The Broadcast Booth - August 4th update

For all of the sports available to us on TV via cable and satellite, the news of the day still reflects that consumers still do not have the choices they should have. There is now less than a month left for Time Warner Cable to continue with ESPN on several cable systems around the country, with the Orlando area being among the larger ones.

As of this minute, Bright House Networks' deal with ESPN ends on September 2nd. ESPN and Time Warner are, in effect, fighting over consumers' money, and the customers have no say. NBA fans in the Orlando area have already been victims of a similar battle regarding Magic telecasts over the past couple of years. Yet, this situation continues to happen.

This might not seem like a sports media story. So here is another fact. Sept. 2nd is the end of the current contract for ESPN to be carried. The early college football telecast on ESPN on September 4th just happens to be the Florida Gators vs. Miami. The NFL regular season begins the following week. Sports fans in central Florida, along with other regions possibly impacted by this situation, should be seeing, hearing, and reading about the games - not whether or not paying cable subscribers can see them.

NEW YORK: WFAN's morning show, "Boomer & Carton" with Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton will be simulcast on MSG Network beginning on September 14th. The regional TV channel will show the entire 6 to 10 AM run live each day. Very few of the TV simulcasts show an entire show live. In addition, MSG Network plans to air a "best of" most weeknights and on weekends. It will be interesting to see if the WFAN ratings drop over the next few months. Not because of losing the audience, but because of the audience transitioning over to the telecast, even if for a half hour a day. Oddly enough, both NYC sports stations will have their morning shows telecast, since Mike & Mike airs on WEPN and is shown on ESPN2.


CHICAGO: No word as of press time as to whether or not radio personality Steve Cochran will continue on WMVP 1000. Cochran was dropped from his WGN Radio weekday show recently. This past Sunday (Aug. 1) he did a 3-hour show on WMVP blending his comedy with sports talk. He had worked for AM 1000 years ago, prior to it becoming a sports station and his going to WGN.

WSCR The Score 670 finished its latest contest to find a new on-air personality. Maya Gavin will begin a very early Saturday morning 2-hour show on either September 11 or 18.

WFLD-TV began the month of July with 2 long-time sportscasters on its staff. They will begin the month of September without either doing sportscasts. We mentioned last week that Corey McPherrin was moved (as of this week) from the late night sportscast spot to co-host and news anchor for the channel's morning show. Jill Carlson was named to handle the nightly newscast. Now it turns out she will only do that through this month when her contract runs out. The station now says it will not renew her. As of press time, they have not announced a replacement.

MIAMI: The Dolphins radio team might be attracting more interest than the team which will be on the field. As of press time, with just over a week until the exhibition opener, there is still no confirmation about the radio broadcast team for WINZ and 105.9 FM. The team does not want its most recent broadcast team of Jimmy Cefalo and Jim Mandich to work for (now) rival station WQAM.

Jesse Agler anchors the new daily Dolphins show on WINZ from 5 to 7 PM Monday through Friday (with an extra hour on Mondays and Fridays)that began this past Monday (Aug. 2).

WFTL 640 begain its "Armando and the Amigo" show on Monday (Aug. 2) from 6 to 10 AM with Larry Millan and local columnist Armando Salguero.

PHILADELPHIA: WWDB 860 will soon begin airing ESPN Deportes (Spanish sports talk).

DENVER: As we have been covering, this month brings Denver area listeners the choice of 4 sports radio stations. Now that Broncos season is upon us, KOA 850, which is not a full-time sports station, is adding to its 3 to 7 PM show. Local columnist Dave Krieger will join with Lois Mokonian starting August 12th. Make it 5 stations with at least some sports content during afternoon drive.

Speaking of Denver, the reported move of KVUC to a different frequency might be more interesting than we thought. A faithful reader pointed out that the 87.7 frequency to which is moved (according to sources including the Denver Post) is not a traditional frequency.

OKLAHOMA CITY: As the NBA Thunder prepares for its 3rd season and comes off an impressive playoff run, the fans who do not subscribe to cable or satellite are screwed. KSBI-TV, which carried about 18 games each of the past 2 seasons has been shut out of the TV contract. Fox Sports Southwest will now carry every game, except for ABC-TV or exclusive TNT telecasts. Brian Davis and Grant Long will continue as the broadcast team. WWLS 98.1 will continue as the flagship radio station with Matt Pinto again on the call.

LAS VEGAS: KXNT 840 will be simulcast on 100.5 FM starting mid-September, which will provide stronger signal coverage in the area. The station will continue to feature play-by-play including NFL and NCAA games.

CENTRAL MICHIGAN: Don Chiodo has been named as the play-by-play voice for Central Michigan University football and basketball starting next month. CMU graduate and former Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals lineman Brock Gutierrez will be the analyst on the football broadcasts.

McALLEN TX: In an unusual move, KSOX 1240 has dropped ESPN Radio and replaced it with Fox Sports. Hopefully their audience was aware of this in advance. Imagine waking up expecting to hear Mike & Mike and instead having Stephen A. Smith hollering in your ear. KVJY 840 is also carrying the Fox Sports programming, with KSOX to eventually drop sports when the station's sale to a religious programming group takes effect.

KVJY has the stronger signal, and reportedly will continue to air Cowboys football and Houston Rockets basketball.

POMPTON LAKES NJ: WGHT 1500 continues to serve the area with high school football play-by-play. Not only has the station announced at least one specific game for every week from Sept. 11th into early November, but it has plans to air a one-hour pre-game show for each game. The station also plans to broadcast state playoff games including the championship game.

Speaking of ESPN, the Monday Night Football opening doubleheader will have Brad Nessler and Trent Dilfer on the call of the opening night doubleheader game between San Diego and Kansas City.

Why the Yankees online stream deal is all wrong

It’s bad enough that sports ticket prices have skyrocketed to the point of pricing many fans out of the ballpark, literally. To me it explains why the ratings for most post-season telecasts have increased even more within the past year. Fans are starting to become content with watching the best games on the tube.

Yet, the pro sports teams continue to overlook the fact that millions of sports fans are already paying for cable or satellite TV, which also has increased its prices because of the cost the cable companies force upon us in order to pay the networks which carry the games and indirectly the teams for the rights fees.

Now comes this announcement that Cablevision internet subscribers will soon be able to see Yankees games shown on YES Network via their computer. I do not live in the New York area and can’t subscribe to YES (even though I believe I should have that option through ANY cable company anywhere in the U.S.), but I started thinking this is a positive. There are times when I do not have access to cable but do have online available and this could be a way to follow my favorite team.

Until the hammer hits. Subscribers would have to pay $49.95 EXTRA to have this feature for the rest of the season. Say what? I thought that Cablevision customers were ALREADY paying a hefty sum to receive these channels, including a group they don’t even want. Now they would have to pay even more to watch a channel they are already paying for.

While others around the region who cannot or do not subscribe to Cablevision internet do not have any online option. I’m here to tell you the powers that be have this reversed.

If I were already a Cablevision internet subscriber eligible for this package, I would expect to have it available at no additional cost. Again, I would already be paying to receive YES and whatever other channels I am forced to take. Why does it matter HOW I watch what I am paying for?

This venture should be addressed to Yankees fans (and baseball fans for that matter) who are not able to take Cablevision internet, whether they are in the NYC area or not. This venture would make perfect sense if, for example, a Yankees fan now living in Florida could spend the $49.95 and be able to watch all Yankees games shown on YES for the remainder of the season. Now, Cablevision is providing him with an optional service he is willing to pay for. But as of now, it cannot happen.

You can’t tell me that advertisers, which add to YES’ income, wouldn’t jump at the chance to reach an exact number of out of area subscribers to Yankees telecasts, and that this wouldn’t become still another revenue stream for the Yankees.

The argument to this is that Major League Baseball has its MLB-TV online package available across the country, and a package such as this for the Yankees and hopefully other teams would be competition. My problem with MLB-TV, as it is currently structured, is that their online package does not include every televised game. It boggles the mind that customers to a special online national package are still subject to local blackouts.

I continue to emphasize that if I am paying additional to receive programming, I should be able to receive everything which is available. Simply put, if I want to watch the opposing team’s telecast or a national telecast instead of the local one I am “forced” to watch, it should be my choice, since it is my money. If the local telecast is that good, I would choose it over another. But I deserve to have that choice.

Let’s hope the Cablevision folks learn a lesson from this announcement. It would give more fans the chance to count the empty seats in the background of the online telecasts.

http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE55N40X20090624

Sports Media Report - July 14th update

The financial "battle" for fans to be able to see their favorite team via their local cable system without having to keep on spending seems to continue even after some cable systems have worked things out.

Without any movement from Bright House Networks, an Orlando FL area cable TV provider, the Orlando Sentinel has published an editorial complaining on behalf of Magic fans. As things stand right now, FSN Florida remains on an "optional" (and of course, extra cost) sports tier, meaning that nearly half (35) of the Magic's games will not be seen by subscribers with only a basic cable package. The editorial urges FSN Florida and Bright House to get a deal together. I'll go one step further and put some blame on the Magic as well. The team approved this deal, and as it stands now, approved their games going to a much reduced audience. And if I had to pony up even more bucks for a cable sports package, it would come out of any money spent toward attending games in person. Even if it is not the Magic's fault that I'd be forced to pay several dollars each month to the cable company for religious, foreign language, and other cable channels I am forced to pay for and have zero interest in. (Nothing against those channels - but I don't know of anyone who practices multiple religions and multiple languages simultaneously.)

Yet, if I was in charge of the radio station which broadcasts all of the Magic games on "free" radio, I'd be sure to do some significant ticket giveaways during the broadcasts this season. Let the fans benefit financially (saving the hefty ticket prices) as a result of listening to the games instead of trying to find them or paying more for them on TV.

Speaking of "outside" dollars and sports, it is already time to wonder if or to what extent the international purchase of Busch will have on Budweiser's significant sports sponsorships. Bud is literally the local level sponsor of more than half of the big 4 pro sports broadcasts (baseball, football, basketball, hockey) around the country. If the new owners cut back on these, that would be a big pinch for radio and TV local telecasts everywhere before the next round of negotiations.

Meanwhile, after weeks of an anticipated announcement that the SEC would form its own TV network similar to the Big Ten, this possibility appears to have gone backward instead of forward. Fox Sun Sports has signed a $1 million+ per year deal with the University of Florida.

This is termed a "media rights" deal with the school, which has very recent football and basketball championships to run with into the upcoming seasons.

This deal will include football, including the Sunday morning replay of the previous day's (or most recent) game, men's and women's hoops, and baseball. Sun Sports already reaches over 6,000,000 Florida homes. When you consider that Tennessee, LSU, and Kentucky also generate significant local TV revenue, this Florida deal could be a temporary or even long-term set back for the SEC. Compared with the Orlando Magic story, this is somewhat of a "victory" for regional sports fans, who already have Sun Sports as opposed to now being asked to pay up. The SEC is now expected to announce new partnerships with CBS-TV and the ESPN Networks which will add to the increased Conference revenue. Word is that the new ESPN package would include rights to games previously used for game syndication. If that comes to pass, a SEC Network would then be highly unlikely.

No word yet about the extension of "Media Rights" such as how programs, stadium signage, and more, will be integrated for advertisers.

As we have been pointing out of late, the trend for pro teams to step in and work directly with large advertisers and sponsors continued again since our last writing. Now the NFL Indianapolis Colts, about to open their brand new stadium in a few weeks, have secured AdJuggler to use on the team's official web sites and to provide software to provide the team with additional reporting statistics used in conjunction with advertisers. Another team with one less weapon for radio sales concepts.

Speaking of pro teams and radio, The Cincinnati Enquirer confirmed in a report that the Reds have taken steps to slightly delay their Reds broadcasts in order to synchornize their play-by-play with the telecasts. The report says that the sponsors are happy with this, since it allows more fans to enjoy popular Reds broadcasters Marty and Thom Brennaman (father and son) while watching the picture. The Reds are not the only team to have this situation. There are other cities with radio broadcasts far more popular than TV, such as the Chicago White Sox where the TV voice Ken Harrelson is not popular.

However, fans at Reds home games, one of the few baseball parks where fans still bring a radio to listen, are disappointed when they see a play unfold to THEN hear the description after the fact.

As I have also been pointing out for months, here is another example of how HD Radio could be utilized and become attractive to the public. In this instance, WLW could air the game truly live on its main channel, with an HD Channel to carry the game synched up with each telecast, and make everyone happy. And, of course, it could then rebroadcast the games on that HD Channel, enabling shift workers and others to hear the games (and the commercials!) at their convenience while not distracting from current programming.

NEW YORK - Talk about putting your money where your mouth is when it comes to sports! Got to give credit to Greg Marotta. The 52 year-old Marotta has, as of this week, purchased 10 hours of air time, from 3 - 5 PM Monday through Friday, to literally do his own sports show on WVNJ 1160. The signal is known to cover NYC and into New Jersey, along with west Long Island and Westchester and Rockland. His purchase also includes steaming on WVNJ.com. Long ago, Marotta played football at Memphis State (now Memphis). He is not believed to be related to long time Los Angeles sportscaster Rich Marotta.

ALASKA - College hoops fans who have enjoyed the Great Alaska Shootout tourney each November may be stuck without it on the tube for the first time since 1985. The University of Alaska Anchorage Athletic Director has acknowledged that since ESPN has created a separate tourney on the same dates the Great Alaska Shootout has been shot out of the ESPN fold. The school may not have enough time to arrange for another national package in time for this year's tourney. So still another 20+ year sports tradition goes by the wayside. Kind of makes you wish ESPN would stay in the TV business rather than a creative one.

BOISE - Let me add one more set of congrats. After last week's announcement that Bob Behler becomes the new Idaho State play-by-play voice comes word that Jadon Dailey joins the crew as analyst. Dailey was a started in BSU's recent 2006-07 Fiesta Bowl bound team.

FRESNO - It's not exactly a Nebraska or Florida type package, but Fresno State University has extended its contract with KMJ Radio through 2013. The school reported chose to renew instead of going with a reportedly higher competitor offer based on KMJ's 50,000 watt signal and regional impact.