Radio stations juggle teams

Victoria Sun

Tuesday, April 10, 2001 | 9:38 a.m.

Agame of musical chairs involving baseball broadcasts has taken place at local radio stations.

So if you still aren't sure which station is carrying your favorite team, read on.

Since 1980, KDWN 720-AM had been broadcasting Los Angeles Dodgers games.

Not anymore.

Dodger fans now can listen to home and away games on KSFN 1140-AM.

"The Dodgers had nothing to do with it," KDWN spokesman Buzz Jones said of the change. "They have a separate network that takes care of their broadcasts.

"When the network changed their procedure in providing the games to us, we decided it was a drastic change. We felt the changes they were making did not benefit us."

The Dodgers' radio rights holder had paid KDWN to broadcast games, but after its contract expired, it decided not to pay the station any longer.

Previously, KSFN was the carrier of the Arizona Diamondbacks. D'backs fans now can hear their games on KSHP 1400. But be warned that KSHP won't air games that start before 6 p.m. or games on weekends that start before noon.

KSHP used to be the station of the Anaheim Angels. Angels games now can be heard on 1340 KRLV.

"We will air games whenever they're available," KRLV programmer Alex Shelton said. "We're committed to carrying an extensive amount of American League baseball."

For now, local fans of the world champion New York Yankees won't be able listen to Yankee games -- unless, of course, they play the Angels -- because KRLV, the station that had the Yankees last season, hasn't been able to reach an agreement to put the team back on the air.

"Of all the teams we deal with from the Sacramento Kings to NFL teams, the Yankees require the highest rights fee," Shelton said. "Between their rights fees and us not being able to get a lot of Yankees merchandise for giveaways and to our sponsors, it made it very, very difficult for us to bring them back."

Still, Shelton is hopeful the Yankees will be back on the air before the season is over.

"If sponsors want the Yankees back and fans want the Yankees back, they should call the station to let us know," Shelton said. "We know that the Yankees will come back and (try to) talk us into doing it, but at this moment, everything is status quo."

Having the Yankees and the Angels on the same station won't be an insurmountable problem -- at least for home games -- because the teams are located in different time zones.

KENO 1460-AM will air games as provided by ESPN while ESPN 920 (KBAD) will broadcast games featuring the triple-A Las Vegas 51s of the Pacific Coast League.

For computer-savvy baseball fans willing to open their wallets to listen to games, there is another option.

By using the Major League Baseball official website (www.mlb.com), fans can access any game during the season (more than 4,500 games), including foreign language broadcasts, for a one-time registration fee of $9.95. Last year, the service was free.