Small Ball: Nationals Choose Bonneville Over Radio Giants

The Nationals have signed a one-year deal with Bonneville Int’l Corp to put the team’s games on WWZZ-FM and WFED-AM, ending “more than a month of sometimes contentious negotiations with various radio outlets in the market,” including Clear Channel and Infinity, according to Barry Svrluga of the WASHINGTON POST. A source said the Nationals are paying “several hundred thousand dollars” for the deal and that the team “could turn a small profit by selling advertising.” WWZZ “will carry 122 games –- including those on Opening Day, all the night games and afternoon games on such holidays as Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day” — while WFED will carry all 162 games “and exclusively carry the 40 games not on WWZZ.” The Braves are the only other MLB team with an FM station as its primary affiliate (WASHINGTON POST 2/18). Also in DC, Eric Fisher writes “within two hours of the deal being announced [Thursday], stations owned by Clear Channel and Infinity were disparaging the Nationals’ radio choice on air” (WASHINGTON TIMES, 2/18).