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.