Fresno State moving sports radio home to iHeartMedia. Will Paul Loeffler, others be back?

Fresno State, responding to some potential format shifts in the local radio market and taking a leap into a digital future to expand its reach, announced on Thursday that it will switch broadcast partners for its football, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball and softball broadcasts.

The Bulldogs’ games will be carried on the iHeartMedia network as well as the iHeartMedia and Fresno State apps. They have been on 50,000-watt ESPN/940 AM since 2013 with broadcast teams featuring Paul Loeffler, Pat Hill and Cameron Worrell on football and Loeffler and Marc Q. Jones on men’s basketball.

Those popular on-air pairings are expected to return intact, according to Zachary Fraser, general manager of Bulldog Sports Properties-Learfield IMG College, the Bulldogs’ multimedia right holder.

“I’m going to be cautious because we’re still finalizing paperwork with offers for those folks, with Paul and Coach Hill, Coach Jones and Cam Worrell and all the different people who built this up, but our full effort and anticipation is that they will be part of the team moving forward,” Fraser said.

Loeffler, who has called Fresno State games since 2008, said, “There’s no place quite like the Valley, and it has been a tremendous privilege to serve the Red Wave on the airwaves.

“Some of my best Bulldog memories have come with the dedicated and professional team at 940 ESPN over the last eight years, and One Putt Broadcasting’s heart for the Bulldogs and for the Valley has been a blessing to me. I’m especially grateful for the way Chris Pacheco and John Ostlund stepped up with wholehearted support for Central Valley Honor Flight homecomings and other veterans’ initiatives any time I asked. My wife and I are evaluating next steps and committing the process to prayer. Change can be challenging, but we believe God’s plans are always better than ours, and His timing is perfect. We hope to have clarity on the situation soon.”

With the change, which takes effect July 1, the Bulldogs will not be available on one station Valley wide as in the past – iHeartMedia includes a number of terrestrial radio stations including FOX Sports’ AM1340 in Fresno, AM970 in Bakersfield and AM1280 in Stockton.

But Fresno State expects to expand its reach through the apps and its content with podcasts and coaches and highlight shows that will be available live but also cataloged in a digital library available at any time.

“Live sports will drive me to a terrestrial radio channel – my team is playing,” Fraser said.

“But more importantly, if my team is playing in Fresno and on Fresno airwaves and I’m in Las Vegas, I’m not going to get it, so I want the ability to put it on my phone and listen wherever I am. That was a real priority for us. No matter where I am in the state or in the country I can tune in and listen to my team.”

The contract between Bulldog Sports Properties-Learfield IMG College and One Putt Broadcasting, a partnership between Ostlund and Pacheco, expires at the end of June.

One Putt, Fraser said, informed BSP-Learfield toward the end of March that it would not be continuing in the same operating arrangement that it had.

“The next 3½ months were spent trying to figure out a solution with Chris and those two stations and some other recommendations and ideas that he had, as well as having some conversations with the iHeartMedia team,” Fraser said. “At the end of the day the iHeartMedia proposal was stronger and can be a better solution long term, not only on the terrestrial side but on the streaming and digital side as well.”

“We regret, but recognize that college sports have adopted a business-first philosophy and wish our friends at Learfield well,” Pacheco said, in a statement from One Putt.

“We’re very proud of our Bulldog coverage and will certainly miss our massive tailgates, the ‘live’ coaches show throughout the community, our Bulldog Express Luxury Bus Tours and, overall, the unbridled support we’ve been able to provide Fresno State, both on-air and off-air.”