Monday, May 12, 2008

BREAKING NEWS: Cavaliers, WTAM, CC Re-Up

Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100 and the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers have announced a 5-year renewal of their radio contract.

The move is announced the same day the Cavaliers take on the Boston Celtics in game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals at Quicken Loans Arena.

The press release is reprinted below.

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CLEAR CHANNEL RADIO AND

THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS INK DEAL


May 12, 2008, Cleveland, Ohio…Clear Channel Radio and The Cleveland Cavaliers have come to terms on a 5-year contract extension for radio broadcast rights. The agreement marries Clear Channel’s NEWSRADIO WTAM 1100 and the Cavaliers through the 2012-2013 NBA season.

“We are thrilled to extend our relationship with the Cleveland Cavaliers through the 2012-2013 season,” said Mike Kenney, President and Market Manager of Clear Channel Radio. “The Cavaliers have been associated with the 1100 AM frequency for over 30 years. Combining the heritage and strength of both organizations is a positive for the entire community and it’s a win-win for both the Cavaliers and Newsradio WTAM 1100.”

“We're very happy to extend our relationship with The Big One as the home of Cavaliers basketball,” said Len Komoroski, Cavaliers /Quicken Loans Arena President. “We're committed to having a championship-caliber culture in everything we do, so WTAM is the best partner to carry our games to our fans. They do it like no one else can.”

Now in his 37th season as the “Voice of the Cavs,” Joe Tait will again handle every game broadcast with his one of kind combination of game analysis and play-by-play calls, including his assortment of well known action calls such as "Wham with the right hand!" and "Three Ball!" Joe recently called his 3,000th game in March. WTAM Sports Director Mike Snyder will host the pre-game, halftime and post-game shows.

During the season, WTAM will continue to air the weekly show with Cavaliers Coach Mike Brown. The Wills and Snyder Show Morning Show will also continue to air daily in season features with Coach Brown, Joe Tait, and other Cavaliers front-office members. WTAM also airs Cavaliers specialty programs including The First Merit Cavaliers Tip Off Show before every game and The Alltel Call In Show after every game.

5 comments:

Ben said...

And they probably were the high bidders.

Remember back in the early 90s, maybe late 80s the cavs were on some cut rate station called "the heart" or something.....i forget the call letters and frequency

Neil said...

Did Craig K try to compete?

Neil said...

@ben: IIRC the old WJW 850 was owned for awhile by Art Modell and carried the Browns games. Could that be the station you are thinking of?

Cliff said...

Actually it was WRMR 850. They were playing the Music of your life format at the time and I believe a heart was in the logo.

Unknown said...

Joe Tait will not be the "voice" at the end of the contract. He made this statement while being interviewed by Bill Wills.