Steve Mears to host Penguins Live

Congrats to former Islander voice Steve Mears, who's landed a role with the Pittsburgh Penguins, his hometown team.
First show debuts on Sunday.

<<Pittsburgh Penguins to Launch HD Radio Channel Oct. 1
Friday, 09.11.2009 / 12:16 PM
The Pittsburgh Penguins will break new ground on Thursday, Oct. 1, becoming the first team in the National Hockey League to launch an exclusive HD radio channel.

"Pittsburgh Penguins Radio on 105.9 HD2" will feature unique Penguins content on a daily basis and also offer special NHL programming.  It will be streamed here on www.pittsburghpenguins.com.

The new venture is a joint effort between the Penguins and 105.9 The X (WXDX-FM), the team's radio flagship station.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for the Penguins and our partners at The X to take advantage of new technology and deliver fresh programming to the greatest fans in hockey," said Dave Soltesz, the Penguins' senior vice president of corporate sales. "We've already got an exceptional radio broadcast, with Mike Lange and Phil Bourque calling all of our regular season and playoff games on The X. The new HD channel will enable us to provide additional unique content about the Penguins and the NHL during the day."

The HD channel will feature Pittsburgh area native Steve Mears as host of a daily show, "Penguins Live," from 9:30 a.m.- 12 noon each weekday during the season. Mears, 29, spent the last three seasons as the radio play-by-play voice for the New York Islanders. A native of Murrysville and a graduate of Franklin Regional High School, Mears grew up as a Penguins fan, idolizing Mario Lemieux and Mike Lange.

"As a lifelong Penguins fan, the opportunity to come home, work for the organization and help create this new HD channel is a dream come true," Mears said.

Mears will be joined by Pittsburgh radio personality Tom Grimm, who also will produce "Penguins Live."

In addition to "Penguins Live," the new HD channel also carry "NHL Live" from New York each weekday from 12 noon-2 p.m. Pittsburgh radio sports personality Mark Madden will then do one hour of exclusive Penguins and NHL-themed content from 2-3 p.m.

The daily programming will begin with the "Daily Players' Playlist," from 9-9:30 a.m., featuring Penguins' players favorite songs.

The six-hour block (9 a.m-3 p.m.) will then be repeated during the day and evening.

Although the full lineup won't launch until Oct. 1, fans will be able to hear special limited broadcasts during training camp. Mears and Grimm will debut a preview edition of "Penguins Live" from Mellon Arena on Sunday, Sept. 13 from 10.a.m.-12 noon.
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 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982.