St. Louis' newest sports station is trying to ram home the point that it's going to be a major player in the market, announcing Tuesday that it has obtained broadcast rights to its first pro play-by-play property - the local NFL team.
WMVN (101.1 FM), which adopts a sports format Jan. 1, has reached a two-year agreement to broadcast the Rams starting next season. The team has been on KLOU (103.3 FM) - primarily a music station -since 2000, with many games simulcast on KTRS (550 AM).
"They thought it was important to get an anchor tenant, and we thought it was important to be on a sports station,'' Rams executive vice president Bob Wallace said. "The economics of it were important, too.''
He said WMVN made the best offer, which is believed to be a revenue-sharing arrangement rather than a straight rights fee. The Rams are the second play-by-play property the station has landed - it began airing St. Louis University men's basketball last month.
"I'm stoked because we haven't even launched the product and we're already the flagship station of an NFL franchise and we have the college basketball team in town,'' WMVN program director Jason Barrett said. "You've got two franchises right out of the gate that have attached themselves to what we're doing.
"This shows the difference between the way sports radio has been done in town and what it will become. This is a very good place to be.''
WMVN officials will decide if play-by-play announcer Steve Savard and analysts Jim Hanifan and D'Marco Farr stay.
"I've always been impressed with the product,'' Barrett said. "I anticipate having conversations with everyone (soon). The presentation is pretty damn good. I'm a huge Savard fan. Hanifan is ... awesome, everyone loves 'Hanny.'''
And Barrett likes Farr, with whom he's had talks about becoming a talk-show host.
"In a perfect word, we'd keep it seamless,'' he said.
