ESPN Radio To Debuts New Weekend Lineup

Beginning Saturday, Sept. 5, ESPN Radio will roll out a new fall weekend lineup with a focus on the 2015 college football and NFL seasons.

The schedule will feature two new shows, Operation Football and NFL Nation, along with ESPN Radio fall football mainstays, College GameDay, Fantasy Focus and many of the same unique and experienced voices ESPN Radio introduced earlier this year including Robin Lundberg and The Coach & Bretos. The lineup will be in place until the end of 2015.

“Fall is football time, and ESPN Radio is committed to giving its listeners the most comprehensive and informative coverage of the college football and NFL landscape,” said David Roberts, vice president, network audio content.  “The enhanced schedule features some of the most knowledgeable experts in the business.”

Louise Cornetta, program director II, added: “ESPN Radio introduced several new voices to our 2015 weekend lineup. We look forward to having many return this Fall with a mix of additional new talent to deliver all the football content our listeners have come to expect from us.”

ESPN Radio will kick off the weekends with the fourth season of Weekend Blitz with Monday Night Football commentator Mike Tirico and ESPN NFL Insider Chris Mortensen (Fridays at 7 p.m. ET). The show re-airs Saturdays at 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. and on Sundays at 6 a.m.  This year marks Mortensen’s 25th anniversary with ESPN, and show the will celebrate the milestone each week with a look back at Mortensen’s career.

ESPN Radio’s Saturday schedule will focus on college football beginning with:

• Dari & Mel, a year-round program hosted by SEC Network anchor Dari Nowkhah and ESPN NFL analyst Mel Kiper Jr., kicking off the mornings at 7 a.m. for three hours. 
• Following that, a three-hour simulcast of television’s ESPN’s College GameDay (10 a.m. – Noon) and ESPN Radio’s College GameDay (Noon – 7 p.m.) will provide listeners with previews, news and analysis from around college football and lead into the College Football Game of the Week on most Saturdays. 
• On Saturdays when there is not a game, ESPN Radio will offer editions of espnW Presents: Spain & Prim on ESPN Radio, Dickerson & Hood and Marty & McGee in that window (7 – 11 p.m.) on a rotational basis.  ESPN New York 98.7FM’s Robin Lundberg will close out the night with a recap of the day’s college action and a look ahead to Sunday’s slate of NFL matchups.

Sundays on ESPN Radio

• NFL-centric, including a new show, Operation Football (3 – 7 p.m.), which will offer a recap of the NFL day thus far, provide updates on in-progress games and track fantasy football stats. 
• SportsCenter anchors Randy Scott and Prim Siripipat will host the show, with former NFLers Eric Allen (first-half of show) and Tim Hasselbeck (second-half of show) offering analysis.  NFL Nation will also make its debut (7 – 10 p.m.) with ESPN New York 98.7FM newcomer Anita Marks, who joined ESPN Radio in May, hosting alongside former NFL executive Vinny Cerrato. They will be joined by ESPN’s NFL Nation writers from game sites.
• Fantasy Focus is back this year, with ESPN New York 98.7FM’s Dave Rothenberg as host, alongside Fantasy expert Eric Karabell, with weekly contributors ESPN Chicago’s Tom Waddle and Stephania Bell.  Focus will offer listeners last-minute lineup suggestions, injury updates and analysis of who is having the best season at each position.
• The Freddie Coleman Show will close the weekends, airing late night Sundays during football season, from 10 p.m. – 1 a.m. to recap the day in the NFL and offer a look ahead to the coming week.

ESPN Audio’s new fall weekend lineup can be heard on ESPN Radio and via the ESPN app, ESPNRadio.com, SiriusXM, Apple iTunes, Slacker Radio and TuneIn.