ESPN Radio 1430 AM to once again serve as Curve Flagship Station
CURVE, Pa. - For a fifth straight season the home for Altoona Curve baseball on the radio dial will be ESPN Radio 1430 (WVAM, Altoona), the Curve and Forever Broadcasting announced today. The 2013 Curve Radio Network, which covers most of central Pennsylvania, will carry all 142 regular-season Curve games plus the Pirates-Curve Exhibition game on March 30.
In addition to the flagship station, fans across central Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh can tune into select Curve games on the following stations: 970 ESPN in Pittsburgh, Cool 101.7 FM in Johnstown, WCPA 900 AM in Clearfield and WTRN-AM 1340/FM 100.7 in Tyrone.
New to the network this season, Cool 101.7 FM, WCCL is a real oldies format station that covers most of Cambria, Somerset and Bedford counties as well as good portions of Blair, Indiana and Westmoreland counties. The station can also be heard in parts of Western Maryland. WCCL and the Curve will also partner up for a promotion at Peoples Natural Gas Field during the 2013 campaign as part of the affiliation as well.
All Curve games will also be available to out-of-market listeners via AltoonaCurve.com and on mobile devices with the TuneIn Radio App.
"Our relationship with Forever Broadcasting is as strong as it's ever been," said Curve General Manager Rob Egan. "Having ESPN Radio 1430 as the flagship for Curve Baseball is the perfect fit and working with them on promotional events at the ballpark like the Easter Eggstravaganza and Yuengling Oktoberfest, has been beneficial for the team, the stations, and the community."
As in previous seasons, most games on ESPN Radio 1430 will be preceded by "Sports Central with Cory Giger", which is hosted by Cory Giger, the longtime Curve and Penn State beat writer for the Altoona Mirror. Sports Central airs from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, on WVAM in Altoona and on WQWK-AM 1450 in State College. The show will preview nightly Curve action as well as provide in-depth interviews with Curve coaches and prospects throughout the season.
Manning the broadcast booth for the 2013 season will be Mike Passanisi, who returns for his fourth season behind the mic in Altoona (seventh overall) and newcomer Nathan Bowen, who joins the broadcast team after spending last season with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals of the Texas League. The duo will hop on the air 30 minutes prior to first pitch for all Curve contests in 2013.
The Curve and Forever Broadcasting will also continue their cross-promotional and marketing relationships from past seasons in 2013. Popular on-air personalities from the Forever Broadcast family of stations (Froggy98, Rocky 104.9, WALY 103.9, HOT 100, The Big 1290 WFBG and ESPN Radio 1430 WVAM) will continue to have a presence at Peoples Natural Gas Field to take part in contests and in-game events throughout the season. Fans can expect to hear Curve staffers pop on with the Forever family to join the on-air personalities on a regular basis during the season as well.
Altoona opens up its 15th season of baseball with the highly-anticipated Pirates-Curve Exhibition, which is scheduled for 2 p.m. on March 30 from Peoples Natural Gas Field in Curve, Pa. The game will be carried on the Curve Radio Network with pregame beginning at 1:30 p.m. The Curve will open their regular season just under a week later on the road in Erie on April 4.
Individual tickets, season tickets and mini plans for Curve home games are available now by calling 877.99.CURVE, by visiting AltoonaCurve.com or by stopping by the box office windows at Peoples Natural Gas Field.