Ear on the hogs.(THE PLAYING FIELD)

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Fewer Arkansas radio stations will carry Razorback football this fall than in years' past because of changes planned by ISP Sports, the company that distributes the broadcasts for the University of Arkansas.

At least 19 fewer stations have signed up to carry the 2009 games after ISP Sports chose to extend the pregame show to three hours. The pregame show had traditionally run 90 minutes and several stations, such as KABZ-FM, 103.7 "The Buzz," filled an additional 90 minutes or more before the network broadcast with their own pregame shows. The locally produced shows provided valuable inventory for the stations to sell.

Only one Little Rock station, KABZ-FM, has agreed to air the games this fall. One station that hasn't signed a new contract to distribute Razorback games is Little Rock's KARN-AM, 920. A KARN representative did not return calls for comment.

Affiliates that sign up with Winston-Salem, N.C., based ISP can sell 48 minutes in local advertising inventory during the broadcasts, which includes the three-hour pregame and the post-game shows. Previously, affiliates received 44 minutes in total local advertising inventory, but many aired self-produced pregame shows. Many of those set up on the UA campus near Reynolds Razorback Stadium to broadcast their shows.

A recent list of ISP Razorback football affiliates showed only 41 stations have signed on to broadcast 2009 Razorback football games so far. A copy of the list from about one month ago showed 60 affiliates.

In days of yore, more than 100 AM and FM stations of varying strength carried the Razorback games for free, before the university began charging for the broadcasts and selling its own advertising. Still, the number of individual stations carrying Hog games numbered in the 90s as late as 15 years ago.

An ISP Sports representative said the company still hopes to sign up affiliates before the season, including KARN, but confirmed that the first deadline for submitting contracts had passed.

"From what we have based on signal strength of the affiliates we've signed on, we have the strength to cover all four corners of the state and everywhere in between," Robert Smith, ISP's affiliate recruitment manager for the Razorbacks, said. ISP also is talking with possible affiliates in neighboring states, Smith said.

ISP took control of the university's broadcasts in August. Previously, KATV, Channel 7, and the university worked in partnership with the Arkansas Razorback Sports Network for football and basketball coverage. ISP, which has media contracts with more than 60 universities, paid the UA $73 million over a 10-year contract.

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