Milwaukee Brewing Up A Ton of Sports

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.