Sports Radio Ratings Up & Down

The Nielsen radio ratings for the month of July are an interesting gauge for sports radio because it is the only month of the year which is the off-season for three of the big four pro sports (NFL, NBA, NHL). Even though we see the impact of baseball in the ratings in the 'avid fan' markets, July is also the mid point of the MLB regular season and too soon for playoff races.

In Boston, the nation's strongest sports radio market, July showed a decline for both stations. WEEI-FM lost .7 of a ratings point overall, dropping to #8 in the market. Rival WBZ-FM Sports Hub dropped .2 and came in at #10. You can spin this however you like. Even with the drop, while the Red Sox battle for first place and the Patriots season is near, the point is that Boston remains the only market in the country with two all sports stations in the top 10, while many other large markets do not even have one sports station ranked that high.

This rating book was not kind to San Francisco either, although with the poor season by the Giants, limited expectations for the 49ers, and the Warriors now early in their off season, it is not surprising. KNBR 680 has dropped out of the top ten stations for the first time in years. It's not as though KNBR lost listeners to another sports station. KGMZ-FM The Game lost nearly half of its total audience from the June 2017 ratings. Down in San Jose, which is a separate market for the Nielsen ratings, KNBR only lost .1 of a ratings point while KGMZ-FM dipped to 0.4 overall. KNBR starts a new night program next week, with details below.

New York's WFAN AM/FM came in with its best overall ratings of the past three months, perhaps spurred by those curious about the fill-in hosts for Mike Francesa's afternoon show which will change hands by the end of the year, along with the Yankees broadcasts. On the other hand, WOR Radio is only #19 overall with the Mets games. While it's true that the Mets broadcasts are mainly at night (and weekends), the station came in at #18 in the 7 PM to Midnight time slot for the month.

The start of the Cowboys season this week should make the sports station ratings race in Dallas even more interesting. For July, KTCK The Ticket again led the way, .9 of a ratings point ahead of Cowboys flagship KRLD-FM, with both stations holding steady. KESN-FM ESPN also held steady for July, remaining third in the sports race, showing half of the total audience that The Ticket had.

Philadelphia's WIP-FM dipped slightly (not surprising given the Phillies dismal season) but still finished #8 overall in the market, with well over twice the audience of WPEN-FM ESPN, which did crack the top 20 stations.  In Detroit, WXYT-FM The Ticket dipped to #5 overall, but this is because of the Tigers diving in the standings. Struggling WDFN again had a 0.0 rating. Again.

One other strong sports radio market continues to be Minneapolis-St. Paul, where KFXN-FM The Fan came in at #9 overall, even with the Twins falling back after an early run.

Once again, a couple of the bigger markets continue to struggle for sports radio listeners. In Los Angeles, even with the Dodgers burning up the National League West and most fans unable to see the telecasts, KLAC 570 only managed a 1.0 rating, the same as KSPN 710. Neither station could even crack the top 25 most listened to.

None of Houston's three sports stations made the top 20, with KBME-AM holding a slight overall lead over KILT-AM, with each having more than three times the listeners of KFNC-FM. It's even worse in Miami, where not one of the market's three sports stations could muster a 1.0 rating for the month.


SAN FRANCISCO: KNBR 680 starts a new evening program this coming Monday (8/14), at least for the evenings when it does not have play-by-play taking over. Drew Hoffer and former Giants (and other MLB teams) player Kevin Fransden have been named to co-host "KNBR Tonight" from 7 to 10 PM. Hoffar has been a key part of the station's morning show.


CHICAGO: Long time sportscaster Chris Boden has been let go from Comcast SportsNet Chicago after roughly ten years as an anchor and host of studio coverage of the Blackhawks and Bears. Boden is a victim of circumstances, since the regional network still is not bringing back its SportsNet Central nightly sportscasts. Instead, fans continue to be stuck with their "In The Loop" experiment.


LOS ANGELES: In one of the oddest programming combinations, the (for now) Oakland Raiders have a new L.A. radio home for this season. KDAY 93.5 will air the games, as called by Greg Papa and Tom Flores. What makes this odd is that KDAY is and continues to be a hip hop station.


SAN DIEGO: Since the Chargers moved to L.A., Rock 105.3 dropped the broadcasts after having been the flagship station. In a surprise, if not funny, move, Rock 105.3 will air the Oakland Raiders broadcasts. This, like L.A., is most likely one of those radio moves, because the Raiders Radio Network will now be heard in San Francisco/Oakland, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas. That is a good opportunity for regional and national advertisers.


CINCINNATI: Gary Miller, the former ESPN and CNN anchor and host, has been hired as Sports Director at WKRC Channel 12. He is expected to start his new role next week.


DALLAS: DeMarcus Ware will make his debut as analyst on the Cowboys' first exhibition game telecast this week on KTVT Channel 11 against the L.A. Rams. Ware will work with analyst Babe Laufenberg with Bill Jones on play-by-play. Even the exhibition games are a big deal in Dallas, as there is also a separate Spanish telecast along with both English and Spanish radio broadcasts.


MYRTLE BEACH: WRNN 99.5 will be the flagship for Coastal Carolina University football, basketball, and eventually baseball broadcasts from now through the 2019-20 season. The talk station will also air some of the games on WRNN-AM ESPN.