Nick Piccone
The Phillies radio broadcasts for the past four years in 94WIP have been a staple of the station, along with the simulcast on 1210 WPHT AM. Last year, the Phillies and CBS Radio agreed to a one-year contract extension in September. So far, no update on what next season holds, in terms of radio rights, has been given. The people we’ve reached out to will not comment on if there are current negotiations ongoing, or if the relationship between the Phillies and CBS Radio is finished.
Last year, Dave Buck, the senior vice president of marketing and advertising for the Phils, said the two sides were hoping to negotiate a long-term deal during the 2015 season, and hoped to have something worked out by the All-Star break. That obviously didn’t happen.
This begs the question – if the Phillies move on from CBS Radio, where could they land? Would Greater Media throw the checkbook at the rights? They already wrestled away the rights from CBS Radio for the Sixers and Flyers, so adding the Phillies would be a huge get for them. Sure, the team sucks, but there are thousands upon thousands of people who still listen to the games for Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen.
In addition to 97.5 on the dial, Greater Media would offer 93.3 WMMR, 95.7 WBEN and 102.9 WMGK as stations for sports broadcasts, so shuffling three teams probably wouldn’t be as much as a problem as some would think.
Is iHeartMedia a possibility? Who knows. For what it’s worth, the team still has CBS Radio listed as their premiere radio network.