What WPLG 10, WSVN 7 will now do with sports. And WQAM, NFL, Dolphins media news
A jam-packed six-pack of media notes on a Thursday:
▪ For years, Will Manso and the WPLG sports staff led into, or followed, some of the most important South Florida sports events: the four NBA Finals during the Heat’s Big 3 era, the Panthers’ first Stanley Cup championship 14 months ago, big prime-time Miami Hurricanes games on ABC.
That won’t be happening anymore.
ABC and WPLG 10 parted ways this week, with ABC programming moving to a digital channel owned by Sunbeam, the parent company of WSVN 7, which will continue to carry Fox programming.
But WPLG intends to remain a major player in news and sports.
WPLG 10 not only will continue to carry a year-round local sports show at 11:30 p.m. Sunday, but the station also will begin airing three other live sports shows on weekends — at 11:30 p.m. Saturdays and 9:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Channel 10 will continue producing pregame shows for some big events that WPLG no longer carries.
And the staff has expanded, adding a fourth sportscaster (Kacy Hintz) to join Will Manso, Clay Ferraro and executive sports producer David Lang, who makes occasional on-air appearances.
Were Manso and the other sports staffers dispirited by the loss of ABC programming?
“I think at first everyone was surprised trying to figure out what it all means,” Manso said. “Can we still do shows and have extensive coverage for games that we don’t air? As time passed, we started to realize that we’ve always covered local sports daily, no matter what network they air on. The ability to really focus on local sports with extensive coverage won’t change.”
Manso was encouraged to see the station hire more than 20 new reporters and expand news programming in the evenings, replacing ABC prime-time programming.
“What eased my mind was that we immediately hired a great talent in Kacy Hintz and added another sports producer, as well,” Manso said. “We’re adding multiple shows, along with more sportscasts during the day. The extra resources also means we won’t have repetition during the day.
“The combination of highlights, features, live reports at games and special shows around big events will keep things fresh. The station has made a big commitment to local sports, and we have the flexibility to try new things.”
Manso said “we will continue to do pre/post game shows and specials for games and events that aren’t on our air. That includes Heat and Panthers season preview shows and coverage of the postseason for all local teams.”
WPLG 10 also acquired rights to an HBCU (historically Black colleges and universities) football package on Saturdays this fall.
While most South Florida homes will still get WPLG-10, some will not. Hulu Live, YouTube TV and Fubo TV have dropped the channel.
▪ As of this past Monday, South Florida’s new ABC affiliate — called ABC Miami — is available in high definition on Channel 18 on DirecTV, AT&T-uverse, Breezeline, YouTube TV, Hulu, Fubo and DirecTV Streaming.
Comcast Xfinity is airing ABC programming in high definition on Channels 446 and 1018 and on standard definition on Channel 18. Hotwire is carrying ABC Miami on Channel 403 (high definition) and Channel 3 (standard definition), while Blue Stream will carry ABC Miami on Channel 3 (HD).
And viewers without cable or satellite service can watch ABC over-the-air, in high definition, on Channel 18.1 or 7.2. All major cable and satellite providers have added ABC Miami except Dish Network; negotiations are ongoing.
ABC Miami will air all ABC news, sports and entertainment programming (including the UM-Notre Dame game on Aug. 31) and also simulcast WSVN 7’s news programming.
Meanwhile, WSVN 7 plans to produce its own pregame show on ABC Miami for big ABC games involving South Florida teams. That program will be called “We’ve Got You Covered” and will air, as an example, before the Aug. 31 UM-Notre Dame game on ABC Miami.
▪ There was big local radio news on Thursday: Beginning immediately, all sports programming on WQAM 560 will be simulcast on Audacy-owned sister station 104.3 FM, which will switch formats from alternative music to sports. The 104.3 signal will be called WQAM-FM, pending FCC approval. The same programming generally will be heard on both stations.
The 100,000-watt FM signal will expand WQAM’s reach, to the delight of the University of Miami and the Heat, whose games will now air on both stations. When there are conflicts, WQAM can put one on the AM dial and one on the FM dial, though management refused to discuss that Thursday.
Heat executive vice president Michael McCullough said the Heat is “thrilled with the move of WQAM to the FM dial. Heat games will now sound better than ever on WQAM on FM.”
WQAM’s lineup will remain the same:
6:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m: “The Joe Rose Show with Hollywood” (Joe Rose and Danny Rabinowitz)
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m: “Tobin & Leroy” (Brendan Tobin and Leroy Hoard)
2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m: “Hochman, Crowder & Solana” (Marc Hochman, Channing Crowder and Alejandro Solano)
104.3 WQAM is Audacy’s 19th FM sports station.
▪ Some Dolphins media notes: Steve Goldstein and Kim Bokamper call all three preseason games live on CBS 4, beginning with Sunday’s 1 p.m. kickoff in Chicago. The CBS 4 broadcast also will air on CBS stations in West Palm Beach, Naples-Fort Myers, Orlando and Honolulu.
NFL Network will televise Games 1 (Sunday) and 3 (Aug. 23, home to Jacksonville) live and Game 2 (Aug. 16 at Detroit) on two-day tape delay. NFL Network uses the home team’s announcers, meaning Dolphins fans outside Miami’s broadcast territory will hear Bears preseason voices Adam Amin and Jim Miller on the call of Sunday’s game.
Meanwhile, CBS assigned its No. 4 team — Andrew Catalon, Charles Davis (who was replaced by J.J. Watt on the No. 2 team) and Jason McCourty — to the Dolphins’ first two games: Sept. 7 at the Colts and Sept. 14 home against the Patriots.
Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit will call the Dolphins’ third game, Sept. 18 at Buffalo, on Amazon Prime, with CBS 4 also carrying it locally.
▪ The key points from ESPN’s non-binding acquisition of NFL Network and other league media properties in exchange for 10 % equity stake in ESPN, while keeping in mind that none of this will happen until government regulatory approval, which could take a year to 16 months:
1). ESPN’s annual package of NFL games will jump from 23 to 26 because it will take some games from NFL Network. But by next season or 2027 at the latest, the league will eliminate overlapping ABC/ESPN games on three Mondays each season after concluding that was counterproductive.
NFL Network will continue to carry seven games a season; for now, that likely will be a mix of Sunday morning international games and late-season Saturday games.
2). ESPN will operate NFL Network, which will remain on the air. It remains to be seen the insiders from both networks will still essentially compete with each other. The NFL Draft will continue to air on ESPN platforms and NFL Network in 2026, but ESPN eventually must decide whether to use NFL Network talent on a draft presentation that would compete with ESPN’s. ESPN extended its contract to carry the draft through 2030.
3). ESPN acquired rights to both the RedZone trademark and distribution rights to the popular RedZone channel, but the league said it will continue to handle production of Red Zone, with Scott Hanson remaining the host.
“I don’t think fans will see any difference,” commissioner Roger Goodell said in a Wednesday appearance on ESPN.
Red Zone will be available on some cable and satellite providers, on ESPN’s App and through ESPN’s direct to consumer service that’s launching Aug. 21. That direct-to-consumer product costs $29.99 and includes all sports programming on ABC and every ESPN Network, plus Hulu programming.
ESPN can now bundle NFL+ Premium, the League’s direct-to-consumer service that launched in 2022, with ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer service, allowing viewers to watch NFL Network and NFL RedZone through the NFL+ Premium offering.
ESPN, incidentally, will air its first Super Bowl in February 2027, along with the 2031 game. Both of those games will be simulcast on ABC.
One lingering question from the NFL’s acquisition of 10% of ESPN: Will the network be hesitant to authorize its distinguished investigative team to probe into anything that might make the league look bad?
▪ With the Marlins climbing from 16 games under .500 to a 55-55 record last Sunday, it’s no surprise that July was the Marlins’ most-watched month on cable television since September 2023.
Linear TV viewership on FanDuel Sports Florida last month was up 330% compared to July 2024, and the streaming audience in the FanDuel Sports Network app was up 62% over last July.
This story was originally published August 7, 2025 at 2:11 PM.
