KESN
Encyclopedia
KESN is a Dallas
/Fort Worth
, Texas
based sports talk radio station. It is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company as an ESPN Radio
affiliate.
From 1983-2000, 103.3 FM for Dallas/Fort Worth was licensed to Greenville, Texas
, and held the call letters KEMM. The station operated a country music
format. KEMM went silent on September 28, 2000. The city of license and tower were moved to Allen, Texas
in 2001 and the station was re-launched on April 27, 2001 as KESN with the new all sports format. Fourteen outlying stations were rearranged and relocated to make way for this frequency to move into DFW, all at ABC/Disney's expense.
KESN is the flagship for Dallas Mavericks
basketball and Texas Christian University
football and men's basketball. Among its most notable local programs is Galloway and Company, hosted by Randy Galloway
.
Despite different owners and a merger of ABC Radio Networks to Citadel Broadcasting
; KESN, WBAP-AM, and WFAA-TV
maintain a strong partnership (as WFAA is the local ABC
television affiliate). In early 2006, "103.3 ESPN" welcomed WFAA-TV personality Dale Hansen
, former Dallas Cowboys
radio analyst and host on rival station KTCK
, to the station. KTCK had become the Cowboys' flagship station and many speculated that Hansen leaving KTCK for KESN was due to his criticism of the team. The official explanation, however, was that Hansen's ratings did not justify his salary request.
Share ratings for KESN's primary shows lag behind that of KTCK, Sportsradio 1310, "The Ticket," their chief sports-talk radio rival in the Dallas/Fort Worth market http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/bhorn/stories/061006dnspohorn.312e767.html In current ratings books, KESN has had many more cume
listeners than KTCK. Which means that, as the ratings show, while more total people may listen to KESN at various points throughout the day, roughly twice as many people are listening to KTCK at any given time.
Its new sister station KZMP AM
, which airs Spanish language
sports programming, can be heard on 1540 AM.
Starting in the 2011 Major League Baseball season
, KESN & KZMP has acquired rights to broadcast all Texas Rangers
baseball games for the next four years. Its English broadcasts will be airing on this station while the Spanish-language broadcasts air on KZMP. This is in addition to the Dallas Mavericks
audio broadcasts.
Until mid-2011, KESN was broadcasting in HD Radio
. With its HD2 signal simulcasting KZMP-AM (ESPN Deportes Radio
) and its HD3 substation broadcasted an audio simulcast of ESPNews
. For reasons unknown, the HD broadcasts have been discontinued.
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
/Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
based sports talk radio station. It is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company as an ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
affiliate.
History
Greenville, Texas
Greenville is the county seat, and the largest city, of Hunt County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 25,557....
, and held the call letters KEMM. The station operated a country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
format. KEMM went silent on September 28, 2000. The city of license and tower were moved to Allen, Texas
Allen, Texas
Allen is a city in Collin County, Texas, United States, a northern suburb of Dallas. As of the 2010 census the city had a total population of 84,246.-Geography:According to the City of Allen, the city has a total area of...
in 2001 and the station was re-launched on April 27, 2001 as KESN with the new all sports format. Fourteen outlying stations were rearranged and relocated to make way for this frequency to move into DFW, all at ABC/Disney's expense.
KESN is the flagship for Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...
basketball and Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
football and men's basketball. Among its most notable local programs is Galloway and Company, hosted by Randy Galloway
Randy Galloway
George Randolph "Randy" Galloway is the host of Galloway and Company, the drive-time program on KESN 103.3 FM, ESPN Radio's Dallas affiliate and also heard on ESPN Xtra on XM Radio. He is also a sports columnist for the Ft...
.
Citadel Broadcasting
Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country...
; KESN, WBAP-AM, and WFAA-TV
WFAA-TV
WFAA, channel 8, is an ABC-affiliated television station serving the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, one of the top ten media markets in North America. The station is the flagship of Belo Corporation and the largest ABC affiliate not owned and operated by the network...
maintain a strong partnership (as WFAA is the local ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television affiliate). In early 2006, "103.3 ESPN" welcomed WFAA-TV personality Dale Hansen
Dale Hansen
Dale Hansen is an American sportscaster, currently the weeknight sports anchor during the 6 pm and 10 pm newscasts on ABC's Dallas affiliate WFAA-TV. He also hosts Dale Hansen's Sports Special on Sundays at 10:20 pm, consistently one of the highest-rated local programs in...
, former Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
radio analyst and host on rival station KTCK
KTCK
KTCK , is a sports talk radio station based in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The station, currently owned by Cumulus Media, has been made popular by the incorporation of humor alongside the sports talk....
, to the station. KTCK had become the Cowboys' flagship station and many speculated that Hansen leaving KTCK for KESN was due to his criticism of the team. The official explanation, however, was that Hansen's ratings did not justify his salary request.
Share ratings for KESN's primary shows lag behind that of KTCK, Sportsradio 1310, "The Ticket," their chief sports-talk radio rival in the Dallas/Fort Worth market http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/bhorn/stories/061006dnspohorn.312e767.html In current ratings books, KESN has had many more cume
Cume
In the practice of measuring the size of US commercial broadcasting and newspaper audiences, cume, short for "cumulative audience," is a measure of the total number of unique consumers over a specified period....
listeners than KTCK. Which means that, as the ratings show, while more total people may listen to KESN at various points throughout the day, roughly twice as many people are listening to KTCK at any given time.
KZMP (AM)
KZMP is a radio station that serves the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It is owned by Liberman Broadcasting however it is managed and operated by The Walt Disney Company's ESPN under a local marketing agreement.-History:...
, which airs Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
sports programming, can be heard on 1540 AM.
Starting in the 2011 Major League Baseball season
2011 Major League Baseball season
The 2011 Major League Baseball season began on Thursday, March 31, and ended on Wednesday, September 28. This marked the first time a season began on a Thursday since , and the first time a regular season ended on a Wednesday since...
, KESN & KZMP has acquired rights to broadcast all Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
baseball games for the next four years. Its English broadcasts will be airing on this station while the Spanish-language broadcasts air on KZMP. This is in addition to the Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...
audio broadcasts.
Until mid-2011, KESN was broadcasting in HD Radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
. With its HD2 signal simulcasting KZMP-AM (ESPN Deportes Radio
ESPN Deportes Radio
ESPN Deportes Radio is a Spanish language sports radio network created and produced by Disney-owned ESPN. Programming includes call-in talk shows and commentary from hosts about a full range of sporting events, including soccer, American football, baseball and boxing.The network has stations in 13...
) and its HD3 substation broadcasted an audio simulcast of ESPNews
ESPNEWS
ESPNEWS , launched on November 1, 1996, is a 24-hour-a-day sports news television channel...
. For reasons unknown, the HD broadcasts have been discontinued.