NFL On Westwood One - Availability

Availability

For the Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl, most affiliate radio stations of the participating teams' networks must accept the feed from Dial Global. Only the flagship stations (in both English and other languages) can transmit the team's local radio broadcast, although the local broadcasts are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio and NFL Audio Pass. An exception is made for the Green Bay Packers because they technically have flagships in two separate cities, WTAQ-FM/AM and WIXX (FM) in Green Bay and WTMJ in Milwaukee; the latter station has produced Packers radio broadcasts for many years. If the local Dial Global affiliate is not the same as the corresponding affiliate of the team, the Dial Global station retains broadcast rights and the team's station must switch to alternate programming (for example, KSPN in Los Angeles aired an alternate feed of ESPN Radio on January 20, 2008 when the San Diego Chargers played in the AFC Championship Game, as exclusive rights belonged to KLAC, the Chargers' L.A. flagship. The same situation occurred in 2011 with WAPL as part of the Packers example above; although that station is licensed to Appleton south of Green Bay, the station transmits from the same site as WIXX, but as it is an 'out-of-market' station according to NFL rules, carried the Westwood One call rather than the Packers home call during the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl XLI).

For all other weeks, within 75 miles of a team's stadium, only stations the team or its flagship station contracts with can carry those games, regardless if the team is home or away. Thus, any competing station that carries Dial Global broadcasts cannot air those games- for instance, any time the New York Jets are playing on Sunday or Monday nights, their games do not air on New York City's Dial Global affiliate, WFAN, but instead WABC and WEPN (the Jets' flagships) retain local exclusivity. (In the case of the Sunday doubleheaders, most stations can opt for an alternate national broadcast from the Sports USA Radio Network or, beginning in 2009, Compass Media Networks.) This rule applies to Toronto, Canada whenever the Buffalo Bills play nationally. (However, in the case of Toronto, the same station affiliates with both the Bills radio network and Dial Global, which means the only difference is which broadcast team the station uses). For a time, the rule applied to the Los Angeles market, but it was relaxed in 2008 and all national radio broadcasts are now available in that market on KLAC (Dial Global) and KFWB (Sports USA Radio).

A similar rule applies to Dial Global's NHL coverage, although the NHL's radius is much smaller, and in some markets (such as Rochester, New York), local broadcasts and national broadcasts have aired on competing stations.

The NFL on Westwood One (as it was then branded) originally was not available on the NFL Audio Pass (formerly Field Pass) subscription Internet radio service, though the network's prime time and playoff broadcasts became available beginning in the 2009 NFL season as a result of a new broadcast contract. All of Dial Global's prime time and playoff broadcasts are carried on Sirius Satellite Radio, and are also available to XM Satellite Radio subscribers with a "Best of Sirius" package.

In December 2008, it was reported that the NFL was considering leaving Westwood One for a rival service (ESPN Radio, Sports USA, and Sporting News Radio being the contenders), or possibly splitting rights for prime-time, Thanksgiving, and postseason games between two or more networks. However, on March 12, 2009 it was announced that Westwood One had signed a two-year extension with the NFL. The league then announced on December 22, 2010 that Westwood One's contract has been extended through 2014.The two sides have since agreed to an extension through the 2017 season.