The Altoona Curve (Class AA; Eastern League) have secured a radio deal for the 2017 season, as News Talk 1240 WRTA will serve as the team’s flagship station. The agreement was announced by the Curve and Sounds Good Media on Tuesday.
News Talk – WRTA will carry 128 regular-season games during the 2017 Curve campaign. The remaining 12 regular-season broadcasts, games that take place during weekday afternoons, will be carried on 1370 WKMC.
“News Talk – WRTA is Altoona’s heritage news radio station,” Sounds Good Media general manager Scott Barger said. “As a locally owned company, we have been proud to serve the people of Blair County through the years by providing information that is important to our friends and neighbors.
“In more recent years, the Altoona Curve have become one of the most beloved members of our community by bringing professional baseball to Central Pennsylvania. We are excited to partner with the good folks at the Altoona Curve by becoming their new flagship station and cannot wait to broadcast professional baseball to our listeners throughout Curve, PA. This partnership presents a unique opportunity for us to serve the community and enjoy America’s favorite pastime.”
The Curve and Sounds Good Media will also continue their cross-promotional and marketing relationships from past seasons in 2017. Popular on-air personalities from the Sounds Good Media family of stations (Q94, Mix 94.7, News Talk – WRTA and 1370 WKMC) will be on hand throughout the season at Peoples Natural Gas Field to take part in contests and in-game events.
“We are thrilled to be working with Scott and everyone at Sounds Good Media to bring our exciting brand of baseball and future major league stars to our new radio flagship, News Talk – WRTA,” Curve general manager Derek Martin said.
Trey Wilson, Nate Bowen and Max Gun will call the action for the Curve in the 2017 season.
Wilson returns for his third season as the Curve’s lead play-by-play broadcaster and his fifth overall on the airwaves in professional baseball. The Portsmouth, Va. native joined the Curve after previous stints with the Lansing Lugnuts (Single-A, Toronto Blue Jays) and the Bluefield Blue Jays (Adv.-Rk., Toronto Blue Jays), as well as broadcasting various college sports around the country.
Bowen will provide play-by-play for his fifth season with the Curve this year. A native of Fremont, Ohio, Bowen joined the Altoona broadcast team in 2013 after spending time with the Durham Bulls (Triple-A, Tampa Bay Rays), Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Double-A, Kansas City Royals) and Princeton Rays (Adv.-Rk., Tampa Bay Rays). He also serves as the radio voice of high school sports in Central and Western Pennsylvania, and he calls basketball at Carnegie Mellon University.
Gun, a native of West Bloomfield, Mich., joins the Altoona broadcast crew for his first season in 2017. He spent the 2016 on the airwaves with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (A-Adv., Los Angeles Dodgers). He also called action for Michigan State University athletics on the Big Ten Network Student U from 2011-2015.
Outside of Altoona, fans will once again be able to tune in for coverage of Curve baseball throughout the season on stations across the Curve Radio Network. WTRN 1340 AM/100.7 FM in Tyrone and WWGE 1400 in Ebensburg will once again return as network affiliates. Fans worldwide can listen to all 140 broadcasts through the TuneIn Radio app.