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.
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
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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