- Sunday program Fantasy Focus returns for second season
- Two new shows on Sundays: Operation Football and NFL Nation
Beginning Saturday, Sept. 5, ESPN Radio will roll out a new fall weekend lineup with a focus on the 2015 college football and NFL seasons. The schedule will feature two new shows, Operation Football and NFL Nation, along with ESPN Radio fall football mainstays, College GameDay, Fantasy Focus and many of the same unique and experienced voices ESPN Radio introduced earlier this year including Robin Lundberg and The Coach & Bretos. The lineup will be in place until the end of 2015.
“Fall is football time, and ESPN Radio is committed to giving its listeners the most comprehensive and informative coverage of the college football and NFL landscape,” said David Roberts, vice president, network audio content. “The enhanced schedule features some of the most knowledgeable experts in the business.”
Louise Cornetta, program director II, added: “ESPN Radio introduced several new voices to our 2015 weekend lineup. We look forward to having many return this Fall with a mix of additional new talent to deliver all the football content our listeners have come to expect from us.”
ESPN Radio will kick off the weekends with the fourth season of Weekend Blitz with Monday Night Football commentator Mike Tirico and ESPN NFL Insider Chris Mortensen (Fridays at 7 p.m. ET). The show re-airs Saturdays at 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. and on Sundays at 6 a.m. This year marks Mortensen’s 25th anniversary with ESPN, and show the will celebrate the milestone each week with a look back at Mortensen’s career.
ESPN Radio’s Saturday schedule will focus on college football beginning with:
- Dari & Mel, a year-round program hosted by SEC Network anchor Dari Nowkhah and ESPN NFL analyst Mel Kiper Jr., kicking off the mornings at 7 a.m. for three hours.
- Following that, a three-hour simulcast of television’s ESPN’s College GameDay (10 a.m. – Noon) and ESPN Radio’s College GameDay (Noon – 7 p.m.) will provide listeners with previews, news and analysis from around college football and lead into the College Football Game of the Week on most Saturdays.
- On Saturdays when there is not a game, ESPN Radio will offer editions of espnW Presents: Spain & Prim on ESPN Radio, Dickerson & Hood and Marty & McGee in that window (7 – 11 p.m.) on a rotational basis. ESPN New York 98.7FM’s Robin Lundberg will close out the night with a recap of the day’s college action and a look ahead to Sunday’s slate of NFL matchups.
Sundays on ESPN Radio will be NFL-centric, including a new show, Operation Football (3 – 7 p.m.), which will offer a recap of the NFL day thus far, provide updates on in-progress games and track fantasy football stats. SportsCenter anchors Randy Scott and Prim Siripipat will host the show, with former NFLers Eric Allen (first-half of show) and Tim Hasselbeck (second-half of show) offering analysis. NFL Nation will also make its debut (7 – 10 p.m.) with ESPN New York 98.7FM newcomer Anita Marks, who joined ESPN Radio in May, hosting alongside former NFL executive Vinny Cerrato. They will be joined by ESPN’s NFL Nation writers from game sites.
Also on Sundays:
- Fantasy Focus is back this year, with ESPN New York 98.7FM’s Dave Rothenberg as host, alongside Fantasy expert Eric Karabell, with weekly contributors ESPN Chicago’s Tom Waddle and Stephania Bell. Focus will offer listeners last-minute lineup suggestions, injury updates and analysis of who is having the best season at each position.
- The Freddie Coleman Show will close the weekends, airing late night Sundays during football season, from 10 p.m. – 1 a.m. to recap the day in the NFL and offer a look ahead to the coming week.
Show details are listed below (start date of fall football coverage in parentheses):
- Weekend Blitz (September 4) — NFL Insider Chris Mortensen joins Monday Night Football commentator Mike Tirico for the hour-long program to discuss the week’s news and look ahead to weekend matchups.
- Dari & Mel (September 5) – an NFL- and college football-centric show, hosted by SEC Network anchor Dari Nowkhah and ESPN NFL expert analyst Mel Kiper Jr.
- ESPN’s College GameDay (September 5) – ESPN’s signature college football pregame show will be simulcast on ESPN Radio. The GameDay crew of new host Rece Davis and regulars Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, David Pollack and Samantha Ponder, with contributors Tom Rinaldi, Gene Wojchiehowski and George Whitfield will be featured.
- ESPN Radio’s College GameDay (September 5) – ESPN Radio’s college football show hosted by Doug Kezirian, Brad Edwards and Trevor Matich and featuring Maria Taylor, Joey Galloway and Andrea Adelson as weekly contributors.
- espnW Presents: Spain & Prim on ESPN Radio (in rotation September 5) – hosted by espnW columnist Sarah Spain and ESPN anchor and analyst Prim Siripipat, the show is a collaboration between espnW and ESPN Radio featuring a distinct perspective on sports that only espnW can provide.
- Dickerson & Hood (in rotation September 5) – hosted by ESPN Chicago 1000 voices Jeff Dickerson and Jonathan Hood, the show brings together listener interaction, previews and reaction to the day’s sporting events.
- Marty & McGee (in rotation September 5) – previously a podcast, a sports talk show infused with humor and storytelling, hosted by ESPN bureau reporter Marty Smith and ESPN The Magazine senior writer Ryan McGee.
- Robin Lundberg – a fast-paced show hosted by ESPN New York 98.7FM’s Robin Lundberg that will wrap up the day in college football and look ahead to NFL Sunday with caller and social media interaction.
- Fantasy Focus (September 6) – ESPN New York 98.7FM’s Dave Rothenberg returns as host, alongside Fantasy expert Eric Karabell, with weekly contributors Tom Waddle and Stephania Bell. The program gets listeners ready for the day in fantasy football with last-minute lineup suggestions, injury updates and analysis of who is having the best season at each position.
- The Coach & Bretos (September 13) — an opinionated, high-energy talk show hosted by ESPN studio hosts Jonathan Coachman and Max Bretos, with ESPN Chicago 1000 voice Tom Waddle joining for the football season.
- Operation Football (September 13) – a new program hosted by SportsCenter anchors Randy Scott and Prim Siripipat with Eric Allen and Tim Hasselbeck, recapping the earlier NFL games, updating the current ones and keeping tabs on the fantasy front. Allen will be on the first half of the show with Hasselbeck the second.
- NFL Nation (September 13 as a podcast, October 4 on Radio) – also a new show, hosted by ESPN New York 98.7FM newcomer Anita Marks and former NFL executive Vinny Cerrato, the program will wrap up the day’s NFL action and feature several ESPN NFL Nation writers who were at the biggest games of the day.
- The Freddie Coleman Show (September 13) – hosted by ESPN Radio voice Freddie Coleman, the show will recap the day in the NFL and feature caller interaction.
ESPN Audio’s new fall weekend lineup can be heard on ESPN Radio and via the ESPN app, ESPNRadio.com, SiriusXM, Apple iTunes, Slacker Radio and TuneIn.
New weekend schedule:
| Day | Time (ET) | Show |
| Fridays | 7 p.m. | Weekend Blitz |
| Saturdays | 7 – 10 a.m. | Dari & Mel |
| 10 a.m. – Noon | ESPN’s College GameDay (Television Simulcast) | |
| Noon – 7 p.m. | ESPN Radio’s College GameDay | |
| 7 – 11 p.m. | College Football Game of the Week; or rotation of shows: espnW Presents: Spain & Prim on ESPN Radio Dickerson & Hood Marty & McGee |
|
| 11 p.m. – 1 a.m. | Robin Lundberg | |
| Sundays | 7 – 9 a.m. | Dari & Mel |
| 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. | Fantasy Focus | |
| 1 – 3 p.m. | The Coach & Bretos (with Tom Waddle) | |
| 3 – 7 p.m. | Operation Football ** | |
| 7 – 10 p.m. | NFL Nation ** | |
| 10 p.m. – 1 a.m. | The Freddie Coleman Show |
**New show
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