Red Zebra Broadcasting
Encyclopedia
Red Zebra Broadcasting is a media
company based in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States
. The primary investors in Red Zebra are Daniel Snyder
, better known as the owner of the Washington Redskins
football franchise, and Dwight Schar
, a minority owner of the team. Both are members of the parent company’s board of directors
, but have no operating role. Bruce Gilbert, former general manager of ESPN Radio
, was named chief executive officer
of Red Zebra in March 2007, replacing Bennett Zier.
The "Red Zebra" name came after Daniel Snyder asked his original CEO, Bennett Zier, to name the new broadcasting company anything he wanted. Zier opened with Blue Zebra Broadcasting, an idea inspired by his nickname and initials. Snyder explained that "blue was the enemy. Cowboys. Giants," but he came back with a counteroffer: Red Zebra, a name that gave a little inside tribute to the team (Redskins), but still retained the hat tip to Zier's idea.
In June and July 2006, Red Zebra expanded its reach within Virginia
, by announcing it had just completed acquisitions of stations in the Virginia Beach and Richmond, VA areas.
On June 4, 2008; The Washington Business Journal confirmed that Red Zebra made an agreement to purchase three of Clear Channel Communications
radio stations in the Washington D.C. cluster. After the sale was approved, Red Zebra took over the following radio stations on July 1, 2008: WTEM
Sports Talk 980; WTNT
AM 570; and WWRC
Progressive Talk 1260.
On July 1, 2008 it was announced that Red Zebra Broadcasting had expanded its reach into the Roanoke/Lynchburg market with acquisitions of three stations from Centennial Broadcasting. CEO Bruce Gilbert was quoted as saying, “For that entire time we’ve been looking for opportunities across the Mid-Atlantic. The Lynchburg and Roanoke region was an important market for them to fill in Virginia."
On August 15, 2008 Red Zebra announced that ESPN Deportes Radio
, the only around-the-clock national Spanish-language sports radio network in the United States, will launch in Washington, D.C. as ESPN Deportes WXTR 730 AM on September 1, 2008.
On February 1, 2009 the LMA agreement between Red Zebra Broadcasting and Centennial Broadcasting was cancelled just after six months and Centennial took back over the stations.
, television
, and the Internet
.
area radio stations (WTEM
980-AM (simulcast on WWXT 92.7-FM and WWXX 94.3-FM), WTNT
570-AM, and WXTR 730-AM). These stations serve collectively as the flagship for the Redskins Radio Network. Red Zebra also owns the ESPN Radio all-sports station in Richmond, VA, (WXGI
950 AM), and the Fox Sports Radio
affiliate in Norfolk/Virginia Beach, VA, heard on (WXTG-FM
102.1 FM) in Virginia Beach and on (WXTG
1490 AM) in Hampton, VA. All nine Red Zebra stations are part of the Redskins Radio Network.
In July 2008, Red Zebra merged WTEM
with its Triple X ESPN Radio triplex in the Washington area, rebranding the quadplex as ESPN 980. WXTR was spun off from the quadplex to become an ESPN Deportes Radio
affiliate in late 2008.
Redskins Radio is the Official Play-by-Play and home to the Washington Redskins
. Commentators on gameday include Hall of Famers Sam Huff
and Sonny Jurgensen
, plus Larry Michael.
, Dwight Schar
, Mark Shapiro,
: company founder, primary investor;
Mark Shapiro: chairman;
Bruce Gilbert: chief executive officer
;
Sources:
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
company based in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The primary investors in Red Zebra are Daniel Snyder
Daniel Snyder
Daniel M. Snyder is the current owner of the Washington Redskins American football team, owner of the Dick Clark Productions television production company, and primary investor in Red Zebra Broadcasting, which is home to the Redskins Radio Network. Snyder has a net worth of $1.05 billion...
, better known as the owner of the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
football franchise, and Dwight Schar
Dwight Schar
Dwight Schar is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of NVR, Inc., a Fortune 500 company that is the third-largest home builder in the United States. He currently serves as the company's Executive Chairman and Chairman of Executive Committee...
, a minority owner of the team. Both are members of the parent company’s board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
, but have no operating role. Bruce Gilbert, former general manager of ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
, was named chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Red Zebra in March 2007, replacing Bennett Zier.
The "Red Zebra" name came after Daniel Snyder asked his original CEO, Bennett Zier, to name the new broadcasting company anything he wanted. Zier opened with Blue Zebra Broadcasting, an idea inspired by his nickname and initials. Snyder explained that "blue was the enemy. Cowboys. Giants," but he came back with a counteroffer: Red Zebra, a name that gave a little inside tribute to the team (Redskins), but still retained the hat tip to Zier's idea.
History
Red Zebra Broadcasting was born in January 2006 as a family of radio stations in the Washington D.C. area.In June and July 2006, Red Zebra expanded its reach within Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, by announcing it had just completed acquisitions of stations in the Virginia Beach and Richmond, VA areas.
On June 4, 2008; The Washington Business Journal confirmed that Red Zebra made an agreement to purchase three of Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
radio stations in the Washington D.C. cluster. After the sale was approved, Red Zebra took over the following radio stations on July 1, 2008: WTEM
WTEM
WTEM — branded ESPN 980 — is a sports radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. and serving the Washington metro area. It is the flagship of a sports talk trimulcast with WWXT in Prince Frederick, Maryland and WWXX in Buckland, Virginia, all affiliated with ESPN Radio and owned by Red Zebra...
Sports Talk 980; WTNT
WTNT (AM)
WTNT —branded AM 730 WTNT—is a news/talk radio station licensed to Alexandria, Virginia and serving the Washington metro area. It operates with unlimited hours, with 8,000 watts during the daytime, and 25 watts in the evening hours...
AM 570; and WWRC
WWRC
WWRC —branded 1260 WRC—is a news/talk radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. and serving the Washington metro area. It operates with 5,000 watts on an unlimited basis with studios and transmitters both located in the city proper...
Progressive Talk 1260.
On July 1, 2008 it was announced that Red Zebra Broadcasting had expanded its reach into the Roanoke/Lynchburg market with acquisitions of three stations from Centennial Broadcasting. CEO Bruce Gilbert was quoted as saying, “For that entire time we’ve been looking for opportunities across the Mid-Atlantic. The Lynchburg and Roanoke region was an important market for them to fill in Virginia."
On August 15, 2008 Red Zebra announced that ESPN Deportes Radio
ESPN Deportes Radio
ESPN Deportes Radio is a Spanish language sports radio network created and produced by Disney-owned ESPN. Programming includes call-in talk shows and commentary from hosts about a full range of sporting events, including soccer, American football, baseball and boxing.The network has stations in 13...
, the only around-the-clock national Spanish-language sports radio network in the United States, will launch in Washington, D.C. as ESPN Deportes WXTR 730 AM on September 1, 2008.
On February 1, 2009 the LMA agreement between Red Zebra Broadcasting and Centennial Broadcasting was cancelled just after six months and Centennial took back over the stations.
Businesses
Red Zebra has committed to identifying, purchasing, and running broadcast properties, including radioRadio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, and the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
Radio
Red Zebra currently owns and operates five Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
area radio stations (WTEM
WTEM
WTEM — branded ESPN 980 — is a sports radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. and serving the Washington metro area. It is the flagship of a sports talk trimulcast with WWXT in Prince Frederick, Maryland and WWXX in Buckland, Virginia, all affiliated with ESPN Radio and owned by Red Zebra...
980-AM (simulcast on WWXT 92.7-FM and WWXX 94.3-FM), WTNT
WTNT (AM)
WTNT —branded AM 730 WTNT—is a news/talk radio station licensed to Alexandria, Virginia and serving the Washington metro area. It operates with unlimited hours, with 8,000 watts during the daytime, and 25 watts in the evening hours...
570-AM, and WXTR 730-AM). These stations serve collectively as the flagship for the Redskins Radio Network. Red Zebra also owns the ESPN Radio all-sports station in Richmond, VA, (WXGI
WXGI
WXGI is a Sports Radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Richmond, Virginia, serving the Richmond/Petersburg area. WXGI is owned and operated by Red Zebra Broadcasting.-History:...
950 AM), and the Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio, abbreviated FSR, is an international radio network consisting of sports talk programming. The network is a service of Premiere Networks...
affiliate in Norfolk/Virginia Beach, VA, heard on (WXTG-FM
WXTG-FM
WXTG-FM is a Sports Radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Virginia Beach, Virginia, serving the Southside of Hampton Roads. WXTG-FM is owned and operated by Red Zebra Broadcasting.-History:...
102.1 FM) in Virginia Beach and on (WXTG
WXTG (AM)
WXTG is a Sports Radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Hampton, Virginia, serving the Peninsula of Hampton Roads. WXTG is owned and operated by Red Zebra Broadcasting....
1490 AM) in Hampton, VA. All nine Red Zebra stations are part of the Redskins Radio Network.
In July 2008, Red Zebra merged WTEM
WTEM
WTEM — branded ESPN 980 — is a sports radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. and serving the Washington metro area. It is the flagship of a sports talk trimulcast with WWXT in Prince Frederick, Maryland and WWXX in Buckland, Virginia, all affiliated with ESPN Radio and owned by Red Zebra...
with its Triple X ESPN Radio triplex in the Washington area, rebranding the quadplex as ESPN 980. WXTR was spun off from the quadplex to become an ESPN Deportes Radio
ESPN Deportes Radio
ESPN Deportes Radio is a Spanish language sports radio network created and produced by Disney-owned ESPN. Programming includes call-in talk shows and commentary from hosts about a full range of sporting events, including soccer, American football, baseball and boxing.The network has stations in 13...
affiliate in late 2008.
Redskins Radio is the Official Play-by-Play and home to the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
. Commentators on gameday include Hall of Famers Sam Huff
Sam Huff
Robert Lee "Sam" Huff is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League for the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982....
and Sonny Jurgensen
Sonny Jurgensen
Christian Adolph "Sonny" Jurgensen III is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983....
, plus Larry Michael.
Corporate governance
Current members of the board of directors for Red Zebra Broadcasting are: Daniel SnyderDaniel Snyder
Daniel M. Snyder is the current owner of the Washington Redskins American football team, owner of the Dick Clark Productions television production company, and primary investor in Red Zebra Broadcasting, which is home to the Redskins Radio Network. Snyder has a net worth of $1.05 billion...
, Dwight Schar
Dwight Schar
Dwight Schar is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of NVR, Inc., a Fortune 500 company that is the third-largest home builder in the United States. He currently serves as the company's Executive Chairman and Chairman of Executive Committee...
, Mark Shapiro,
Top executives
Daniel SnyderDaniel Snyder
Daniel M. Snyder is the current owner of the Washington Redskins American football team, owner of the Dick Clark Productions television production company, and primary investor in Red Zebra Broadcasting, which is home to the Redskins Radio Network. Snyder has a net worth of $1.05 billion...
: company founder, primary investor;
Mark Shapiro: chairman;
Bruce Gilbert: chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
;
Sources: