Courtesy Palm Beach Post

(July 17, 2008) It was five years ago when a couple of 20-something radio executives thought they had identified a slam-dunk opportunity to add to their stable of stations.

Palm Beach County, they realized, was the only top-50 radio market without its own sports-talk outlet.

It did have spring training, big-time tennis and golf, high-profile high school sports and proximity to major college and pro teams as well as attractive demographics.

"It was just the perfect storm," said Steve Politziner, co-owner of ESPN 760 AM.

Still, Politziner and his partner in Wisconsin-based Good Karma Broadcasting, Craig Karmazin, worried about the survival of their new venture.

"It's difficult when you are a complete start-up," Karmazin said. "No existing advertisers, no existing relationships. The first month we had zero revenue. It was an absolutely scary situation to go into."

The station still has to deal with the current down cycle in business. It has modest ratings, but its signal can be difficult to hear at night when the station powers down.

But it is now celebrating its fifth anniversary and has carved out a niche as the voice of local sports in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, two markets with nearly 1.5 million potential listeners combined.

ESPN 760 (a business partner of The Palm Beach Post) has expanded from six to 20 employees, outgrowing its offices on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard.

The station is looking for a new home, and its home market has gotten crowded, too.

Five years ago, the only other all-sports station in South Florida was WQAM 560 AM. Since then, 790 The Ticket and WFTL 640 Fox Sports have crashed the all-sports party. Longtime Miami talk giant WIOD NewsRadio 610 also does sports, including Miami Heat games, giving sports fans in Palm Beach County five options.

"The format is successful. St. Louis has four sports radio stations, so yeah, it's not unheard of," Politziner said. "The competition keeps us on our toes."

Three of the five are Miami-based, and 640 is licensed in Boca Raton. ESPN 760 tries to differentiate itself by emphasizing its local ties.

"We do our thing in Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast, and those stations do their thing in Miami," said Evan Cohen, 27, host of 760's afternoon drive-time show.

Though the Miami stations have strong signals here, they consider 760 a partner more than a competitor. ESPN 760 is not a flagship station for any of South Florida's teams, but is an affiliate for all of them.

WFTL 640, which has a 50,000-watt signal beaming out of Royal Palm Beach, is 760's first direct competition.

"They've had that market to themselves for a long time, and Steve and Craig have really done a good job with their station," said Howard Davis, station manager of 790. "I don't think 640 is much competition for them."

ESPN 760 won't sit atop the local ratings anytime soon. Its audience share - 1.1 percent of all listeners 12 and older - ranked 22nd in the Palm Beach County market in the first quarter of 2008, while leader Sunny 104.3 had a 6.0 share.

But in the past couple of years, 760 has supplanted 560 and 790 in the ratings as the sports station of choice for Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast. WQAM had a 0.6 share in Palm Beach County during the first quarter; 790 had a 0.4.

Politziner said his station's goal is to build a loyal, long-term audience rather than worry too much about ratings now.

"Sports radio is so good at forming that bond," he said, "because people are already so passionate about sports."

Good Karma - a 10-year-old company founded by Politziner and Karmazin, son of Mel Karmazin, former CEO of CBS Radio and Viacom - is banking on its programming formula at 760. It has used it as a blueprint for more recent purchases, ESPN stations in Cleveland and Milwaukee.

Their station broadcasts national ESPN programming, with the most consistent block from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. - including Mike and Mike in the Morning and shows hosted by Colin Cowherd and Mike Tirico.

The station finishes the day with local programming and then turns to South Florida game coverage.

The mixed format doesn't generate outstanding ratings, said John Mark Dempsey, author of the 2006 book Sports Talk Radio in America: Its Context and Culture. "But if you don't have a lot of overhead costs, and you're not spending a lot of money on local talent, then you don't have to rake in a huge amount of revenue to be profitable."

WFTL 640 has a similar formula, but it has local programming the morning.

It counters 760's youthful vibe with veteran broadcasters such as longtime local host Jeff DeForrest and award-winning reporter Lesley Visser. Later in the day, it carries Fox Sports national programming, including the Dan Patrick and Jim Rome shows. On weekends, it has New York Yankees baseball.

"We know there are guys out there that are in the demographic advertisers desire, and are looking for the sports fans that maybe don't want to listen to these young guys on the radio," said Ken Pauli, 640 station director.

ESPN 760 broadcasts the four Miami pro teams, and Cohen pays close attention on his show to New York and Boston sports. The station tries to build an identity by focusing on Palm Beach and Treasure Coast sports - such as spring training and the Honda Classic - where competitors are nowhere to be found.

"I don't think we really understood the magnitude and power of what Palm Beach County had with all the local events and athletes who live here," Karmazin said.