May 4, 2007

The University of Dayton and NewsTalk WHIO Radio have announced the signing of a new contract that will keep WHIO Radio "The Home of the UD Flyers" through 2012. WHIO will continue to broadcast and stream all Flyer football and men's basketball games, and selected women's basketball games, along with the Mike Kelly and Brian Gregory Coach's Shows.

Flyer games have always been carried on WHIO-AM (1290 on the AM dial) and last year WHIO began simulcasting on WHIO-FM (95.7 on the FM dial).

"The University of Dayton is very pleased that we are continuing this successful partnership with WHIO," UD Associate Vice-President for Athletics Tim Wabler said. "We really appreciate their efforts in expanding our coverage with the coach's shows and women's basketball broadcasts, and also by utilizing their FM signal to reach Flyer fans in the northern Miami Valley."

WHIO first broadcast Dayton basketball games in 1951, and has been the exclusive radio outlet for the Flyers since 1974. UD is only one of seven Division I schools who have had the same radio outlet for at least 30 years. The others are Fresno State (49 years), Georgia State (36), James Madison (34), St. Bonaventure (60), Toledo (41) and West Virginia (66).

"We are thrilled to be continuing this successful long-term partnership that is part of the heritage of Dayton, Ohio," Donna Hall, Vice-President /General Manager of Cox Radio Dayton.

Not only has the partnership between UD and WHIO been a long one, but so has the relationship between the Flyers and WHIO's primary broadcasters.

Color analyst Bucky Bockhorn, whose college games were broadcast on WHIO when he played at UD in the 1950's, has done UD basketball games since 1973. Play-by-play man Larry Hansgen has been the "Voice of the Flyers" in basketball since 1982, and in football since 1988. Mike McCall (football analyst), Tom Michaels (women's basketball play-by-play) and Monica West (women's basketball analyst) round out the WHIO broadcast teams.

"Part of the great tradition of Flyer basketball is our relationship with WHIO Radio," UD men's basketball coach Brian Gregory said, "And on a personal level, I look forward to continuing to work with Bucky and Larry in the future."

Flyer football coach Mike Kelly echoed those sentiments. "The word, "tradition", carries a lot of weight in our athletic programs and certainly one of the traditions that we hold in high regard is being able to say that WHIO has broadcast our athletic events since 1974. There are very few athletic programs in the country that can match this."