Wolves Announce 2012-13 Regular Season Broadcast Schedule
The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team’s local regular-season broadcast schedule for the upcoming 2012-13 campaign. A franchise-record 78 regular-season games (95.1%) will be televised locally, including 50 on Fox Sports North and 25 on the Wolves' exclusive over-the-air broadcast home, WFTC My29. Northland Ford Dealers will serve as the presenting sponsor for the 25 contests on WFTC My29. For the second consecutive season, every Wolves regular season contest will be carried live on News Radio 830 WCCO-AM.
The 2012-13 Wolves Home Opener vs. Sacramento will be broadcast on WFTC MY29, beginning a string of 36 consecutive televised games to start the season. The television schedule breaks down as follows: Fox Sports North - 50, WFTC My29 - 25, TNT - 3. ESPN will carry three Wolves games (Feb. 1 vs. LA Lakers, Feb. 6 vs. San Antonio and Feb. 22 at Oklahoma City), all of which will also be broadcast on WFTC My29 or Fox Sports North, while NBA TV will broadcast eight games, all of which will also be aired on WFTC My29 or Fox Sports North. The Wolves will play 14 nationally-televised games this season, most since the 2005-06 campaign. The only games not scheduled to be broadcast locally are Jan. 19 vs. Houston, Jan. 21 at Atlanta, March 21 at Sacramento and April 5 vs. Toronto.
"Thanks to our wonderful broadcast partners, we are thrilled to offer our loyal fans the opportunity to watch 95 percent of our regular-season games on television and to listen to all 82 regular-season games on radio," said Ted Johnson, Timberwolves Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications and Chief Marketing Officer. "In addition to the 50 games available in high definition on Fox Sports North, we are extremely excited to be returning to My29 for our over-the-air partner, providing Wolves fans with even more opportunities to watch Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio and the rest of our young team in what we expect to be a breakout season. We're also thankful for Northland Ford Dealers' commitment to our team as the presenting sponsor of our 25 games on My29. Finally, we're happy to continue our great partnership with one of the premier radio stations in the country in WCCO. It is clear that all four partners share our excitement about the direction and future of our team and we are very grateful for their commitment to our franchise."
The 50-game regular-season FOX Sports North schedule tips off on Sunday Nov. 4 against Toronto with a special one-hour edition of Wolves Live starting at 4:00 p.m. Wolves Live presented by Century Link will air before and after every game telecast, as part of the network’s family of comprehensive and personalized pre and postgame shows. FOX Sports North’s 50-game schedule includes eight telecasts on the FOX Sports North PLUS channel. Wolves Weekly is set to debut the week of Oct. 29.
The new Timberwolves play-by-play announcer, joining current analyst Jim Petersen, will be announced at a later date. Tom Hanneman, Robby Incmikoski and Marney Gellner will host Wolves Live before and after every game, featuring analysis from Kevin Lynch and Quincy Lewis.
“I’m confident this will be a competitive and exciting season for the Wolves,” said Mike Dimond, Senior Vice President and General Manager of FOX Sports North. “We’re proud to partner with the Timberwolves to televise 50 games to the loyal NBA fans across the five state region.”
This will mark the second time WFTC My 29 has broadcasted Timberwolves games, having aired 12 games during the 2010-11 season. The partnership between the Wolves and WFTC My29 is part of an integrated marketing relationship that will include ticket promotions, in-arena promotions, community involvement and other promotional elements.
“We’re excited to be partnering with the Timberwolves once again, and to bring My29/WFTC viewers 25 over-the-air games," said Carol Rueppel, Vice President and General Manager of WTFC.
This year will be the Wolves’ second on their flagship station, News Radio 830 WCCO-AM, which will air all regular season and playoff games and feature half-hour pregame and postgame shows. The games can also be heard on the Wolves Radio Network, consisting of 27 stations spanning Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
About FOX Sports North
FOX Sports North reaches more than 2 million homes throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and North and South Dakota and telecasts nearly 2,600 hours of locally produced programming per year. For more information on the Emmy Award-winning regional sports network, visit: www.foxsportsnorth.com. Eight games will be televised on FSN Plus. CLICK HERE for the full FSN Plus television channel guide.
About WFTC My29
WTFC My29 is part of the FOX Television Stations group, one of the nation's largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, comprising 27 stations in 18 markets and covering nearly 37.21% of U.S. television homes. This includes six duopolies in the top 10 markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Washington, D.C. and Houston; as well as duopolies in Minneapolis, Phoenix and Orlando.
About Northland Ford Dealers
The Twin Cities Region Northland Ford Dealer advertising group is made up of 190 Ford dealers spread across the cities and towns of “The Northland” including western Wisconsin, parts of Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and all of North Dakota and Minnesota. Besides selling a full-line of vehicles, they offer parts and service and are significant employers and contributors in their respective markets.
About News Radio 830 WCCO-AM
WCCO-AM is owned and operated by CBS RADIO, one of the largest major-market radio operators in the United States. A division of CBS Corporation, CBS RADIO operates 130 radio stations, the majority of which are in the nation’s top 50 markets. CBS RADIO also owns and operates KMNB-FM and KZJK-FM in Minneapolis.
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