In N.Y., Phil Mushnick wrote within two weeks the “exclusive renegotiation window for CBS Radio to renew Yankees and Mets rights expires.” CBS “very much wants to renew both teams, and is believed to have its top corporate execs closely monitoring the talks.” But both teams “know ESPN-NY at least as much wants one or the other.” Next season’s radio “winners and losers could be determined as early as May 1” (N.Y. POST, 3/31).
SWITCH HIT: In Minneapolis, Dennis Brackin wrote the “biggest free-agent move made by the Twins organization” was to move their radio broadcasts from KSTP-AM to KTWN-FM, which, “like the Twins, is owned by the Pohlad family.” The Twins have been on AM radio “since their move to Minnesota in 1961, but they joined a growing exodus of sports teams to FM.” Twins fans “won’t notice much change in the actual game broadcasts." But Twins and KTWN execs “see the move as an opportunity to build the station’s overall listening audience from the ground up.” KTWN GM Sam Elliot Gagliardi said that the station’s signal “will reach about 85 percent of the metro area, the biggest concerns being the east metro near Stillwater.” But he added that the Twins network “will have 81 stations, and every area of the metro will be covered by a station in the network” (STARTRIBUNE.com, 3/29).
SPANISH CARAVAN: The Astros and Univision announced a two-year extension of their Spanish-language radio broadcast agreement that will run through the '14 season. KLAT-AM will air all 162 games for both seasons (Astros).
