Cordischi

Rhode Island lost its only local all-sports radio station yesterday when Citadel Broadcasting told employees it would be changing formats on “The Score” — WSKO AM and FM.

“In the end, it was purely a business decision,” said Barbara Haynes, general manager of Citadel Broadcasting, referring to the station’s declining ratings. “The hosts” — Andy Gresh and Scott Zolak in the morning, and Scott Cordischi in the afternoon — “are good men, and they have a great future in radio.”

“And the programming was first-rate,” added Ron St. Pierre, WSKO’s programming director.

But Haynes confirmed that the arrival of WEEI-FM, Boston’s powerful all-sports radio station, into the Rhode Island market in April 2004, started a downward spiral in WSKO’s ratings.

WSKO’s FM signal, 99.7, will begin simulcasting WPRO-AM’s programming today. To avoid confusion with the existing WPRO-FM signal, it will be called “Newstalk Radio 630 and 99.7” on the FM side.

The WSKO-AM signal, 790, will continue to carry “Imus In The Morning” and will carry syndicated ESPN programming for the rest of the week. Haynes and St. Pierre said plans beyond that had not been finalized, though Cordischi indicated the station would switch to a syndicated oldies-music format.

Cordischi said he was told of the decision when he arrived at the station yesterday afternoon to begin preparing for his show. He did not go on the air; ESPN’s programming was substituted in place of “Sportsbeat with Scott Cordischi.” Gresh and Zolak did their normal 9 a.m.-to-noon broadcast, and were told after their show was over.

“We had no inkling. None of us did,” said Cordischi, who said the station’s employees will receive four weeks’ severance pay. Cordischi had signed a three-year contract in January, but said the contract contained a clause that stipulated the agreement could be severed at any time.

Over the last several years WSKO stopped most of its local play-by-play broadcasting. The station was home, at various points, to the Providence Bruins, the Pawtucket Red Sox and Providence College basketball, but either lost or decided not to renew the rights to each of them. PC basketball was the last one to leave the station, signing with WEEI-FM last summer. The only local play-by-play broadcasts remaining were Brown football and basketball.

The stations also carried the syndicated broadcasts of Patriots football and Yankees baseball.

Bill Reynolds and Kevin McNamara contributed to this report.

amartone@projo.com