In San Diego, Jeff Sanders notes Ted Leitner and Jesse Agler "will continue play-by-play duties" when the Padres switch to Entercom-owned KBZT-FM next season. The five-year deal "was originally announced" by Entercom CEO David Field during the company’s quarterly earnings call. The new partnership "will include 30 minutes of pre- and post-game coverage, as well as cross-promotion" on Entercom San Diego’s WLOR-FM and KSON-FM (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 8/19).
MUSICAL CHAIRS: Top Rank Chair Bob Arum this week said that he is "in the process of trying to find a television partner to distribute Manny Pacquiao’s return bout against Jessie Vargas on Nov. 5 and listed ESPN, Turner Broadcasting and even Showtime as potential carriers." Arum said HBO "had a contract and decided to pass" because it was two weeks before the net's Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev fight. Arum said that HBO has now "given up its contractual right to any of his future fights." But RING TV's Mitch Abramson cited a source as saying that it is "not clear if the contract becomes void if Pacquiao leaves for one fight" (RINGTV.com, 8/16).
FILLING THE VOID: In St. Louis, Dan Caesar noted locally based KFNS-AM is "in talks" to join the NFL Cardinals' network this season." Tim McKernan, who will take over KFNS' business aspects next month, said, "I know there are still people who follow the Cardinals here, so that's what we're looking to do." He added, "I'm not interested in being in business in the Rams" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 8/19).
DATA CRUNCHER: Football analytics expert Cynthia Frelund has joined NFL Media and will appear across several studio shows and platforms this season. She will appear regularly on shows including "NFL GameDay Morning" and "NFL Fantasy Live," as well as NFL Net's coverage of the Super Bowl, Draft and Combine. She previously worked at ESPN as a Predictive Analytics Analyst for "SportsCenter" (NFL).
