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Press release
The St. Louis Cardinals and Entercom, a leading media and entertainment company and the unrivaled leader in sports radio, today announced a five-year extension to their current radio rights agreement. With the extension, News Radio 1120 KMOX (KMOX-AM) will continue as the flagship station for the Cardinals, broadcasting all 162 regular-season games, any post-season contests, as well as select spring training games. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Cardinals will continue to produce the game broadcasts through 2024 and veteran announcers Mike Shannon, John Rooney, Ricky Horton and Mike Claiborne will continue to handle the play-by-play coverage.
“We are thrilled to extend our agreement with our partners at KMOX,” said Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III, “and proud to continue the great tradition of broadcasting Cardinals baseball on the Voice of St. Louis.”
“We are honored to continue to work with the world class St. Louis Cardinals,” said Becky Domyan, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, Entercom St. Louis. “News Radio 1120 KMOX and the Cardinals are synonymous institutions here in this great city and we couldn’t be more excited to continue this fantastic partnership.”
During the Cardinals’ partnership with News Radio 1120 KMOX, game broadcasts have consistently been among the top-rated radio programs in the St. Louis market. As part of the extension, the Cardinals will continue selling advertising during the broadcast. In addition to game broadcasts, News Radio 1120 KMOX will carry a variety of other Cardinals-related programming throughout the year, including the popular “Countdown to Opening Day” that runs during the offseason. Listeners can also hear the games on FM via an HD Radio capable device in the St. Louis area on sister station 102.5 KEZK (KEZK-HD2).
The vast majority of the Cardinals Radio Network will also stay the same under the new arrangement. The network consists of 147 stations in eight states (Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee) and has the potential to reach 21.3 million people in 11 states.
Grew up listening to Cardinal baseball on KMOX all the way in Wyoming. Night games only of course. A terrific tradition. Course these days radio stations are part of a big conglomerate and not independently owned. But it is cool that the connection is still there.
I grew up in the ’50s and ’60s in Memphis, Tenn. and that is how fans of the Cardinals followed the team. That is why Harry Caray should be in the Cardinal HOF because he was the voice on KMOX from 1945 to 1969.
FWIW, I have long lobbied for Harry Caray as a member of the Cardinal Hall-of-Fame. Seems to be one of the bigger injustices in my opinion. He was Cardinal baseball to millions of people for 25 years. Players cane and went, other than Stan, whose presence was felt even after he retired, but Harry was always there to enthusiastically call the action, wearing his heart on his sleeve as the Cardinals hit highs and lows.
As most probably know already, broadcasters are in the ownership selection category in the team Hall of Fame. When the committee meets (coming up in January), I often probe with the DeWitts as to what they might be thinking, but they mostly politely listen to my lobbying. Dave Duncan is no. 1 on my personal list. I hope he goes in while he is still with us and can have his day in the sun. The owners have selected no one the last two years.
Again, Harry is a no brainer so much so that he should have been in with the initial class. Brian, I don’t know how old you are but you must be younger than 55 or you would agree. Like BM said Harry was Cardinal baseball to Millions for 25 years. The DeWitts must not like his affiliation with the Cubs.
I don’t think it has much to do with his time with the Cubs. From what I have read and heard Harry left the Cardinals under not so good of terms. Despite the shenanigans that might have happened I think enough time has passed where bygones should be bygones. He definitely belongs in the Cardinal HOF.
When Nolan Richardson got fired from the University of Arkansas he sued the university for racism and a nasty courtroom battle ensued. He was not a popular figure here for quite some time. But guess what happened here two weeks ago? They named the court in the arena after him. Time can heal all wounds and should with Harry also.
Those indiscretions occurred with Gussie Busch and not the DeWitts.
That is correct which is why I don’t know why the Dewitts continue to hold the grudge.
GameCard, how about respecting others’ points of view who do not agree with your strong opinions, which are not “no brainers”? A reason I am on the committee is that I pride myself in being very knowledgeable about team history. But I am not the oldest member. There are younger people who know what they are talking about, too, just as there are older people who may not be as informed as they think.
If I was in the DeWitts’ shoes, I would look closely at Dave Duncan, Helene Britton, Mike Gonzalez, Butch Yatkeman, France Laux, Ernie Hays and yes, Caray. In fact, if I had my way, they would go all the way back to Chris von der Ahe and Charlie Comiskey, too. All are good candidates, but who is “the best” is clearly a matter of personal opinion.
P.S. As far as the initial class is concerned, I would have taken George Kissell before Mike Shannon. Kissell went in the second year with Sam Breadon after. All were excellent choices, IMO. Too bad the DeWitts paused there.
Obviously Stan as a player was and was my favorite player(still is) but people didn’t know Stan. They felt they knew Harry because they got heard him all the time.
I find unbelievable the suggestion that any broadcaster was more popular than one of the very greatest players of all time.
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