What's With XESPN?!?!? (October 6, 2007)

This past week, it was the beginning of the Major League Baseball playoffs on XESPN 800 and KSPN 710. This is about the only time I usually listen to these stations for hours on end...when there's a ballgame on, of course.

Someone should replace the people in charge of XESPN. They're screwing things up...again!

For instance, on Thursday's broadcast of the first of a tripleheader, Colorado at Philadelphia, XESPN cut out after the EIGHTH inning? Who's running this station? Dick Van Patten? I had to flip the station to KSPN 710 to hear the rest of the game. XESPN switched to some talk show.

Also, XESPN had a glitch on Thursday where they were running two feeds at the same time! One had the regular ESPN Radio programming, and the other was a baseball playoff game. Tell the folks at XESPN that you can't mimic multicasting capabilities by broadcasting two feeds on the same signal!

Thursday and Friday, XESPN was off the air in the daytime for a few minutes. Not good either.

On Friday afternoon, when it was 2:05, time for the New York Yankees at Cleveland game, where the gnats helped the Indians beat the Yankees in 11 innings, XESPN didn't join the game until the THIRD inning! KSPN had the game from the start.

An hour before the Yankees at Indians game ended, KSPN had to cut away to bring the Angels at Red Sox game in their entireity. That I can understand, as KSPN is contractually obligated to carry the Angels in full. XESPN kept running the Yankees/Indians game through the end of the game, but after the end finally came, did XESPN switch to the Angels at Red Sox game? No. They went into the post-game show for the previous game, followed by, yup, regular programming.

I had to switch to KSPN to join the Angels at Red Sox game in progress, but when I did, it was after sunset when the previous game ended, and KSPN's nighttime signal towards the south is cut significantly. I could get KSPN barely audible in the Kearny Mesa area, but in the East County where I finally got home, KSPN was engulfed by a Mexican music channel on 710.

I kept checking XESPN to see if the joined the current game, but as I passed through the KFMB 760 transmitter farm along state 52, XESPN's signal was overrun by KFMB's 50,000 watt signal. By the time I got home, XESPN was still in a sports talk show and no game!

I tried to tune in XESPN 800 on my home stereo radio. Not much of signal from XESPN. I tried another radio and it's still not doing the game.

XESPN is a what could be included among the radio stations Bruce Springsteen is singing about. Radio Nowhere. XESPN sounds like it's being run from nowhere.

When I got home, I flipped on the TV and caught the game on TBS.

Saturday and Sunday, XESPN did not air a single playoff game. Just talk shows.