This has been one of my complaints about MLB and NFL telecasts in general over the past few years, and now it seems to be spreading to radio. As a viewer or listener tuning in for the start of a game, especially a local team's game, I'd like to know the starting lineup before the first pitch or kickoff.
On the baseball side, we learn about the pitching matchup for the upcoming game, and that is understandable. However, in many cases I already know the matchup. In the case of some regional or national telecasts, the matchup could be a reason for tuning in. Now that more and more teams start their games at 7:10 (or 1:10, etc.), this allows more time than years before for the telecasts to set the scene. We will see the announcers talk up the pitching matchup, the weather, the current winning or losing streak of the participating teams, and seeming everything else - except for the starting lineups.
Most of the time, I am expected to wait until the bottom of the first inning is starting before I see the home team's batting order. Why is that? If the telecast started 30 seconds before the first pitch, maybe I could understand. Now I don't even know who is batting cleanup for the home team until after 3 outs have been made. When watching an American League game, I don't even know who the DH is, or where he is batting in the lineup until later on. This is more aggravating on TV, because there is the ability to show the batting orders on the screen, even as a bottom line scroll, minutes before the game itself begins.
For years, I have taught my students, both at the college level and privately, about putting the batting order and related information about players in the game at the top of a broadcast, BEFORE the action starts. It just might keep a viewer or listener captive once they know the team's best hitter is batting 3rd in the very first inning. Why is this not a priority anymore?
I go back to the days of some teams actually having the local public address announcer read the lineups on the pregame shows when the team was home.
Yet, now the radio side is going more in the opposite direction. As if all we need to know is who the starting pitchers are. At this rate, some local broadcasts will have a sponsor for every batter in the lineup when they announce it.
Granted, football is out of season at the moment, but it's the same gripe there, especially on the TV side. The network televising the game has just done a one hour (or longer) pre-game show. Now, the NFL games no longer start at 1:03 or 4:05. The telecasts have more time than ever before to open up.
Yet, each team's first offensive drive, often an important indicator of the game to come, is buried while the televising network THEN shows us the starting running backs and receivers. And then the defenders. It sometimes happens where a key play has already taken place before viewers are introduced to who is playing the key positions already involved in that play. Again, if the telecast had just signed on, or it is a late game joined in progress, it is or would be understandable to need to recap the players in the game instead of the play.
Obviously, this is not stopping people from watching or listening. The TV ratings for anything and everything live in the four major sports over the past couple of years prove that. Now radio ratings for baseball are going up and up around the country this season.
Now if us viewers and listeners could be better informed about the game's participants before it starts, we'll get even better coverage of the early plays. Sometimes I think if Abbott & Costello were writing a routine today, it would be: "Who's on first?" "Not sure, we'll have to wait until the next half inning." And the audience would go home without so much as a chuckle.
Meanwhile, there are times when rumors and 'possibilities' in sports media are justified as a call to action. The possibility of Winnipeg getting back into the NHL is one of those. While no one knows for sure that the Atlanta Thrashers would actually relocate in time for the coming season, CJOB Radio management has already been quoted locally as expressing an interest in broadcasting the team's games. CJOB currently airs Manitoba Moose hockey and Blue Bombers (CFL) football, yet is not an all sports station. Sports Radio 1290 is, yet only carries the baseball Winnipeg Goldeyes for local play-by-play. In this instance, these stations figure to be ready to, if I might, face off against each other should the team relocate there.
Sorry to learn of the passing of Paul Splittorff, who will forever be identified with the Kansas City Royals for whom he pitched and later broadcast for. He lost his battle with cancer earlier this week at the age of 64. Splittorff eventually added basketball to his broadcast duties, appearing on many Big 12 Conference game broadcasts over the years.
This past few days also brought us two separate instances of sportscasters putting themselves into a "news" story. WEPN 1050 sports anchor Jared Max suddenly decided to reveal that he is gay during his 5 to 6 AM shift one morning last week. Max had been on WCBS-AM New York for 16 years without this information having been public. At least some other sportscaster didn't report the "rumor" first.
Then, this past Wednesday WKYC-TV sports anchor Jim Donovan, who has been with the station since 1985, revealed on the air that he is going on medical leave due to needing a bone marrow transplant in his ongoing battle against leukemia. Dave Chudowsky will add to his weekend sports anchoring to fill in for Dononvan.
HOUSTON: KILT 610, which continues to lead the sports radio pack in Houston, is planning its 2nd annual Fan Fest for Saturday June 4th at the Reliant Center. Among those scheduled to appear to meet and greet the fans in attendance are Dan Pastorini, Warren Moon, Robert Horry, and Jose Cruz. It is great to see sports stations engage with the fans this way.
Astros broadcaster Milo Hamilton managed to find a reason to enjoy the existence of interleague play last weekend (May 20-22). Milo made a rare road trip when the Astros went to Toronto to play in the former SkyDome for the first time. That made it a total of 59 major league ballparks from which Milo has called a MLB game over the years. Keep in mind there are 30 teams total, and two of them (Boston and Chgo. Cubs) have had the same ballpark during Milo's lifetime. It's safe to say that it wasn't the lure of the Astros vs. Blue Jays "rivalry" that gave him a reason to make the visit. But in this era of broadcast rights changing and some announcers not doing every game of their team, Milo may hold the distinction of the most MLB ballparks for many many years. It's as though Hank Aaron should say, "There's a new baseball broadcasting king of all time........and it's Milo Hamilton!".
MILWAUKEE: The trend around the country of stations carrying baseball in April gaining in audience most certainly continued in Milwaukee. The April ratings showed a rise from WTMJ 620 as it began still another season as the Brewers' flagship station. WTMJ is a news/talk station with some sports programming to go along with its extensive local play-by-play roster (Brewers, Bucks, Packers, U. of Wisconsin). However, the latest ratings were a disaster for the 2 full-time sports stations. WAUK ESPN 540 literally lost half of its overall audience since the previous ratings book just a month prior. In fact, WSCR The Score 670 from Chicago (75 miles away) actually matched WAUK's overall ratings for the month, while WSCR does not talk Milwaukee sports at all. (WSCR rarely gives the Brewers scores on its so-called "Scoreboard Updates".) Rival WSSP dropped 25% of its audience, although that is from a .4 to a .3 overall, and trails both WAUK and WSCR.
I know a couple of people who are on WAUK and can tell you it's not from any major changes or from lack of effort. This news supports my theory that sports fans want to watch and listen to the games and get opinions from "experts" online and during the games instead of the same "fan on the street".
PORTLAND: As of this week, "The Game" no longer simulcasts on 101.1 FM, now only airing on KXL-AM 750 while the FM changes to another format. It will be interesting to see how many listeners who had been on the FM side will regularly switch over to the AM dial for their sports talk lineup.
BALTIMORE: Even though the Orioles and Washington Nationals are settling in the lower half of the respective division standings, the fans are watching their games on TV this season. Orioles telecasts on MASN were reportedly up about 24% compared with the same period last season, through the first 26 telecasts. A more detailed report shows that the ratio of increase is much higher from the D.C. area for Orioles games. Yet, D.C. area viewers are not choosing the O's over the Nationals games (tempting as that may be).
The Nationals' TV ratings, while not matching those of the Orioles, are up more than 70% for their MASN telecasts thus far.
SCHEDULES: There will be plenty of nationally televised baseball over the Memorial Day weekend, as we have come to expect.
Friday night (5/27), MLB Network shows Cinci vs. Atlanta. On Saturday afternoon, MLB Network shows San Francisco at Milwaukee in the 4 PM ET slot usually reserved for Fox. Fox continues its prime time baseball coverage with 6 regional telecasts on Saturday night.
The TBS Sunday afternoon game has Boston at Detroit, while Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN has Cinci vs. Atlanta.
On Monday, Memorial Day, MLB Network shows Minnesota at Detroit at 1 PM ET, and then Milwaukee vs. Cincinnati at 7 PM ET. These are all, of course, in addition to the usual local telecasts.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend, and we leave you with the Big Ten Network's just announced list of prime time football games it will show this fall:
2011 BIG TEN NETWORK PRIMETIME SCHEDULE
Sept. 2, 7:30pm ET Youngstown State at Michigan State (10th night game 88-year history of Spartan Stadium)
Sept. 10, 7pm ET Virginia at Indiana
Sept. 17, 7pm ET Arizona State at Illinois
Sept. 24, 7pm ET North Dakota State at Minnesota
Oct. 8, 7pm ET Michigan at Northwestern (13th night game in Northwestern’s home stadium history)
Oct. 15, 7pm ET Northwestern at Iowa
Oct. 22, 7pm ET Penn State at Northwestern
Showing posts with label baltimore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baltimore. Show all posts
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sports Media Update - Jan. 27th
Sports radio and the Super Bowl. For this column, these are both the "big game" over the next 10 days. We may actually find out how "big".
The game itself is always a huge audience draw capping off a day which is really more of a national holiday than some of the true national holidays. Over the last few years, especially, many of the local sports stations in larger markets, including some without NFL teams, set up shop for the week leading into the game on press row covering the Super Bowl. Members of the participating teams, along with players and coaches from NFL teams past and present also attend and go up and down the rows of station tables.
Over the years, unless my favorite team is in the game, I have personally reduced the amount of time I spend listening and watching sportcasts during the days leading in to the Super Bowl. I don't like being tired of hearing about the game long before it happens. And from talking with others around the country, I'm definitely not alone in feeling that way.
Why is this year different? I'm sure it's not, at least as far as the sports stations staffing radio row in Miami. But this year we have many of the NFL markets being measured monthly with the PPM system. We have seen steady growth among many of the sports stations, including some markets with more than one sports radio station increase their audience in recent months.
I, for one, will be curious to see if or how the ratings are impacted for the sports stations emphasizing the Super Bowl during the last week of January. The ones not in Indiana or Louisiana, that is.
If the out-of-market sports stations with a table at Super Bowl week show an audience drop after months of increase, maybe we will finally see the end of the hour after hour about the Super Bowl by next year. But if the increase continues, well, then I guess I'll continue my tradition of not listening and watching the endless Super Bowl hype for years to come. But now we will know. The ratings information is distributed every month, rather than every quarter so we will benefit with more specific audience information.
Then again, the TV ratings for the AFC and NFC Championship telecasts were sensational. But that is game action, and not a talk show. Early reports show that Fox had the biggest audience for the NFC game than any TV program (sports or not) other than a Super Bowl since 1998, and that was the Seinfeld finale.
The Colts vs. Jets game was the highest rated AFC Championship game in 24 years.
Now we'll see if those viewers prefer to wait until the Super Bowl game itself, or if they really want to talk about it day after day.
NBA-TV is making more strides this season, its first on some of the larger cable systems. I am looking forward to a new show the network is producing called "Making the Call". The show will focus on rules and regulations. The debut show premieres on Wednesday (Jan. 27) with Ronnie Nunn, the NBA Director of Officiating, as the primary guest. I'm sure there a few head coaches who would have liked to have done the questioning!
The network will be showing plenty of games over the next few days, picking up local telecasts:
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 27 Los Angeles Lakers @ Indiana Pacers
FRIDAY, JAN. 29 Boston Celtics @ Atlanta Hawks
SATURDAY, JAN. 30 Atlanta Hawks @ Orlando Magic
SUNDAY, JAN. 31 Phoenix Suns @ Houston Rockets
It will be interesting to see if the true basketball fans prevail over the big market casual fans for next Tuesday (Feb. 2), when NBA-TV presents its "Fan Night" game. One of the choices is Detroit at New Jersey. That game is only news because one of the those teams will probably win a game. Yet, those are both huge TV markets. The logical choice is Atlanta vs. Oklahoma City in a battle of 2 hot teams making strong playoff runs.
On the baseball side, ESPN has announced some of its upcoming Sunday Night Baseball matchups:
April 4 Opening Night: New York Yankees at Boston
April 11 St. Louis at Milwaukee
April 18 New York Mets at St. Louis
April 25 Atlanta at N.Y. Mets
May 2 N.Y. Mets at Philadelphia
May 9 N.Y. Yankees at Boston
May 16 Philadelphia at Milwaukee
May 23 N.Y. Yankees at N.Y. Mets
May 30 Texas at Minnesota
July 4 Kansas City at L.A. Angels
July 11 Chicago Cubs at L.A. Dodgers
July 18 Philadelphia at Chicago Cubs
Yes, 2 of the first 6 weeks are Yankees vs. Red Sox. As if that is a surprise.
Spring training games could be abundant this season more than ever. No official word yet from MLB Network, which picked up about 30 telecasts last March. ESPN has announced it will televise 10 exhibition games from March 22 through Friday April 2, during the last 2 weeks of exhibition play.
ESPN will kick off the regular season with 5 games on Monday April 5 (making it 6 opening games counting the April 4 Yankees vs. Red Sox telecast). American League fans will enjoy Cleveland at Chicago White Sox and Minnesota at L A Angels. National League fans will enjoy St. Louis at Cincinnati, Chicago Cubs at Atlanta, and San Francisco at Houston.
In addition to its Saturday Game of the Week, Fox-TV might be moving 2 of its telecasts into prime time. USA Today reports that one would be in May and the other in June. As good as that sounds for baseball fans, that seems too early in the season to offer a compelling matchup for prime time.
BOSTON: Baseball fans in the Boston area get an interesting opportunity this Thursday (Jan. 28) evening. The Cambridge Center for Adult Education begins its "Homerun in Harvard Square" seminar series at 6 PM. The guest will be none other than Peter Gammons, now with MLB Network. Upcoming confirmed guests are Tom DiBenedetto, Red Sox partner; Jed Lowrie, Red Sox infielder; and Larry Silverstein, attorney/special counsel to the LA Dodgers. Details at www.ccae.org.
CINCINNATI: Great idea from Fox Sports Ohio to promote the upcoming Reds season. The Network has taken a group of telecasts of significant Reds games from the past 40 years and synced the audio of the radio broadcasts with Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall.
Included in the Monday night series will be Game 4 of the 1970 World Series, Tom Browning's perfect game, the clinching 1976 NLCS game vs. Philadelphia, Tom Seaver's no-hitter vs. St. Louis from 1978, the 1985 game in which Pete Rose breaks the all-time hit record, and Game 7 of the memorable 1975 World Series.
It's too bad that the rest of the country can't enjoy these, especially with the hometown flavor of "Marty and Joe on Reds radio". Here is a regional network producing this, while the nationally available ESPN Classic sticks us with poker, bowling, boxing, and probably tiddly winks in prime time.
BALTIMORE: Anita Marks is no longer a part of afternoon drive on The Fan 105.7, and also shown on MASN, after nearly 4 years. She had been co-hosting the show with Scott Garceau.
SAN FRANCISCO: Extra Sports 860 will no longer be living up to its name as of next week. KTRB will begin running the syndicated Michael Savage show from 3 to 6 PM as of Monday (Feb. 1). No other changes have been announced as of press time, but it seems odd to only take out the afternoon drive sports show.
KANSAS CITY: Former Royals pitcher Paul Splittorff continues to make good progress recovering from the infection which took him away from the majority of Royals telecasts last season. He recently joined Dave Armstrong and Jon Sundvold on a Kansas University basketball broadcast, and plans to join them again for a game or two during February. The number of Royals games Splittorff will work during the upcoming season has yet to be finalized.
LINCOLN: Former Nebraska University linebacker Adrian Fiala will no longer be a part of the Nebraska football broadcast team, which he had been a part of since 1996. He worked with current play-by-play voice Greg Sharpe, as well as Jim Rose and Warren Swain. Sharpe and Matt Davison will handle the call for the 2010 season.
Lincoln's KLMS 1480 AM has officially dumped ESPN Radio and its sports programming after 12 years as a sports station. Whether temporary or not, the station has gone oldies.
The game itself is always a huge audience draw capping off a day which is really more of a national holiday than some of the true national holidays. Over the last few years, especially, many of the local sports stations in larger markets, including some without NFL teams, set up shop for the week leading into the game on press row covering the Super Bowl. Members of the participating teams, along with players and coaches from NFL teams past and present also attend and go up and down the rows of station tables.
Over the years, unless my favorite team is in the game, I have personally reduced the amount of time I spend listening and watching sportcasts during the days leading in to the Super Bowl. I don't like being tired of hearing about the game long before it happens. And from talking with others around the country, I'm definitely not alone in feeling that way.
Why is this year different? I'm sure it's not, at least as far as the sports stations staffing radio row in Miami. But this year we have many of the NFL markets being measured monthly with the PPM system. We have seen steady growth among many of the sports stations, including some markets with more than one sports radio station increase their audience in recent months.
I, for one, will be curious to see if or how the ratings are impacted for the sports stations emphasizing the Super Bowl during the last week of January. The ones not in Indiana or Louisiana, that is.
If the out-of-market sports stations with a table at Super Bowl week show an audience drop after months of increase, maybe we will finally see the end of the hour after hour about the Super Bowl by next year. But if the increase continues, well, then I guess I'll continue my tradition of not listening and watching the endless Super Bowl hype for years to come. But now we will know. The ratings information is distributed every month, rather than every quarter so we will benefit with more specific audience information.
Then again, the TV ratings for the AFC and NFC Championship telecasts were sensational. But that is game action, and not a talk show. Early reports show that Fox had the biggest audience for the NFC game than any TV program (sports or not) other than a Super Bowl since 1998, and that was the Seinfeld finale.
The Colts vs. Jets game was the highest rated AFC Championship game in 24 years.
Now we'll see if those viewers prefer to wait until the Super Bowl game itself, or if they really want to talk about it day after day.
NBA-TV is making more strides this season, its first on some of the larger cable systems. I am looking forward to a new show the network is producing called "Making the Call". The show will focus on rules and regulations. The debut show premieres on Wednesday (Jan. 27) with Ronnie Nunn, the NBA Director of Officiating, as the primary guest. I'm sure there a few head coaches who would have liked to have done the questioning!
The network will be showing plenty of games over the next few days, picking up local telecasts:
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 27 Los Angeles Lakers @ Indiana Pacers
FRIDAY, JAN. 29 Boston Celtics @ Atlanta Hawks
SATURDAY, JAN. 30 Atlanta Hawks @ Orlando Magic
SUNDAY, JAN. 31 Phoenix Suns @ Houston Rockets
It will be interesting to see if the true basketball fans prevail over the big market casual fans for next Tuesday (Feb. 2), when NBA-TV presents its "Fan Night" game. One of the choices is Detroit at New Jersey. That game is only news because one of the those teams will probably win a game. Yet, those are both huge TV markets. The logical choice is Atlanta vs. Oklahoma City in a battle of 2 hot teams making strong playoff runs.
On the baseball side, ESPN has announced some of its upcoming Sunday Night Baseball matchups:
April 4 Opening Night: New York Yankees at Boston
April 11 St. Louis at Milwaukee
April 18 New York Mets at St. Louis
April 25 Atlanta at N.Y. Mets
May 2 N.Y. Mets at Philadelphia
May 9 N.Y. Yankees at Boston
May 16 Philadelphia at Milwaukee
May 23 N.Y. Yankees at N.Y. Mets
May 30 Texas at Minnesota
July 4 Kansas City at L.A. Angels
July 11 Chicago Cubs at L.A. Dodgers
July 18 Philadelphia at Chicago Cubs
Yes, 2 of the first 6 weeks are Yankees vs. Red Sox. As if that is a surprise.
Spring training games could be abundant this season more than ever. No official word yet from MLB Network, which picked up about 30 telecasts last March. ESPN has announced it will televise 10 exhibition games from March 22 through Friday April 2, during the last 2 weeks of exhibition play.
ESPN will kick off the regular season with 5 games on Monday April 5 (making it 6 opening games counting the April 4 Yankees vs. Red Sox telecast). American League fans will enjoy Cleveland at Chicago White Sox and Minnesota at L A Angels. National League fans will enjoy St. Louis at Cincinnati, Chicago Cubs at Atlanta, and San Francisco at Houston.
In addition to its Saturday Game of the Week, Fox-TV might be moving 2 of its telecasts into prime time. USA Today reports that one would be in May and the other in June. As good as that sounds for baseball fans, that seems too early in the season to offer a compelling matchup for prime time.
BOSTON: Baseball fans in the Boston area get an interesting opportunity this Thursday (Jan. 28) evening. The Cambridge Center for Adult Education begins its "Homerun in Harvard Square" seminar series at 6 PM. The guest will be none other than Peter Gammons, now with MLB Network. Upcoming confirmed guests are Tom DiBenedetto, Red Sox partner; Jed Lowrie, Red Sox infielder; and Larry Silverstein, attorney/special counsel to the LA Dodgers. Details at www.ccae.org.
CINCINNATI: Great idea from Fox Sports Ohio to promote the upcoming Reds season. The Network has taken a group of telecasts of significant Reds games from the past 40 years and synced the audio of the radio broadcasts with Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall.
Included in the Monday night series will be Game 4 of the 1970 World Series, Tom Browning's perfect game, the clinching 1976 NLCS game vs. Philadelphia, Tom Seaver's no-hitter vs. St. Louis from 1978, the 1985 game in which Pete Rose breaks the all-time hit record, and Game 7 of the memorable 1975 World Series.
It's too bad that the rest of the country can't enjoy these, especially with the hometown flavor of "Marty and Joe on Reds radio". Here is a regional network producing this, while the nationally available ESPN Classic sticks us with poker, bowling, boxing, and probably tiddly winks in prime time.
BALTIMORE: Anita Marks is no longer a part of afternoon drive on The Fan 105.7, and also shown on MASN, after nearly 4 years. She had been co-hosting the show with Scott Garceau.
SAN FRANCISCO: Extra Sports 860 will no longer be living up to its name as of next week. KTRB will begin running the syndicated Michael Savage show from 3 to 6 PM as of Monday (Feb. 1). No other changes have been announced as of press time, but it seems odd to only take out the afternoon drive sports show.
KANSAS CITY: Former Royals pitcher Paul Splittorff continues to make good progress recovering from the infection which took him away from the majority of Royals telecasts last season. He recently joined Dave Armstrong and Jon Sundvold on a Kansas University basketball broadcast, and plans to join them again for a game or two during February. The number of Royals games Splittorff will work during the upcoming season has yet to be finalized.
LINCOLN: Former Nebraska University linebacker Adrian Fiala will no longer be a part of the Nebraska football broadcast team, which he had been a part of since 1996. He worked with current play-by-play voice Greg Sharpe, as well as Jim Rose and Warren Swain. Sharpe and Matt Davison will handle the call for the 2010 season.
Lincoln's KLMS 1480 AM has officially dumped ESPN Radio and its sports programming after 12 years as a sports station. Whether temporary or not, the station has gone oldies.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Sports Media Report - Jan. 13th Update...........
The next few days could go a long way toward addressing the perception among millions of sports fans around the country about the "New York media bias" they perceive regarding sports reporting thanks to the NFL matchups to determine the Super Bowl participants.
Even though Philadelphia is a major media market, the perception is that this year's NFC Championship is not "the same old teams". Actually, that's a fact rather than a perception. The N.Y. Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears, and Green Bay Packers (the biggest TV and radio draws in the NFC) are all at home watching. Philadelphia and the Arizona Cardinals will battle it out on Sunday for the right to play in the Super Bowl two weeks later.
Just how will this week play in the New York media, especially with the Giants having been eliminated to the surprise of many? Will WFAN and WEPN devote talk time specifically to the Eagles vs. Cardinals? Or will they continue to let listeners sound off about the disappointment the Giants and Jets brought instead?
From a national perspective, the possibility exists of an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl for the first time ever, if the Eagles and Steelers both win on Sunday. In addition, the possibility exists for Philadelphia to be a surprise winner of both the baseball and football championships, and overtaking Boston as the current "city of champions".
On the AFC side, the Steelers are a known commodity, based on their recent success as well as their strong years during the 70's and into the 80's recalled by the older fans. They are a much easier "sell" than the Baltimore Ravens who are not well known to the casual fan.
There is the theory that it doesn't matter which teams play in the Super Bowl because it will generate the large audience anyway. But I believe that NBC would prefer an all Pennsylvania matchup for the big game. Again, the Steelers have the big game reputation, and Philadelphia is a large market with the possibility of the city being a 2 sports champion.
If it winds up being Baltimore vs. Arizona in the Super Bowl, we might just have the ultimate test of whether or not people care which teams are in.
HOUSTON - As of this week, Fox Sports Houston is now separated from Fox Sports Southwest. This will result in more local content for more than 4,000,000 households stretching into Louisiana. FSH already carries the vast majority of Astros and Rockets telecasts. In fact, only 12 games are targeted to air on KTXH-TV this coming season. The "Houston Sports Beat" show is expanding from once to twice weekly. Speculation is that FSH was expanded with an eye toward preventing one or both teams (Rockets, Astros) from starting their own TV network. In Chicago, Fox Sports Chicago has been defunct for two years when the White Sox, Cubs, Bulls, and Blackhawks joint ventured with Comcast Cable to form Comcast SportsNet which handles the majority of telecasts for all four teams there.
On the radio side, the recent monthly radio ratings show the Houston markets four sports radio stations combined (that is combined!) for a 2.7 market share overall. Ooops.
DALLAS - The Cowboys are done for the season, but not in the media. There is still a couple more weeks remaining in the negotiation period for the Cowboys radio broadcasts for next season. Word is that 105.3 The Fan is trying to secure the broadcasts from 1310 The Ticket.
On the TV side, the new Cowboys Stadium will be hosting more prominent events beginning this summer. ESPN has a new five-year deal to televise a Labor Day weekend "season opening" game which will be played there as a neutral site. This coming September the game will pit Oklahoma against Brigham Young. You read that right. Oklahoma's season opener will be played in Texas. How about them Cowboys? But I can top that. In addition the Cotton Bowl football game will also take place at the new stadium. It moves from The Cotton Bowl (also the name of the stadium which hosted the game all these years).
Congrats to Dave Barnett. The University of North Texas graduate who has been with ESPN for 13 years, has joined the Texas Rangers radio team. He replaces Victor Rojas who left to join the new MLB-TV cable network. Barnett will move over to TV when TV voice Josh Lewin is away handling assignments for Fox-TV. Barnett will continue doing college football and hoops for ESPN. He is no stranger to the Metroplex, having handled Mavericks play-by-play on TV for most of the 80's. He also spent seven seasons doing San Antonio Spurs telecasts.
SAN FRANCISCO - The search for a new radio voice of the 49ers is over. Long time sportscaster Ted Robinson will call the play-by-play on radio starting next season. Robinson has done play-by-play for several teams and drawn some network assignments for NBC-TV over the past 30 years.
BOSTON - Talk about the end of an era in Boston sports! 70 year old Gil Santos is retiring at the end of January after 38 years as WBZ Radio morning sports anchor. But Gil is not retiring completely. There is the matter of his play-by-play role for the Patriots games, and that will continue.
Santos will be back for his 31st season (combined) of calling the Patriots next season on WBCN (sister station to WBZ) and doesn't plan to stop there. He began calling the Pats in 1966, stopped after the 1979 season, and returned to stay in 1991. Long time analyst Gino Capelletti is also expected to continue in that role.
SEATTLE - Kevin Calabro is back in the news this week. The former voice of the NBA Supersonics remained in Seattle when the team moved to Oklahoma City. Starting April 1st, Kevn will host a daily 3 hour show on KIRO 710 under its upcoming sports format. KIRO will compete against KJR in the sports talk segment, but KIRO having both the Mariners and Seahawks figures to make it more than an upstart, especially with Calabro on board.
Calabro has been handling Pac-10 football and hoops for FSN Northwest this season along with soccer telecasts locally.
College hoops fans, and especially U. of Washington fans, are not happy about FSN's decision to not show this Thursday's (Jan. 15) UW game against Oregon. The Network is going with Oregon State vs. Washington State followed by UCLA vs. Arizona for this week's doubleheader. Fox Sports holds exclusive rights, but there is no room to move it, as Comcast SportsNet already has the Portland Trailblazers NBA game on its schedule. After Thursday, only two of the UW games are not yet scheduled to be televised into Seattle.
BALTIMORE: Give a radio station owner a chance to cut costs and he will take a mile, to coin a phrase. Or, he will take afternoon drive instead. Just as sports talker Rob Long announced he is leaving WNST 1570 for mornings at Fox 1370, WNST owner Nestor Aparicio filled the gap right away. Nestor is in rotation for the next two weeks as host of the afternoon drive show. And as of February 1st, he plans to handle the show full time. So much for the expression "Don't quit your day job!".
CLEVELAND - Speaking of afternoon drive sports hosts, WKNR 850 has hired 2-time Emmy winner Michael Reghi to host its 3 - 6 PM show. Reghi has a long local history, including 12 seasons as analyst on Cavaliers TV which ended in 2006. He "replaces" "Munch" Bishop, who has been promoted to Sports Director of WKNR, 1540 "KNR2" and their web sites.
Bishop will continue to host the pregame shows for the Browns and Ohio State football broadcasts among other assignments.
CHATTANOOGA: The "Max'd Out" sports show is coming to Chattanooga. Literally. Max Howell is relocating from Jackson MS and will originate his show from 1 to 4 each afternoon from the ESPN 1370 studios as of this week. The 68-year old Howell used to host "Southern Sports Tonight" from Atlanta. "Max'd Out" will also air in 20 other markets throughout Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Mississippi and will emphasize SEC sports.
MADISON: WTSO 1070 has added The Jim Rome Show to its midday lineup.
Even though Philadelphia is a major media market, the perception is that this year's NFC Championship is not "the same old teams". Actually, that's a fact rather than a perception. The N.Y. Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears, and Green Bay Packers (the biggest TV and radio draws in the NFC) are all at home watching. Philadelphia and the Arizona Cardinals will battle it out on Sunday for the right to play in the Super Bowl two weeks later.
Just how will this week play in the New York media, especially with the Giants having been eliminated to the surprise of many? Will WFAN and WEPN devote talk time specifically to the Eagles vs. Cardinals? Or will they continue to let listeners sound off about the disappointment the Giants and Jets brought instead?
From a national perspective, the possibility exists of an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl for the first time ever, if the Eagles and Steelers both win on Sunday. In addition, the possibility exists for Philadelphia to be a surprise winner of both the baseball and football championships, and overtaking Boston as the current "city of champions".
On the AFC side, the Steelers are a known commodity, based on their recent success as well as their strong years during the 70's and into the 80's recalled by the older fans. They are a much easier "sell" than the Baltimore Ravens who are not well known to the casual fan.
There is the theory that it doesn't matter which teams play in the Super Bowl because it will generate the large audience anyway. But I believe that NBC would prefer an all Pennsylvania matchup for the big game. Again, the Steelers have the big game reputation, and Philadelphia is a large market with the possibility of the city being a 2 sports champion.
If it winds up being Baltimore vs. Arizona in the Super Bowl, we might just have the ultimate test of whether or not people care which teams are in.
HOUSTON - As of this week, Fox Sports Houston is now separated from Fox Sports Southwest. This will result in more local content for more than 4,000,000 households stretching into Louisiana. FSH already carries the vast majority of Astros and Rockets telecasts. In fact, only 12 games are targeted to air on KTXH-TV this coming season. The "Houston Sports Beat" show is expanding from once to twice weekly. Speculation is that FSH was expanded with an eye toward preventing one or both teams (Rockets, Astros) from starting their own TV network. In Chicago, Fox Sports Chicago has been defunct for two years when the White Sox, Cubs, Bulls, and Blackhawks joint ventured with Comcast Cable to form Comcast SportsNet which handles the majority of telecasts for all four teams there.
On the radio side, the recent monthly radio ratings show the Houston markets four sports radio stations combined (that is combined!) for a 2.7 market share overall. Ooops.
DALLAS - The Cowboys are done for the season, but not in the media. There is still a couple more weeks remaining in the negotiation period for the Cowboys radio broadcasts for next season. Word is that 105.3 The Fan is trying to secure the broadcasts from 1310 The Ticket.
On the TV side, the new Cowboys Stadium will be hosting more prominent events beginning this summer. ESPN has a new five-year deal to televise a Labor Day weekend "season opening" game which will be played there as a neutral site. This coming September the game will pit Oklahoma against Brigham Young. You read that right. Oklahoma's season opener will be played in Texas. How about them Cowboys? But I can top that. In addition the Cotton Bowl football game will also take place at the new stadium. It moves from The Cotton Bowl (also the name of the stadium which hosted the game all these years).
Congrats to Dave Barnett. The University of North Texas graduate who has been with ESPN for 13 years, has joined the Texas Rangers radio team. He replaces Victor Rojas who left to join the new MLB-TV cable network. Barnett will move over to TV when TV voice Josh Lewin is away handling assignments for Fox-TV. Barnett will continue doing college football and hoops for ESPN. He is no stranger to the Metroplex, having handled Mavericks play-by-play on TV for most of the 80's. He also spent seven seasons doing San Antonio Spurs telecasts.
SAN FRANCISCO - The search for a new radio voice of the 49ers is over. Long time sportscaster Ted Robinson will call the play-by-play on radio starting next season. Robinson has done play-by-play for several teams and drawn some network assignments for NBC-TV over the past 30 years.
BOSTON - Talk about the end of an era in Boston sports! 70 year old Gil Santos is retiring at the end of January after 38 years as WBZ Radio morning sports anchor. But Gil is not retiring completely. There is the matter of his play-by-play role for the Patriots games, and that will continue.
Santos will be back for his 31st season (combined) of calling the Patriots next season on WBCN (sister station to WBZ) and doesn't plan to stop there. He began calling the Pats in 1966, stopped after the 1979 season, and returned to stay in 1991. Long time analyst Gino Capelletti is also expected to continue in that role.
SEATTLE - Kevin Calabro is back in the news this week. The former voice of the NBA Supersonics remained in Seattle when the team moved to Oklahoma City. Starting April 1st, Kevn will host a daily 3 hour show on KIRO 710 under its upcoming sports format. KIRO will compete against KJR in the sports talk segment, but KIRO having both the Mariners and Seahawks figures to make it more than an upstart, especially with Calabro on board.
Calabro has been handling Pac-10 football and hoops for FSN Northwest this season along with soccer telecasts locally.
College hoops fans, and especially U. of Washington fans, are not happy about FSN's decision to not show this Thursday's (Jan. 15) UW game against Oregon. The Network is going with Oregon State vs. Washington State followed by UCLA vs. Arizona for this week's doubleheader. Fox Sports holds exclusive rights, but there is no room to move it, as Comcast SportsNet already has the Portland Trailblazers NBA game on its schedule. After Thursday, only two of the UW games are not yet scheduled to be televised into Seattle.
BALTIMORE: Give a radio station owner a chance to cut costs and he will take a mile, to coin a phrase. Or, he will take afternoon drive instead. Just as sports talker Rob Long announced he is leaving WNST 1570 for mornings at Fox 1370, WNST owner Nestor Aparicio filled the gap right away. Nestor is in rotation for the next two weeks as host of the afternoon drive show. And as of February 1st, he plans to handle the show full time. So much for the expression "Don't quit your day job!".
CLEVELAND - Speaking of afternoon drive sports hosts, WKNR 850 has hired 2-time Emmy winner Michael Reghi to host its 3 - 6 PM show. Reghi has a long local history, including 12 seasons as analyst on Cavaliers TV which ended in 2006. He "replaces" "Munch" Bishop, who has been promoted to Sports Director of WKNR, 1540 "KNR2" and their web sites.
Bishop will continue to host the pregame shows for the Browns and Ohio State football broadcasts among other assignments.
CHATTANOOGA: The "Max'd Out" sports show is coming to Chattanooga. Literally. Max Howell is relocating from Jackson MS and will originate his show from 1 to 4 each afternoon from the ESPN 1370 studios as of this week. The 68-year old Howell used to host "Southern Sports Tonight" from Atlanta. "Max'd Out" will also air in 20 other markets throughout Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Mississippi and will emphasize SEC sports.
MADISON: WTSO 1070 has added The Jim Rome Show to its midday lineup.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Sports Media Report - Jan. 6th update
Matt Millen may have made his biggest news earlier in this NFL season by getting fired as General Manager of the winless Detroit Lions, but I'll tip my hat to him for coming up a winner as we start it up for 2009.
If you go back in time a few years, you will recall Millen's excellent work as a game analyst along with Dick Stockton on Fox-TV's NFL coverage. That helped lead Millen to the role he took on with the Lions. And then, the Lions went on to have the poorest record in the NFL during his tenure.
So why do I consider him a winner? It is because he is right now managing to do what effective and successful executives do. Turning a negative into a positive.
In case you missed it, Millen went on NBC-TV this past Saturday during their playoff coverage and calmly answered every question that was thrown his way about the Lions. He spoke up and took the blame for the team's failure. On national TV. No pointing of fingers, no excuses, no bitterness toward the organization or anyone else. It is rare enough to get an honest answer from an adverse situation, but Millen went where few others dare.
Matt Millen is not about to be hired by another NFL team, no matter how much blame he accepts and how much he tells people he has learned. I have never met or talked with Millen personally, but I see where this is leading without having to hear it from him.
He isn't looking to be hired by another team. He is looking to be hired by another network, and knows to return to the analyst role which brought him the positive recognition in the first place.
Fans and reporters alike are giving him credit for speaking the truth on national TV no matter how much it hurt. Deservedly so.
The first result of this is that Millen has been hired by NBC-TV to be a part of their Super Bowl telecast. Let's face it. NBC would not have a struggle on its hands to find air talent for the Super Bowl telecast.
If Millen had been unwilling to be interviewed, or had gone on NBC and pointed fingers and appeared bitter, there is no way he would have been near a microphone or camera on Super Sunday.
Instead, he figures to shine with honest analysis on Super Sunday, after which he can sit back and field offers from TV and cable networks for next season.
He can go back to the role that made him successful and which he is obviously more comfortable, and successful, with. In this day of people in the real world worried about their jobs, and free agent players out there without new contracts, Millen found a way to create instant demand and likely a solid position for her services for years to come. That is great management.
Speaking of the NFL, now that the regular season is over, I wonder if the leagues media powers that be will examine the Baltimore-Washington market and its fan base between now and July training camp.
Fans of the Ravens and the Redskins should no longer have to miss out because of exactly where they live. The NFL, as of now, still considers Baltimore and D.C. as two different markets despite being within 50 miles of each other and sharing TV and radio station signals. Again this past season, most Ravens games appeared on WJZ channel 13 in Baltimore and on WUSA channel 9 from D.C. The Redskins appeared as a "secondary market" team (according to NFL TV policy) on Fox 45 from Baltimore, in addition to primary coverage of most games on Fox channel 5 from D.C.
However, there were instances where Ravens games were bumped from the D.C. station and Redskins games from the Baltimore channel. Also, some of the "secondary market" stations were denied seeing some of the regional or national doubleheader games which would have been permitted under "home TV" rules.
What adds to the irony is that it was during the term of Richard Nixon as President that he was a factor in getting the NFL to allow home games in the event of an advance sellout because Nixon wanted to see all of the Redskins games on TV.
When you consider that MLB allows equal access to the entire area for radio and TV coverage of both the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Natonals, it provides another reason for the NFL to revise its policy. This is not an issue where the NFL has two teams in one general market, which includes the Giants and Jets in NYC and 49ers and Raiders in the San Francisco area.
While fans around the country gripe about not getting a few of the games exclusive to the NFL Network, just one market has a bigger gripe about missing out on games on Sundays. Yes, it is time for change.....
OAKLAND - The A's will be movin' on up the radio dial and closer to civilization for the upcoming season. For some fans, it will seem like they are returning to the radio. No more 1550 AM and its limited coverage, especially for night games.
KRTB 860 AM has a new one-year deal to put the games on the news/talk station. The station also airs both Stanford basketball and football, and has already announced an increase in the number of spring training broadcasts to 17.
Ken Korach, Ray Fosse, and Vince Cotroneo will continue as the A's radio team, and Robert Auan is expected to handle the post-game show.
Having their games on 1550 AM reminded some of the older fans of the season almost 40 years ago when Charlie Finley couldn't get a radio station and had the A's games broadcast on a college radio station. Again, the A's "graduate" to a better signal.
NEW YORK - A good start to the year for Yankees TV voice Michael Kay, as his afternoon show on WEPN 1050 is expanding by one full hour. Starting on Monday (Jan. 12), Kay will be heard, along with co-host Don LaGreca, from 2:00 until 7:00 PM. No word yet on who, if anyone, will work with LaGreca on afternoons when Kay's Yankees assignments conflict.
The joke going around the office is that Kay needs the extra time in order to calculate the Yankees payroll each week.
BOSTON - The Big Show on WEEI will continue to be "Big" for years to come. The station has signed Glenn Ordway to a multi-year contract to continue on his 2:00 to 6:00 drive-time show.
MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Journal reports that Brewers radio voice Jim Powell is a leading candidate for the Atlanta Braves radio booth. Powell's Georgia roots include his having graduated from the University of Georgia. The Braves need to add another voice following the retirement of Pete Van Wieren (who retired after more than 30 years) and the death of Skip Caray.
Powell has been in the Brewers' booth for the past 13 seasons, the longest of any of the partners with Bob Uecker. Among those who have come through the Brewers' radio booth over the history of the franchise are Merle Harmon and Cubs broadcaster Pat Hughes.
On the football side, the Packers' disappointing season is reflected in the TV statistics showing that the Packers telecasts for their just concluded season were the lowest in more than 15 years. Adding to this is the fact that the Green Bay season opener, a Monday night game vs. division rival Minnesota, was the highest rated game of the entire season.
The joke going around the office is that the Jets' telecasts won't feel the ratings pinch nearly as much next season if Brett Favre retires from New York.
St. LOUIS - The new sports station at 101.1 FM, now underway after months of hype, has scored a touchdown with the addition of the Rams broadcasts starting this year. This 2-year deal moves the team over from KLOU-FM, and is believed to be a revenue share. 101.1 FM also carries St. Louis University hoops in addition to their local drive time sports talk.
ATLANTA - WFOM 1230 from Marietta has become "The Fan 2", picking up ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike for mornings and Mike Tirico and Brad Van Pelt during the afternoon. This gives some of the market a choice among 3 "sister" sports stations. "The Fan" at 680 AM continues to air mostly local sports talk, although it continues to carry Colin Cowherd. 1340 AM is now known as "The Fan 3" and airs Fox Sports and other syndicated shows.
But that's not all. While the "3 Fans" are a combination, 790 "The Zone" competes with a stronger signal. However, their programming consists of a heavy does of Sporting News Radio.
If you go back in time a few years, you will recall Millen's excellent work as a game analyst along with Dick Stockton on Fox-TV's NFL coverage. That helped lead Millen to the role he took on with the Lions. And then, the Lions went on to have the poorest record in the NFL during his tenure.
So why do I consider him a winner? It is because he is right now managing to do what effective and successful executives do. Turning a negative into a positive.
In case you missed it, Millen went on NBC-TV this past Saturday during their playoff coverage and calmly answered every question that was thrown his way about the Lions. He spoke up and took the blame for the team's failure. On national TV. No pointing of fingers, no excuses, no bitterness toward the organization or anyone else. It is rare enough to get an honest answer from an adverse situation, but Millen went where few others dare.
Matt Millen is not about to be hired by another NFL team, no matter how much blame he accepts and how much he tells people he has learned. I have never met or talked with Millen personally, but I see where this is leading without having to hear it from him.
He isn't looking to be hired by another team. He is looking to be hired by another network, and knows to return to the analyst role which brought him the positive recognition in the first place.
Fans and reporters alike are giving him credit for speaking the truth on national TV no matter how much it hurt. Deservedly so.
The first result of this is that Millen has been hired by NBC-TV to be a part of their Super Bowl telecast. Let's face it. NBC would not have a struggle on its hands to find air talent for the Super Bowl telecast.
If Millen had been unwilling to be interviewed, or had gone on NBC and pointed fingers and appeared bitter, there is no way he would have been near a microphone or camera on Super Sunday.
Instead, he figures to shine with honest analysis on Super Sunday, after which he can sit back and field offers from TV and cable networks for next season.
He can go back to the role that made him successful and which he is obviously more comfortable, and successful, with. In this day of people in the real world worried about their jobs, and free agent players out there without new contracts, Millen found a way to create instant demand and likely a solid position for her services for years to come. That is great management.
Speaking of the NFL, now that the regular season is over, I wonder if the leagues media powers that be will examine the Baltimore-Washington market and its fan base between now and July training camp.
Fans of the Ravens and the Redskins should no longer have to miss out because of exactly where they live. The NFL, as of now, still considers Baltimore and D.C. as two different markets despite being within 50 miles of each other and sharing TV and radio station signals. Again this past season, most Ravens games appeared on WJZ channel 13 in Baltimore and on WUSA channel 9 from D.C. The Redskins appeared as a "secondary market" team (according to NFL TV policy) on Fox 45 from Baltimore, in addition to primary coverage of most games on Fox channel 5 from D.C.
However, there were instances where Ravens games were bumped from the D.C. station and Redskins games from the Baltimore channel. Also, some of the "secondary market" stations were denied seeing some of the regional or national doubleheader games which would have been permitted under "home TV" rules.
What adds to the irony is that it was during the term of Richard Nixon as President that he was a factor in getting the NFL to allow home games in the event of an advance sellout because Nixon wanted to see all of the Redskins games on TV.
When you consider that MLB allows equal access to the entire area for radio and TV coverage of both the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Natonals, it provides another reason for the NFL to revise its policy. This is not an issue where the NFL has two teams in one general market, which includes the Giants and Jets in NYC and 49ers and Raiders in the San Francisco area.
While fans around the country gripe about not getting a few of the games exclusive to the NFL Network, just one market has a bigger gripe about missing out on games on Sundays. Yes, it is time for change.....
OAKLAND - The A's will be movin' on up the radio dial and closer to civilization for the upcoming season. For some fans, it will seem like they are returning to the radio. No more 1550 AM and its limited coverage, especially for night games.
KRTB 860 AM has a new one-year deal to put the games on the news/talk station. The station also airs both Stanford basketball and football, and has already announced an increase in the number of spring training broadcasts to 17.
Ken Korach, Ray Fosse, and Vince Cotroneo will continue as the A's radio team, and Robert Auan is expected to handle the post-game show.
Having their games on 1550 AM reminded some of the older fans of the season almost 40 years ago when Charlie Finley couldn't get a radio station and had the A's games broadcast on a college radio station. Again, the A's "graduate" to a better signal.
NEW YORK - A good start to the year for Yankees TV voice Michael Kay, as his afternoon show on WEPN 1050 is expanding by one full hour. Starting on Monday (Jan. 12), Kay will be heard, along with co-host Don LaGreca, from 2:00 until 7:00 PM. No word yet on who, if anyone, will work with LaGreca on afternoons when Kay's Yankees assignments conflict.
The joke going around the office is that Kay needs the extra time in order to calculate the Yankees payroll each week.
BOSTON - The Big Show on WEEI will continue to be "Big" for years to come. The station has signed Glenn Ordway to a multi-year contract to continue on his 2:00 to 6:00 drive-time show.
MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Journal reports that Brewers radio voice Jim Powell is a leading candidate for the Atlanta Braves radio booth. Powell's Georgia roots include his having graduated from the University of Georgia. The Braves need to add another voice following the retirement of Pete Van Wieren (who retired after more than 30 years) and the death of Skip Caray.
Powell has been in the Brewers' booth for the past 13 seasons, the longest of any of the partners with Bob Uecker. Among those who have come through the Brewers' radio booth over the history of the franchise are Merle Harmon and Cubs broadcaster Pat Hughes.
On the football side, the Packers' disappointing season is reflected in the TV statistics showing that the Packers telecasts for their just concluded season were the lowest in more than 15 years. Adding to this is the fact that the Green Bay season opener, a Monday night game vs. division rival Minnesota, was the highest rated game of the entire season.
The joke going around the office is that the Jets' telecasts won't feel the ratings pinch nearly as much next season if Brett Favre retires from New York.
St. LOUIS - The new sports station at 101.1 FM, now underway after months of hype, has scored a touchdown with the addition of the Rams broadcasts starting this year. This 2-year deal moves the team over from KLOU-FM, and is believed to be a revenue share. 101.1 FM also carries St. Louis University hoops in addition to their local drive time sports talk.
ATLANTA - WFOM 1230 from Marietta has become "The Fan 2", picking up ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike for mornings and Mike Tirico and Brad Van Pelt during the afternoon. This gives some of the market a choice among 3 "sister" sports stations. "The Fan" at 680 AM continues to air mostly local sports talk, although it continues to carry Colin Cowherd. 1340 AM is now known as "The Fan 3" and airs Fox Sports and other syndicated shows.
But that's not all. While the "3 Fans" are a combination, 790 "The Zone" competes with a stronger signal. However, their programming consists of a heavy does of Sporting News Radio.
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