Hearst Baltimore’s 98 Rock FM & WBAL NewsRadio AM/FM will serve as flagship stations of the Orioles Radio Network in 2022. The O’s were being carried by Audacy before the switch.
“The entire Hearst Baltimore Team feels like the Orioles have truly come home and are excited to have the O’s back and now on all our radio stations for the foreseeable future,” said Cary Pahigian, President/GM WBAL FM/AM and 98-Rock. “This iconic franchise is undoubtedly going to soon be a force in the AL East and for many years to come. We share the community’s enthusiasm with positive initiatives and plans underway within the entire Orioles organization.”
“The Orioles are thrilled to be working with Hearst Baltimore and their lineup of heritage radio stations to serve as the home of Orioles radio broadcasts,” said T.J. Brightman, Orioles SVP/CRO. “This new partnership will not only serve our fans listening throughout Birdland but create more value for our club and corporate partners who utilize our radio assets to support their own brands and drive revenues using the power of Orioles baseball.”
The six-year deal also includes unique cross-promotion on WBAL-TV.
Tj “The Weasel” Brightman is back at the Orioles for a 3rd time? They already fired him twice. That guy can’t be trusted. I went to school with ol’ Todd, and he was a bad guy back then and have heard he’s a bigger disaster as an adult
I know this sounds like a lose/lose deal for Audacy. But maybe not. First of all PXP is expensive and if Hearst was at the table you can be assured that the price was healthy. Plus having a TV partner still has great value. Secondly, these agreements take an extraordinary amount of work to execute. You station is ‘all-baseball all the time’ and yet you struggle to make it profitable. Third, MLB is aging. It may be nostalgic for many of us, but the demos are going in the wrong direction. And finally – MLB is offering their product on more platforms than ever.
I’d say Audacy looked seriously at this deal and said “pass”.