Sunday, February 9, 1997

KEAN spinning off all-sports station

By AL PICKETT / Sports Editor

Sports fans in Abilene, who felt they have come up on the short end of the dial recently in the availability of sports on the airwaves, will have a new option beginning at 5 p.m. today.

KEAN 1280 AM, which has been simulcast for years with KEAN 105.1 FM as part of Abilene's top-rated country music format, is spinning off to a separate all- sports format. The change officially occurs at 5 p.m. with the live broadcast of the NBA All-Star Game.

"Our AM for a lot of years has just been a tag-along to our FM," KEAN general manager Lou Murray said. "We just provided the AM for those who couldn't get the KEAN format on the FM. Most of our listeners are on the FM.

"We feel there's a hole and we can spin the AM off without hurting the FM and capture a separate audience."

The sports options for local radio listeners had been curtailed in the last year, first by the demise of KNTS - a news, talk, sports format - and then by the merger of EZ 106 and Sports Radio 1340 AM, which had been a 24-hour all-sports station.

Sports Radio 1340 AM now plays easy listening music between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays, offering sports the rest of the time. It still has the popular Sports Buffet with Papa Joe Chevalier, however, and has signed the contract to once again to carry the Texas Rangers' radio network.

KEAN 1280 AM will offer all-sports, 24 hours a day, with the exception of a twice-a-day Tradio swap shop call-in show. It plans to carry numerous local sports features, including several from Abilene's three television sports anchors, as well as talk shows from both the Sports Fan network and ESPN Radio.

"We want to be known as the sports authority," Murray said, adding that KEAN also plans to carry play-by-play broadcast of games including local high school football and basketball as well as NFL and NBA games from ESPN Radio.

The first foray into sports by KEAN was last summer when it carried the Abilene Prairie Dogs' games. But Murray said the station isn't carrying the Prairie Dogs this summer.

Bruce Unrue, director of marketing and media relations for the Texas-Louisiana League, said negotiations are still ongoing to land a flagship station for the league champion Prairie Dogs' broadcasts this summer.

The only local call-in show on KEAN 1280 AM at the present will be the Coors Light Sports Jam with Dave Harrison, which will air from 5-6 p.m. daily.

"We hope we can provide enough local with national sports to pique interest," Murray said. "We're in this for the long haul. We feel this is a niche that can be filled."