Traug Keller Is Retiring From ESPN Audio. Who Will Lead It Now?

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Updated at 12:20pm Eastern


Facebook messages from his friends congratulating him on the “R word” just may be proof enough that Traug Keller is stepping aside at ESPN.

As first reported by Barrett Sports Media, Keller — not to be confused with his son, the WeWork Director of the same name — “is expected to help” ESPN through a transition period before stepping away from his day-to-day duties as the SVP of ESPN Audio and as head of the ESPN Talent Office in February.

It marks the latest major shift for ESPN’s audio properties in the last five months.

Who will now lead ESPN Radio? An internal memo obtained by RBR+TVBR offered details — including a new leader in Los Angeles.

As RBR+TVBR first reported in June 2019, the ESPN Deportes Radio network would cease operations in September. Three top shows shifted to podcast delivery.

This saw WEPN-AM 1050, the ESPN Deportes Radio flagship, become English-language “1050AM ESPN New York” in a move that could portend the eventual dissolution of a profitable LMA of WEPN-FM (the former WRKS), owned by the Jeff Smulyan/Soo Kim partnership called Mediaco.

Keller’s retirement comes more than 25 years after joining ABC Radio Networks as VP/Eastern Sales in June 1994, later rising to EVP/Ad Sales & Marketing. Six years later, he succeeded Lyn Andrews as President. Before joining ABC, Keller served as New York Sales Manager for CBS Radio Networks. Prior to that, he held marketing and sales positions at The New York Times Co., then-owner of Classical WQXR-FM in New York.

An ESPN communications executive told RBR+TVBR via e-mail, “Traug will sure be missed. He’s such an incredible person! Personally, I have so much to thank him for in my career. I am very happy for him.”

The executive then shared a brief internal email outlining what’s next for the Audio organization at ESPN, highlighted by the retirement “early next month” of Keller.

Keller came into the fold at ESPN in November 2004, when he took the reins of ESPN Deportes as EVP, eventually gaining leadership of all ESPN Radio — now ESPN Audio — assets.

Thanks in part to Keller’s leadership, ESPN’s audio programming remains a top draw for sports fans seeking a national take on U.S. and global sports news, and play-by-play. It has outlasted such high-profile competitors as One-on-One Sports, Sporting News Radio and Yahoo! Sports Radio.

Marcia Keegan

While Keller’s retirement is the talk of the radio industry, ESPN Audio’s VP of National Radio Programming and Production since April 2017 is also retiring.

Marcia Keegan makes the move after a lengthy career that involves two stints at ESPN. From 1982 through 1986, she worked in network operations as a Bristol, Conn.-based day of air coordinator, rising to a network operations and traffic coordinator.

She returned to ESPN in 2005 as a senior director in ESPN’s human resources department, following two stints at law firm Wiggin and Dana, where she advised and represented clients on employment issues.

She then shifted to VP/Production, and played “a pivotal role” in evolving perhaps ESPN Radio’s most successful program —  Mike & Mike (2000-2017) — “into a compelling and entertaining audio and visual experience.”

According to an internal email obtained by Barrett Sports Media, ESPN EVP/Event and Studio Production Norby Williamson broke the news to staff, calling Keller and Keegan “pivotal in successfully leading the Audio division to continued growth in a dynamically changing industry.”

With their departures coming in weeks, Williamson revealed that ESPN VP/Production Dave Roberts — a former ESPN Audio VP and ex-WEPN VP/GM — will lead ESPN Audio.

He will be joined by Amanda Gifford, who started at ESPN Radio as an intern, in 2004.

Roberts and Gifford will retain their television duties at ESPN.

McCARTHYISM IN SOCAL

For those wondering what Tim McCarthy‘s role will be, now that Roberts is the heir apparent to Traug Keller, the ESPN Audio SVP of Play-by-Play and Talent Programming will now concentrate on leading both WEPN-FM in New York and KSPN-AM 710 in Los Angeles, an ESPN Radio owned-and-operated property.

He’s been with ESPN since August 1990.

The shift means that Scott McCarthy, who has been VP/GM of ESPN Los Angeles since 2011, “will shift his focus to overseeing business operations for the audio division, which includes podcasting, digital, and ad sales,” Barrett Sports Media reports, citing the internal ESPN memo.

‘TAKING THE BRAND AHEAD OF THE CURVE’

Traug is an old German family name. That was just one of the revelations shared with RBR+TVBR in an August 2007 interview conducted by Carl Marcucci.

Asked at the time what the biggest challenges ESPN Radio faced at the time, Keller replied, “I think the current challenge right now is taking on the stewardship of the five O&Os and getting them into the culture of ESPN. That’s the immediate thing.”

Longer term, “keeping up with the growth explosion of the various new media opportunities” was a focal point proven accurate by Keller.

“Whether it’s HD, podcasting or dotcom … we’re doing all of that,” he said. “As we move down the road it’s critical that we continue to satisfy our listeners as we have for 15 years on radio, and successfully expand our fan base on new platforms.”


Traug Keller’s 2007 interview can be found in PDF form, in its entirety, by clicking here.