let that number sink in for a second. That averages out to around 13 sports talk radio stations per state. 
These days, it’s hard not to find some type of sports talk, whether it is local, regional or the always-growing national sports talk radio networks. There are more options than ever before for the sports fan to vent their frustrations or express their joy at their favorite team. 
Sport talk radio has evolved from more than just a place to find out who won and lost, but a place to examine the how and why. 
It’s the sounding board for the disgruntled and comfort food for the diehard.

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