NYC Radio: WEPN 1050 AM To Air NHL Islanders

The NHL Islanders will have a new radio home, while ESPN New York has begun programming WEPN 1050 AM.

The team and the station have agreed to a two-year deal, The NYPost reports, that will allow its fans to hear Isles’ games predominantly on 1050 AM, but also at times on WEPN 98.7 FM. ESPN New York will do a minimum of 60 games and, an official involved said there are very few conflicts.

ESPN New York is the home of the Knicks and the Rangers, and those games will take precedence on 98.7 FM over the Isles. The Islanders’ games were previously on Hofstra’s radio station, with Radio.com the digital home. They have been heard occasionally on WFAN.

Under ESPN, Chris King will continue as the team’s play-by-player, joined by analyst Greg Picker.

For ESPN, the Islanders represent some original programming as it continues to figure out how to utilize 1050 AM following the decision to scrap the Spanish sports format.

The addition of 1050-AM gives the Islanders a broader radio reach while providing needed content for ESPN, which announced in June that it would convert its AM station from Spanish-language sports programming to English this fall.