KESN

Infobox Radio station
name = KESN


city = Allen, Texas
area = Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex/Ardmore/
Durant/Sherman/Gainesville
branding = "103.3 FM ESPN"
slogan = "First For Sports in Dallas/Fort Worth"
airdate = Early 1990s as KEMM
frequency = 103.3 MHz HD Radio
103.3 HD-2 for simulcast of KNIT (ESPN Deportes)
format = Sports
power =
erp = 98,000 watts
haat = 606 meters
class = C
facility_id = 58265
coordinates =
callsign_meaning = ESPN
former_callsigns = KEMM (early 1990s-2001)
owner = Disney/ABC Radio
licensee = KESN Assets, LLC
sister_stations = KMKI, KNIT
webcast = [http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/player?station=dallas KESN Live Feed]
website = [http://www.espn1033.com/ espn1033.com]
affiliations = ESPN Radio
Dallas Mavericks (NBA)
Texas Christian University (NCAA)

KESN is a Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas based sports talk radio station. It is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company as an ESPN Radio affiliate.

History

From 1983-2000, 103.3 FM for Dallas/Fort Worth was licensed out of Greenville, Texas, and held the call letters KEMM. The station then ran a country music format. KEMM went dark on September 28, 2000. The license city and tower were moved to Allen, Texas in 2001 and the station was re-born on April 27, 2001 as KESN with the new all-sports format. Fourteen outlying stations were rearranged and relocated to make way for this frequency to beam into DFW, all at ABC/Disney's expense.

KESN is the flagship for Dallas Mavericks basketball and Texas Christian University football and men's basketball. Among its most notable local programs is "Galloway and Company," hosted by Randy Galloway.

Despite different owners and a merger of ABC Radio Networks to Citadel Broadcasting; KESN, WBAP-AM, and WFAA-TV maintain a strong partnership (as WFAA is the local ABC television affiliate). Matter in fact, in 2006, "103.3 ESPN" welcomed WFAA-TV personality Dale Hansen, former Dallas Cowboys radio analyst and host on rival station KTCK, to the station. KTCK is now the Cowboys' flagship station and many speculated that Hansen leaving KTCK for KESN was due to his criticism of the team, though the official explanation was that Hansen's ratings did not justify his salary request.

Share ratings for KESN's primary shows lag behind that of KTCK, Sportsradio 1310, "The Ticket," their chief sports-talk radio rival in the Dallas/Fort Worth market [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/bhorn/stories/061006dnspohorn.312e767.html] In current ratings books, KESN has had many more cume listeners than KTCK. Which means that, as the ratings show, while more total people may listen to KESN at various points throughout the day, roughly twice as many people are listening to KTCK at any given time.

Its new sister station KNIT, which airs Spanish language sports programming, can be heard on 1480 AM and 103.3 HD-2 (HD Radio needed). [http://www.hispanictips.com/2007/08/13/espn-launch-1480-espn-deportes-radio-dallas/]

103.3 FM ESPN's Line-Up6:00AM- 9:00AM- Mike and Mike in the morning9:00AM- 11:00AM- Colin Cowherd11:00AM- 2:00PM- The Michael Irvin Show with Hall of Famer Michael Irvin and Kevin Kiley2:00PM- 6:00PM- Galloway and Co.6:00PM- 7:00PM- The Hour of Hansen

External links

* [http://www.espn1033.com/ ESPN 103.3 Official Site]
*
*
*
*
* [http://www.knus99.com Mike Shannon's Dallas-Fort Worth Radio and TV History]