It sounds like NBC Sports Radio is in for some drastic changes, possibly including a total shutdown. The brand was initially launched in September 2012 and went to a full weekly schedule in April 2013, but in November 2018, distributor Westwood One announced that NBC Sports Radio would shift from a full-time network to a smaller syndicated service. And now, Westwood One has indicated they’re not going to distribute or represent NBC Sports Radio content as of the end of this month.
Awful Announcing has obtained a March 2 e-mail to Westwood One affiliates from Rich Burg, a Westwood One vice president (affiliate sales – sports), that indicates that they’re going to stop distributing NBC Sports Radio as of March 31. Here’s what that e-mail says:
Attention WESTWOOD ONE affiliates:
This letter will serve as notification that Westwood One will discontinue distribution and representation of NBC Sports Radio content. The cancellation is effective 11:59:59 PM ET on Tuesday March 31.
The programming canceled includes:
– ProFootballTalk Live with Mike Florio
– Best of ProFootballTalk Live with Mike Florio
– The Daily Line with Michael Jenkins and Tim Murray
– The Safety Blitz with Rodney Harrison and Dan Schwartzman
– NBC Sports Radio Updates
Please speak to your Westwood One representative as soon as possible to properly prepare for this change. We will be happy to assist you with any of your programming concerns or needs.
That certainly makes it sound like NBC Sports Radio may be going away overall. And a source tells AA that Westwood One will still carry the NHL playoffs, but that they’re going to try to move affiliates that carried NBC Sports Radio over to CBS Sports Radio (which they also distribute).
Of course, it’s possible that the NBC Sports Radio content could perhaps be picked up by another distributor, or live on in some other form, and PFT Live in particular may live on thanks to also being carried on TV on NBCSN. (PFT Live started as a one-hour TV show in 2012, then turned into a three-hour radio show as well in January 2015 (with some of that also airing on NBCSN). PFT Live currently has two hours of live content (10 a.m. to noon Eastern) on NBCSN on weekdays, followed by a replay of those two hours, and it seems likely that that could continue even after Westwood One ends its distribution of NBC Sports Radio.
But there’s definitely a lot of uncertainty ahead for the rest of NBC Sports Radio. And it’s a turbulent time for sports radio overall, including The Rich Eisen Show reportedly losing its Fox Sports Radio affiliation as of April 7. Whatever ends up happening, it seems clear that the future for NBC Sports Radio is going to look pretty different.
