The Ohio State Sports Network from Learfield is an American
radio network
There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio ( duplex communication) type ...
consisting of 62 radio stations which carry coverage of
Ohio State Buckeyes
The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree ...
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
and
men's basketball. Co-owned
WBNS () and
WBNS-FM
WBNS-FM (97.1 MHz) – branded ''97.1 The Fan'' – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Columbus, Ohio, and services the Columbus metropolitan area. Owned by Tegna Inc., it and WBNS (1460 AM) are the only two radio stations ...
(), both licensed to
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, serve as the network's 2
flagship stations. The network also includes 60
affiliates in the U.S. states of
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
and
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
: 33 AM stations, 22 of which extend their signals with low-power FM
translator
Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
s; 26 full-power FM stations; and one HD Radio digital subchannel which supplements its signal with a low-power FM translator.
Paul Keels
Paul Keels is the current play-by-play announcer for Ohio State University's football and men's basketball teams for WBNS Radio and the Ohio State Sports Network.
A native of Cincinnati, Keels began his broadcasting career in his hometown as a n ...
has served as
play-by-play announcer
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio wa ...
for both football and men's basketball since 1998; former Ohio State
offensive guard
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
Jim Lachey
James Michael Lachey (born June 4, 1963) is a radio analyst for Ohio State football and a former American football offensive tackle who played for ten seasons in the National Football League with the San Diego Chargers, Los Angeles Raiders, and ...
currently serves as
color analyst for football; and former Ohio State
point guard
The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...
Ron Stokes currently serves as color analyst for men's basketball.
History
In 2009,
Ohio State
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...
announced it had sold its athletic program's media rights to
IMG College
LEARFIELD, formerly Learfield IMG College, is a large collegiate sports marketing company, representing more than 200 of the nation's top collegiate properties including the NCAA and its 89 championships, NCAA Football, leading conferences, and ...
and RadiOhio, Inc. (member of the
Dispatch Broadcasting Group and then-owner of longtime network flagships WBNS and WBNS-FM); the "lucrative multiyear deal" was reportedly worth $110 million, and scheduled to last through 2019. At the time of the announcement, athletic director
Gene Smith said Ohio State athletics would be in a better position to confront the
then-ongoing economic downturn, referencing an unexpected $1.2 million deficit.
On December 31, 2018, Learfield Communications, Inc., and
IMG College
LEARFIELD, formerly Learfield IMG College, is a large collegiate sports marketing company, representing more than 200 of the nation's top collegiate properties including the NCAA and its 89 championships, NCAA Football, leading conferences, and ...
merged and formed a new company, Learfield IMG College.
Programming
Besides gameday coverage, network programming includes:
* ''Buckeye Roundtable'', a two-hour weekly discussion on Buckeyes football, airs Monday evenings.
*''The
Ryan Day Call-In Show'', a weekly season-long update with the football head coach, airs Thursdays at 12pm noon.
Station list
*Asterisk (*) indicates
HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
broadcast.
*
Blue background indicates low-power FM
translator
Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
.
Network map(s)
References
External links
*
IMGCollege.com: Ohio State University
{{Sports networks in the United States
College basketball on the radio in the United States
College football on the radio
Ohio State Buckeyes football
Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball
Sports radio networks in the United States
2009 establishments in Ohio