In a move that will cause a major shakeup at KSTP-AM, the Hubbard-owned station announced that it will become “1500 ESPN Twin Cities.”

The exact date of the switch to ESPN Radio isn’t yet clear but the station will flip to being known as “AM1500 The Sports Talk Station” on Monday, because ESPN Radio has a contract in place with Clear-Channel owned KFAN (1130 AM) that could run as long as 60 days.

That creates a second full-time all-sports station in this market and means the 1500 AM signal will become direct competition for KFAN, which has owned the all-sports brand in Minneapolis-St. Paul since 1991.

KFAN had used both ESPN Radio talk shows and play-by-play to fill various programming parts not only for its 1130 AM signal but also for the day-timer station that Clear Channel owns at 690 AM. That station is known as “The Score.”

KSTP began making changes almost immediately, dumping the program hosted by Shawn Prebil and Chris Murphy. The two had been hired last spring after working at a station in Madison, Wis.

Dan Seeman, a vice president at Hubbard who has played a role in this transition, said that longtime KSTP staples Patrick Reusse and Joe Soucheray will remain with the station. Reusse and Soucheray will host a six-hour block that runs from noon to 6 p.m., with Reusse going from noon to 2 p.m., the duo together from 2 to 4 p.m. and then Soucheray hosting his regular “Garage Logic” show from 4 to 6 p.m.

Joe Anderson, who was hired recently to host the 5:30 to 8 p.m. sports program after Matt Thomas departed for a job with a sports radio station in Houston, will remain with the station and be on air weekdays at 6 p.m., provided there isn’t a Twins game.

Seeman, who spent many years at KFAN and helped launch that station as all sports, said KSTP officials have been considering this type of move since doing a research study late last year.

“We studied to find out where we are and where I think we can compete and this is the path,” Seeman said. “We found it’s a big hill in a pretty big town. If you look around the country there are two or three sports talk stations in every major market, and in a town where there are four pro teams and a major university, there is a lot to talk about.”

The switch, which had been rumored in recent weeks, was made for a few reasons. KSTP is coming off a book in which it struggled with listeners in the Personal People Meter system that Arbitron has employed in an attempt to get more accurate ratings figures.

This also could be an attempt to keep the Twins on their station. Entering the fourth and final season of their contract with the team, KSTP hasn’t seemed to gain a clear-cut identity since it won the Twins rights away from WCCO before the 2007 season.

A sports program was established leading into Twins baseball, but the postgame programming that KSTP used following the broadcast did not focus on the team.

Seeman declined to give a specific number of people who were let go by the station. But on-air talent that was let go included morning-show Bob Berglund and Jay Kolls, afternoon host Kelly Webb and evening host Al Malmberg.

With Reusse moving to afternoons as of Monday, the short-term plan is for Joe Anderson and fill-in host Scott Korzenowski to anchor the morning show. Eventually, the 5 to 9 a.m. spot on weekdays will be filled by the “Mike [Greenberg] and Mike [Golic]” in the morning show from ESPN.

The one ESPN change that will take effect on Monday will have Colin Cowherd’s syndicated weekday program, known as “The Herd,” running from 9 a.m. to noon.