University of Memphis Athletics
Tiger Radio Broadcast Will Move to New Flagship Station
Mar 06, 2006 | General
March 6, 2006
MEMPHIS, TENN. - Tiger Sports Properties, the multimedia rights consulting arm of the University of Memphis athletic department since 2001, has signed a new broadcasting agreement with Clear Channel Radio to make WREC 600AM the flagship station for all Tiger football and men's basketball games through the 2010-11 season. Weekly head coaches shows, daily three-minute Tiger Reports, and regular promotion of Tiger Athletics on Clear Channel's other five stations are also included in the new five-year deal.
WREC is in its 84th year covering the Mid-South region as the station Memphis turns to for News. The new flagship allows Tiger games to be broadcast in HD Digital. Tiger Sports Properties will retain and sell nearly all commercial inventory, produce the games, assume operational expenses, and originate broadcasts from the Learfield Communications Inc. headquarters broadcast center in Jefferson City, Missouri. Football pre and post game shows will be two hours in length, while men's basketball broadcasts will encompass a one-hour pre-game show and ninety-minute post-game show. Existing radio network affiliate agreements will allow for broadcasts to reach from near Nashville to the east, Jonesboro to the north, Little Rock to the west, and Oxford to the south.
"This is a major accomplishment for Tiger Athletics to partner with a station of WREC's caliber. There was strong interest in the market for the UofM broadcasts. We are thrilled to land on 600AM, which reaches a stronger coverage area than several FM stations," explained Brent Seebohm, General Manager of Tiger Sports Properties. "We will produce first-class broadcasts and now benchmark our radio efforts with over 20 other major Learfield universities. We are grateful for the passion and professionalism of Tim Davies' Clear Channel team over the past few months, and excited about the established roles of our veteran broadcast team."
Tiger Sports Properties has already hired the majority of the talent with Dave Woloshin to remain as play-by-play commentator for his eighth season. Jeff Brightwell will serve as the Broadcast Team Captain and handle the majority of production and engineering duties. Forrest Goodman will remain as the lead Broadcast Host for all pre-game, post-game, and halftime, while also now serving as host of the coaches shows. Tommy West and John Calipari's weekly radio show will air seasonally at 7:00 p.m. on a to-be-determined weeknight, and Blair Savage's weekly show will air at 5:30 p.m. on Saturdays. Heading into his 19th season on the air, Bob Rush will continue as football color analyst. Matt Dillon will remain as the men's basketball color analyst and football sideline reporter.
"I can not tell you how pleased we are to have the broadcast of Tiger athletics moving to WREC 600AM and the Clear Channel family," said Memphis Athletic Director R.C. Johnson. "It is vitally important for our athletic programs, as well as the department in general, to be able to have our message spread not only in Shelby County but throughout the Mid-South. With WREC airing our games and coaches shows, we feel quite confident that our story will be heard."
"We are delighted that Tiger Sports Properties was able to keep our broadcast team in tact. We have built a consistency over the years with the on-air staff and strongly believe that we have a very professional group of announcers who are familiar to sports fans in Memphis," Johnson remarked. "I think that everyone will agree that we are in the most successful period in the history of Tiger athletics and that given the strength of our coaching staffs, we will continue to improve in each of our 19 NCAA sanctioned sports. With WREC broadcasting our events, we can't help but succeed."
"Every minute of each day, you can turn to NewsRadio 600WREC as your best source of local and national news, weather, and direct and open discussions about what effects our world," said Tim Davies, Regional Vice President of Clear Channel Radio. "The addition of the University of Memphis sports programming allows Clear Channel Radio Memphis to be the best avenue for our hometown team, right here in Memphis."
Clear Channel Radio is a leading radio company focused on serving local communities across the U.S. with more than 110 million listeners choosing Clear Channel Radio programming each week. The company's operations include radio broadcasting, syndication, and independent media representation. Clear Channel Radio is a division of Clear Channel Communications, Inc. (NYSE:CCU), a leading global media and entertainment company. More information on the company can be found at www.clearchannel.com. Locally Clear Channel operates KJMS-FM, WDIA-AM, WEGR-FM, WHAL-FM, WHRK-FM, and WREC-AM.
