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.