The Blues made the move in part to have more team-based programming on ESPN 101.1GETTY IMAGES
The Blues will move their flagship radio station to ESPN Radio 101.1 St. Louis from KMOX-AM beginning in ’19-20 in a deal “for four seasons with an option for a fifth,” according to Tom Timmermann of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. The team will give up the “tremendous reach” of KMOX but believes it will make up for that with the “potential to have more team-based programming” on ESPN 101.1. The all-sports channel has “more time for more hockey-themed programming” than KMOX, a news talk station most of the day. The Blues moved to KMOX from KTRS-AM in ’07 after initially leaving KMOX in ’00 “because they had grown weary of being bumped for Cardinals games.” The Cards moved to KTRS in ‘06, causing the Blues to be bumped again. KMOX in ’11 got the Cards back and “still sometimes bumps the Blues to another station during their spring and fall overlaps” (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 2/1). In St. Louis, Dan Caesar noted the move is a "coup" for ESPN 101.1, which is "celebrating its 10th year in the sports-talk format and hasn’t had an anchor high-profile team" since the Rams left after the '15 NFL season. The addition of the Blues "will vault it back into the prominence of the pro-sports business" (STLTODAY.com, 1/31).
