New sports station's leader plays with home advantage

Like many young athletes, Jessamy Tang realized early on that her future probably wouldn't be inside the white lines. The Lexington native was OK with that, but knew she wanted to be involved in sports in one form or another.

''I really wanted to get into the sports industry," said Tang, general manager of the new ESPN entry in the Boston radio market. ''It wasn't the radio industry, it was more the sports industry, and it was just a fortunate set of circumstances that kind of got me into both."

Tang, a Weston resident, is the owner and chief executive officer of J Sports, which raised more than $9 million through WallerSutton 2000 LP, a private equity firm, to buy 890 AM in Boston and 1400 AM in Lowell. Those two stations now form ESPN Radio Boston.

Since completing the purchase in March, Tang has been assembling her team, building the facilities in the Schrafft's building in Charlestown, recruiting listeners and sponsors, and doing everything else required of the GM of a new team.

The station launched its ESPN programming July 22 with a Sunday night baseball game, and local programming Sept. 12 with ''The Drive," an afternoon talk show hosted by the Boston Herald's Michael Felger, with anchor-reporter Kevin Winter. The station also carries Northeastern University men's hockey.

Tang is a rare commodity in her field -- a female general manager of an all-sports station. (Although the general manager of Boston's top-rated sports station, WEEI, is Julie Kahn.) Tang said she has never been treated unfairly in a male-dominated field.

''I've had great bosses to work for and great companies," said Tang, who has compiled a lengthy resume in sports radio around the country. ''So I don't think I've ever really not gotten an opportunity because I'm a woman."

But in Boston, Tang is facing two big obstacles unrelated to gender: WEEI, a ratings behemoth, and the limitations of ESPN Radio Boston's signal strength.

The launch of ESPN Boston brings to mind the spring 2001 debut of 1510 The Zone. It had a model similar to ESPN's, with the backing of Sporting News Radio, and a mix of local and national programming. But it also has a relatively weak signal and has never made a significant dent in WEEI's ratings. The station is still on the air but doesn't have a local presence.

''I think there's a desire for" another sports talk station in Boston, said Frank Shorr, director of the Sports Institute at Boston University's College of Communication. ''I think there's an audience for it. But I think they need to do something about their signal strength first. And then they need to do something about developing some more local programming."

Shorr added that 1510 ''started out like a house afire. They spent a lot of money on talent. They were doing some good things. But you couldn't hear them. And it's the same thing going on now with ESPN."

While local listeners are nationally oriented, Shorr said, ''I think you need a local show in the morning, you need a local show in the afternoon, at least to start and then you can fill in. But, unfortunately for ESPN, the morning show on 'EEI and the afternoon show on 'EEI are their strongest programming. It's not going to be easy [for ESPN], but it can be done."

Tang believes ESPN's combination of local and national programming will appeal to sports fans in Boston.

''I really think we can provide a new perspective on sports and really bring the strength of ESPN and all the resources they have on air and access to information and experts," said Tang, who added, ''I don't think I view it as competing directly with [WEEI]."

Saying that ESPN provides ''very compelling" programming, Tang said, ''I really believe ESPN will work very well in Boston. Boston has such a phenomenal, passionate sports base here, and everyone just loves their teams. . . . They're not only Boston sports fans, they're sports fans."

Tang said the combination of 890 and 1400 is a viable broadcast arrangement for the Greater Boston area, and that the signal is strong for most people in the region. (Online listeners can stream the audio.) But she said she is also looking into ESPN's signal strength.

''You're licensed by the FCC as to how high you can power up to," she said. ''It's not an issue of money. We are looking at our signal to see if it's something we can and should work on."

Tang, whose mother, Tsuen-Kwong, still lives in the house where Jessamy grew up, credits her father, Wen, who passed away last December, with turning her into a sports fan. ''My dad was a huge basketball fan and loved to play basketball," said Tang, the youngest of six children. ''Once a year on his birthday, he would take us to a Celtics game."

Tang, who gave her age only as ''in my 30s," was on the lacrosse and track teams at Lexington High and played basketball and soccer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

After graduating from MIT with a bachelor's degree in management science, Tang's route to ESPN Boston included stops at Stanford University for her MBA; Dallas, where she held a variety of positions for ABC radio networks; New York, as the director of enterprises for ESPN; Miami, where she was a media consultant for the Miami Dolphins; and Pittsburgh, as the head of two ABC-ESPN radio stations, including the No. 1 sports-talk station in the city.