6/9/2005 - Football
NAVAL ACADEMY ENTERS MULTI-YEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH WBAL RADIO

ANNAPOLIS, Md.-Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk announced Thursday that Navy has entered into a multi-year partnership with radio giant WBAL (1090 AM) to air Navy football games. WBAL joins Sportstalk 980 in the D.C. area and 1430 WNAV in Annapolis to give Navy the strongest radio network of any college team in the Northeast. Bob Socci and Omar Nelson will return to call the action on the Navy Football Radio Network and will be joined by legendary author and sportswriter John Feinstein for pregame commentary.

"We are very pleased that WBAL will be our flagship station for Navy football games in the Baltimore market, as well as up and down the Eastern Seaboard," said Gladchuk. "WBAL radio is widely regarded as one of the top radio stations in the country and it is terrific for our fans to have the Navy football games on its wide-reaching air waves."

""There is no doubt that Navy's athletic program is in a class by itself," said Jeff Beauchamp, vice president and station manager of WBAL Radio. "Navy football is a true American tradition and WBAL Radio has had a long tradition of broadcasting college sports. We look forward to our partnership with Navy sports, and to broadcasting the games loud and clear to Navy fans."

In addition to airing every Navy football game, which will include a 60-minute pregame show and a 30-minute postgame show, WBAL will also air a 30-minute call-in show with Navy head football coach Paul Johnson, a weekly segment with Johnson during morning drive time, three to five men's basketball games and a weekly five-minute segment during WBAL's evening call-in show with Steve Davis that will focus on all Navy athletics.

WBAL Radio, which is also the voice of the Baltimore Orioles, is Maryland's dominant and most powerful radio station. Since 1925, generations of Marylanders have turned to WBAL Radio for news, weather, thought-provoking discussions and sports. As Maryland's only 50,000-watt AM station, WBAL's signal travels substantially further than any other station in the state.

The station's news/talk format is both a source of information and entertainment. WBAL Radio also employs the largest news staff of any radio station in the state, providing in-depth reports on local and regional issues. According to the Arbitron ratings service, WBAL Radio is consistently one of Maryland's most listened-to radio stations.

Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk will join Steve Davis on Sportsline Thursday night at 6 p.m. to discuss the partnership. Navy fans around the world can listen to the show Thursday night as well as all the future Navy programming at www.wbal.com.

Navy kicks off the 2005 season Sept. 3 against Maryland at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Season tickets are still available by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY.