Robert Griffin III's pre-training camp press conference Wednesday afternoon was broadcast live by all four of D.C.'s network TV affiliates, as well as by CSN Washington and by the team's flagship radio station, ESPN980. One station that was shut out of carrying the press conference live was D.C.'s other sports talk radio station, 106.7 The Fan.
The station was set to broadcast the 5:30 p.m. press conference live. However, 106.7's program director Chris Kinard says that Redskins Vice President/Communications Tony Wyllie called the station just before the press conference was set to begin and threatened to pull its team-issued credentials if the station went live to Ashburn.
"It was 5:27 p.m.," Kinard told SB Nation D.C. "We were setting up our equipment to broadcast the press conference."
According to Kinard, Wyllie told him that 106.7 was prohibited from doing live broadcasts of any press conference being carried by ESPN980, the team's flagship station which is also owned by Red Zebra Broadcasting. Daniel Snyder, the owner of the Redskins, is an investor in Red Zebra and serves on the board of directors of its parent company.
"Normally, we wouldn't carry, say, a Mike Shanahan press conference [during the week]," Kinard said. "But this was a newsworthy event that's not scheduled weekly ... They flat-out told us that we're the competition.
"I'm not going to risk our credentials over it."
"This is a broadcast rights holder issue," Wyllie wrote in response to an email from SB Nation D.C.
Kinard said that he has filed a formal complaint with the NFL, the second time he has had to do so since the station went to an all-sports format in 2009. He said that Wednesday's incident was not the first time he and the Redskins have butted heads.
"They used to make our reporter drive off the [Redskins Park] property before he could do reports," Kinard said, referring to former 106.7 The Fan man Chris Russell, who jumped to 980 prior to the 2010 season. He was replaced by current Redskins reporter Grant Paulsen.
For more on the Washington Redskins, check out Hogs Haven, SB Nation's Redskins blog. For the latest news and notes from around the NFL, visit SB Nation's NFL Hub.