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.
Thursday, August 23, 2018
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.
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