Black Bear Sports Network is the radio and television name for

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

sports. The radio affiliates broadcast

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 ...

, men's and women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, men's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

and select

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

games. The current network formed in the summer of 2007 when

Learfield Sports 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 ...

took over the marketing for the

Maine Black Bears The Maine Black Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of Maine. A member of the America East Conference, the University of Maine sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The men's and women's ice ...

. Previous to this the radio network was known as ''The Sports Zone Black Bear Network'' and was heard on

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...

affiliate

WZON WZON (620 Hertz, kHz) is an AM broadcasting, AM radio station broadcasting an oldies format, with one afternoon talk show. The station is licensed to Bangor, Maine, Bangor and serves Central Maine. Along with sister stations 100.3 WKIT and 103 ...

, at times including

WLOB WLOB (1310 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Portland, Maine. The station is owned by Atlantic Coast Radio and airs a Talk radio format. The studios and transmitter are on Warren Avenue in Portland. WLOB operates at 5000 wa ...

and WEGP.

WABI-TV WABI-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Bangor, Maine, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. Owned by Gray Television, the station has studios on Hildreth Street in West Bangor, and its transmitter is atop Peaked Mountain in ...

, Bangor's

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

affiliate was the long-time television home for Black Bear sports, including most home football games and men's and women's basketball games (also carried on

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

CW affiliate

WPXT WPXT (channel 51) is a television station in Portland, Maine, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside Poland Spring–licensed ABC affiliate WMTW (channel 8). Both stations share studios on Ledgeview Dri ...

); WABI's relationship with UMaine, which dated to the station's founding in 1953 (outside of a period from 1989 through 1997 in which rival

WLBZ-TV WLBZ (channel 2) is a television station in Bangor, Maine, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Mount Hope Avenue in Bangor, and its transmitter is located on Rider Bluff in Holden, Main ...

held the rights) ended in 2013, after the station was unable to reach a renewal deal with Learfield Sports. In July 2013, Learfield reached a deal to make

WVII-TV WVII-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Bangor, Maine, United States, affiliated with ABC and Fox. The station is owned by Rockfleet Broadcasting, and has studios on Target Industrial Circle in West Bangor; its transmitter is located ...

and

WFVX-LD WFVX-LD (channel 22) is a low-power television station in Bangor, Maine, United States, affiliated with Fox and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Rockfleet Broadcasting alongside ABC affiliate WVII-TV (channel 7). Both stations share studios on Target ...

, Bangor's

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

and

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

affiliates, the new flagship television stations for the Black Bear Sports Network. As part of the deal, Black Bear sports telecasts will also be seen on

Fox College Sports Stadium College Sports (formerly Fox College Sports) is a group of three American sports networks. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios (under the joint venture Diamond Sports Group), the three channels air college and high ...

, and production will be handled by Pack Network (WABI had produced its telecasts in-house). Select basketball games are carried on

ESPN Plus ESPN+ is an American over-the-top subscription video streaming service available in the United States, owned by Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, in partnership with ESPN Inc., which is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Compa ...

and

America East TV The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and picked up by

NESN New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports network, regional sports cable television, cable and satellite television, satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which ow ...

or carried locally on other Bangor-based television stations. In 2013 new 5-year deals were announced, Blueberry Broadcasting's

WVOM-FM WVOM-FM (103.9 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Howland, Maine and serving Central and Down East Maine, including Bangor. It airs a talk radio format and is owned by Maine-based Blueberry Broadcasting which is headed by Louis ...

/ WVOM/

WVQM WVQM (101.3 FM) is a commercial radio station in Augusta, Maine. It simulcasts a talk radio format with 103.9 WVOM-FM in Bangor. The stations are owned by Blueberry Broadcasting. The radio studios and offices are on Target Industrial Circl ...

will be the flagship for men's ice hockey and football, Waterfront Communications'

WGUY WGUY (1230 AM) is a radio station licensed to Veazie, Maine, United States. It is owned by Port Broadcasting, LLC. The station signed on in November 2011 as a simulcast of co-owned WNZS. In May 2012 WGUY broke away from the WNZS simulcast, a ...

will be the flagship for basketball and baseball.

Current Radio Affiliates

Past affiliates

References

Initial press release on movement of radio affiliates
br
UM Network adds WLOB
br
2010 Black Bear radio guideBlack Bear Sports Properties SecuresNew 5 Year Relationship with Blueberry Broadcasting & Waterfront Communications
{{Sports networks in the United States University of Maine Sports radio networks in the United States College football on the radio College basketball on the radio in the United States Maine Black Bears football Learfield IMG College sports radio networks