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WPTV and ESPN 760 expand sports partnership to include the Fox 29 Ten O’clock News

Jan. 3, 2011
 

One year after launching an unprecedented sports content partnership, WPTV NewsChannel 5 and ESPN 760 have announced they are expanding their relationship.

On Jan. 1, when WPTV NewsChannel 5 takes over production of all local news coverage for WFLX Fox 29, its radio partner, ESPN 760, will oversee the sports segments on The Fox 29 Ten O’clock News.

“I have been impressed with what ESPN 760 has been doing for WPTV and l think our Fox 29 viewers will enjoy the added dimension of coverage that ESPN 760 will bring to the Fox 29 Ten O’clock News,” said John Spinola, WFLX vice president and general manager.

ESPN 760’s Evan Cohen will provide a nightly commentary during the week on The Fox 29 Ten O’clock News, offering his insights on both local and national sports stories.

On Fridays and Sundays, ESPN 760’s Jason Pugh will anchor the 15-minute “Wayne Akers Ford Sports Zone” program on WFLX Fox 29 at 10:45 p.m., which features expanded sports highlights, commentaries and features.

“We are excited by the opportunity to provide WFLX viewers with this unique style of creative sports coverage,” said Steve Politziner, ESPN 760 vice president and general manager.

Steve Wasserman, WPTV vice president and general manager, said, “Evan Cohen and the ESPN 760 team refuse to play by the dull and outdated rules of traditional TV sportscasts and that is why we asked them to join us in this new venture with WFLX Fox 29.”

Effective Jan. 1, WPTV NewsChannel 5, which is owned by The E.W. Scripps Company, will produce the local newscasts on WFLX Fox 29, a Raycom Media station, weekdays from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and every night at 10 p.m.

Last January, ESPN 760, which is owned by Good Karma Broadcasting, began producing all the sports segments for WPTV NewsChannel 5 with a unique emphasis on local high school and college sports. Notably, the WPTV/ESPN 760 partnership, in cooperation with the Palm Beach County Schools, created a weekly Thursday night high school football match up that featured 22 schools throughout the season selected by ESPN 760. Dubbed “Football Night in South Florida,” each Thursday night game was broadcast live on the radio by ESPN 760 and received extensive TV coverage on WPTV NewsChannel 5 as well as on both stations’ websites, http://www.wptv.com/ and http://www.espn760.com/.

About WPTV

WPTV, an NBC affiliate since signing on more than 50 years ago, offers more locally produced programming than its competitors. Its early evening newscasts attract more viewers than competing network affiliates combined. Its corporate parent, The E.W. Scripps Company, is a diverse media enterprise with interests in television stations, newspapers, local news and information Web sites, and features syndication.

About ESPN 760

ESPN 760, which has been the Palm Beaches’ and Treasure Coast’s sports station for more than six years, features the biggest local and national names in sports talk along with live play-by-play broadcasts of top professional, collegiate and high school athletics. ESPN 760 is owned by Good Karma Broadcasting, a sports marketing company, which owns and operates 11 radio stations and associated Web sites.

About WFLX

WFLX, a FOX Affiliate, is owned by Raycom, an employee-owned company, which is one of the nation’s largest broadcasters and owns and/or operates 47 television stations in 36 markets and 18 states. Raycom stations cover 12.6% of U.S. television households and employ nearly 3,500 individuals in full and part-time positions. In addition to television stations, Raycom owns Raycom Sports (a marketing, production and events management and distribution company in Charlotte); Raycom Post (a post production facility in Burbank, California), and Broadview Media (a post production facility based in Montgomery).  Further information about Raycom can be found at the corporate website, http://www.raycommedia.com/.