San Diego Padres - Radio and Television

Radio and Television

As of 2008, the Padres' flagship radio stations were XEPRS 1090AM and XHPRS 105.7FM, collectively known as "XX 1090" (pronounced "Double X.") When XX was only on AM, the station was known as the "Mighty 1090." Ted Leitner is the primary play-by-play announcer, with Andy Masur working the middle innings of each game. Jerry Coleman, former Yankee second baseman and Padres manager and a Ford C. Frick Award-winning longtime broadcaster, no longer does play-by-play; however, he does work as a color commentator alongside Leitner and Masur, mostly during the middle part of the game. The games are also broadcast in Spanish on XEMO, "La Poderosa 860 AM", with Eduardo Ortega and Juan Angel Avila announcing. As of 2010, 105.7 has dropped the Padres broadcasts, and the games are now only broadcast on 1090AM.

Padres' games starting in 2012 will be televised by Fox Sports San Diego upon the start of the spring training sessions. Prior to that, games were televised mostly on 4SD, a cable-only channel controlled by Cox Communications. Dick Enberg currently serves as play-by-play announcer, and Mark Grant is the primary color commentator (with Tony Gwynn providing commentary for select telecasts). Previously, Matt Vasgersian was the play-by-play announcer from 2002 to 2008. In 2006, the booth played host to a controversial guest appearance by Rick Sutcliffe, who had been Grant's predecessor before joining ESPN. Sutcliffe appeared to be drunk and discussed topics other than baseball, even when Vasgersian tried to redirect the subject. After the appearance, ESPN suspended Sutcliffe for a week. For the 2009 season, Vasgersian left the Padres to join the MLB Network and was replaced by veteran minor league announcer Mark Neely, who for the previous 13 years had been the voice of the Tulsa Drillers of the Texas League. Neely will continue to serve as a pre- and postgame reporter for the new channel, and called play-by-play on a substitute basis when Enberg had network commitments with both ESPN or CBS Sports. 4SD's contract with the Padres expired after the 2011 season.

Spanish language telecasts of Sunday games are seen XHAS-TV channel 33. Until September 2007, Friday and Saturday Spanish games were seen on KBOP-CA channel 43, until that station changed to an all-infomercial format. This makes XHAS the only over-the-air-television station carrying Padres baseball. English-language Padres over-the-air broadcasts aired over the years on XETV, KCST, KUSI, KFMB-TV and KSWB-TV.

John Demott was the Padres' first public address announcer when the team began in 1969. By the late 1970s Bruce Binkowski had taken over as PA announcer, and became the longest-serving public address announcer in the team's history, remaining until the end of the 1999 season. First DeMott and then Binkowski also were responsible with PA announcing duties for the San Diego Chargers and the San Diego State University Aztecs, both of which were joint tenants at Qualcomm Stadium with the Padres until the Padres moved into Petco Park. The current PA announcer is Frank Anthony, a radio host with 105.7 The Walrus.