NYC Radio: WEPN 98.7 FM ESPN Radio Goes Local

WEPN 98.7 FM ESPN New York radio began 21 years ago, and for 21 years many have suggested that for the station to succeed, it must focus more on local than national programming.

Starting this week, the station as made a big move in that direction, going mostly local from 6 a.m. to midnight, the exception being Mike Greenberg’s show from 10 a.m. to noon.  And Greenberg is an avid Jets fan who grew up in Manhattan, so even that is a partial victory for local listeners.

“It goes to our mission statement: Serve fans anytime, anywhere,” Scott McCarthy, vice president of ESPN Audio, told Newsday.

“It's sort of baked into our DNA to always be looking at that and trying to figure out what we could be doing better or differently to serve fans.”

For years, ESPN New York has struggled to compete in ratings with WFAN, in part because of its reliance on national shows, which always are a tough sell in this area.

McCarthy said after looking at the “competitive landscape,” against WFAN and beyond, executives decided at last to change the mix.

Dave Rothenberg and former Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro now will be heard from 6 to 10 a.m. rather than 5 to 8, putting them in a traditional morning drive time slot and head-to-head against WFAN’s Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti.

Bart Scott and Alan Hahn will follow Greenberg from noon to 3 p.m., with their show switching from national content to local, leading into the afternoon staple, “The Michael Kay Show.”

The headline of the changes is in the morning, where Rothenberg and DiPietro had performed relatively well against WFAN before national programming took over from 8 to 10 a.m. Now they have a clear, even playing field.

“We’re thrilled,” DiPietro told Newsday. “If you would have told me years ago when it was me and Alan [Hahn] doing nights that I’d eventually be doing legitimate morning drive in New York City, I would have said, ‘No, you’re crazy.’”

Hahn got DiPietro started in radio in the summer of 2014, when they filled in for Rothenberg on his evening show. DiPietro had last played for the Islanders a year earlier. He took quickly to what became a new career.

ESPN long has been local in afternoons, but Kay has struggled badly in recent ratings periods against WFAN.

McCarthy acknowledged “the Nielsen numbers certainly haven’t been where we want them to be,” but he cited other metrics that illustrate the show’s popularity.

“I think that's a very good show,” McCarthy said. “Obviously, Michael’s a legend and Don [La Greca] and Peter [Rosenberg] have been doing this a long time as well.

 
WEPN is owned by Good Karma Brands.