University Southern California Trojans
KMPC-AM 1540 Named New Radio Home Of USC Football and Men's Basketball
May 3, 2001
LOS ANGELES - KMPC-AM 1540 will be the new radio home of USC football and men's basketball beginning with the 2001-02 season, USC athletic director Mike Garrett announced today.
The 3-year contract calls for KMPC, an affiliate of Sporting News Radio, the largest and only live 24-7 sports talk radio network in the United States to broadcast live all Trojan football and men's basketball games, as well as at least 6 women's basketball games and all post-season baseball games.
The station will also air a weekly 1-hour midweek evening show featuring Trojans athletics and a daily USC sports report minute during drive time, as well as feature Troy in an extension and substantial advertising and promotion campaign.
USC's football broadcasts will be aired throughout the West on a network established by KMPC. Financial terms of the agreement were not announced.
Play-by-play announcers and game analysts will be named in the near future, Garrett said.
"We are extremely excited about this partnership between USC and KMPC," said Garrett. "KMPC's sports programming and promotion on a local and national basis will provide outstanding exposure for USC athletics. KMPC is a station that understands sports, both in how to present it and how to promote it. In turn, we'll deliver to KMPC the USC audience, which is one of the top demographic audiences in all of college athletics. This is just a great match."
Said KMPC general manager Nancy Cole: "We are very pleased to be the new home of the USC Trojans. KMPC 1540 is dedicated to bringing the most comprehensive USC coverage to all of Southern California. This will be a great foundation for our ever-increasing commitment to localize sports programming."
USC football, with new head coach Pete Carroll at the helm, is one of the nation's premier programs. The Trojans have won 8 national championships and 20 Rose Bowls and produced 121 All-American first teamers, 4 Heisman Trophy winners and 60 NFL first round draft picks.
Trojan men's basketball, guided by head coach Henry Bibby, is coming off an NCAA Elite Eight appearance. The women's basketball team has won 2 national championships, while the baseball team has captured an unprecedented 12 College World Series titles and was a CWS participant last year.
KMPC-AM 1540 is a Los Angeles-based station whose signal, combined with the Trojan network, provides USC athletics outstanding coverage throughout the western United States. Sporting News Radio, operated by The Sporting News, broadcasts live over 430 affiliated stations. Besides KMPC 1540 in Los Angeles, The Sporting News also operates Boston's 1510 WWZN, New York's 620 WSNR and Chicago's 820 WCSN.
