Rogers Media says it will launch an all-sports radio station in Vancouver this fall, called Sportsnet 650, after the acquisition of AM station CISL from Newcap Inc., still subject to CRTC approval for rebranding the format to all-sports.
The move comes as Rogers outbid Bell Media’s TSN 1040 to win exclusive rights to Vancouver Canucks radio broadcasts last month, a five-year deal starting in 2017-18. The Canucks already call Rogers Arena home in the city.
Rogers owns exclusive rights to NHL broadcasting in Canada, part of 12-year, $5.2 billion deal signed in 2015.
“Vancouver has an incredibly loyal fan base, and this is a natural fit to expand our Sportsnet offering,” said Scott Moore, President of Sportsnet, Rogers Media, in a statement to iPhone in Canada. “Sportsnet has been strongly committed to the Vancouver community since the network’s inception in 1998 when we first began televising Canucks games.”
The launch of Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver is the third all-sports radio for Rogers, as Calgary has Sportsnet 960 The FAN and Toronto has Sportsnet 590 The Fan.
Rogers says AM 650 will continue to operate as normal until Sportsnet 650 radio launches this fall.
All of these radio stations can be streamed on your iOS device with the Radioplayer Canada iOS app, which launched last month.
