PORTLAND — Air America Radio, the liberal talk network, has gone off the air in Portland.

WLVP (870 AM) dropped Air America at 6 a.m. Friday and replaced it with the national sports network ESPN Radio.

Nassau Broadcasting, owners of WLVP, decided to drop Air America because of significant changes at the network recently, said Patrick Collins, senior vice president for Nassau Broadcasting in Maine.

Collins said the changes, included the departure of Air America’s star personality, Al Franken. By Friday afternoon, Collins said he had gotten a couple dozen phone calls from people protesting the change.

Besides the national programming of ESPN Radio, Collins said 870 AM will also broadcast local high school sports, beginning with football in the fall.