CBS, Clear Channel Bidding For Pirates MLB

The Pirates are negotiating with two entities for their radio rights, which expire at the end of this season, and there’s an excellent chance the team will be heard on a different station next year.

Both the CBS Radio Group and Clear Channel are bidding.

According to a story by Bob Smizik at post-gazette,com, CBS would air the games on 93.7 KDKA-FM, The Fan.  Clear Channel currently holds the right and carries the games on NewsTalk 104.7 FM WPGB.

The Fan, an all-sports station, is the favorite and many assumed it would be a done deal that the Pirates would be there in 2012 and beyond. But Clear Channel isn’t going away and clearly wants to keep the Pirates

There is a good chance if Clear Channel continues as the rights holder it will move the games off 104.7. The station gets excellent ratings with its political talk and listeners often are unhappy with sports interrupting their little universe. It probably would be less intrusive on regular listeners if the Pirates were interrupting a music format instead of a political format with such regularity.

Which ever stations lands the team, the deal will remain pretty much the same as in the past. The Pirates will control the announcers and the advertising and pay for the time.

Clear Channel currently has the rights to the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates. The Fan has Pitt and the Power. That's not an even split, which is why The Fan is so hard after the Pirates.

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