Cincinnati Bengals Radio Network

The Cincinnati Bengals Radio Network is a radio network with 37 stations that broadcast Cincinnati Bengals NFL games. Three stations in Cincinnati serve as flagships: WCKY (1530 AM), WEBN (102.7 FM), and WLW (700 AM), with WLW also simulcasting on a low-power FM translator. The network has 39 affiliates across Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and West Virginia, consisting of 27 AM stations—18 of which use low-power FM translators to boost their signals—and 12 full-power FM stations. Dan Hoard handles play-by-play, and Dave Lapham is the color commentator. Beyond AM and FM broadcasts, games are available on SiriusXM satellite radio and through NFL Audio Pass online.

After the 1996 season, the Bengals ended their radio partnership with Jacor Broadcasting, which had managed a 35-station network fronted by WLW (the flagship from 1968 to 1981 and again from 1993 to 1996). Wanting to control content beyond game broadcasts, the team signed a three-year deal with Chancellor Media, making Cincinnati sports talk station WKYN and country station WUBE-FM the new flagships. Both Chancellor and Jacor were later bought by Clear Channel, and in 1999 the Bengals signed a six-year contract with Clear Channel.

The team renewed in 2005, with Cincinnati stations WSAI (which had been WCKY 1360 AM until 2005; its programming and co-flagship rights moved to WCKY 1530 AM in July 2006) and WOFX-FM sharing flagship duties for a network of 23 stations in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Former flagship WLW served as a co-flagship when it didn’t conflict with Cincinnati Reds broadcasts, a practice that continues. Since WLW and WCKY are both 50,000-watt clear-channel stations, their combined reach allows Bengals night games to be heard across most of North America.

Rock station WEBN became the FM flagship in 2008 after Clear Channel sold WOFX-FM to Cumulus Media, a sale required by the U.S. Department of Justice to approve a leveraged buyout of Clear Channel. The team renewed with Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia) in 2011 and 2014.