Red Zebra Broadcasting

Infobox_Company
company_name = Red Zebra Broadcasting
company_
company_type = Private company| company_slogan = various
foundation = 2006
industry = Entertainment, Advertising
location = Silver Spring, MD
key_people = Bruce Gilbert, CEO
num_employees =
products = radio
revenue =
homepage = [http://www.redzebrabroadcasting.com/ www.redzebrabroadcasting.com]

Red Zebra Broadcasting is a media company based in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The primary investors in Red Zebra are Daniel Snyder, better known as the owner of the Washington Redskins football franchise, and Dwight Schar, a minority owner of the team. Both are members of the parent company’s board of directors, but have no operating role. [ [http://www.redskinsradioespn.com/upload/redzebraacquisitionpressrelease.pdf Press Release] (retrieved June 5, 2008)] Bruce Gilbert, former general manager of ESPN Radio, was named chief executive officer of Red Zebra in March 2007, replacing Bennett Zier. [ [http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2007/03/19/daily39.html?jst=s_cn_hl Biz Journal] (retrieved June 5, 2008)]

The "Red Zebra" name came after Daniel Snyder asked his original CEO, Bennett Zier, to name the new broadcasting company anything he wanted. Zier opened with Blue Zebra Broadcasting, an idea inspired by his nickname and initials. Snyder explained that "blue was the enemy. Cowboys. Giants," but he came back with a counteroffer: Red Zebra, a name that gave a little inside tribute to the team (Redskins), but still retained the hat tip to Zier's idea. [ [http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2006/02/13/story8.html?jst=s_cn_hl Article] (retrieved June 5, 2008)]

History

Red Zebra Broadcasting was born in January 2006 as a family of radio stations in the Washington D.C. area.

In June and July of 2006, Red Zebra expanded it's reach within Virginia, by announcing it had just completed acquisitions of stations in the Virginia Beach and Richmond, VA areas. [ [http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2006/05/29/daily23.html Richmond Purchase] (retrieved June 5, 2008] [ [http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2006/07/24/daily7.html VA Beach Purchase] (retrieved June 5, 2008)]

On June 4, 2008; "The Washington Business Journal" confirmed that Red Zebra made an agreement to purchase three of Clear Channel Communications radio stations in the Washington D.C. cluster. After the sale was approved, Red Zebra took over the following radio stations on July 1, 2008: WTEM Sports Talk 980; WTNT AM 570; and WWRC Progressive Talk 1260. [ [http://www.radio-info.com/news/index.php?date=2008-06-04 Radio-Info.com News] (retrieved June 4, 2008)]

On July 1, 2008 it was announced that Red Zebra Broadcasting had expanded it's reach into the Roanoke/Lynchburg market with acquisitions of three stations from Centennial Broadcasting. [http://pressroom.vartv.com/] , VARTV.com Pressroom. Accessed July 3, 2008.] CEO Bruce Gilbert was quoted as saying, “For that entire time we’ve been looking for opportunities across the Mid-Atlantic. The Lynchburg and Roanoke region was an important market for them to fill in Virginia." [http://www.newsadvance.com/lna/business/local/article/lynchburgs_wlni_changes_owners/6344/] , Lynchburg News & Advance. Accessed July 3, 2008.]

Businesses

Red Zebra has committed to identifying, purchasing, and running broadcast properties, including radio, television, and the Internet.

Radio

Red Zebra currently owns and operates three Washington, D.C. area radio stations(WXTR 730 AM, WWXT 92.7 FM, & WWXX 94.3 FM). These stations serve collectively as the flagship for the Redskins Radio Network. Red Zebra also owns the ESPN Radio all-sports station in Richmond, VA, (WXGI 950 AM), and the Fox Sports Radio affiliate in Norfolk/Virginia Beach, VA, heard on (WXTG 102.1 FM) in Virginia Beach and on (WXTG 1490 AM) in Hampton, VA. All six Red Zebra stations are part of the Redskins Radio Network.

Redskins Radio is the Official Play-by-Play and home to the Washington Redskins. Commentators on gameday include Hall of Famers Sam Huff and Sonny Jurgenson, plus Larry Michael.

Red Zebra also currently has a local marketing agreement with three other Washington, D.C. area radio stations owned by Clear Channel Broadcasting (WTEM ESPN 980, WTNT 570 AM, & WWRC Progressive Talk 1260), and local marketing agreements with four stations in the Roanoke/Lynchburg market (WLEQ 106.9 FM, WLNI 105.9 FM, & WZZU/WZZI 97.9/101.5 FM) owned by Centennial Broadcasting. All stations are expected to run play-by-play coverage of Redskins games in the fall of 2008. [http://www.newsadvance.com/lna/business/local/article/lynchburgs_wlni_changes_owners/6344/] , Lynchburg News & Advance. Accessed July 3, 2008.] Red Zebra is purchasing all of the stations covered by LMAs.

In July 2008, Red Zebra merged WTEM with its Triple X ESPN Radio triplex in the Washington area, rebranding the quadplex as "ESPN 980".

Corporate governance

Current members of the board of directors for Red Zebra Broadcasting are: Daniel Snyder, Dwight Schar, Mark Shapiro,

Top executives

;Daniel Snyder: company founder, primary investor;;Mark Shapiro: chairman; ;Bruce Gilbert: chief executive officer;

Sources: [cite web
title = Article
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/11/AR2008061103404.html
accessdate = 2008-06-12
publisher = Washington Post]

References

*http://www.triplexespnradio.com/
*http://www.espn950am.com/
*http://www.1021fmthegame.com/