Talk sports live radio is a radio station that exclusively airs sports programs. It is also an international global partner of the Premier League. Since the 2nd of April 2010, the station dropped all talk Sports Live Radio on-sports contents, and it now remains as the only national station that exclusively airs commentaries and sporting debates for a whole 24 hours.
Content of the Talk Sports:
The main content of the Talk sports live radio includes sports coverage, interviews with leading personalities in sports and entertainment, and general discussions on games. Together with its sister station, Talksport 2, the station is the official broadcaster for Premier League and several other popular sporting contests. Since 2016 April, the station has been available on Freesat. Also, in the United Kingdom, the radio station is available on DAB, Virgin Media, 1053 kHz, 1089 kHz, on mobile, among others.
The station is also available in other languages outside of the United Kingdom. The station broadcasts live commentaries of all matches in the Premier League in English, Mandarin, and Spanish. In 2016, News Corp reported that they would buy the parent company, the Wireless Group.
History
The station has gone through lots of developments over the years. When it was officially launched in 1995, what is now Talk sports live radio was known as the Talk Radio UK. During this time, the radio station was famous for the Talk Radio Breakfast Show. The first live broadcast was Caesar the Geezers that was aired a day before the actual launch. Back then, other presenters included Tommy Boyd, Gary Newbon, and Dale Winton.
Talk sports live radio began its journey into the sports world in 1997. The first achievement was when they got the rights to air the Football league from BBC Radio Live. Also, the station broadcast the FIFA World Cup from France for the first time in 1998. In the same year, Talk Radio also integrated into the program Andy Gray and Allan Parry to assist in airing their important matches. In the same period, Talk Radio was granted full rights to Manchester United’s matches during the Champions League.
Developments and Major Presenters
The transformation process from Talk Radio to Talk sports live radio began on 12th November 1998. In 1998, the chairman of Talkco Holdings acquired Talk Radio.
Presenters such as Tommy Boyd, Peter Deeley, and Nick Abbot were phased out from Talk Radio. Other more sports-oriented programs were incorporated, such as the popular one by Gary Newbon, Tony Lockwood, known as SportsZone. Dave Roberts, a former sports editor also became part of the Sports Breakfast that was aired on the weekends.
Talkco changed to the Wireless Group in 1999. Also, in the same year, Talkco announced its decision to launch Talk sport. They reported that Talksport would be the first radio station in the United Kingdom that would exclusively be based on games. On 17th January 2000, Talk sports live radio was launched, which was accompanied by a change in the station headquarters. The station relocated to a new studio in Hatfield’s from Oxford street.
Sports Breakfast Show:
The station was now more sports-oriented. In the morning, Talksports live radio began its day with the Sports Breakfast show, The Car Guys in the mid-morning, and other sports programs for the rest of the day. This rescheduling of the stations also resulted in the phasing out of most presents with only a few remaining, including, Mike Dickin, Ian Collins, and James Whale. Talk sports live radio also acquired the rights to air important matches including UEFA Champions League, Arsenal, Manchester United, UEFA Cup, and the FA Cup.
Currently, Talksports live radio together with the sister station, Talksport 2 has rights to broadcast the following programs:
Football
- EFL cup
- EFL Trophy
- FIFA World Cup
- La Liga
- FA Trophy
- Premier League
Rugby
- Superleague
- World Club series
- Premiership Rugb
Cricket
- Indian Premier League
- ICC Champions Trophy
- English Cricket team in South Africa
- Superleague
- World Club series
- Premiership Rugby
- Cricket
- Indian Premier League
- ICC Champions Trophy
- English Cricket team in South Africa
Horse racing
- Grand National
- Royal Ascot
- Others include darts, US sport, Golf, and Tennis.
Major Achievements
In May 2001, the station gained the rights to air the Premier League for the first time. Also, in the same year, they have acquired permission from the Radio Authority to air games involving Chelsea, Tottenham, and Fulham, although the permission was limited to their transmitters in London. Later in the same year, they also got similar rights with Everton and Manchester City.
Popular shows
In December 2002, Talk sports live radio launched their decision to have their first music show. Following this launch, they began the Champagne and Roses, a simple listening to music that was aired by Gerald Harper. In June 2004, they broadcast their first official international football tournament, the Euro 2004 from Portugal.
By 2006, the station had made significant achievements in their pursuit of sports broadcasting. This year, the station aired the 2006 world cup, including a live commentary of all the matches in Germany. In 2006, Kelly Dalglish, a former sky sports presenter became the first sports presenter in Talk sports live radio. She was part of the kick-off together with Jason Cindy and Gabrielle Marcotti. In 2006, October, the radio station also was named the first national radio to get commentary rights for the Premier League.
Audience
The audience for Talk sports lives radio has raised to 3 million as of 2017. The audience is both in and outside the United Kingdom. In many regions, the transmitters overlap from 1053kHz and 1089Khz. In such instances, there are several filler transmitters of other frequencies such as 1071kHz in Nottingham and 1107 kHz in West Sussex. It is also available online, although live coverage restrictions make it difficult to access all commentaries online.
Contact Details:
Address: talkSPORT, 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF, UK
Phone: 0207 782 3000 & 08717 22 33 44
Text: 81089
Email: onairquery@talksport.co.uk
Official Website: https://talksport.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/talkSPORT/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/talkSPORT
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talksport/[/expand]