While the Packers struggle and face missing the NFL playoffs and the Brewers look to build on their success during this off-season, the most interesting sports battle in Milwaukee has suddenly become for radio listeners.
The market recently saw the change of 94.5 WKTI as it dropped its country music format and became 94.5 ESPN upon new ownership. The significance of the change is enhanced by being the sister station to WTMJ 620 which has been the long time flagship for both the Brewers and Packers broadcasts. This enables 94.5 to enhance the local team coverage, along with acting as the host of one of those teams when they conflict during August and September (and possibly October).
But there is now more to the story, as iHeart suddenly changed WRNW 97.3 to "The Game". To make things more interesting, "The Game" starts out with local programming it brought over from WOKY 920, even though WOKY hardly made a dent in the local sports scene. WRNW brings over Drew Olson and Kevin Brandt for its 6 to 10 AM spot, Dan Needles and Dan Davis for 10 AM to Noon, and Dario Melendez and Bob Brainerd from Noon to 2 PM. The Game airs Mike Heller, a regionally syndicated show from 2 to 6 PM. The station is also the Milwaukee station for University of Wisconsin basketball and football.
WOKY 920 remains all sports, but will not simulcast with The Game. It returns to syndicated shows such as Dan Patrick and Colin Cowherd. Factor in the existing 105.7 The Fan and sister WSSP 1250, along with WKTI sister WAUK 540 sports, and we now have an incredible five full-time sports stations serving the Milwaukee market.
It doesn't stop there. Being just 75 miles from Chicago, the two major sports outlets, WSCR The Score 670 and WMVP ESPN 1000 with heavy local programming, are easily received in the Milwaukee area. WSCR has occasionally appeared in the Milwaukee ratings books.
When you consider that WTMJ 620 originates some sports programming in support of its Packers and Brewers play-by-play, and is expected to continue that long time tradition, you have a lot of competition for the sports fans. The big question now is whether it will be survival of the fittest or waiting for the next "hot" radio format and see which of these stations bites first and second.
The October Nielsen radio ratings showed another incredible battle among the popular Boston sports stations. WBZ-FM Sports Hub and WEEI-FM combined for a nearly 1.5 overall ratings increase and finished second and third in the market. This is not likely to hold for the November book, as the October run of the Red Sox to the World Series championship while the Patriots battle to return to the Super Bowl each took center stage. WBZ-FM increased by .8 of a rating point with its Patriots broadcasts and finished #1 during afternoon drive. WEEI-FM, the Red Sox flagship, understandably finished #1 at night. However, if WEEI-FM did not overtake Sports Hub during the Red Sox run, this could set the stage for WBZ-FM to maintain the lead, even as both stations continue to attract large audiences.
In New York, the programming revisions at WFAN-FM seem to have caught up with them, and not in a positive way. The Fan dropped .7 of a ratings point, although it finished at a very respectable #8 in the market. Keep in mind this was during the Yankees run in the post-season. WEPN-FM ESPN only gained .1 overall (#20 in the market), but made news with its afternoon drive ratings.
WEPN-FM with The MIchael Kay Show almost caught Mike Francesa on WFAN-FM, which included a tie between the two for the 25 to 54 male group. While Francesa's show airs on 660 AM and 101.9 FM, providing superior signal coverage to WEPN, Kay is also the regular season TV voice of the Yankees and this rating period was at the height of their post-season run. In addition, Francesa's show is also simulcast on YES Network as its play-by-play schedule permits.
The Fan's competitive strength continues to now be mornings, where Boomer & Gio finished 1.5 rating points ahead of Golic & Wingo on WEPN-FM.
In Minneapolis, KXFN-FM The Fan finished an impressive #2 overall, including #1 for weekends, which surrounds its Vikings coverage. In Chicago, the lack of an extended post-season run from the Cubs and another horrible start by the Bulls sent WSCR 670 The Score all the way down to #18 in the market with a 1.4 rating point drop. Yet, WMVP ESPN 1000 held steady with its ratings, which are now roughly half of WSCR's.
IOWA CITY: Although Iowa Hawkeyes play-by-play voice Gary Dolphin is undergoing a two-game broadcasting suspension, at least his remarks that caused it were on the air and not via social media. Dolphin, who acknowledge his mistake, was heard over the air during game breaks commenting about team needs and the performance of one player in particular. Dolphin thought his microphone was off. WHO 1040 Des Moines let its fans discuss the suspension at length. His suspension runs through Monday (12/3).
ATLANTA: The Braves are realigning their radio and TV broadcaster alignment starting with the 2019 season. The impressive analyst work of former Braves outfielder Jeff Francoeur and the request of Joe Simpson to cut back prompted the change. Francoeur is now expected to work roughy 100 telecasts, with Simpson handling about 30 during his 28th season in the booth. Simpson will move over to the radio booth for up to 100 other games.
Tom Glavine will work more games on the TV side, while Chip Caray continues on play-by-play. Ben Ingram and Don Sutton will also rotate on the Braves announcing team, primarily on the radio side.
Saturday, December 1, 2018
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Big Ratings Week For ESPN
As the Boston sports radio battle continues between WEEI-FM and WBZ-FM Sports Hub, the morning drive battle between the two just got a lot more interesting. WEEI-FM's Kirk & Callahan morning show is now officially without Kirk Minihane. Mike Mutansky has been named as official co-host of the show along with Gerry Callahan.
Minihane and the station parted ways over what Minihane called "a philosophical difference" with the station, announcing the change on WGBH-TV earlier this week. Kirk had missed time from the show earlier this year due to "mental health issues", although he revealed during the TV interview that he was given limitations about being critical of the Red Sox and the Globe (newspaper).
The big news in New York radio is the Mets making another move to a new flagship station. After only a couple of seasons on WOR 710 (from WFAN prior to that), the Mets move to WCBS-AM 880. The team will have a new second play-by-play voice, as Josh Lewin is leaving the Mets' booth to head back to San Diego.
Lewin will be a part of the Padres broadcasts starting in the spring, although early word is that he will primarily handle the pre-game and post-game shows. Since Lewin continues as radio voice of UCLA football, the move significantly reduces his travel schedule during the last two months of the baseball season. He had worked on the Mets broadcasts for the past five seasons.
As of press time, the Mets have not announced a replacement yet. Howie Rose will return to the Mets broadcast, having agreed to a new deal with terms not disclosed.
The amazing Monday Night Football game (11/19) between the Rams and Chiefs brought ESPN its biggest MNF audience in nearly two years. In Los Angeles, the telecast, on both ESPN and KABC-TV Channel 7, was the highest rated NFL telecast locally since 2016. One interesting ratings stat is that ESPN had a higher rating than Channel 7, which aired the same ESPN telecast.
In Kansas City, KMBC-TV had more than double the rating than ESPN, with the duplicate telecast combining for an amazing 52.8 local rating.
This week figures to be a ratings bonanza for ESPN. On Wednesday (11/21), its NBA coverage includes the LeBron James return to Cleveland, now as member of the Lakers. Along with anticipated national interest, ESPN gets an added boost because it will be the exclusive telecast into the Cleveland market as well. As you would expect, the #1 team of Mike Breen and Mark Jackson will call the game.
Next will be a weekend filled with NCAA basketball and football for the ESPN networks.
In Philadelphia, NBC Sports Philadelphia scored with its Sixers coverage following the team's acquisition of Jimmy Butler. Last week (11/14), the Sixers telecast against Orlando with Butler's Sixers debut was the number one cable show overall in the market. More importantly, it was the network's (including previous incarnations) highest rated Sixers regular season game since 2001.
It's a long way off, especially with the recent snowstorm on the east coast, but ESPN has announced its opening MLB schedule for late March and early April. It's March 28th opening day triple header choices will surprise a grand total of absolutely no one. As if we need to report this, the Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox games will open their season.
One first on their schedule is, along the line of their NFL coverage, having a doubleheader to kick off Sunday Night Baseball. They will show the Chicago Cubs at Texas at 4 PM ET on Sunda March 31, followed by the Braves at Phillies at 7 PM ET. The network also has planned for four live games on Monday April 1st.
Happy Turkey to all!
Minihane and the station parted ways over what Minihane called "a philosophical difference" with the station, announcing the change on WGBH-TV earlier this week. Kirk had missed time from the show earlier this year due to "mental health issues", although he revealed during the TV interview that he was given limitations about being critical of the Red Sox and the Globe (newspaper).
The big news in New York radio is the Mets making another move to a new flagship station. After only a couple of seasons on WOR 710 (from WFAN prior to that), the Mets move to WCBS-AM 880. The team will have a new second play-by-play voice, as Josh Lewin is leaving the Mets' booth to head back to San Diego.
Lewin will be a part of the Padres broadcasts starting in the spring, although early word is that he will primarily handle the pre-game and post-game shows. Since Lewin continues as radio voice of UCLA football, the move significantly reduces his travel schedule during the last two months of the baseball season. He had worked on the Mets broadcasts for the past five seasons.
As of press time, the Mets have not announced a replacement yet. Howie Rose will return to the Mets broadcast, having agreed to a new deal with terms not disclosed.
The amazing Monday Night Football game (11/19) between the Rams and Chiefs brought ESPN its biggest MNF audience in nearly two years. In Los Angeles, the telecast, on both ESPN and KABC-TV Channel 7, was the highest rated NFL telecast locally since 2016. One interesting ratings stat is that ESPN had a higher rating than Channel 7, which aired the same ESPN telecast.
In Kansas City, KMBC-TV had more than double the rating than ESPN, with the duplicate telecast combining for an amazing 52.8 local rating.
This week figures to be a ratings bonanza for ESPN. On Wednesday (11/21), its NBA coverage includes the LeBron James return to Cleveland, now as member of the Lakers. Along with anticipated national interest, ESPN gets an added boost because it will be the exclusive telecast into the Cleveland market as well. As you would expect, the #1 team of Mike Breen and Mark Jackson will call the game.
Next will be a weekend filled with NCAA basketball and football for the ESPN networks.
In Philadelphia, NBC Sports Philadelphia scored with its Sixers coverage following the team's acquisition of Jimmy Butler. Last week (11/14), the Sixers telecast against Orlando with Butler's Sixers debut was the number one cable show overall in the market. More importantly, it was the network's (including previous incarnations) highest rated Sixers regular season game since 2001.
It's a long way off, especially with the recent snowstorm on the east coast, but ESPN has announced its opening MLB schedule for late March and early April. It's March 28th opening day triple header choices will surprise a grand total of absolutely no one. As if we need to report this, the Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox games will open their season.
One first on their schedule is, along the line of their NFL coverage, having a doubleheader to kick off Sunday Night Baseball. They will show the Chicago Cubs at Texas at 4 PM ET on Sunda March 31, followed by the Braves at Phillies at 7 PM ET. The network also has planned for four live games on Monday April 1st.
Happy Turkey to all!
Monday, October 1, 2018
Rare Monday Tripleheader Highlights The Week
Quite the day on Monday (10/1) for ESPN, with three major live telecasts. ESPN had the unprecedented two tiebreaker National League games all afternoon, leading into its already scheduled K.C. vs. Denver Monday Night Football telecast.
ESPN was coming off a successful Saturday, with their telecast of the Ohio State vs. Penn State thriller becoming the highest college football overnight rating thus far in the season.
The MLB post-season lines up on multiple networks this week, with Fox once again burying their post-season telecasts on Fox Sports 1. They probably still will find other reasons to justify lower ratings instead of the realization that many casual baseball fans don't know FS1 and can't find the games.
On TBS, Don Orsillo will have an extended role for the post-season, replacing Ernie Johnson. Johnson, who expects to be ready for his studio duties on NBA telecasts starting later this month, is unable to do play-by-play for MLB due to a medical diagnosis which results in his being advised by doctors not to fly.
The September radio ratings are out already for the top markets (as of press time). The big surprise is New York's WFAN-FM dropping by .8 of a ratings point overall. Although still a respectable #9 in the market, the Yankees going to the post-season combined with shaky starts for both the Giants and Jets usually makes for a ton of interesting discussion. WEPN-FM ESPN did not benefit from WFAN's loss, holding steady with a 1.4 Nielsen rating for the third consecutive month.
In Chicago, WSCR The Score 670 did the opposite of WFAN-FM, rising by .8 to #6 overall in the market. The station was obviously helped by the Cubs (flagship station) heading toward the post-season (during the ratings period) and the impressive start by the Bears. WMVP ESPN gained .2 but finished #25 overall in the market.
Even with the Dodgers in the division race and the majority of the market unable to watch their local telecasts, KLAC 570 again failed to make the market's top 25, holding steady from the month before. Houston's KBME-AM rose by .4 to the strongest overall audience showing by a Houston sports station in years, yet still did not finish in the top 20 for the market.
Philadelphia's WIP-FM held steady and finished #6 in that market's ratings, while San Francisco's KNBR 680 felt the impact of the disappointing seasons from both the Giants and 49ers. KNBR dropped .8 overall, while failing to make the top 10 in the market. The always strong and competitive Boston ratings were not yet available at press time.
The NHL season starts on Wednesday (10/3) and NBCSN is ready with a doubleheader to kick it off. The Bruins vs. the Capitals is the opener followed by Anaheim vs. San Jose.
PHILADELPHIA: WPEN-FM 97.5 The Fanatic (which now has roughly one-third of the total audience of WIP-FM) has announced its new morning and midday lineup, with Anthony Gargano moving out of morning and into the midday show.
The "Farzetta and Tra Show" comes to mornings, with Marc Farzetta and (former Eagle) William 'Tra' Thomas. Gargano moves to the 10 AM to 2 PM spot, where he is now paired with Jason Myrtetus, who remains in place.
CHICAGO: As the NBA begins its pre-season, Bulls TV voice Neil Funk decided to reduce his travel schedule starting this season, which will be his 47th year as a broadcaster. Funk will call all home games and roughly half of the road telecasts, reducing his schedule by 20 games for the coming season. He has been calling Bulls games since the 1991-92 season including radio and TV. Word is that the Bulls will not name a replacement for all 20 telecasts for this season.
It was quite the Saturday (9/29) for WGN Radio, faced with conflicts for its local play-by-play. The three local teams it is flagship station for were all playing within the same time period, while the station does not have a sister station on either AM or FM.
WGN 720 aired the Northwestern vs. Michigan football game at 4 PM local time, joining its White Sox vs. Minnesota broadcast following the football post-game show. The White Sox broadcast (6:10 PM game start) was farmed out to WYLL 1160 AM in its entirety, including pre and post-game programming.
Later, the Blackhawks pre-season game, which started at 7:00 PM, was farmed out to WLS 890 for the entire broadcast. The station did air the Northwestern and Blackhawks games via its web site, with MLB restrictions preventing them from also streaming the White Sox broadcast.
NBC Sports Chicago lost a legend with the retirement of Director Jim Angio after 40 years of directing White Sox and Bulls telecasts. The network also canceled its studio highlights shows, again, after two years since their not well received format changes.
Siera Santos, who had been with NBC Sports Chicago as a reporter for the past three years, has joined WFLD-TV as a sports anchor and reporter.
NEW YORK: As if this wasn't a tough enough season for the Mets, the TV ratings statistics for the market (for SNY) show that the loss of the Mets audience for the just concluded season was roughly twice the amount of viewers that the Yankees gained for their telecasts of their 100 win season on YES Network.
ESPN was coming off a successful Saturday, with their telecast of the Ohio State vs. Penn State thriller becoming the highest college football overnight rating thus far in the season.
The MLB post-season lines up on multiple networks this week, with Fox once again burying their post-season telecasts on Fox Sports 1. They probably still will find other reasons to justify lower ratings instead of the realization that many casual baseball fans don't know FS1 and can't find the games.
On TBS, Don Orsillo will have an extended role for the post-season, replacing Ernie Johnson. Johnson, who expects to be ready for his studio duties on NBA telecasts starting later this month, is unable to do play-by-play for MLB due to a medical diagnosis which results in his being advised by doctors not to fly.
The September radio ratings are out already for the top markets (as of press time). The big surprise is New York's WFAN-FM dropping by .8 of a ratings point overall. Although still a respectable #9 in the market, the Yankees going to the post-season combined with shaky starts for both the Giants and Jets usually makes for a ton of interesting discussion. WEPN-FM ESPN did not benefit from WFAN's loss, holding steady with a 1.4 Nielsen rating for the third consecutive month.
In Chicago, WSCR The Score 670 did the opposite of WFAN-FM, rising by .8 to #6 overall in the market. The station was obviously helped by the Cubs (flagship station) heading toward the post-season (during the ratings period) and the impressive start by the Bears. WMVP ESPN gained .2 but finished #25 overall in the market.
Even with the Dodgers in the division race and the majority of the market unable to watch their local telecasts, KLAC 570 again failed to make the market's top 25, holding steady from the month before. Houston's KBME-AM rose by .4 to the strongest overall audience showing by a Houston sports station in years, yet still did not finish in the top 20 for the market.
Philadelphia's WIP-FM held steady and finished #6 in that market's ratings, while San Francisco's KNBR 680 felt the impact of the disappointing seasons from both the Giants and 49ers. KNBR dropped .8 overall, while failing to make the top 10 in the market. The always strong and competitive Boston ratings were not yet available at press time.
The NHL season starts on Wednesday (10/3) and NBCSN is ready with a doubleheader to kick it off. The Bruins vs. the Capitals is the opener followed by Anaheim vs. San Jose.
PHILADELPHIA: WPEN-FM 97.5 The Fanatic (which now has roughly one-third of the total audience of WIP-FM) has announced its new morning and midday lineup, with Anthony Gargano moving out of morning and into the midday show.
The "Farzetta and Tra Show" comes to mornings, with Marc Farzetta and (former Eagle) William 'Tra' Thomas. Gargano moves to the 10 AM to 2 PM spot, where he is now paired with Jason Myrtetus, who remains in place.
CHICAGO: As the NBA begins its pre-season, Bulls TV voice Neil Funk decided to reduce his travel schedule starting this season, which will be his 47th year as a broadcaster. Funk will call all home games and roughly half of the road telecasts, reducing his schedule by 20 games for the coming season. He has been calling Bulls games since the 1991-92 season including radio and TV. Word is that the Bulls will not name a replacement for all 20 telecasts for this season.
It was quite the Saturday (9/29) for WGN Radio, faced with conflicts for its local play-by-play. The three local teams it is flagship station for were all playing within the same time period, while the station does not have a sister station on either AM or FM.
WGN 720 aired the Northwestern vs. Michigan football game at 4 PM local time, joining its White Sox vs. Minnesota broadcast following the football post-game show. The White Sox broadcast (6:10 PM game start) was farmed out to WYLL 1160 AM in its entirety, including pre and post-game programming.
Later, the Blackhawks pre-season game, which started at 7:00 PM, was farmed out to WLS 890 for the entire broadcast. The station did air the Northwestern and Blackhawks games via its web site, with MLB restrictions preventing them from also streaming the White Sox broadcast.
NBC Sports Chicago lost a legend with the retirement of Director Jim Angio after 40 years of directing White Sox and Bulls telecasts. The network also canceled its studio highlights shows, again, after two years since their not well received format changes.
Siera Santos, who had been with NBC Sports Chicago as a reporter for the past three years, has joined WFLD-TV as a sports anchor and reporter.
NEW YORK: As if this wasn't a tough enough season for the Mets, the TV ratings statistics for the market (for SNY) show that the loss of the Mets audience for the just concluded season was roughly twice the amount of viewers that the Yankees gained for their telecasts of their 100 win season on YES Network.
Friday, September 7, 2018
Fighting Like Tigers In The Booth
The Detroit Tigers aren't fighting for anything except a distant third place finish this season, but their TV broadcasters are. The rumored tension appeared to have become a fact on Wednesday (9/5) when Mario Impemba and Rod Allen reportedly had an altercation which took both of them off the night's telecast of the Tigers vs. White Sox game in Chicago.
Viewers that tuned in to find Matt Shepard and Kirk Gibson on the telecast, who had to be brought in to Chicago to do so earlier in the day. The altercation reported occurred following the Tuesday night telecast. Representatives for both had no comment, nor did would Fox Sports Detroit (as of press time).
It was not clear whether or not the pair would or will return to Tigers telecasts for the weekend, while this column was completed prior to their Friday night telecast. Some joked that the pair did their job well, by giving Tigers fans a reason to tune in during a busy football weekend.
The poor season by the Tigers, and the uncertainty about the Lions, have also caused WXYT-FM The Ticket to drop a full ratings point in the just released August radio ratings. This is roughly a 20% overall audience reduction.
The start of the NFL regular season brings good news for those who like to watch via their phones. The NFL has just allowed for fans to be able to view "in market" games via the NFL or Yahoo sports apps on smart phones, regardless of carrier. Last season, the NFL had its streaming deal only with Verizon. The best part is that this applies whether or not you have a cable or satellite subscription.
Speaking of the August radio ratings, there were only a few interesting notes from the major markets this time around. In New York, WFAN-FM came in at #5 overall, and with more than triple the total audience of WPEN-FM.
Philadelphia's WIP-FM had a big jump, coming in at #6 in the market. This is not surprising given the start of the Eagles season while the Phillies unexpectedly contend for the post-season.
In Boston, WEEI-FM jumped up .9 of a ratings point since July and came in #6 overall, with its largest lead over #9 WBZ-FM Sports Hub in quite some time. St. Louis' WXOS-FM showed a strong gain, moving up a full ratings point since June and finishing #12 in the market, in what is believed to be its highest rating ever as a sports station.
This Saturday (9/8) will be another busy one for ESPN's Jason Benetti. He will call the Northwestern vs. Duke football game on ESPNU at 12 Noon ET, and then call the White Sox vs. Angels game from Chicago at 7 PM ET on NBC Sports Chicago.
Viewers that tuned in to find Matt Shepard and Kirk Gibson on the telecast, who had to be brought in to Chicago to do so earlier in the day. The altercation reported occurred following the Tuesday night telecast. Representatives for both had no comment, nor did would Fox Sports Detroit (as of press time).
It was not clear whether or not the pair would or will return to Tigers telecasts for the weekend, while this column was completed prior to their Friday night telecast. Some joked that the pair did their job well, by giving Tigers fans a reason to tune in during a busy football weekend.
The poor season by the Tigers, and the uncertainty about the Lions, have also caused WXYT-FM The Ticket to drop a full ratings point in the just released August radio ratings. This is roughly a 20% overall audience reduction.
The start of the NFL regular season brings good news for those who like to watch via their phones. The NFL has just allowed for fans to be able to view "in market" games via the NFL or Yahoo sports apps on smart phones, regardless of carrier. Last season, the NFL had its streaming deal only with Verizon. The best part is that this applies whether or not you have a cable or satellite subscription.
Speaking of the August radio ratings, there were only a few interesting notes from the major markets this time around. In New York, WFAN-FM came in at #5 overall, and with more than triple the total audience of WPEN-FM.
Philadelphia's WIP-FM had a big jump, coming in at #6 in the market. This is not surprising given the start of the Eagles season while the Phillies unexpectedly contend for the post-season.
In Boston, WEEI-FM jumped up .9 of a ratings point since July and came in #6 overall, with its largest lead over #9 WBZ-FM Sports Hub in quite some time. St. Louis' WXOS-FM showed a strong gain, moving up a full ratings point since June and finishing #12 in the market, in what is believed to be its highest rating ever as a sports station.
This Saturday (9/8) will be another busy one for ESPN's Jason Benetti. He will call the Northwestern vs. Duke football game on ESPNU at 12 Noon ET, and then call the White Sox vs. Angels game from Chicago at 7 PM ET on NBC Sports Chicago.
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Which Way The Fan Blows
It turns out that part of the deal which brought Mike Francesa back to WFAN 101.9 in May was the ability for Francesa to start a new mobile app. This app allows him to post fresh content at his discretion. This is sure to be an additional revenue stream for both Francesa and the station, which combine to attract top notch advertisers.
Although WFAN considers this to be another income source, it could eventually factor in to their radio audience. If Francesa begins posting a lot of fresh content on the app, instead of doing so on his afternoon show, it would mean that many fans would not be as compelled to listen to his show on the radio, which would impact the ratings. It looks as though WFAN needed to include this in order to get Francesa back on the air in order to deliver stronger ratings than his replacements.
The concern here is that apps and podcasts, along with sports stations putting up entire shows on their web sites, give local sports fans in their market more reasons to not listen to the station's live broadcast. You would think they would have learned a valuable lesson from many of the struggling newspapers, who treated the internet as a separate vehicle and allowed online and electronic media outlets to pass them up.
Radio needs to be attracting listeners and trying to bring them back, whether sports or other formats, and promoting distractions such as apps, podcasts, and web site videos, serve to take potential listeners away and get them used to going elsewhere.
CBS-TV has announced its announcer pairings and assignments for its NFL coverage. Coach Bruce Arians joins Greg Gumbel and Trent Green this season, starting with the exhibition game on Friday (8/24) between Detroit and Tampa Bay. This crew has been assigned to call the Week 1 matchup of Pittsburgh and Cleveland, Oakland at Denver in Week 2, Oakland at Miami in Week 3, and Cincinnati at Atlanta in Week 4.
The network will have another three man crew with Kevin Harlan being joined each week by Rich Gannon and Steve Tasker. This crew calls Buffalo vs. Baltimore in Week 1 and Miami at NY Jets in Week 2. The first two CBS-TV doubleheaders will be in Weeks 2 and 4. Week 4's doubleheader games include the flexed New Orleans vs. NY Giants with Jim Nantz and Tony Romo on the call.
WASHINGTON DC: The reality of being sold and changes which follow hit WTEM The Team 980 this month, a couple of months after new ownership took over. It became official that Chris Cooley and Kevin Sheehan and the morning show, which was pulled on August 1st, is now officially over. Scott Jackson and Doc Walker are also gone from the daily lineup.
The revised schedule, which may or may not stick, has Al Galdi doing mornings, Fred Smoot from 10 AM to 1 PM, Brian Mitchell and Scott Linn from 1 PM to 4 PM, with Steve Czaban doing 4 PM to 7 PM. Both Cooley and Walker remain on the Redskins broadcasts, which continue to air on WTEM as well as on WMAL Baltimore.
BOSTON: The coming of legalized sports betting and the competitive nature of sports radio are showing up on WBZ-FM Sports Hub. As of this week, the Sports Hub runs "VSIN Action Updates" at 12:15 and 6:15 PM on weekdays. VSIN is the group that Brent Musberger runs. This show is also heard on KNBR San Francisco and WSCR Chicago among others.
MINNEAPOLIS: KSTP ESPN 1500 appears to be either reducing or dropping its daytime sports programming after September 7th. The station has announced that the Mackey & Judd morning sports show is ending, as will be long time hosts Joe Soucheray and Patrick Reusse. Phil Mackey and Judd Zulgad will reportedly continue to work at the station, which has not announced (as of press time) what the revised daytime format will be.
GREENEVILLE NC: Patrick Johnson returns to Greeneville and will host afternoons on WRHD-FM 94.3 The Game, along with studio hosting for the station's play-by-play of Eastern Carolina University football. Johnson replaces Josh Graham who left to join Winston-Salem's WSJS.
QUAD CITIES: Jay Foster, Eric Sergesketter, and Troy Gutknecht have gone from a podcast to becoming the new host of "Don't Hassle Us, We're Local" on ESPN Radio 93.5 on weekdays. The trio becomes the first local sports show heard on the station. Truly local, since all three are longtime residents of the area.
Although WFAN considers this to be another income source, it could eventually factor in to their radio audience. If Francesa begins posting a lot of fresh content on the app, instead of doing so on his afternoon show, it would mean that many fans would not be as compelled to listen to his show on the radio, which would impact the ratings. It looks as though WFAN needed to include this in order to get Francesa back on the air in order to deliver stronger ratings than his replacements.
The concern here is that apps and podcasts, along with sports stations putting up entire shows on their web sites, give local sports fans in their market more reasons to not listen to the station's live broadcast. You would think they would have learned a valuable lesson from many of the struggling newspapers, who treated the internet as a separate vehicle and allowed online and electronic media outlets to pass them up.
Radio needs to be attracting listeners and trying to bring them back, whether sports or other formats, and promoting distractions such as apps, podcasts, and web site videos, serve to take potential listeners away and get them used to going elsewhere.
CBS-TV has announced its announcer pairings and assignments for its NFL coverage. Coach Bruce Arians joins Greg Gumbel and Trent Green this season, starting with the exhibition game on Friday (8/24) between Detroit and Tampa Bay. This crew has been assigned to call the Week 1 matchup of Pittsburgh and Cleveland, Oakland at Denver in Week 2, Oakland at Miami in Week 3, and Cincinnati at Atlanta in Week 4.
The network will have another three man crew with Kevin Harlan being joined each week by Rich Gannon and Steve Tasker. This crew calls Buffalo vs. Baltimore in Week 1 and Miami at NY Jets in Week 2. The first two CBS-TV doubleheaders will be in Weeks 2 and 4. Week 4's doubleheader games include the flexed New Orleans vs. NY Giants with Jim Nantz and Tony Romo on the call.
WASHINGTON DC: The reality of being sold and changes which follow hit WTEM The Team 980 this month, a couple of months after new ownership took over. It became official that Chris Cooley and Kevin Sheehan and the morning show, which was pulled on August 1st, is now officially over. Scott Jackson and Doc Walker are also gone from the daily lineup.
The revised schedule, which may or may not stick, has Al Galdi doing mornings, Fred Smoot from 10 AM to 1 PM, Brian Mitchell and Scott Linn from 1 PM to 4 PM, with Steve Czaban doing 4 PM to 7 PM. Both Cooley and Walker remain on the Redskins broadcasts, which continue to air on WTEM as well as on WMAL Baltimore.
BOSTON: The coming of legalized sports betting and the competitive nature of sports radio are showing up on WBZ-FM Sports Hub. As of this week, the Sports Hub runs "VSIN Action Updates" at 12:15 and 6:15 PM on weekdays. VSIN is the group that Brent Musberger runs. This show is also heard on KNBR San Francisco and WSCR Chicago among others.
MINNEAPOLIS: KSTP ESPN 1500 appears to be either reducing or dropping its daytime sports programming after September 7th. The station has announced that the Mackey & Judd morning sports show is ending, as will be long time hosts Joe Soucheray and Patrick Reusse. Phil Mackey and Judd Zulgad will reportedly continue to work at the station, which has not announced (as of press time) what the revised daytime format will be.
GREENEVILLE NC: Patrick Johnson returns to Greeneville and will host afternoons on WRHD-FM 94.3 The Game, along with studio hosting for the station's play-by-play of Eastern Carolina University football. Johnson replaces Josh Graham who left to join Winston-Salem's WSJS.
QUAD CITIES: Jay Foster, Eric Sergesketter, and Troy Gutknecht have gone from a podcast to becoming the new host of "Don't Hassle Us, We're Local" on ESPN Radio 93.5 on weekdays. The trio becomes the first local sports show heard on the station. Truly local, since all three are longtime residents of the area.
Friday, August 17, 2018
Golf Coverage Not Lost In The Woods
Those that question the publicity surge about Tiger Woods during and following his 2nd place finish in last weekend's PGA tournament did not realize that CBS' coverage of the final round had ratings 69% higher than the same day in 2017. Tiger still means ratings for the networks.
The challenge is on over the next few months for the networks which televise the big golf tournaments to come up with a younger and rising star, unless Woods manages to continue his strong performance.
It won't seem quite like ESPN when Bob Ley begins the six-month sabbatical he announced earlier this week. Ley said he is "stepping back to re-charge" and that the idea is "fully 100% mine" on social media to confirm this. He will begin his leave from network, which he joined near the very beginning in 1979, starting October 1st and return on April 1st.
Quite the time to return, marking the start of the baseball regular season, the NCAA Final Four, and leading in to The Masters. While he is away, ESPN will have Jeremy Schaap, Ryan Smith, and Kate Fagain filling in on Outside The Lines.
As we roll into weekend 2 of the NFL exhibition games we continue to have network regular season play-by-play voices calling games on TV for various local telecasts.
Justin Kutcher is calling the local Atlanta Falcons games, Dick Stockton calls the Miami Dolphins games, Dave Pasch calls the AZ Cardinals, Joel Meyers calls the New Orleans Saints games, Beth Mowins calls the Raiders, Chris Myers calls the Tampa Bay Bucs, Ted Robinson continues to call the San Francisco 49ers, while Adam Amin calls the Chicago Bears (replacing Sam Rosen in that role). Steve Levy calls the Denver Broncos (with Brian Griese), while Curt Menefee again calls the Seattle games and Spero Dedes calls the L.A. Chargers.
BOSTON: The most recent radio ratings again showed that the combined ratings of WEEI-FM and WBZ-FM would top the market for most overall listeners. Yet, both stations showed decreases from the previous month even with WEEI-FM coming in at #8 and WBZ-FM Sports Hub at #10. Boston continues to bring the strongest sports radio ratings of any market in the country.
PITTSBURGH: KDKA-FM 93.7 The Fan is tweaking its weekday lineup starting after Labor Day and in time for the Steelers regular season. Colin Dunlap will be joined by Chris Mack in morning drive, while Mack will continue to host the pre-game and post-game shows for the Pirates broadcasts. Bob Pompeani will become a contributor on The Ron (Cook) and Joe (Starkey) Show middays from 10 AM to 2 PM.
Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller will continue to host "Poni and Mueller" from 2 to 6 PM with The Paul Zeise Show airing from 6 to 10 PM evenings when there is no play-by-play.
CHICAGO: Congrats to Tom Quinlan upon his retirement last week as Sports Editor of The Daily Herald newspaper. Quinlan spent the past 40 years with the same publication, starting as a copy editor and having previously served as Metro Editor.
NASHVILLE: Joe Leadingham is leaving Channel 2 after nearly five years as a sports anchor for a position in medical device sales. The 34 year old Leadingham did not rule out eventually returning as a sports radio host, having guest hosted on both The Zone and The Game.
LAS VEGAS: KTNV-TV has added Jackie Kostek to its sports reporting staff. Kostek comes from WCIU-TV Chicago and a reporter role. She also served as a digital host for the Chicago Blackhawks.
The challenge is on over the next few months for the networks which televise the big golf tournaments to come up with a younger and rising star, unless Woods manages to continue his strong performance.
It won't seem quite like ESPN when Bob Ley begins the six-month sabbatical he announced earlier this week. Ley said he is "stepping back to re-charge" and that the idea is "fully 100% mine" on social media to confirm this. He will begin his leave from network, which he joined near the very beginning in 1979, starting October 1st and return on April 1st.
Quite the time to return, marking the start of the baseball regular season, the NCAA Final Four, and leading in to The Masters. While he is away, ESPN will have Jeremy Schaap, Ryan Smith, and Kate Fagain filling in on Outside The Lines.
As we roll into weekend 2 of the NFL exhibition games we continue to have network regular season play-by-play voices calling games on TV for various local telecasts.
Justin Kutcher is calling the local Atlanta Falcons games, Dick Stockton calls the Miami Dolphins games, Dave Pasch calls the AZ Cardinals, Joel Meyers calls the New Orleans Saints games, Beth Mowins calls the Raiders, Chris Myers calls the Tampa Bay Bucs, Ted Robinson continues to call the San Francisco 49ers, while Adam Amin calls the Chicago Bears (replacing Sam Rosen in that role). Steve Levy calls the Denver Broncos (with Brian Griese), while Curt Menefee again calls the Seattle games and Spero Dedes calls the L.A. Chargers.
BOSTON: The most recent radio ratings again showed that the combined ratings of WEEI-FM and WBZ-FM would top the market for most overall listeners. Yet, both stations showed decreases from the previous month even with WEEI-FM coming in at #8 and WBZ-FM Sports Hub at #10. Boston continues to bring the strongest sports radio ratings of any market in the country.
PITTSBURGH: KDKA-FM 93.7 The Fan is tweaking its weekday lineup starting after Labor Day and in time for the Steelers regular season. Colin Dunlap will be joined by Chris Mack in morning drive, while Mack will continue to host the pre-game and post-game shows for the Pirates broadcasts. Bob Pompeani will become a contributor on The Ron (Cook) and Joe (Starkey) Show middays from 10 AM to 2 PM.
Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller will continue to host "Poni and Mueller" from 2 to 6 PM with The Paul Zeise Show airing from 6 to 10 PM evenings when there is no play-by-play.
CHICAGO: Congrats to Tom Quinlan upon his retirement last week as Sports Editor of The Daily Herald newspaper. Quinlan spent the past 40 years with the same publication, starting as a copy editor and having previously served as Metro Editor.
NASHVILLE: Joe Leadingham is leaving Channel 2 after nearly five years as a sports anchor for a position in medical device sales. The 34 year old Leadingham did not rule out eventually returning as a sports radio host, having guest hosted on both The Zone and The Game.
LAS VEGAS: KTNV-TV has added Jackie Kostek to its sports reporting staff. Kostek comes from WCIU-TV Chicago and a reporter role. She also served as a digital host for the Chicago Blackhawks.
Monday, August 6, 2018
The Big FAN Blowing Through NYC
The Nielsen radio ratings for July are being released this week and it is big news for WFAN-FM New York and its recent drive time changes.
Mike Francesa's sudden return this spring has helped WFAN jump to #6 overall in the market, regaining the .3 of a rating point during July that it had lost in June. The significance of this in the sports radio race is that WEPN-FM ESPN dropped exactly .3 of a ratings point during the same July ratings period. Of course, much of this can be attributed to the strong showing by the Yankees, of which WFAN is the flagship station. WFAN-FM also showed up #3 overall in the separate Long Island ratings (Nassau-Suffolk).
Another of the surprise developments comes from Chicago, where both WSCR 670 The Score and WMVP 1000 ESPN held steady (both down .1). What makes this interesting is that WGN 720, while not a full-time sports station, has risen .8 of a ratings point overall within the previous two months.
WGN 720 has an increased sports presence with White Sox baseball to go along with Blackhawks hockey and Northwestern University football, plus other sports related programming. Both WSCR and WGN, along with The Score's sister station WBBM-AM which has Bears football, combine to keep all major local play-by-play away from WVMP, and it is showing in the ratings.
The ratings news isn't as strong for other top markets, although Boston and Detroit ratings will not be available until 8/7.
Philadelphia's WIP-FM is #7 overall, but has dropped .9 total over the previous two months. What makes this surprising is the Phillies being in first place (as of press time) coming off of the Eagles Super Bowl championship (and Villanova winning the NCAA), making this one of the greatest years in local sports history. WPEN ESPN has lost .3 over the past two months, holding steady this ratings book, which means that WIP-FM is not losing audience to a competitor.
In Dallas, we have the coincidence of all three sports stations dropping, but each by only .1 overall. KTCK-AM continues its lead over KRLD-FM, with KESN-FM trailing well behind. In fact, KTCK The Ticket now has more than triple the audience of KESN-FM.
Houston's three sports stations are, once again, nowhere to be found among the market's top 20 largest audiences. In Los Angeles, both KSPN 710 and KLAC 570 showed a minor .1 increase (despite KLAC being the flagship station of the first place Dodgers). Yet, neither station could crack the top 25 in the L.A. market.
BOSTON: NBC Sports Boston is now simulcasting "Zolak & Bertrand" midday show from WBZ-FM 98.5 Sports Hub. This adds to the regional network's simulcast schedule as the afternoon show "Felger & Mazz" with Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti is also simulcast when the TV network schedule allows. Not exactly unique content, but it does beat infomercials.
HARTFORD: WUCS 97.9 ESPN begins airing University of Connecticut football and basketball for the coming seasons, with Mike Crispino handling the play-by-play. Despite the change of flagship station, UConn fans are delighted that Wayne Norman will be back as analyst for football and the men's basketball, making this his 37th season in that role. This is one market where women's basketball is a big deal, with Debbie Fiske returning for her 7th season as analyst on those broadcasts.
Mike Francesa's sudden return this spring has helped WFAN jump to #6 overall in the market, regaining the .3 of a rating point during July that it had lost in June. The significance of this in the sports radio race is that WEPN-FM ESPN dropped exactly .3 of a ratings point during the same July ratings period. Of course, much of this can be attributed to the strong showing by the Yankees, of which WFAN is the flagship station. WFAN-FM also showed up #3 overall in the separate Long Island ratings (Nassau-Suffolk).
Another of the surprise developments comes from Chicago, where both WSCR 670 The Score and WMVP 1000 ESPN held steady (both down .1). What makes this interesting is that WGN 720, while not a full-time sports station, has risen .8 of a ratings point overall within the previous two months.
WGN 720 has an increased sports presence with White Sox baseball to go along with Blackhawks hockey and Northwestern University football, plus other sports related programming. Both WSCR and WGN, along with The Score's sister station WBBM-AM which has Bears football, combine to keep all major local play-by-play away from WVMP, and it is showing in the ratings.
The ratings news isn't as strong for other top markets, although Boston and Detroit ratings will not be available until 8/7.
Philadelphia's WIP-FM is #7 overall, but has dropped .9 total over the previous two months. What makes this surprising is the Phillies being in first place (as of press time) coming off of the Eagles Super Bowl championship (and Villanova winning the NCAA), making this one of the greatest years in local sports history. WPEN ESPN has lost .3 over the past two months, holding steady this ratings book, which means that WIP-FM is not losing audience to a competitor.
In Dallas, we have the coincidence of all three sports stations dropping, but each by only .1 overall. KTCK-AM continues its lead over KRLD-FM, with KESN-FM trailing well behind. In fact, KTCK The Ticket now has more than triple the audience of KESN-FM.
Houston's three sports stations are, once again, nowhere to be found among the market's top 20 largest audiences. In Los Angeles, both KSPN 710 and KLAC 570 showed a minor .1 increase (despite KLAC being the flagship station of the first place Dodgers). Yet, neither station could crack the top 25 in the L.A. market.
BOSTON: NBC Sports Boston is now simulcasting "Zolak & Bertrand" midday show from WBZ-FM 98.5 Sports Hub. This adds to the regional network's simulcast schedule as the afternoon show "Felger & Mazz" with Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti is also simulcast when the TV network schedule allows. Not exactly unique content, but it does beat infomercials.
HARTFORD: WUCS 97.9 ESPN begins airing University of Connecticut football and basketball for the coming seasons, with Mike Crispino handling the play-by-play. Despite the change of flagship station, UConn fans are delighted that Wayne Norman will be back as analyst for football and the men's basketball, making this his 37th season in that role. This is one market where women's basketball is a big deal, with Debbie Fiske returning for her 7th season as analyst on those broadcasts.
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Make Us Happy Campers This Year
The start of NFL training camps is a time that millions of fans look forward to as it signals that the football season is almost upon us. If only most of the sports media would be able to keep this in proportion. The first day or two with players reporting and coaches giving an early impression is the welcome sight.
However, after that we have day after day of hype forced upon us which has all of the glamour of a blowout exhibition game. It's the endless hours of sports radio "covering" the local team in camp.
There will be the "We will be live from training camp on Thursday morning!" promos. The beat writers and reporters seem to interview each other constantly in hope of creating a story bigger than the third string linebacker missing the last 10 plays of the afternoon drill because he sneezed.
We will hear about which of the rookies will start at safety in the exhibition opener as if this matters to the hard core fans or judging the point spread.
It has gotten to the point where if and when some actual important news is made during training camp it loses impact because so many other reports that don't matter have watered it down. Player interviews can be interesting, but only when they are more in depth than every player liking his team's chances to improve this season.
Same with the TV side. We realize that ESPN and Fox Sports have endless hours to fill all day long and that both networks air NFL games and related programming. This should mean that both networks should have access to every player, team management, and league officials throughout training camp. However, it seems that we get the "Who will be the opening day QB for (name of team)?" question and speculation all day long on every show.
In this respect, it's as though there should be training camp for the media. Bring us quality interviews, facts, player information which could be good for those who go to great lengths to plan their fantasy team(s). There is plenty of room for improvement over interviewing other reporters for their opinions and straining to come up with minor and useless news items.
On the baseball side, the fact that the All-Star Game ratings were reasonably consistent with last year's should not be considered a surprise. Even though most fans are glad that this game no longer determines home advantage for the World Series (as was the case last season), it means that this game is back to being nothing but an exhibition game.
In the old days before interleague play and every MLB game televised locally, the All-Star Game was a rare chance for fans to see certain players bat and play the field. Now, we get to watch players around baseball daily with local and national telecasts. Seeing them in the All-Star Game is nowhere near what it used to be. The feeling here is that a "flat" rating, consistent with last year, is a positive, since it shows that all who want to watch did so once again.
To that point, Nielsen Media has confirmed the Fox Sports findings about the general success of baseball telecasts on local and regional networks. For roughly the first half of the 2018 season, 11 regional sports networks which show MLB teams finished first in the prime time ratings among all TV networks. The next 11 teams on the list all rank in the top three for prime time. Thus, many fans are no longer compelled to wait for their local team player to get his one at bat in an exhibition game.
Chicago Cubs fans, however, need a scorecard for this weekend's 5 game series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Not to tell the players. It's to find the telecast.
This may be a first when each of the 5 games will appear on a different channel locally. The series opener on Thursday (7/19) is the ESPN featured game resuming after the break, which is an exclusive telecast also serving Chicago. The Friday afternoon game appears locally on NBC Sports Chicago.
On Saturday, the teams have a make-up game which makes it a day-night doubleheader.
The Saturday day game will air on WGN-TV, while the night game will be a Fox Sports regional telecast. For the finale on Sunday, it will air on WLS-TV as part of its 25 game telecast package. There you have it. Five games on five different outlets.
At least most of them know it is a five game series because of an earlier postponement. However, WLS-TV Channel 7, which airs 25 Cubs games and has already had its share of embarrassing moments, forgot to check the schedule of the only only local team whose games they air.
On Wednesday (7/18), WLS-TV sportscaster Jim Rose told viewers that the Cubs and Cardinals "start their four game series tomorrow". We take it he includes the game his station will air as one of them.
ESPN/ABC has announced its college football announcer pairings for the coming season. The biggest change is the return of Sean McDonough to the ESPN Saturday prime time game, where he will work with Todd Blackledge. Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit continue as the ABC Saturday night crew, while Steve Levy, Dave Pasch, Mark Jones, Beth Mowins, Adam Amin, and Bob Wischusen continue in the Saturday positions.
Jason Benetti and Kelly Stouffer will now team up mostly for Friday night telecasts, especially after Benetti's commitment to Chicago White Sox television ends in September. One announcing team no longer in the mix, and who will be missed, is Mike Patrick and Tommy Tuberville. Patrick is no longer with ESPN after 35 years of calling games there.
Speaking of change, the Westwood One radio broadcast of Monday Night Football will have a new analyst this season. Boomer Esiason announced (on his WFAN Radio show) that he is giving up that role effective immediately, and will only do the opening night broadcast from Philadelphia on Thursday Sept. 6. During his time, Boomer worked with Howard David and Marv Albert before current play-by-play voice Kevin Harlan took over.
No replacement named as of press time, although Kurt Warner is expected to be the choice.
However, after that we have day after day of hype forced upon us which has all of the glamour of a blowout exhibition game. It's the endless hours of sports radio "covering" the local team in camp.
There will be the "We will be live from training camp on Thursday morning!" promos. The beat writers and reporters seem to interview each other constantly in hope of creating a story bigger than the third string linebacker missing the last 10 plays of the afternoon drill because he sneezed.
We will hear about which of the rookies will start at safety in the exhibition opener as if this matters to the hard core fans or judging the point spread.
It has gotten to the point where if and when some actual important news is made during training camp it loses impact because so many other reports that don't matter have watered it down. Player interviews can be interesting, but only when they are more in depth than every player liking his team's chances to improve this season.
Same with the TV side. We realize that ESPN and Fox Sports have endless hours to fill all day long and that both networks air NFL games and related programming. This should mean that both networks should have access to every player, team management, and league officials throughout training camp. However, it seems that we get the "Who will be the opening day QB for (name of team)?" question and speculation all day long on every show.
In this respect, it's as though there should be training camp for the media. Bring us quality interviews, facts, player information which could be good for those who go to great lengths to plan their fantasy team(s). There is plenty of room for improvement over interviewing other reporters for their opinions and straining to come up with minor and useless news items.
On the baseball side, the fact that the All-Star Game ratings were reasonably consistent with last year's should not be considered a surprise. Even though most fans are glad that this game no longer determines home advantage for the World Series (as was the case last season), it means that this game is back to being nothing but an exhibition game.
In the old days before interleague play and every MLB game televised locally, the All-Star Game was a rare chance for fans to see certain players bat and play the field. Now, we get to watch players around baseball daily with local and national telecasts. Seeing them in the All-Star Game is nowhere near what it used to be. The feeling here is that a "flat" rating, consistent with last year, is a positive, since it shows that all who want to watch did so once again.
To that point, Nielsen Media has confirmed the Fox Sports findings about the general success of baseball telecasts on local and regional networks. For roughly the first half of the 2018 season, 11 regional sports networks which show MLB teams finished first in the prime time ratings among all TV networks. The next 11 teams on the list all rank in the top three for prime time. Thus, many fans are no longer compelled to wait for their local team player to get his one at bat in an exhibition game.
Chicago Cubs fans, however, need a scorecard for this weekend's 5 game series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Not to tell the players. It's to find the telecast.
This may be a first when each of the 5 games will appear on a different channel locally. The series opener on Thursday (7/19) is the ESPN featured game resuming after the break, which is an exclusive telecast also serving Chicago. The Friday afternoon game appears locally on NBC Sports Chicago.
On Saturday, the teams have a make-up game which makes it a day-night doubleheader.
The Saturday day game will air on WGN-TV, while the night game will be a Fox Sports regional telecast. For the finale on Sunday, it will air on WLS-TV as part of its 25 game telecast package. There you have it. Five games on five different outlets.
At least most of them know it is a five game series because of an earlier postponement. However, WLS-TV Channel 7, which airs 25 Cubs games and has already had its share of embarrassing moments, forgot to check the schedule of the only only local team whose games they air.
On Wednesday (7/18), WLS-TV sportscaster Jim Rose told viewers that the Cubs and Cardinals "start their four game series tomorrow". We take it he includes the game his station will air as one of them.
ESPN/ABC has announced its college football announcer pairings for the coming season. The biggest change is the return of Sean McDonough to the ESPN Saturday prime time game, where he will work with Todd Blackledge. Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit continue as the ABC Saturday night crew, while Steve Levy, Dave Pasch, Mark Jones, Beth Mowins, Adam Amin, and Bob Wischusen continue in the Saturday positions.
Jason Benetti and Kelly Stouffer will now team up mostly for Friday night telecasts, especially after Benetti's commitment to Chicago White Sox television ends in September. One announcing team no longer in the mix, and who will be missed, is Mike Patrick and Tommy Tuberville. Patrick is no longer with ESPN after 35 years of calling games there.
Speaking of change, the Westwood One radio broadcast of Monday Night Football will have a new analyst this season. Boomer Esiason announced (on his WFAN Radio show) that he is giving up that role effective immediately, and will only do the opening night broadcast from Philadelphia on Thursday Sept. 6. During his time, Boomer worked with Howard David and Marv Albert before current play-by-play voice Kevin Harlan took over.
No replacement named as of press time, although Kurt Warner is expected to be the choice.
Friday, June 29, 2018
Will The Sports Rights Bidding Wars Go Up or Down?
Whether or not the even bigger media giants are willing to engage in bidding wars over sports telecast rights will have a huge impact on pro sports over the next few years. As Disney continues to be in the running to take over the Fox Sports regional networks, we also had the approved merger of AT&T taking over Time Warner.
Since AT&T will now own Turner Sports, it adds MLB and NBA regular season and post-season games to the fold, along with the NCAA Tournament. With this deal also including DIrecTV, AT&T also takes over the Sunday Ticket package adding the NFL to the mix.
AT&T already owns three of the regional sports networks (Houston, Pittsburgh, and Seattle regions). Impressive as that is, it is fewer regional sports networks than now rivals NBC Sports and Fox Sports own and operate, as well as not as many of the biggest markets.
Their regional network in Houston has been a struggle to build, although the success of the Astros has helped to draw a much bigger audience than was the case earlier on. Prior to AT&T taking it over, the previous version of the network suffered from cable and satellite providers refusing to pay the high prices to carry it.
Even without all of the major carriers, the Astros Monday game against Toronto, for example, wound up with the biggest audience for the night on Houston TV.
Speculation on what AT&T will do in the near future is varied. Some think they will invest heavily in sports rights in order to make it difficult for Fox, ESPN (if separate in the future), and NBC Sports. Others think they are only worried about maintaining the Sunday Ticket package because of the difference it makes for the DirecTV service. They may not wish to spend as much for TBS and TNT because they have other strong programming.
In addition, they may not want to find themselves in a messy negotiation, such as they came out of in Houston and still exists five seasons later with the Dodgers telecasts still not available to the majority of local TV households.
Just as former players are always a part of NFL telecasts, we can say the same for retired referrees. NBC has added the recently retired Terry McAulay to its Sunday Night Football broadcast team. McAulay is also expected to be a part of the network's telecasts of Notre Dame home games. CBS has added another former NFL referee, Gene Stearatore to its NFL coverage starting with the coming season. In addition, Steratore will also help with their college hoops coverage, having also served as a Big Ten official.
ESPN has renewed Dan LeBatard and Jon Weiner (Stugotz) for another four years. In addition to their midday show on ESPN Radio and ESPNews, Stugotz will continue with appearances on SportsCenter, while both will continue their local show in Miami on WAXY 790.
The Radio Hall of Fame announcements this week included a couple of sports shows being honored for induction. Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic being honored for the now defunct "Mike & Mike Show". In addition, Mike Francesa was also named, with this announcement coming weeks after his return to WFAN New York's afternoon show.
ST. LOUIS: No more "Sports Krap". Ownership cut the KRAP changed 1350 away from sports to simulcast it with KSLQ-FM 104.5 and its music format.
EVERETT WA: Rumors of a format change were rampant as of press time for KRKO 1090. Earlier this week, host Jeff Aaron announced on Facebook that he was doing his final sports show for the station, but does not appear (as of press time) to be leaving the station. Aaron has been with KRKO since 2002.
Since AT&T will now own Turner Sports, it adds MLB and NBA regular season and post-season games to the fold, along with the NCAA Tournament. With this deal also including DIrecTV, AT&T also takes over the Sunday Ticket package adding the NFL to the mix.
AT&T already owns three of the regional sports networks (Houston, Pittsburgh, and Seattle regions). Impressive as that is, it is fewer regional sports networks than now rivals NBC Sports and Fox Sports own and operate, as well as not as many of the biggest markets.
Their regional network in Houston has been a struggle to build, although the success of the Astros has helped to draw a much bigger audience than was the case earlier on. Prior to AT&T taking it over, the previous version of the network suffered from cable and satellite providers refusing to pay the high prices to carry it.
Even without all of the major carriers, the Astros Monday game against Toronto, for example, wound up with the biggest audience for the night on Houston TV.
Speculation on what AT&T will do in the near future is varied. Some think they will invest heavily in sports rights in order to make it difficult for Fox, ESPN (if separate in the future), and NBC Sports. Others think they are only worried about maintaining the Sunday Ticket package because of the difference it makes for the DirecTV service. They may not wish to spend as much for TBS and TNT because they have other strong programming.
In addition, they may not want to find themselves in a messy negotiation, such as they came out of in Houston and still exists five seasons later with the Dodgers telecasts still not available to the majority of local TV households.
Just as former players are always a part of NFL telecasts, we can say the same for retired referrees. NBC has added the recently retired Terry McAulay to its Sunday Night Football broadcast team. McAulay is also expected to be a part of the network's telecasts of Notre Dame home games. CBS has added another former NFL referee, Gene Stearatore to its NFL coverage starting with the coming season. In addition, Steratore will also help with their college hoops coverage, having also served as a Big Ten official.
ESPN has renewed Dan LeBatard and Jon Weiner (Stugotz) for another four years. In addition to their midday show on ESPN Radio and ESPNews, Stugotz will continue with appearances on SportsCenter, while both will continue their local show in Miami on WAXY 790.
The Radio Hall of Fame announcements this week included a couple of sports shows being honored for induction. Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic being honored for the now defunct "Mike & Mike Show". In addition, Mike Francesa was also named, with this announcement coming weeks after his return to WFAN New York's afternoon show.
ST. LOUIS: No more "Sports Krap". Ownership cut the KRAP changed 1350 away from sports to simulcast it with KSLQ-FM 104.5 and its music format.
EVERETT WA: Rumors of a format change were rampant as of press time for KRKO 1090. Earlier this week, host Jeff Aaron announced on Facebook that he was doing his final sports show for the station, but does not appear (as of press time) to be leaving the station. Aaron has been with KRKO since 2002.
Friday, June 22, 2018
Out Foxed Again
Another week in the life for Fox Sports. Bloomberg reports that World Cup viewership, combining the Fox Sports and Telemundo (Spanish) coverage, is already down roughly 44% from the 2014 coverage. Although we will consider that the U.S. team is not a factor, as was the case in 2014, there is cause for concern as the World Cup unfolds.
Last weekend, Fox had the U.S. Open coverage, including their interview with the legendary Jack Nicklaus during Friday's Round 2 coverage. That would have gone better if they hadn't lost the audio during the interview, and were not able to recover it. This was after their portion of the Round shown on FS1 aired a sexually explicit exchange.
On Saturday (6/16), their U.S. Open coverage of Round 3 was the reason that Fox Sports delayed its prime time baseball games by one full hour. We don't know how many baseball fans tuned in at the time each of the other Saturday prime time telecasts began, saw the golf coverage, and had no idea there would be baseball later on. This is the same Fox Sports which does a series of prime time Saturday telecasts which don't begin until May in order to promote its All-Star game coverage.
SAN FRANCISCO: Although Gary Radnich has no intention of slowing down from his KNBR 680 gig, he announced that he is retiring from his long time sports anchor role at KRON-TV. He is expected to do his last sportscast sometime in August. What makes Radnich even more interesting is how he has done his TV reports so factual and without personality but goes on KNBR and shows one of the stronger personalities of all of the Bay Area sports talkers. He joined KNBR back in 1992.
HOUSTON: While the sports talk stations continue to collectively struggle for audiences, more lineup changes are being made. KBME 790. Sean Salisbury has been hired away to co-host afternoon drive starting on July 9th, which coincides with the start of NFL training camps. No co-host has been announced as of press time. Salisbury replaces Jason Braddock and (former Oiler) Sean Jones, who were both let go prior to their scheduled June 18th show after almost one year together.
KILT 610 has brought in Adam Clanton, formerly of KBME to work fill-in and weekend shifts. Clanton is remembered for being dropped last month by KBME after a disagreement with controversial morning host Josh Innes was picked up live on the air.
As it goes with Houston sports station ratings, we shall see if this makes any difference in the months to come.
RICHMOND: Sports anchor Jermaine Ferrell is moving but staying in house at the same time. He is shifting from WFXR-TV to sister WRIC-TV where he will become the weekend sports anchor. He will serve as a sports reporter for WRIC during the week.
PHILADELPHIA: Sorry to learn of the passing of Big Al Meltzer earlier in the week. Meltzer began on Philly TV in 1966 at WPHL Channel 17, later working at KYW-TV Channel 3 and NBC Channel 10. He retired from (then) Comcast SportsNet in 2003. He is especially remembered for his basketball coverage of the 76ers and the Big 5.
Last weekend, Fox had the U.S. Open coverage, including their interview with the legendary Jack Nicklaus during Friday's Round 2 coverage. That would have gone better if they hadn't lost the audio during the interview, and were not able to recover it. This was after their portion of the Round shown on FS1 aired a sexually explicit exchange.
On Saturday (6/16), their U.S. Open coverage of Round 3 was the reason that Fox Sports delayed its prime time baseball games by one full hour. We don't know how many baseball fans tuned in at the time each of the other Saturday prime time telecasts began, saw the golf coverage, and had no idea there would be baseball later on. This is the same Fox Sports which does a series of prime time Saturday telecasts which don't begin until May in order to promote its All-Star game coverage.
SAN FRANCISCO: Although Gary Radnich has no intention of slowing down from his KNBR 680 gig, he announced that he is retiring from his long time sports anchor role at KRON-TV. He is expected to do his last sportscast sometime in August. What makes Radnich even more interesting is how he has done his TV reports so factual and without personality but goes on KNBR and shows one of the stronger personalities of all of the Bay Area sports talkers. He joined KNBR back in 1992.
HOUSTON: While the sports talk stations continue to collectively struggle for audiences, more lineup changes are being made. KBME 790. Sean Salisbury has been hired away to co-host afternoon drive starting on July 9th, which coincides with the start of NFL training camps. No co-host has been announced as of press time. Salisbury replaces Jason Braddock and (former Oiler) Sean Jones, who were both let go prior to their scheduled June 18th show after almost one year together.
KILT 610 has brought in Adam Clanton, formerly of KBME to work fill-in and weekend shifts. Clanton is remembered for being dropped last month by KBME after a disagreement with controversial morning host Josh Innes was picked up live on the air.
As it goes with Houston sports station ratings, we shall see if this makes any difference in the months to come.
RICHMOND: Sports anchor Jermaine Ferrell is moving but staying in house at the same time. He is shifting from WFXR-TV to sister WRIC-TV where he will become the weekend sports anchor. He will serve as a sports reporter for WRIC during the week.
PHILADELPHIA: Sorry to learn of the passing of Big Al Meltzer earlier in the week. Meltzer began on Philly TV in 1966 at WPHL Channel 17, later working at KYW-TV Channel 3 and NBC Channel 10. He retired from (then) Comcast SportsNet in 2003. He is especially remembered for his basketball coverage of the 76ers and the Big 5.
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
The Major League Radio Ratings Impact
The Nielsen radio ratings for the period of April 26 to May 23rd are out for the larger markets with more interesting developments than usual.
Special attention goes to the New York City results with the return of Mike Francesa to afternoons on WFAN, which technically began a few days into this ratings period. WFAN showed an overall audience increase of more than 20%, finishing at #5 in the market. Francesa scored higher ratings than Michael Kay on WEPN-FM, although the ESPN station also gained in the ratings, showing a .4 of a ratings point rise.
In the always interesting Boston sports station race, WBZ-FM Sports Hub went up .2 overall and finished #5 in the market, with WEEI-FM dropping .4 and finishing #9. Boston continues to dominate for sports radio in a single market having two stations in the top nine.
Chicago's WSCR The Score 670 rose .4 and finished #8 in the market as its lineup revisions for afternoons and midday continue to bring higher ratings, along with Cubs broadcasts. WMVP ESPN 1000 dipped slightly, again finishing well below WGN Radio. WGN, continues to struggle overall, falling out of the top 20 since adding White Sox play-by-play in time for another disappointing season.
The improved play of the Giants and the (eventual) championship run of the Warriors kept KNBR 680 with strong ratings, finishing #6 overall. Even KGMZ-FM The Game continued to make progress, adding another .4 of a ratings point to finish only one rating point behind KNBR in the San Francisco ratings. Yet, in the separate ratings for the adjacent San Jose market, KNBR more than tripled KGMZ's overall ranking.
Major movement in Dallas for KTCK-AM The Ticket which jumped .8 during this ratings period to a 4.1, good for #6 overall. KRLD-FM dropped to a 2.3 rating, while KESN ESPN lags well behind at 1.1. You may recall that it wasn't that long ago that all three stations were bunched together.
The recent slump of the Twins factored in WCCO 830's drop of .8 from the previous month early in its first season since 2006 airing the Twins broadcasts. KXFM-FM The Fan tied WCCO at #8 in the market.
Those large markets which regularly do not fare well with sports talk stations continued the trend during May. Once again, none of Houston's three sports stations made the top 20 overall. KBME-AM was the only one of the three to show more than the 0.8 rating which both KFNC-FM and KILT-AM finished with.
Similar story in Los Angeles. Even though the majority of TV households still cannot get the Dodgers telecasts, radio flagship KLAC 570 held at a 0.9 rating, slightly behind KSPN-AM 710 which inched up to 1.0. However, neither station cracked the top 25.
Miami's sports stations also each failed to crack the top 20 while each generated no better than a 0.9 rating. That was shared by WAXY-AM 790 and WQAM-AM, while WINZ showed only a 0.3.
The impact of baseball play-by-play on radio showed up from analyzing the April ratings. Although lowly WINZ Miami held steady in April (with the same 0.3 it showed for May), the only station with play-by-play which dropped during that time was WGN Chicago with its White Sox broadcasts.
The novelty of either team winning its first Stanley Cup in team history still produced solid local TV market ratings for cities with NHL teams. With the Las Vegas market being the highest rated, next were Washington DC, Baltimore and Richmond. The only market in the top 10 for clinching Game 4 not specific to one team (Richmond is a secondary market for DC/Baltimore) was Ft. Myers, which somehow had the 8th highest local audience.
SAN DIEGO: KWFN-FM 97.3, which recently turned to a sports format in order to keep the Padres broadcasts, named Adam Klug as Program Director. His background includes two years with ESPN Radio and having worked as a producer for Doug Gottlieb's show.
ASHEVILLE: WMXF-AM 1400 Waynesville now simulcasts Asheville's 92.9/1400 simulcast, including its local programming and ESPN programming. In addition the Waynesville station adds University of North Carolina football and basketball broadcasts.
Special attention goes to the New York City results with the return of Mike Francesa to afternoons on WFAN, which technically began a few days into this ratings period. WFAN showed an overall audience increase of more than 20%, finishing at #5 in the market. Francesa scored higher ratings than Michael Kay on WEPN-FM, although the ESPN station also gained in the ratings, showing a .4 of a ratings point rise.
In the always interesting Boston sports station race, WBZ-FM Sports Hub went up .2 overall and finished #5 in the market, with WEEI-FM dropping .4 and finishing #9. Boston continues to dominate for sports radio in a single market having two stations in the top nine.
Chicago's WSCR The Score 670 rose .4 and finished #8 in the market as its lineup revisions for afternoons and midday continue to bring higher ratings, along with Cubs broadcasts. WMVP ESPN 1000 dipped slightly, again finishing well below WGN Radio. WGN, continues to struggle overall, falling out of the top 20 since adding White Sox play-by-play in time for another disappointing season.
The improved play of the Giants and the (eventual) championship run of the Warriors kept KNBR 680 with strong ratings, finishing #6 overall. Even KGMZ-FM The Game continued to make progress, adding another .4 of a ratings point to finish only one rating point behind KNBR in the San Francisco ratings. Yet, in the separate ratings for the adjacent San Jose market, KNBR more than tripled KGMZ's overall ranking.
Major movement in Dallas for KTCK-AM The Ticket which jumped .8 during this ratings period to a 4.1, good for #6 overall. KRLD-FM dropped to a 2.3 rating, while KESN ESPN lags well behind at 1.1. You may recall that it wasn't that long ago that all three stations were bunched together.
The recent slump of the Twins factored in WCCO 830's drop of .8 from the previous month early in its first season since 2006 airing the Twins broadcasts. KXFM-FM The Fan tied WCCO at #8 in the market.
Those large markets which regularly do not fare well with sports talk stations continued the trend during May. Once again, none of Houston's three sports stations made the top 20 overall. KBME-AM was the only one of the three to show more than the 0.8 rating which both KFNC-FM and KILT-AM finished with.
Similar story in Los Angeles. Even though the majority of TV households still cannot get the Dodgers telecasts, radio flagship KLAC 570 held at a 0.9 rating, slightly behind KSPN-AM 710 which inched up to 1.0. However, neither station cracked the top 25.
Miami's sports stations also each failed to crack the top 20 while each generated no better than a 0.9 rating. That was shared by WAXY-AM 790 and WQAM-AM, while WINZ showed only a 0.3.
The impact of baseball play-by-play on radio showed up from analyzing the April ratings. Although lowly WINZ Miami held steady in April (with the same 0.3 it showed for May), the only station with play-by-play which dropped during that time was WGN Chicago with its White Sox broadcasts.
The novelty of either team winning its first Stanley Cup in team history still produced solid local TV market ratings for cities with NHL teams. With the Las Vegas market being the highest rated, next were Washington DC, Baltimore and Richmond. The only market in the top 10 for clinching Game 4 not specific to one team (Richmond is a secondary market for DC/Baltimore) was Ft. Myers, which somehow had the 8th highest local audience.
SAN DIEGO: KWFN-FM 97.3, which recently turned to a sports format in order to keep the Padres broadcasts, named Adam Klug as Program Director. His background includes two years with ESPN Radio and having worked as a producer for Doug Gottlieb's show.
ASHEVILLE: WMXF-AM 1400 Waynesville now simulcasts Asheville's 92.9/1400 simulcast, including its local programming and ESPN programming. In addition the Waynesville station adds University of North Carolina football and basketball broadcasts.
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Solid Memorial Day Weekend Viewing
Sports fans are looking forward to a Memorial Day weekend filled with sports, topped off by the Indy 500 on Sunday (weather permitting). The NBA Conference finals will air, and the Stanley Cup Finals begin on Memorial Day.
This weekend also marks the debut of baseball on Fox Sports after being buried on FS1 each Saturday until now. Fox starts off by favoring the big markets for its primary telecasts, showing the Yankees vs. Angels in most markets, ahead of the Cleveland vs. Houston matchup of two first place teams. They will also air the San Francisco at Chicago Cubs as their third regional game, spending as little as possible by bringing in Cubs TV voice Len Kasper to handle play-by-play for Fox.
The radio ratings for April and early May released a few days back show that New York's WFAN is making a comeback of sorts which actually began prior to the sudden return of Mike Francesa to afternoon drive. The Fan showed a .8 of a ratings point rise from the prior month. WEPN ESPN came in with one-third of the total audience of WFAN, holding the same overall rating number for the third consecutive month.
Boston's sports stations continue strong with both being among the nine most listened to stations in the market and both showing audience increases. WBZ-FM Sports Hub rose .3 of a ratings point and finished as #6 in the market, while WEEI-FM rose one full ratings point to finish #9 in the market.
Baseball made a difference in the Chicago ratings. WSCR The Score 670 increased by .9 of a ratings point over the previous month as the Cubs regular season began and finished #6 overall. WMVP ESPN 1000 dropped by .1 during that time. The first month of the regular season with the White Sox games now on WGN Radio had an impact. The team's dismal start, combined with the NHL Blackhawks not making it into the post-season, caused WGN to drop again. WGN has now lost more than one-third of its overall audience over the past two months.
San Francisco's KNBR jumped back into the market's top five stations with a .9 rise, with help from the Giants having a better start to their season and the Warriors on their way to at least the Western Conference finals. KGMZ-FM The Game rose .2 and gained slightly but is still well behind KNBR.
Detroit's WXYT The Ticket rose to #6 in the market, moving up .8 of ratings point.
WASHINGTON D.C.: Even with the sale recent sale of WTEM, the Redskins broadcasts are expected to remain on the station. They will also air on WMAL 630/105.9, meaning that the games will air on three frequencies.
HOUSTON: Once again none of the three sports stations made it into the market's top 20 stations in the ratings, but KILT is making changes to its weekday lineup starting on Tuesday (5/29). Paul Gallant moves from being buried in the night slot to mornings with Mike Meltser and Seth Payne. KILT is bringing back Fred Davis, putting him on middays with John Lopez and Landry Locker. Davis replaces Cody Stoots who was let go in this change.
CHICAGO: Former Bears and Jets running back Matt Forte has joined NBC Sports Chicago as a Bears analyst and is expected to appear on the network's game day surrounding coverage.
Shae Peppler has joined WFLD-TV 32 as a full-time sports anchor and reporter. She is also known for previous work on the Big 10 Network.
ATLANTA: WXJO 1120/104.5 has completed its format change, dropping sports talk in favor of a gospel format.
This weekend also marks the debut of baseball on Fox Sports after being buried on FS1 each Saturday until now. Fox starts off by favoring the big markets for its primary telecasts, showing the Yankees vs. Angels in most markets, ahead of the Cleveland vs. Houston matchup of two first place teams. They will also air the San Francisco at Chicago Cubs as their third regional game, spending as little as possible by bringing in Cubs TV voice Len Kasper to handle play-by-play for Fox.
The radio ratings for April and early May released a few days back show that New York's WFAN is making a comeback of sorts which actually began prior to the sudden return of Mike Francesa to afternoon drive. The Fan showed a .8 of a ratings point rise from the prior month. WEPN ESPN came in with one-third of the total audience of WFAN, holding the same overall rating number for the third consecutive month.
Boston's sports stations continue strong with both being among the nine most listened to stations in the market and both showing audience increases. WBZ-FM Sports Hub rose .3 of a ratings point and finished as #6 in the market, while WEEI-FM rose one full ratings point to finish #9 in the market.
Baseball made a difference in the Chicago ratings. WSCR The Score 670 increased by .9 of a ratings point over the previous month as the Cubs regular season began and finished #6 overall. WMVP ESPN 1000 dropped by .1 during that time. The first month of the regular season with the White Sox games now on WGN Radio had an impact. The team's dismal start, combined with the NHL Blackhawks not making it into the post-season, caused WGN to drop again. WGN has now lost more than one-third of its overall audience over the past two months.
San Francisco's KNBR jumped back into the market's top five stations with a .9 rise, with help from the Giants having a better start to their season and the Warriors on their way to at least the Western Conference finals. KGMZ-FM The Game rose .2 and gained slightly but is still well behind KNBR.
Detroit's WXYT The Ticket rose to #6 in the market, moving up .8 of ratings point.
WASHINGTON D.C.: Even with the sale recent sale of WTEM, the Redskins broadcasts are expected to remain on the station. They will also air on WMAL 630/105.9, meaning that the games will air on three frequencies.
HOUSTON: Once again none of the three sports stations made it into the market's top 20 stations in the ratings, but KILT is making changes to its weekday lineup starting on Tuesday (5/29). Paul Gallant moves from being buried in the night slot to mornings with Mike Meltser and Seth Payne. KILT is bringing back Fred Davis, putting him on middays with John Lopez and Landry Locker. Davis replaces Cody Stoots who was let go in this change.
CHICAGO: Former Bears and Jets running back Matt Forte has joined NBC Sports Chicago as a Bears analyst and is expected to appear on the network's game day surrounding coverage.
Shae Peppler has joined WFLD-TV 32 as a full-time sports anchor and reporter. She is also known for previous work on the Big 10 Network.
ATLANTA: WXJO 1120/104.5 has completed its format change, dropping sports talk in favor of a gospel format.
Monday, April 9, 2018
Let The Yankees - Red Sox Hype Begin
Many of us often joke about how the baseball media seems to stop the world every single time the Yankees and Red Sox play, no matter what the circumstances. It already seems as though every one of these meetings must, by law, be nationally televised. If ESPN, Fox, or TBS don't have the game, MLB Network takes it and makes it one of their showcase games they produce.
As ESPN thinks that every baseball fan has Tuesday (4/10) on their calendar as being the much anticipated date of the first regular season matchup of these two teams, they have taken this to an even higher level.
This is so unbelievable that it almost bears watching just to see if ESPN is serious about their plan. They issued a Press Release about their pre-game coverage. So help me, they did. For an April weeknight meeting two weeks into the season.
Get this. From 4:00 until 5:00 ET, ESPN2 shows Intentional Talk with Chris Rose and Kevin Millar (in conjunction with MLB Network) and air some of batting practice of the upcoming Yankees vs. Red Sox game. And there is more.....
At 5:00 ET, ESPN2 follows with "Around The Cage". This one hour show will be hosted by Karl Ravech and include John Sciambi, Rick Sutcliffe, and Tim Kurkjian, promising manager and player interviews.
Of course, SportsCenter follows at 6 PM ET. The network assures us in this Press Release that there will be more live updates from Ravech and Kurkjian as the network leads into its live telecast at 7 PM.
After all, fans wouldn't want to miss out on seeing if the grounds crew finishes on time and the starting pitchers really do start warming up in the bullpen.
Seriously. ESPN issued a Press Release and promises hours of pre-game coverage for an early season baseball game. It's amazing that they allow other MLB teams to play their games at any point in that three hour window.
While this goes on, ESPN finally started their new morning show, the one that got delayed for three months, last week. The "Get Up" show came in with ratings down roughly 8% from the same week one year ago. No surprise here. They were so worried about having a new studio and other production issues addressed that they gave viewers and ESPN Radio listeners three months to sample other morning shows before finally starting this one.
Speaking of bizarre, NBC Sports offers a new twist on their expanded coverage of televising every NHL Playoff game again this season. They plan their usual excellent job of scheduling, calling upon sister channels such as CNBC to help with overflow coverage. This post-season, however, they are moving two telecasts to, of all places, The Golf Channel.
On April 18th, The Golf Channel airs the Devils vs. Lightning game, followed by the Ducks vs. Sharks, in what will be the first non-golf live event shown on that network. Since those are both Game 4 of the respective series, these telecasts will definitely occur.
It will be interesting to see how that fares. An interesting way for NBC to call attention to The Golf Channel, even if for one night.
Speaking of calling attention, it's hard to believe that ABC and NBC openly conceded the sports viewing audience to the final round of The Masters on Sunday (7/8). Both the NBA and NHL begin their playoffs this week, while both leagues have battles in the standings for playoff positions still very much in progress.
Yet, ABC did not have a Sunday afternoon telecast of an NBA game at all, while NBC did not air an NHL game. As we point out with baseball and even the NCAA Tournament, networks which televise them need a consistent presence during the regular season. Telling viewers their sport "can't compete with golf" seems absurd, especially with the millions of dollars they spend on rights fees.
At least NBA TV came through with a live quadruple header of games on Sunday, although chances are not enough viewers were aware. This came after ABC had very strong ratings from its Saturday night (4/7) NBA telecast.
SAN DIEGO: Next up on the "bizarre" list is the situation with the Padres and 97.3 The Machine. As of press time, there has still been no word from the Padres about the rumored possibility the team would pull the team broadcasts off this rock station after the social media controversy last week.
So far, no sign of Kevin Klein on the morning show. Now it has been discovered that Entercom, which owns the station, has registered three web sites including "973TheFanSanDiego.com". The station also just added Dan Sileo to its midday lineup, acting as if the controversial host would not necessarily focus on sports.
The only other full time sports station in San Diego is XEPRS The Mighty 1090. This all raises the possibility that the 97.3 could go as far as to remove Klein, and the rock music format, and go all sports in support of its Padres contract.
Since there has been no action (again, as of press time) taken by the Padres about their broadcasts, it would lend credence to this possibility.
SAN FRANCISCO: Now that KGMZ 95.7 The Game has finally developed some traction in the ratings, the station has given a multi-year extension to Damon Bruce, host of afternoon drive. Bruce has been with the station since 2014.
HOUSTON: SportsMap 94.1, among the sports stations struggling for ratings, has added Stephen A Smith from ESPN Radio to its midday schedule, airing after local programming with Charlie Pallilo.
CHICAGO: In an amazing twist, Dan McNeill is off the air after just two weeks since returning to WSCR 670 The Score afternoon drive. McNeill revealed that a medical procedure left him with a paralyzed right vocal cord. There is no set recovery time. The station is currently rotating among its other hosts and anchors to work along side co-host Danny Parkins.
Finally, a sad note. The sports media lost Joe McConnell, most recently the voice of Purdue football prior to his full retirement in 2009, at the age of 79. McConnell is known for having called NFL post-season on Westwood One in the 80's, and play-by-play stints with the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings. He also called baseball for the White Sox radio and TV from 1980-84 after a couple of seasons calling Twins games. Before that, he called the Indiana Pacers on radio in the late 70's.
Personally, I consider McConnell to have been the greatest football announcer I ever heard. He had a genuine enthusiasm for whatever team he was calling. I can't believe he didn't get more opportunities at the national level. However, from knowing him and getting the privilege to work with him (I did statistics for him on most Bears broadcasts during the 1980 season), I had a hunch that he preferred the simple midwest to the spotlight of the national media.
We'll miss you, Joe!
As ESPN thinks that every baseball fan has Tuesday (4/10) on their calendar as being the much anticipated date of the first regular season matchup of these two teams, they have taken this to an even higher level.
This is so unbelievable that it almost bears watching just to see if ESPN is serious about their plan. They issued a Press Release about their pre-game coverage. So help me, they did. For an April weeknight meeting two weeks into the season.
Get this. From 4:00 until 5:00 ET, ESPN2 shows Intentional Talk with Chris Rose and Kevin Millar (in conjunction with MLB Network) and air some of batting practice of the upcoming Yankees vs. Red Sox game. And there is more.....
At 5:00 ET, ESPN2 follows with "Around The Cage". This one hour show will be hosted by Karl Ravech and include John Sciambi, Rick Sutcliffe, and Tim Kurkjian, promising manager and player interviews.
Of course, SportsCenter follows at 6 PM ET. The network assures us in this Press Release that there will be more live updates from Ravech and Kurkjian as the network leads into its live telecast at 7 PM.
After all, fans wouldn't want to miss out on seeing if the grounds crew finishes on time and the starting pitchers really do start warming up in the bullpen.
Seriously. ESPN issued a Press Release and promises hours of pre-game coverage for an early season baseball game. It's amazing that they allow other MLB teams to play their games at any point in that three hour window.
While this goes on, ESPN finally started their new morning show, the one that got delayed for three months, last week. The "Get Up" show came in with ratings down roughly 8% from the same week one year ago. No surprise here. They were so worried about having a new studio and other production issues addressed that they gave viewers and ESPN Radio listeners three months to sample other morning shows before finally starting this one.
Speaking of bizarre, NBC Sports offers a new twist on their expanded coverage of televising every NHL Playoff game again this season. They plan their usual excellent job of scheduling, calling upon sister channels such as CNBC to help with overflow coverage. This post-season, however, they are moving two telecasts to, of all places, The Golf Channel.
On April 18th, The Golf Channel airs the Devils vs. Lightning game, followed by the Ducks vs. Sharks, in what will be the first non-golf live event shown on that network. Since those are both Game 4 of the respective series, these telecasts will definitely occur.
It will be interesting to see how that fares. An interesting way for NBC to call attention to The Golf Channel, even if for one night.
Speaking of calling attention, it's hard to believe that ABC and NBC openly conceded the sports viewing audience to the final round of The Masters on Sunday (7/8). Both the NBA and NHL begin their playoffs this week, while both leagues have battles in the standings for playoff positions still very much in progress.
Yet, ABC did not have a Sunday afternoon telecast of an NBA game at all, while NBC did not air an NHL game. As we point out with baseball and even the NCAA Tournament, networks which televise them need a consistent presence during the regular season. Telling viewers their sport "can't compete with golf" seems absurd, especially with the millions of dollars they spend on rights fees.
At least NBA TV came through with a live quadruple header of games on Sunday, although chances are not enough viewers were aware. This came after ABC had very strong ratings from its Saturday night (4/7) NBA telecast.
SAN DIEGO: Next up on the "bizarre" list is the situation with the Padres and 97.3 The Machine. As of press time, there has still been no word from the Padres about the rumored possibility the team would pull the team broadcasts off this rock station after the social media controversy last week.
So far, no sign of Kevin Klein on the morning show. Now it has been discovered that Entercom, which owns the station, has registered three web sites including "973TheFanSanDiego.com". The station also just added Dan Sileo to its midday lineup, acting as if the controversial host would not necessarily focus on sports.
The only other full time sports station in San Diego is XEPRS The Mighty 1090. This all raises the possibility that the 97.3 could go as far as to remove Klein, and the rock music format, and go all sports in support of its Padres contract.
Since there has been no action (again, as of press time) taken by the Padres about their broadcasts, it would lend credence to this possibility.
SAN FRANCISCO: Now that KGMZ 95.7 The Game has finally developed some traction in the ratings, the station has given a multi-year extension to Damon Bruce, host of afternoon drive. Bruce has been with the station since 2014.
HOUSTON: SportsMap 94.1, among the sports stations struggling for ratings, has added Stephen A Smith from ESPN Radio to its midday schedule, airing after local programming with Charlie Pallilo.
CHICAGO: In an amazing twist, Dan McNeill is off the air after just two weeks since returning to WSCR 670 The Score afternoon drive. McNeill revealed that a medical procedure left him with a paralyzed right vocal cord. There is no set recovery time. The station is currently rotating among its other hosts and anchors to work along side co-host Danny Parkins.
Finally, a sad note. The sports media lost Joe McConnell, most recently the voice of Purdue football prior to his full retirement in 2009, at the age of 79. McConnell is known for having called NFL post-season on Westwood One in the 80's, and play-by-play stints with the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings. He also called baseball for the White Sox radio and TV from 1980-84 after a couple of seasons calling Twins games. Before that, he called the Indiana Pacers on radio in the late 70's.
Personally, I consider McConnell to have been the greatest football announcer I ever heard. He had a genuine enthusiasm for whatever team he was calling. I can't believe he didn't get more opportunities at the national level. However, from knowing him and getting the privilege to work with him (I did statistics for him on most Bears broadcasts during the 1980 season), I had a hunch that he preferred the simple midwest to the spotlight of the national media.
We'll miss you, Joe!
Thursday, April 5, 2018
If You Show The Games, They Will Come
No surprise here that the NCAA Tournament Championship game suffered a 30% drop in the audience compared with last year and more than 10% less than the 2016 game. Just like with its baseball package, Turner Sports keeps forgetting that people don't know to look to them.
After four months of seemingly thousands of college basketball telecasts on numerous local stations along with regional and national networks, Turner Sports does not have any sort of package, even with a weaker conference, but expects millions of casual fans to somehow know that they had the Final Four this season.
While TBS, TNT, and TRU aired regional games, the casual fans could find telecasts on CBS at the same time.
Granted, it's hard to completely fault Turner Sports. You would think that for the many millions of dollars they pay to the NCAA just for the Tournament package they share with CBS that they would be entitled to some degree of a regular season presence.
Speaking being entitled, baseball fans are entitled to have their local teams available via their regular TV outlet for games which Facebook streams around the country each Wednesday afternoon this season. We understand that Facebook spent millions of dollars with MLB for this package, which includes MLB itself producing each telecast and providing the announcers and staff.
However, MLB and Facebook need to understand that most fans are paying more for their respective cable/satellite package every month because of the presence of these regional sports networks which air the games. This past Wednesday (4/4), the complete exclusivity that Facebook has prevented the Mets from airing on SNY and the Phillies from airing on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
That meant two large markets having no direct local telecast. With many of the fans at work and unable to watch a stream, they were deprived of a chance to see their local team. Those NYC and Phillies fans that were able to watch the stream of the game may have preferred something other than a phone or other small screen.
It would have been interesting to be able to compare local team viewership between the regular telecast ratings and how many more picked up the telecast on Facebook given both options.
Instead, it wasn't until the morning of the game before SNY showed alerts that it could not show this game. The NBC Sports Philadelphia web site had a blank spot on their schedule that morning, showing their schedule before 1:00 and nothing until after 4:30 for the afternoon.
Because of the fan backlash, teams which have upcoming Wednesday afternoon Facebook telecasts are now taking the lead and alerting their fans early that the games will not be shown locally. The impact is even larger throughout Canada where many of the Blue Jays games are shown regionally or nationally via SportsNet. The network has put out social media alerts telling fans that the scheduled Blue Jays streams on Facebook on April 18th and May 24th will not be available for telecasts, but will be airing on the SportsNet Radio Network.
Facebook did report rougly 4,300,000 views "of at least three seconds" of the Phillies vs. Mets stream with 1,200,000 "reactions" on the platform. One good thing for those watching is that, at least this time, there were no actual commercials, with between innings filled with game related content. Next Wednesday (4/11) it will be the Brewers vs. Cardinals, with the Blue Jays vs. Royals on April 18th.
Sorry, but we should all click on the "dislike" button unless they keep local team telecasts.
BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON D.C.: Baseball fans throughout the region that can't afford cable/satellite and/or have already cut the cord can forget about seeing either the Orioles or Nationals this entire season. MASN, in separate statements, clarified that MASN and MASN2 will be the "exclusive" channels for each team's games throughout the season. None of their games will appear on a local over the air channel, other than any of the few Saturdays when Fox Sports airs one of the teams on a regional basis.
SAN DIEGO: Still no word as of press time regarding the fate of Padres broadcasts on 97.3 even though the Padres' first home stand of the young season just concluded. Kevin Klein, hired as morning man and taken off the air following his controversial "Jump" social media campaign which completely backfired.
Klein has still not gone on the air (as of press time) for the morning show, yet has yet to be terminated from the station. The possibility still remains that the Padres will attempt to revoke the contract with the rock music station and quickly move to another local radio station.
CHICAGO: Former Cubs outfielder and ESPN analyst Doug Glanville has joined NBC Sports Chicago. Although not an actual part of the network's pre and post-game programming, he is already a part of other Cubs related programming along with providing web site content about the team.
ALBANY: Although the local Mets radio affiliate changed starting this season (as we reported a couple weeks ago), the local Red Sox affiliate stays in tact. Fox Sports 980 has extended its affiliate contract through the 2020 season. The station has aired the games since the start of the 2012 season.
After four months of seemingly thousands of college basketball telecasts on numerous local stations along with regional and national networks, Turner Sports does not have any sort of package, even with a weaker conference, but expects millions of casual fans to somehow know that they had the Final Four this season.
While TBS, TNT, and TRU aired regional games, the casual fans could find telecasts on CBS at the same time.
Granted, it's hard to completely fault Turner Sports. You would think that for the many millions of dollars they pay to the NCAA just for the Tournament package they share with CBS that they would be entitled to some degree of a regular season presence.
Speaking being entitled, baseball fans are entitled to have their local teams available via their regular TV outlet for games which Facebook streams around the country each Wednesday afternoon this season. We understand that Facebook spent millions of dollars with MLB for this package, which includes MLB itself producing each telecast and providing the announcers and staff.
However, MLB and Facebook need to understand that most fans are paying more for their respective cable/satellite package every month because of the presence of these regional sports networks which air the games. This past Wednesday (4/4), the complete exclusivity that Facebook has prevented the Mets from airing on SNY and the Phillies from airing on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
That meant two large markets having no direct local telecast. With many of the fans at work and unable to watch a stream, they were deprived of a chance to see their local team. Those NYC and Phillies fans that were able to watch the stream of the game may have preferred something other than a phone or other small screen.
It would have been interesting to be able to compare local team viewership between the regular telecast ratings and how many more picked up the telecast on Facebook given both options.
Instead, it wasn't until the morning of the game before SNY showed alerts that it could not show this game. The NBC Sports Philadelphia web site had a blank spot on their schedule that morning, showing their schedule before 1:00 and nothing until after 4:30 for the afternoon.
Because of the fan backlash, teams which have upcoming Wednesday afternoon Facebook telecasts are now taking the lead and alerting their fans early that the games will not be shown locally. The impact is even larger throughout Canada where many of the Blue Jays games are shown regionally or nationally via SportsNet. The network has put out social media alerts telling fans that the scheduled Blue Jays streams on Facebook on April 18th and May 24th will not be available for telecasts, but will be airing on the SportsNet Radio Network.
Facebook did report rougly 4,300,000 views "of at least three seconds" of the Phillies vs. Mets stream with 1,200,000 "reactions" on the platform. One good thing for those watching is that, at least this time, there were no actual commercials, with between innings filled with game related content. Next Wednesday (4/11) it will be the Brewers vs. Cardinals, with the Blue Jays vs. Royals on April 18th.
Sorry, but we should all click on the "dislike" button unless they keep local team telecasts.
BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON D.C.: Baseball fans throughout the region that can't afford cable/satellite and/or have already cut the cord can forget about seeing either the Orioles or Nationals this entire season. MASN, in separate statements, clarified that MASN and MASN2 will be the "exclusive" channels for each team's games throughout the season. None of their games will appear on a local over the air channel, other than any of the few Saturdays when Fox Sports airs one of the teams on a regional basis.
SAN DIEGO: Still no word as of press time regarding the fate of Padres broadcasts on 97.3 even though the Padres' first home stand of the young season just concluded. Kevin Klein, hired as morning man and taken off the air following his controversial "Jump" social media campaign which completely backfired.
Klein has still not gone on the air (as of press time) for the morning show, yet has yet to be terminated from the station. The possibility still remains that the Padres will attempt to revoke the contract with the rock music station and quickly move to another local radio station.
CHICAGO: Former Cubs outfielder and ESPN analyst Doug Glanville has joined NBC Sports Chicago. Although not an actual part of the network's pre and post-game programming, he is already a part of other Cubs related programming along with providing web site content about the team.
ALBANY: Although the local Mets radio affiliate changed starting this season (as we reported a couple weeks ago), the local Red Sox affiliate stays in tact. Fox Sports 980 has extended its affiliate contract through the 2020 season. The station has aired the games since the start of the 2012 season.
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Baseball Telecasts In Full Swing
Play ball! We will know in just a couple of days how MLB's experiment of having all 30 teams open on the same day and moving it to a Thursday will work in terms of audience draw.
As much as the Sunday triple header opening seemed a good idea and made for a holiday atmosphere, this move to an earlier Thursday is most likely MLB's way of getting out from under the shadow of Final Four weekend. By moving up to Thursday, MLB finally gets the full spotlight it deserves, ahead of the Final Four and The Masters as the lead story.
ESPN showing a total of nine live games over the first five days of the regular season is also cause for discussion. On one hand, the network could attract viewers for the games as fans tune in expecting to see Final Four coverage on Sunday and Monday. On the other hand, having the majority of these telecasts going up against a full load of local/regional telecasts on Thursday and then on Sunday afternoon, along with the NCAA Tournament Championship on Monday night could combine to make these games a ratings challenge.
It's nothing short of amazing that ESPN is allowed to show the Cardinals vs. Mets game in the early Sunday afternoon slot (separate from its Sunday Night Baseball opener of Giants vs. Dodgers). This shows how much TBS drops the ball, so to speak, by waiting and waiting until after the All-Star break to begin its Sunday afternoon telecasts, long after baseball fans are in the habit of looking elsewhere for their Sunday telecasts.
MLB Network chips in with one telecast on Friday night, two on Saturday (outside of the FS1 game times) and a west coast game on Sunday to provide viewers with a national tripleheader on Sunday.
The once per week live streams on Facebook begin on Weds. April 4th with the Phillies vs. Mets telecast, with Brewers vs. Cardinals scheduled for the same 1 PM ET spot the following Wednesday. Facebook will show one weekday afternoon game each week this season under its $30 million deal. They also unveiled a rights package of 10 football and 16 basketball games they will stream from Conference USA starting in September, although CBS has priority of which games it wants across its network.
Over at the NFL, officials have to be laughing behind closed doors at the hype over the NFL Draft having risen to even more epic proportions. Mock drafts being touted as if they are news stories for weeks leading in are now only a part of this. As if there isn't already enough "coverage", now it seems that Fox Sports will also air both the first and second days of coverage, with ABC taking on ESPN's coverage of Day 3.
Yes, this means that all of the mass hysteria over sixth and seventh round draft picks as they happen will have expanded live national coverage even for those who do not pay for cable or satellite. No telling what else will be happening with the coverage, since the Draft is still one month away as of press time.
At ESPN, it's time to change the name of its ESPNews Network to ESPN4 or ESPNRadioOnTV or something else. It was originally intended to be continuous 30 minute sportscasts, but that concept has long since disappeared. Now, the Network has decided to move its radio show simulcasts over there during the weekdays starting next week (4/2).
The 6 AM ET to 6 PM ET schedule on this channel will consist of simulcasts of Golic & Wingo, Dan LeBatard with Stugotz, and the Will Cain Show.
This coming Memorial Day weekend will mark the end of an era when ABC shows its final Indy 500 live after more than 50 years. NBC's new Indy Car deal includes the Indy 500 starting in 2019 in the first of three years under this new pact. NBC will air eight Indy Car races total, with the remainder in the package airing on NBC Sports Network. The timing appears to be good for NBC on this one, since Indy Car viewership has reportedly increased by more than 80% over the past four years.
NEW YORK: Even with the MLB Opener, The Final Four, and The Masters in the spotlight over the next week, the whereabouts of Mike Francesa will likely be in the news. It seems that his "retirement" from WFAN does not mean he will remain fully retired. Francesa's non-compete clause expires as of April 1st, with numerous reports claiming that he has been negotiating to return to work. The thinking is that either a podcast or satellite radio show would be next, as it is hard to imagine giving up a premier position on WFAN to move to another radio station.
HOUSTON: The Astros have increased their Spanish broadcast presence in time for the regular season, announcing a new multi-year agreement to have all 162 regular season games air on both LaRanchera Deportes stations, 850 and 101.7. Francisco Romero returns for his 11th season on play-by-play along with (former Astros catcher) Alex Trevino, who returns for his 23rd season as analyst.
SAN DIEGO: XPRS The Mighty 1090 has put the team of Ben Higgins and Steve Woods onto its morning show as of this week. Higgins will continue as Sports Director and nightly anchor on KGTV Channel 10 in addition. The duo replaces Dan Sileo.
ALBANY: The Mets broadcasts have moved over to WROW 590 and 100.5 effective immediately due to a change in format by WINU radio.
As much as the Sunday triple header opening seemed a good idea and made for a holiday atmosphere, this move to an earlier Thursday is most likely MLB's way of getting out from under the shadow of Final Four weekend. By moving up to Thursday, MLB finally gets the full spotlight it deserves, ahead of the Final Four and The Masters as the lead story.
ESPN showing a total of nine live games over the first five days of the regular season is also cause for discussion. On one hand, the network could attract viewers for the games as fans tune in expecting to see Final Four coverage on Sunday and Monday. On the other hand, having the majority of these telecasts going up against a full load of local/regional telecasts on Thursday and then on Sunday afternoon, along with the NCAA Tournament Championship on Monday night could combine to make these games a ratings challenge.
It's nothing short of amazing that ESPN is allowed to show the Cardinals vs. Mets game in the early Sunday afternoon slot (separate from its Sunday Night Baseball opener of Giants vs. Dodgers). This shows how much TBS drops the ball, so to speak, by waiting and waiting until after the All-Star break to begin its Sunday afternoon telecasts, long after baseball fans are in the habit of looking elsewhere for their Sunday telecasts.
MLB Network chips in with one telecast on Friday night, two on Saturday (outside of the FS1 game times) and a west coast game on Sunday to provide viewers with a national tripleheader on Sunday.
The once per week live streams on Facebook begin on Weds. April 4th with the Phillies vs. Mets telecast, with Brewers vs. Cardinals scheduled for the same 1 PM ET spot the following Wednesday. Facebook will show one weekday afternoon game each week this season under its $30 million deal. They also unveiled a rights package of 10 football and 16 basketball games they will stream from Conference USA starting in September, although CBS has priority of which games it wants across its network.
Over at the NFL, officials have to be laughing behind closed doors at the hype over the NFL Draft having risen to even more epic proportions. Mock drafts being touted as if they are news stories for weeks leading in are now only a part of this. As if there isn't already enough "coverage", now it seems that Fox Sports will also air both the first and second days of coverage, with ABC taking on ESPN's coverage of Day 3.
Yes, this means that all of the mass hysteria over sixth and seventh round draft picks as they happen will have expanded live national coverage even for those who do not pay for cable or satellite. No telling what else will be happening with the coverage, since the Draft is still one month away as of press time.
At ESPN, it's time to change the name of its ESPNews Network to ESPN4 or ESPNRadioOnTV or something else. It was originally intended to be continuous 30 minute sportscasts, but that concept has long since disappeared. Now, the Network has decided to move its radio show simulcasts over there during the weekdays starting next week (4/2).
The 6 AM ET to 6 PM ET schedule on this channel will consist of simulcasts of Golic & Wingo, Dan LeBatard with Stugotz, and the Will Cain Show.
This coming Memorial Day weekend will mark the end of an era when ABC shows its final Indy 500 live after more than 50 years. NBC's new Indy Car deal includes the Indy 500 starting in 2019 in the first of three years under this new pact. NBC will air eight Indy Car races total, with the remainder in the package airing on NBC Sports Network. The timing appears to be good for NBC on this one, since Indy Car viewership has reportedly increased by more than 80% over the past four years.
NEW YORK: Even with the MLB Opener, The Final Four, and The Masters in the spotlight over the next week, the whereabouts of Mike Francesa will likely be in the news. It seems that his "retirement" from WFAN does not mean he will remain fully retired. Francesa's non-compete clause expires as of April 1st, with numerous reports claiming that he has been negotiating to return to work. The thinking is that either a podcast or satellite radio show would be next, as it is hard to imagine giving up a premier position on WFAN to move to another radio station.
HOUSTON: The Astros have increased their Spanish broadcast presence in time for the regular season, announcing a new multi-year agreement to have all 162 regular season games air on both LaRanchera Deportes stations, 850 and 101.7. Francisco Romero returns for his 11th season on play-by-play along with (former Astros catcher) Alex Trevino, who returns for his 23rd season as analyst.
SAN DIEGO: XPRS The Mighty 1090 has put the team of Ben Higgins and Steve Woods onto its morning show as of this week. Higgins will continue as Sports Director and nightly anchor on KGTV Channel 10 in addition. The duo replaces Dan Sileo.
ALBANY: The Mets broadcasts have moved over to WROW 590 and 100.5 effective immediately due to a change in format by WINU radio.
Monday, March 19, 2018
Tournament Viewing Down Early
As we go into the 2nd week of the NCAA Tournament it will be interesting to see how the 'real' TV ratings go the rest of the way. The fact is that they were actually down from last year for the first weekend. It was only when viewers watching by way of streaming were included that the viewership actually rose above last season.
This is a significant development, if it continues. Sports fans know that the Tournament is appointment TV for a lot of fans, and advertisers know that people "watching" on their phones and tablets don't always pay attention when commercials are airing. It could be because of the upsets, such as top seeded Virginia losing in the opener, which cost some viewers.
One media storyline of this Tournament will be Loyola-Chicago for next season regardless of whether or not they advance past this coming Thursday. Their first NCAA Tournament wins since 1985 could be significant for the team's media presence within its local Chicago market.
Fans around the country are probably not aware that Loyola has not had so much as a local radio contract for many years. Only the limited power campus FM station has been airing the games for many years, while other Chicago schools such as DePaul and University of Illinois-Chicago have had some to all of their games aired on 50,000 watt AM stations. It will be interesting to see whether or not the school can pick up on this success and gain a radio deal starting next season.
The Nielsen radio ratings from February are coming out this week, and it's not generally not favorable for major sports stations (although the Boston ratings were not released as of press time).
The big story comes from New York, with WFAN now two months into the new year of having new shows in both its morning and afternoon drive time slots.
It seems that the air talent does make a difference in NYC sports radio. In morning drive, Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti ranked #6 in the market's morning show ratings, while WEPN ESPN came in 14th while airing its new ESPN national morning show.
Afternoons are a different story, especially for those who recall The Broadcast Booth's speculation last year that WFAN was going after Michael Kay's show from rival WEPN. For the just concluded ratings period, Kay's show, which was signed to a large contract extension prior to the WFAN selection of Chris Carlin, Maggie Gray, and Bart Scott for afternoons (replacing Mike Francesa), finished a full ratings point higher than WFAN's new show in the important males aged 25-54 demographic. (The full numbers were not available at press time.)
Overall, WFAN dropped .6 of a ratings point and is now only at #14 overall in the market, while WEPN rose .2 while finishing only at #22 overall.
In Philadelphia, despite dropping .8 of a ratings point, WIP-FM remained #1 in the market, while WPEN ESPN dropped .2 and came in at #16.
Chicago's sports stations both dropped, with WSCR The Score 670 dipping .2 and WMVP ESPN 1000 dipping by .1, with neither station making the market's top 20. This is a considerable dip for WSCR, which spent some of the past year in the market's top five stations. The station, as we mentioned last week, just made a lineup change for its midday and afternoon drive shows after this ratings book concluded.
All three of the Dallas sports stations dropped this time, while the gap widened. KTCK-AM The Ticket dropped .3 and finished at #13 overall, with over 30% more listeners than KRLD-FM and over triple the total audience of KESN-FM ESPN.
In San Francisco, KNBR saw its total audience dip by 10% from the month prior and is now at #10 overall, actually losing ground to KGMZ-FM The Game, which gained .4 of a ratings point during the same time.
Houston's three sports stations, which showed signs of life after the Astros championship last fall, are back to being completely out of the market's top 20 stations, as all three stations are at or under a 0.8 total rating.
Although the NFL schedule for the 2018 regular season won't be released until mid-April, the word is that NBC will hit the jackpot for its Thursday Night Football NFL Kickoff telecast to start the regular season. As much as we don't like to report speculation (like so many media members do and would), even the possibility that it really will be Minnesota at Philadelphia to open the season is worth talking about.
CBS Sports Network has expanded its deal with Conference USA, which includes airing nine football games along with the Conference Championship Game next season. In addition, this new deal will include the basketball semi-finals and championship games.
This is a significant development, if it continues. Sports fans know that the Tournament is appointment TV for a lot of fans, and advertisers know that people "watching" on their phones and tablets don't always pay attention when commercials are airing. It could be because of the upsets, such as top seeded Virginia losing in the opener, which cost some viewers.
One media storyline of this Tournament will be Loyola-Chicago for next season regardless of whether or not they advance past this coming Thursday. Their first NCAA Tournament wins since 1985 could be significant for the team's media presence within its local Chicago market.
Fans around the country are probably not aware that Loyola has not had so much as a local radio contract for many years. Only the limited power campus FM station has been airing the games for many years, while other Chicago schools such as DePaul and University of Illinois-Chicago have had some to all of their games aired on 50,000 watt AM stations. It will be interesting to see whether or not the school can pick up on this success and gain a radio deal starting next season.
The Nielsen radio ratings from February are coming out this week, and it's not generally not favorable for major sports stations (although the Boston ratings were not released as of press time).
The big story comes from New York, with WFAN now two months into the new year of having new shows in both its morning and afternoon drive time slots.
It seems that the air talent does make a difference in NYC sports radio. In morning drive, Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti ranked #6 in the market's morning show ratings, while WEPN ESPN came in 14th while airing its new ESPN national morning show.
Afternoons are a different story, especially for those who recall The Broadcast Booth's speculation last year that WFAN was going after Michael Kay's show from rival WEPN. For the just concluded ratings period, Kay's show, which was signed to a large contract extension prior to the WFAN selection of Chris Carlin, Maggie Gray, and Bart Scott for afternoons (replacing Mike Francesa), finished a full ratings point higher than WFAN's new show in the important males aged 25-54 demographic. (The full numbers were not available at press time.)
Overall, WFAN dropped .6 of a ratings point and is now only at #14 overall in the market, while WEPN rose .2 while finishing only at #22 overall.
In Philadelphia, despite dropping .8 of a ratings point, WIP-FM remained #1 in the market, while WPEN ESPN dropped .2 and came in at #16.
Chicago's sports stations both dropped, with WSCR The Score 670 dipping .2 and WMVP ESPN 1000 dipping by .1, with neither station making the market's top 20. This is a considerable dip for WSCR, which spent some of the past year in the market's top five stations. The station, as we mentioned last week, just made a lineup change for its midday and afternoon drive shows after this ratings book concluded.
All three of the Dallas sports stations dropped this time, while the gap widened. KTCK-AM The Ticket dropped .3 and finished at #13 overall, with over 30% more listeners than KRLD-FM and over triple the total audience of KESN-FM ESPN.
In San Francisco, KNBR saw its total audience dip by 10% from the month prior and is now at #10 overall, actually losing ground to KGMZ-FM The Game, which gained .4 of a ratings point during the same time.
Houston's three sports stations, which showed signs of life after the Astros championship last fall, are back to being completely out of the market's top 20 stations, as all three stations are at or under a 0.8 total rating.
Although the NFL schedule for the 2018 regular season won't be released until mid-April, the word is that NBC will hit the jackpot for its Thursday Night Football NFL Kickoff telecast to start the regular season. As much as we don't like to report speculation (like so many media members do and would), even the possibility that it really will be Minnesota at Philadelphia to open the season is worth talking about.
CBS Sports Network has expanded its deal with Conference USA, which includes airing nine football games along with the Conference Championship Game next season. In addition, this new deal will include the basketball semi-finals and championship games.
Thursday, March 15, 2018
A True Head Turner
The continuing lack of awareness that Turner Sports has created over the years bit them still again this past Sunday (3/11), this time resulting in low ratings for its first ever telecast of the NCAA Tournament Selection Show.
Some could make the point that Turner Sports was a victim of circumstance. Over the past couple of years CBS, which had aired the Selection Show for the previous 35 years, has come under fire for forcing viewers to wait for up to nearly two hours before revealing all of the pairings around the country. They could say that the lower ratings this year were due to fans simply not wanting to wait that long.
However, this is still another instance of Turner Sports expecting TV viewers to magically know when they have an important telecast for sports fans.
Granted, the ratings for the TNT telecasts of the NBA are relatively solid. This is the one series of telecasts for which Turner Sports is the most consistent. With its NBA package, the network begins with a couple of pre-season telecasts and gets rolling with an opening night doubleheader. Typically, TNT has a second doubleheader within the first four nights of the regular season.
Although they don't always stick to every Thursday night all season, eliminating some Thursdays and replacing them with other nights of the week, in this case the NBA has a clear presence on TNT from pre-season through the Conference finals. (TNT alternates showing either the East or West Conference championship series.)
When it comes to MLB, TBS dropped the ball (so to speak) a couple of years ago when it reduced its Sunday regular season telecasts from every Sunday to only for the second half of the season. In addition, the network has never had a consistent time for its Sunday games to begin. By the time they begin their Sunday telecasts (again this season), fans already have their Sunday viewing pattern of local or regional telecasts during the afternoon and/or Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN.
Since TBS does so little, outside of Turner regular programming, to promote their MLB telecasts, their Sunday regular season telecast ratings rarely score well. Our theory is that because of this, the more casual fan doesn't know to check TBS for its post-season telecasts either.
Just as fans don't think TBS for baseball, they don't think Turner Sports for the NCAA Selection Show. Why would they? Keep in mind that Turner Sports did not have so much as a regular season package of college hoops to promote their involvement. The feeling here is that literally millions of fans tuned to CBS this past Sunday and thought they missed the Selection Show. When they didn't find it, chances are they tuned over to ESPN, which shows seemingly thousands of college hoops games all season long, including those involving schools very few even care about.
Due to the contract with the NCAA, the Selection Show returns to CBS next March, and you can bet so will stronger ratings. Since CBS has a regular season contract which builds familiarity, it won't be an issue. A little consistency goes a long way.
A study by Media Post shows that for 2017, the NCAA tournament generated the second most national TV advertising revenue of any sport, second only to the NFL post-season which includes the Super Bowl. What this means is that this Tournament is considered more effective for national advertisers than either the NBA or MLB post-season telecasts - of which Turner Sports is a part.
Over the past five years, college football post season bowl game ratings have climbed 8.8%. ESPN has the majority of these telecasts, coming after televising numerous games every week of the entire season along with webcasts of many other games at the exact same times.
A little awareness goes a long way.
In the case of the upcoming NFL Draft, the awareness is again getting out of hand at ESPN. It is understandable that the network wants to hype its coverage of the Draft next month. Doing all of the speculation and mock drafting is perfectly fine. However, the recent trend of making predictions part of "Breaking News" or even the "Bottom Line" has become even more annoying already this year.
Mel Kiper or another of their experts changing or making a mere prediction about draft scenarios is simply NOT news in any way, shape, or form. ESPN should realize that some fans will watch a game or event they are not interested in so they can follow the scores and updates at the bottom which they are concerned about.
Too much clutter which is not related to actual results and news will send them to other sources to get the information they are seeking. The factual information, not merely a prediction.
ESPN has extended its agreement to carry Sun Belt Conference football for another eight seasons. The network will carry all games controlled by the Conference (home games, etc.) either on its family of networks, streaming, or on its upcoming additional pay tier.
CHICAGO: WSCR 670 The Score announced immediate changes this week to both its afternoon drive and midday shows, bringing back two co-hosts. Dan McNeil, one of the original hosts on the station in 1992, returns to the station as co-host of its afternoon show, with Danny Parkins remaining.
Dan Bernstein moves out of afternoons and into middays where he is now teamed with Connor McKnight, who returns to the station in a much more prominent role than previously. McKnight returns to The Score from WLS 890 within weeks of WLS losing the White Sox broadcasts to WGN 720 as of this season, after hosting the pre and post game shows for the previous two seasons.
As a result of these changes, hosts Jason Goff and Matt Spiegel are out of their weekday gigs, but as of press time are still with the station.
HOUSTON: While the Rockets are enjoying what could be their best regular season ever, the local carriers and fans are not willing to pay up to enjoy it with them. AT&T SportsNet Southwest, which airs the majority of the telecasts, is still not carried by Dish, Suddenlink, and other providers which refuse to offer the $5 per month channel.
The recent Rockets telecasts on ABC (KTRK 13) have scored high local ratings, including last month's prime time game against Golden State which scored a local 8.1 rating. Their recent Wednesday night game against the L.A. Clippers and aired locally from ESPN scored more than one ratings point higher than the AT&T SportsNet local telecast.
While the regional network's ratings for the Rockets were down roughly 20% from last season as of the All-Star break, the NBA's local cable telecast ratings around the league were up 9% for the season during the same period.
LOS ANGELES: As the Dodgers face a situation like Houston's in which major carriers still have not picked up the Dodgers channel (SportsNet L.A.), there is a bit of relief in store for the early season. Once again the Dodgers want to sell tickets, so they have announced that KTLA Channel 5 will air at least five early regular season games as a simulcast, including an entire three game series against the rival San Francisco Giants.
BIRMINGHAM: WJOX has dropped its "Opening Drive" show, which was hosted by Jay Barker (former Alabama QB), Al Del Greco (former Auburn and NFL kicker) and Tony Kurre.
Some could make the point that Turner Sports was a victim of circumstance. Over the past couple of years CBS, which had aired the Selection Show for the previous 35 years, has come under fire for forcing viewers to wait for up to nearly two hours before revealing all of the pairings around the country. They could say that the lower ratings this year were due to fans simply not wanting to wait that long.
However, this is still another instance of Turner Sports expecting TV viewers to magically know when they have an important telecast for sports fans.
Granted, the ratings for the TNT telecasts of the NBA are relatively solid. This is the one series of telecasts for which Turner Sports is the most consistent. With its NBA package, the network begins with a couple of pre-season telecasts and gets rolling with an opening night doubleheader. Typically, TNT has a second doubleheader within the first four nights of the regular season.
Although they don't always stick to every Thursday night all season, eliminating some Thursdays and replacing them with other nights of the week, in this case the NBA has a clear presence on TNT from pre-season through the Conference finals. (TNT alternates showing either the East or West Conference championship series.)
When it comes to MLB, TBS dropped the ball (so to speak) a couple of years ago when it reduced its Sunday regular season telecasts from every Sunday to only for the second half of the season. In addition, the network has never had a consistent time for its Sunday games to begin. By the time they begin their Sunday telecasts (again this season), fans already have their Sunday viewing pattern of local or regional telecasts during the afternoon and/or Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN.
Since TBS does so little, outside of Turner regular programming, to promote their MLB telecasts, their Sunday regular season telecast ratings rarely score well. Our theory is that because of this, the more casual fan doesn't know to check TBS for its post-season telecasts either.
Just as fans don't think TBS for baseball, they don't think Turner Sports for the NCAA Selection Show. Why would they? Keep in mind that Turner Sports did not have so much as a regular season package of college hoops to promote their involvement. The feeling here is that literally millions of fans tuned to CBS this past Sunday and thought they missed the Selection Show. When they didn't find it, chances are they tuned over to ESPN, which shows seemingly thousands of college hoops games all season long, including those involving schools very few even care about.
Due to the contract with the NCAA, the Selection Show returns to CBS next March, and you can bet so will stronger ratings. Since CBS has a regular season contract which builds familiarity, it won't be an issue. A little consistency goes a long way.
A study by Media Post shows that for 2017, the NCAA tournament generated the second most national TV advertising revenue of any sport, second only to the NFL post-season which includes the Super Bowl. What this means is that this Tournament is considered more effective for national advertisers than either the NBA or MLB post-season telecasts - of which Turner Sports is a part.
Over the past five years, college football post season bowl game ratings have climbed 8.8%. ESPN has the majority of these telecasts, coming after televising numerous games every week of the entire season along with webcasts of many other games at the exact same times.
A little awareness goes a long way.
In the case of the upcoming NFL Draft, the awareness is again getting out of hand at ESPN. It is understandable that the network wants to hype its coverage of the Draft next month. Doing all of the speculation and mock drafting is perfectly fine. However, the recent trend of making predictions part of "Breaking News" or even the "Bottom Line" has become even more annoying already this year.
Mel Kiper or another of their experts changing or making a mere prediction about draft scenarios is simply NOT news in any way, shape, or form. ESPN should realize that some fans will watch a game or event they are not interested in so they can follow the scores and updates at the bottom which they are concerned about.
Too much clutter which is not related to actual results and news will send them to other sources to get the information they are seeking. The factual information, not merely a prediction.
ESPN has extended its agreement to carry Sun Belt Conference football for another eight seasons. The network will carry all games controlled by the Conference (home games, etc.) either on its family of networks, streaming, or on its upcoming additional pay tier.
CHICAGO: WSCR 670 The Score announced immediate changes this week to both its afternoon drive and midday shows, bringing back two co-hosts. Dan McNeil, one of the original hosts on the station in 1992, returns to the station as co-host of its afternoon show, with Danny Parkins remaining.
Dan Bernstein moves out of afternoons and into middays where he is now teamed with Connor McKnight, who returns to the station in a much more prominent role than previously. McKnight returns to The Score from WLS 890 within weeks of WLS losing the White Sox broadcasts to WGN 720 as of this season, after hosting the pre and post game shows for the previous two seasons.
As a result of these changes, hosts Jason Goff and Matt Spiegel are out of their weekday gigs, but as of press time are still with the station.
HOUSTON: While the Rockets are enjoying what could be their best regular season ever, the local carriers and fans are not willing to pay up to enjoy it with them. AT&T SportsNet Southwest, which airs the majority of the telecasts, is still not carried by Dish, Suddenlink, and other providers which refuse to offer the $5 per month channel.
The recent Rockets telecasts on ABC (KTRK 13) have scored high local ratings, including last month's prime time game against Golden State which scored a local 8.1 rating. Their recent Wednesday night game against the L.A. Clippers and aired locally from ESPN scored more than one ratings point higher than the AT&T SportsNet local telecast.
While the regional network's ratings for the Rockets were down roughly 20% from last season as of the All-Star break, the NBA's local cable telecast ratings around the league were up 9% for the season during the same period.
LOS ANGELES: As the Dodgers face a situation like Houston's in which major carriers still have not picked up the Dodgers channel (SportsNet L.A.), there is a bit of relief in store for the early season. Once again the Dodgers want to sell tickets, so they have announced that KTLA Channel 5 will air at least five early regular season games as a simulcast, including an entire three game series against the rival San Francisco Giants.
BIRMINGHAM: WJOX has dropped its "Opening Drive" show, which was hosted by Jay Barker (former Alabama QB), Al Del Greco (former Auburn and NFL kicker) and Tony Kurre.
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