ESPN Radio Fresno Enters New Territory with New Home

For the first time in nine years, ESPN Radio Fresno found itself without a 50,000-watt signal and a longtime partner.

Known as 940 ESPN Radio since 2012, the station changed call signs to 1430 in July. The change happened a month after Fresno State Athletics ended its nine-year partnership with ESPN Radio. The Bulldogs teamed up with 1340 Fox Sports Radio over the summer.

The switch in call signs was a byproduct of a split between business partners Chris Pacheco and John Ostlund, who co-owned One Putt Broadcasting for nine years. The break-up led Pacheco to move his two stations, 1430 ESPN and 790 ESPN2, to a new office across the street from Bullard High School

The move meant a physical change in moving furniture and making an empty office space home. There was also the challenge of avoiding technical difficulties that inevitably come with changing spots on the radio dial.

“It’s tough to summarize [the move], because there is so much that goes on with the technical side of the radio station actually going on air,” said 1430 ESPN General Manager Daniel Whittemore.

The transitional period from station to station mirrored the transition of Jose Gonzalez from producer to daily radio show host. Both were not easy, he said, but were necessary for the station to take its next step.

“In order to kind of make everything go smoothly,” Gonzalez said, “we had to go through hiccups, through mistakes, through a lot of turbulation, to get to the actual other side, get to a really good spot, which is where we are now.”