Orioles radio on FM changes from newstalk to sportstalk

"The radio home of the Orioles, 105.7 FM, changed its format (November 3) from news talk to sports talk, giving Baltimore its first FM sports station - even though programmers there stopped short of embracing sports 24/7.

• From 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., the newly christened WJZ-FM, formerly WHFS-FM, will feature local sports-talk programming, with hosts including such familiar names as Mark Viviano, Scott Garceau, Bruce Cunningham and Anita Marks. Ed Norris, the former city police chief and state police commissioner whose afternoon news-talk show had been one of the few ratings bright spots in the 105.7 lineup, will move to the key weekday morning drive time slot.

In addition to adding a sports station to Baltimore's weekday airwaves, (November 3's) announcement included the addition of several national voices to the local scene. Sister station ESPN 1300, which had been host to shows featuring Viviano and Marks, as well as other local sports talk programming, will shift completely to ESPN Radio programming. Its call letters were changed from WJFK-AM to WJZ-AM, reflecting its ties to CBS-owned WJZ, Channel 13.

• "Baltimore's a great sports town, and Baltimore deserves a great sports station on the FM dial," said Robert Philips, senior vice president and market manager for CBS Radio Baltimore, which operates both stations. "Nationally, you're seeing a lot of product move from the AM dial to the FM dial.""

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