February 17, 2016
The Phillies and SportsRadio 94-WIP announced an extension of their broadcast agreement on Wednesday morning, when pitchers and catchers reported to camp in for physicals in Clearwater, Fla. Regular season, preseason and postseason games will all be broadcast on WIP.
Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
“This is an exciting time for the future of Phillies baseball," David Buck, Phillies Senior Vice President Marketing and Advertising Sales, said in a release distributed by CBS Radio. "Thanks to our long-time partner CBS RADIO, fans will be able to follow all of the action from spring training through the regular season on SportsRadio 94WIP.”
This is the first season since 2004 (and just the fourth time since 1980) that games will not be carried by WPHT 1210 AM, a longtime home of Phillies radio broadcasts. The Phillies have had games carried on the AM channel for 32 years, beginning in 1981 (from 1981-2001, 2005-15).
In more recent history, Phillies games began broadcasting on CBS Radio’s signature FM sports station, WIP, in 2012. But after four years of playing games on both frequencies, the Phillies will be FM-only in 2016. (According to The Phillies Encyclopedia, the Phillies were on both WIP and WCAU in the first year they had games broadcasted on the radio, in 1937).
Scott Franzke, Larry Andersen and Jim Jackson are all returning to the radio booth for the broadcast in 2016, which will continue to include the “Leading Off” pregame show and “The Final Out” postgame shows. The first broadcast of 2016 will air on March 1 from Clearwater, when the Phillies host the Toronto Blue Jays at Bright House Field on 1:05 p.m.
(For those asking, the new radio deal does not affect any of the affiliates that cover the games outside of Philadelphia - meaning you won't have a problem finding Phillies games on the radio when you're down the shore this summer.)
