June 24, 2013
ATLANTA — After 12 years, Georgia Tech’s football and men’s basketball games and coach’s shows will no longer be aired on Atlanta’s WQXI 790 The Zone, Tech athletics and the radio station announced jointly.
Since 2008 Georgia Tech games and ancillary programs have been carried simultaneously in the Atlanta market by All-News 106.7 WYAY-FM, an affiliate of Cumulus Media. That arrangement as the Yellow Jackets’ flagship station will continue.
“We have had a longstanding relationship with 790 The Zone dating back to 2001,” said Georgia Tech Athletic Director Mike Bobinski. “In recent years we have been fortunate to have our games and coach’s shows also broadcast on a 77,000-watt FM station, giving us a powerful signal which more than covers the Atlanta metro area. We will continue to maintain a relationship with WQXI as a significant local sports talk station, but the flagship designation, by mutual agreement, will come to an end.”
Georgia Tech’s radio rights are owned and the network is operated by IMG College, but long-term decisions are made in cooperation with the athletic department. The first agreement with WQXI was signed in 2001 by IMG’s predecessor, ISP Sports. The last extension with the station was completed in 2008 at the same time WYAY came aboard as the school’s FM flagship.
“Through the years we have maintained an excellent relationship with the ownership and management of 790 The Zone,” Bobinski said. “We appreciate their efforts on behalf of the partnership, but at this point it is in both parties’ best interest to restructure our broadcast relationship. We are excited about our future with All-News 106.7 as well as our developing relationship with Cumulus and other important entities in the Atlanta radio market.”
