An important and local sports "news" story is taking place, but the local sports radio station doesn't capture the audience you would expect. Granted, these are not based on scientific results, but I think it makes the point.
This past Thursday (4/12), the owners of the Sacramento Kings of the NBA were meeting with league officials regarding the status of the current ownership. Once again, rumors have heated up that the Kings might be relocating away from the Sacramento area. Such a relocation impacts local revenue, part-time jobs, and civic pride. Especially in this instance, considering the Kings are the only major professional team in town.
Coincidentally, the Sacramento Bee began a poll that day asking respondents "Which sports radio station do you listen to on the drive home?". The poll received a total of 780 responses. Again, not scientific, but compared to the number of diaries or PPM's used to determine the market's ratings, this is a reasonably representative sampling. Especially when you learn that only 13% of those responding said "none". That 87% of those responding actually do listen to a sports radio station during their afternoon commute adds significance.
During afternoon drive in Sacramento, only KHTK 1140 The Fan regularly airs a local sports show, hosted by Grant Napear. The Fan is also the flagship station of the Kings' broadcasts, as well as airing the Oakland Raiders games and some syndicated play-by-play such as Monday Night Football. ESPN 1320 airs ESPN programming during afternoon drive. The story about the meetings involving Kings ownership received comparably less national attention.
This is where the results of this informal poll hit hard. While ESPN 1320 and its national programming received only 16% of the vote, Napear and KHTK received 28% of the vote. Those desperate for a positive spin on this, of course, point out that the "local" show beat out the ESPN show by about 12%.
However, a sports station received 43% of the votes (including votes by those who do not listen to sports radio). KNBR 680 from nearby San Francisco was the "winner". As many of you know, KNBR has been showing excellent ratings in the Bay Area and its consistent 10 ten finishes make it one of the strongest sports radio stations in the country, especially on the west coast.
KNBR is in Warriors country, and right now, its focus is, understandably, on the Giants and their start to the 2012 baseball season. Their focus is and was not on the Sacramento Kings, especially when this is not an "on the court" matter in the news.
Although I have heard Napear several times and enjoy his work, I was not listening last week and was not aware of this Bee poll until after the fact. Granted, this poll is not at all a reflection of only April 12th listening. However, the story of the Kings possibly relocating has been ongoing for months. I can't say this is a reflection of his show, but it could be a reflection of the station.
MIAMI: One of the most significant weeks for Miami's sports radio stations in quite some time. A change in afternoon drive for WQAM results in Dan Sileo taking over as host of the 3 - 7 PM spot last week. This appointment comes just a few weeks after Sileo, who is a former University of Miami defensive lineman, was fired from his morning sports show in Tampa after referring to three black football players as "monkeys". Sileo replaces Sid Rosenberg, who was dismissed last week from the station. Not because of ratings, but because of his arrest for DUI while reportedly driving with a suspended license. Just a few weeks earlier, Rosenberg was reportedly under suspicion of having large gambling debts.
While this was going on, Jorge Sedano has left 790 The Ticket to move on to CBSSports.com. Sedano initially is hosting a fantasy sports show for the web site, although many insiders expect the show to soon begin airing on CBS Sports Network. But for reasons having nothing to do with ratings, area sports fans have lost out on two popular hosts.
SAN FRANCISCO: It's the radio version of "I Said - They Said" played out all over again. KNBR 680 fired Ralph Barbieri after 15 years as "the Razor" on the "Razor & Mr. T Show" and did not (as of press time) explain the move. Later, Barbieri issued a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle, claiming he "had no idea" that day and was actually escorted out of the building after gathering his belongings and turning in the key, ending his 28 years at the station.
HOUSTON: Within a month after being let go by KILT, former NFL linemen N.D. Kalu and Greg Koch have been teamed up for the beginnings of a new show on KBME 790. As of this week (Monday 4/16), the pair host "In the Trenches with Koch & Kalu" from 10 to 11 AM. The pair had only done one shift together as co-hosts prior to this, while working on separate shows on KILT. The next few weeks figure to be on-the-air training for the pair. Look for KBME to expand their role by July and the start of Texans training camp and the coming NFL season.
CHICAGO: Let the jokes about sports events becoming "made for TV" continue on this one. The National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame will honor its 2012 "Sportsman of the Year" on Saturday (4/21), and it will be a television executive. Jim Corno, the President of Comcast SportsNet Chicago, will be honored for his years of service to Chicago based regional sports networks. Joey Votto of the Reds (who are in Chicago this weekend) will be honored as "Athlete of the Year", while former catcher Mike Piazza will be one of the emcees. Once the jokes are over, it is time to acknowledge the job that Corno has done over the years in keeping those regional networks successful.
BOSTON: While Patriots fans celebrate long time play-by-play voice Gil Santos' 72nd birthday on Monday (4/16), the possibility remains that Santos' health status could keep him from returning to the booth this summer. Santos is reportedly still at a rehabiliation center recovering from "a severe case" of pneumonia. 98.5 The Sports Hub is expected to give Santos plenty of time to recover before making determinations for the coming season's broadcasts. He has been teamed with Gino Cappelletti for the past 21 seasons, and here's hoping it's at least 22 before all is said and done.
LOS ANGELES: Score another peg on the maximum exposure meter for USC. The school has become only the second school (other than Notre Dame) to now have a national radio package, as the University of Southern California football games will air nationally on ESPN Radio starting with the upcoming season. It is a multi-year contract, which begins on Sept. 1st with a home game against Hawaii. Locally, 710 KSPN has been airing USC games since the 2006 season.
SOUTH BEND: WSBT, the flagship station for Notre Dame football and basketball is adding its FM signal and now offers a complete simulcast, including the play-by-play and the ESPN Radio programming it carries. In a wonderful coincidence, the signal from 960 AM now airs on (you guessed it) 96.1 FM. Sure makes it easier for the promotion staff!
And finally, being a "beat reporter" for a "major league" team is a big way to get noticed at the national level. NFL Media, which oversees NFL Network and NFL.com has added four new reporters to its staff. They are Kim Jones, who has worked on WFAN New York and on YES Network as a Yankees reporter; Aditi Kinkhabwala, who covered the N.Y. Giants for Wall Street Journal and will become the Steelers correspondent based out of Pittsburgh; Ian Rappaport, who covered the Patriots for the Boston Herald and will now be based out of Dallas; and Gregg Rosenthal, who comes over from NBCSports.com and Pro Football Talk to become a Senior Editor.
Showing posts with label the fan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the fan. Show all posts
Monday, April 16, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Ending TV Blackouts of Sports Events.....
At last there is an important chance for sports fans to speak up. The FCC is finally seeking comments regarding the possibility of changing the local telecast blackout rules which have been in effect for 30+ years regarding NFL telecasts.
Before going any further, here is the link to file your comments direct to the FCC:
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/proceeding/view?name=12-3
Things have certainly changed since the NFL blackout rule was put into place. When it began in the 70's, the NFL games were only televised via over-the-air stations. There were no cable telecasts, and no satellite TV or packages to be able to receive every game. You watched what your local stations gave you. However, at that time it was all "free" TV as well, making it tough to object.
These days, of course, it's a different game, especially when it comes to TV coverage. And it's time to give us what we as sports fans (and those who are not sports fans) are paying for. The NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL all seem to forget that millions of Americans, fans or not, are helping to finance their operations, which was not the case when these restrictions were put in place.
Unless the cable and satellite providers deduct money from our monthly bills for the days on which they purposely remove programming we are paying for (as in when local team telecasts are blacked out), this practice needs to stop. Thirty years ago, teams lost revenue if there were empty seats. Now, millions of people are paying more and more to their cable or satellite provider, and a percentage of that goes to the leagues and teams hosting these games.
There was a time years ago when TV rights for the NFL paid nearly 100% of the player salaries and team expenses. (I don't know if that is still the case, but based on the billions in rights fees, it is still possible.) Thus, fans who purchase the tickets are no longer the only people providing income for the teams and leagues.
In my opinion, no telecasts should be blacked out anywhere, including instances of more than one originated telecast of the same game. It happens often with MLB, NBA, and NHL games where a national network such as ESPN airs a local game. However, because of a local team telecast, the ESPN (or whatever network) telecast is blacked out. Fans should have the option of watching the national telecast if they so choose, and not be at the mercy of local advertisers. Make the local telecast good enough so that we won't care to watch the national telecast, but give us that choice.
To take it a step further, the extra pay packages such as Direct Ticket for NFL, the NBA, MLB, and NHL versions, should also not have blackouts. If a Boston Celtics fan wishes to watch a Celtics game from Orlando with the Magic's announcing team, he or she should be able to do that, given that this package costs additional money which also goes to the NBA and its teams. These are no longer advertiser supported telecasts since consumers are paying to receive these channels.
There is only a short window of opportunity to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission about changing or lifting the current blackout policy. Please take advantage. Do this before you write your next check for a small fortune for the next month of your cable or satellite TV.
Meanwhile, the NFL continues to kill with ratings as we get further into the playoffs. This coming weekend's NFC and AFC Championship Game telecasts will tell us if the ratings boom is because of all first-place teams (all wild card teams eliminated in opening round), the Packers run toward repeating (now over), the boost from a New York team participating, Tebow-mania, or a combination of all of these.
ESPN and Fox are gearing up for the upcoming baseball season with national telecast schedules being unveiled. The Texas Rangers will appear on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball 3 of the first 6 weeks, including the Sunday Night opener on April 8th vs. the Chicago White Sox, and May 13th against Albert Pujols and the division rival Angels. Fox has already announced Rangers vs. Angels matchups on May 12 and July 21. ESPN will, understandably, show the season opening game on Weds. April 4th from Miami. The Marlins vs. Cardinals telecast features the World Champs in their first game without Pujols, the brand new Marlins stadium, and is likely to be Mark Buehrle's first ever national league start for new Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen. They can't go wrong with that game.
Thursday April 5th has ESPN showing Boston at Detroit and Miami at Cincinnati (an afternoon doubleheader), with Friday April 6th having the Giants at Arizona followed by the Angels hosting Kansas City. Look for MLB Network to begin its slate of regular season telecasts on the night of Thursday April 5th.
Orioles TV voice Gary Thorne is adding bowling play-by-play to his baseball and hockey duties. Thorne will call three upcoming major PBA tournaments, including the U.S. Open next month and the Tournament of Champions in April. Randy Pedersen, a PBA Hall of Fame member, continues as the analyst for ESPN PBA Tour telecasts this season.
NBC and NBC Sports Network have concluded 5 consecutive days with NHL telecasts. NBC showed the Chicago vs. Detroit game on Saturday (1/14), while NBC Sports Network showed the Sunday night game from Montreal, the Monday night game from St. Louis, Tuesday night from New York (Rangers), and on Wednesday from Chicago. This is a true delight for NHL fans who not that many years ago needed a microscope to find even one national telecast.
The late night "Nick & Artie Show" with Artie Lange and Nick DiPaolo, which has been streaming and on satellite radio since its fall debut is now adding some sports talk stations. Out west, the show will be airing on KTCK 1050 San Francisco and KHTK 1140 Sacramento. Houston's KILT 610 will also carry the show.
NEW YORK: Newsday reports that there will be a change in the Mets' radio booth for the coming season to replace Wayne Hagin. The report names Josh Lewin, who has called TV for the Cubs and Rangers among others and some regional games for Fox, as the "leading candidate". Lewin currently hosts a sports show in Dallas, and is also the radio voice of the San Diego Chargers. The N.Y. Post earlier named Jim Duquette as a candidate for the position.
WASHINGTON D.C.: CBS Radio is doing some additional blending among sister stations with the debut of WNEW 99.1 as an all-news station. (Not a New York rock station, but the re-assigned call letters.) The :25 and :55 sportscasts are being provided by The Fan 106.7, with reporters often finishing their update on WNEW just prior to updating on The Fan at the top and bottom of the hour. Fran Hanrahan now starts his morning with the 5:25 AM update on WNEW and 5:30 on The Fan, and remains on both until Noon. The brand new news station also is airing reports from The Fan's beat reporters such as Sky Kerstein on the Capitals and Liz Drabick on the Wizards and Nationals.
CHICAGO: While WSCR The Score 670 celebrates 20 years on the air in Chicago this month (although spread over 3 AM frequencies during that time), the market could have its first Spanish sports station as of February 1st. Word is that north suburban WKRS 1220, licensed to Waukegan, will take aim at the area's significant Hispanic population and take on ESPN Deportes.
DETROIT: Even with strong ratings, WXYT-FM 97.1 is adjusting its schedule for weekday evenings when there are Pistons, Red Wings, or Tigers broadcasts. Bob Wojnowski and Jamie Samuelsen are now (as of this week) heard from 6 to 8 PM. Samuelsen comes over from having been Sports Director at WCSX-FM and previously hosted sports talk on WDFN. As a result, Caputo & Fithian, with Pat Caputo and Dennis Fithian, will begin their nighttime show at 8 PM or following whichever post-game show.
PHILADELPHIA: Eskin on sports expands, but in name only. With Howard Eskin continuing only with filling in on WIP, son Spike Eskin now does some sports anchoring on news station KYW. In addition, Spike has editor duties for the sports portion of CBS Philadelphia's web site.
Before going any further, here is the link to file your comments direct to the FCC:
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/proceeding/view?name=12-3
Things have certainly changed since the NFL blackout rule was put into place. When it began in the 70's, the NFL games were only televised via over-the-air stations. There were no cable telecasts, and no satellite TV or packages to be able to receive every game. You watched what your local stations gave you. However, at that time it was all "free" TV as well, making it tough to object.
These days, of course, it's a different game, especially when it comes to TV coverage. And it's time to give us what we as sports fans (and those who are not sports fans) are paying for. The NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL all seem to forget that millions of Americans, fans or not, are helping to finance their operations, which was not the case when these restrictions were put in place.
Unless the cable and satellite providers deduct money from our monthly bills for the days on which they purposely remove programming we are paying for (as in when local team telecasts are blacked out), this practice needs to stop. Thirty years ago, teams lost revenue if there were empty seats. Now, millions of people are paying more and more to their cable or satellite provider, and a percentage of that goes to the leagues and teams hosting these games.
There was a time years ago when TV rights for the NFL paid nearly 100% of the player salaries and team expenses. (I don't know if that is still the case, but based on the billions in rights fees, it is still possible.) Thus, fans who purchase the tickets are no longer the only people providing income for the teams and leagues.
In my opinion, no telecasts should be blacked out anywhere, including instances of more than one originated telecast of the same game. It happens often with MLB, NBA, and NHL games where a national network such as ESPN airs a local game. However, because of a local team telecast, the ESPN (or whatever network) telecast is blacked out. Fans should have the option of watching the national telecast if they so choose, and not be at the mercy of local advertisers. Make the local telecast good enough so that we won't care to watch the national telecast, but give us that choice.
To take it a step further, the extra pay packages such as Direct Ticket for NFL, the NBA, MLB, and NHL versions, should also not have blackouts. If a Boston Celtics fan wishes to watch a Celtics game from Orlando with the Magic's announcing team, he or she should be able to do that, given that this package costs additional money which also goes to the NBA and its teams. These are no longer advertiser supported telecasts since consumers are paying to receive these channels.
There is only a short window of opportunity to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission about changing or lifting the current blackout policy. Please take advantage. Do this before you write your next check for a small fortune for the next month of your cable or satellite TV.
Meanwhile, the NFL continues to kill with ratings as we get further into the playoffs. This coming weekend's NFC and AFC Championship Game telecasts will tell us if the ratings boom is because of all first-place teams (all wild card teams eliminated in opening round), the Packers run toward repeating (now over), the boost from a New York team participating, Tebow-mania, or a combination of all of these.
ESPN and Fox are gearing up for the upcoming baseball season with national telecast schedules being unveiled. The Texas Rangers will appear on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball 3 of the first 6 weeks, including the Sunday Night opener on April 8th vs. the Chicago White Sox, and May 13th against Albert Pujols and the division rival Angels. Fox has already announced Rangers vs. Angels matchups on May 12 and July 21. ESPN will, understandably, show the season opening game on Weds. April 4th from Miami. The Marlins vs. Cardinals telecast features the World Champs in their first game without Pujols, the brand new Marlins stadium, and is likely to be Mark Buehrle's first ever national league start for new Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen. They can't go wrong with that game.
Thursday April 5th has ESPN showing Boston at Detroit and Miami at Cincinnati (an afternoon doubleheader), with Friday April 6th having the Giants at Arizona followed by the Angels hosting Kansas City. Look for MLB Network to begin its slate of regular season telecasts on the night of Thursday April 5th.
Orioles TV voice Gary Thorne is adding bowling play-by-play to his baseball and hockey duties. Thorne will call three upcoming major PBA tournaments, including the U.S. Open next month and the Tournament of Champions in April. Randy Pedersen, a PBA Hall of Fame member, continues as the analyst for ESPN PBA Tour telecasts this season.
NBC and NBC Sports Network have concluded 5 consecutive days with NHL telecasts. NBC showed the Chicago vs. Detroit game on Saturday (1/14), while NBC Sports Network showed the Sunday night game from Montreal, the Monday night game from St. Louis, Tuesday night from New York (Rangers), and on Wednesday from Chicago. This is a true delight for NHL fans who not that many years ago needed a microscope to find even one national telecast.
The late night "Nick & Artie Show" with Artie Lange and Nick DiPaolo, which has been streaming and on satellite radio since its fall debut is now adding some sports talk stations. Out west, the show will be airing on KTCK 1050 San Francisco and KHTK 1140 Sacramento. Houston's KILT 610 will also carry the show.
NEW YORK: Newsday reports that there will be a change in the Mets' radio booth for the coming season to replace Wayne Hagin. The report names Josh Lewin, who has called TV for the Cubs and Rangers among others and some regional games for Fox, as the "leading candidate". Lewin currently hosts a sports show in Dallas, and is also the radio voice of the San Diego Chargers. The N.Y. Post earlier named Jim Duquette as a candidate for the position.
WASHINGTON D.C.: CBS Radio is doing some additional blending among sister stations with the debut of WNEW 99.1 as an all-news station. (Not a New York rock station, but the re-assigned call letters.) The :25 and :55 sportscasts are being provided by The Fan 106.7, with reporters often finishing their update on WNEW just prior to updating on The Fan at the top and bottom of the hour. Fran Hanrahan now starts his morning with the 5:25 AM update on WNEW and 5:30 on The Fan, and remains on both until Noon. The brand new news station also is airing reports from The Fan's beat reporters such as Sky Kerstein on the Capitals and Liz Drabick on the Wizards and Nationals.
CHICAGO: While WSCR The Score 670 celebrates 20 years on the air in Chicago this month (although spread over 3 AM frequencies during that time), the market could have its first Spanish sports station as of February 1st. Word is that north suburban WKRS 1220, licensed to Waukegan, will take aim at the area's significant Hispanic population and take on ESPN Deportes.
DETROIT: Even with strong ratings, WXYT-FM 97.1 is adjusting its schedule for weekday evenings when there are Pistons, Red Wings, or Tigers broadcasts. Bob Wojnowski and Jamie Samuelsen are now (as of this week) heard from 6 to 8 PM. Samuelsen comes over from having been Sports Director at WCSX-FM and previously hosted sports talk on WDFN. As a result, Caputo & Fithian, with Pat Caputo and Dennis Fithian, will begin their nighttime show at 8 PM or following whichever post-game show.
PHILADELPHIA: Eskin on sports expands, but in name only. With Howard Eskin continuing only with filling in on WIP, son Spike Eskin now does some sports anchoring on news station KYW. In addition, Spike has editor duties for the sports portion of CBS Philadelphia's web site.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
NBC Sports Takes Off In New Year
Even though all of the NFL playoff games this coming weekend count the same, I'm expecting higher ratings for the Sunday telecasts than for the Saturday games, and it is not a reflection on the networks handling the coverage.
The Sunday (1/8) matchups are bigger draws. The N.Y. Giants host Atlanta in the early game on Fox (with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman) which will draw from the New York markets, while the CBS (Jim Nantz and Phil Simms) game with Pittsburgh at Denver will run into prime time in the east and feature Tim Tebow in post-season action. That should translate to big numbers, whether or not it means a "miracle" finish from Tebow.
On Saturday, NBC-TV handles both games, with the earlier matchup of Cincinnati at Houston. The network has Tom Hammond and Mike Mayock, its Notre Dame football announcing team, handling the call. Although Mayock does a solid job as an analyst, this is a post-season game and should mean NBC stepping up their presentation to have a more "hands on" NFL presence in the booth. It's the same issue I have with ESPN using Doris Burke as analyst on NBA telecasts. While Mayock and Burke are each deserving of high profile roles, it's not as if there isn't anyone else available. We as fans get studio pre-game and half-time shows with seemingly hundreds of former players and coaches practically in a battle for air time to give their insight.
For an NFL post-season game, NBC should have, say, Tony Dungy in the booth, or maybe bring in a current NFL coach whose team did not make the post-season but faced one or both of these teams into the booth. There will be some fans viewing this game who have seen much more of the Texans or Bengals than Mayock did. The prime-time telecast (8 PM ET) of the Detroit at New Orleans rematch (these 2 teams met on Sunday Night Football just a few weeks back) will feature the main team of Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth.
On the following Saturday, Jan. 14, Fox will have the afternoon NFC game from San Francisco with Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston, with CBS following with a prime time telecast from New England with Nantz and Simms. Sunday the 15th has CBS with the early game from Baltimore called by Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf and Fox with the late afternoon game from Green Bay with Buck and Aikman.
NBC comes off major ratings from its regular season finally on Sunday Jan. 1 with record ratings from its Cowboys-Giants telecast, with finished as the highest rated prime time NFL telecast since 1998.
The new year 2012 was barely a few hours in progress when we were saddened another loss from the sports media. We learned of the passing of Jim Huber of Turner Sports for the past 27 years. Huber was a sports anchor on Atlanta TV and seemingly lucked into a role on CNN to save them moving costs to increase their sports team. Huber handled weekend and fill-in work when CNN aired "Sports Tonight" with the likes of the late Nick Charles, Fred Hickman, Vince Cellini, Hannah Storm, and others. He also was able to do what he did best, which was sports feature reporting.
With the former Versus Network into its first week as NBC Sports Network, the network has begun regular national coverage of NCAA hockey. Its first telecast was last Saturday (12/31) when the network has NHL analyst Ed Olczyk work the Boston U. vs. Notre Dame match along with Steve Schlanger. Most of the remaining telecasts will be on Friday nights when there is not an NHL game scheduled and will include the "final four" of the Hockey East tournament. Note the irony that NBC Sports brought in an NHL analyst for its debut telecast of a college game, but is using a college football analyst for a post-season NFL game on NBC.
As ESPN Radio and Fox Sports Radio begin to become more competitive, each network is making adjustments in their weeknight sports talk lineups. ESPN Radio starts the Hill & Schlereth Show in the 7 to 10 PM ET time slot next week, starting on Tuesday Jan. 10th due to football on Monday. Mike Hill, known from SportsCenter is teamed with former NFL standout Mark Schlereth. This is likely a temporary assignment for Schlereth until just after the Super Bowl. Fox Sports Radio has named Rob Tepper as regular host on their 10 PM to 1 AM ET "Fox Sports Tonight" along with co-host baseball analyst Rob Dibble. Tepper, a former morning show on a music station in Seattle, has been guest-hosting with Dibble in recent weeks. In addition, Fox Sports plans to use Chicago based host Mike North for fill-in work during the week, in addition to North's Sunday night show.
On the TV side, Fox Sports Southwest and FS Oklahoma regional sports networks are reported in the final stages (at press time) of a deal to carry University of Oklahoma sports, including at least one live football and several basketball games not picked up by ESPN, Fox (national), or other regional or national networks. Ironically, these games could also be shown on cable systems in and around Austin TX, home of the University of Texas, while some of the same cable systems in north Texas may not be carrying the U. of Texas sports network. Oops.
HOUSTON: Rome has burned out. After more than 13 years, KILT 610 has dropped Jim Rome's radio show, but it is to add more local sports talk programming. Mike Miltser and Brad Davies will host "Mad Radio" from 10 AM to 2 PM, in between Marc Vandermeer and John Lopez' morning show and leading into Rich Lord and Josh Innes who will air from 2 until 6 PM. The first three to six months of this year figure to be critical for Houston's sports stations. The success of the Texans this season has brought sports radio a little bit of hope over the past couple of months' ratings. However, with the Rockets not expected to be serious contenders and the Astros fading into oblivion with a "lame duck National League" season coming up, it will be interesting to see if the Houston sports stations actually can make a dent in the overall audience ratings. KILT has shown an increase, no doubt helped by it being the Texans flagship station.
PHILADELPHIA: Sports fans who pay attention to the digital TV channels from the local stations will notice some ACC basketball games starting this Saturday (1/7). Philadelphia Nonstop Channel 10.2, a digital channel operated by the local NBC Channel 10, will air Wake Forest at VA Tech and show a couple of conference games each week. The channel also aired some ACC football games in the fall. The city's two largest cable systems do carry this channel.
BUFFALO: Bills radio broadcasts were "shuffled off" WGRF or WEDG this week. Starting next season, the Bills will air on WROC Sports 950, which will also air a coaches show and separate (Bills) General Manager show as well as scheduled on-air player appearances. Sister station WCMF 96.5 will also air the game broadcasts, which will continue to feature John Murphy and Mark Kelso.
BIRMINGHAM: WJOX 690 is now known as "The Fan" although it will continue to carry ESPN Radio and other syndicated programming. However, WJOX-FM 94.5 continues as local sports talk, providing listeners with a nice balance of local and national coverage.
PAWTUCKET: The Pawtucket Red Sox have named Aaron Goldsmith as their new play-by-play voice on WHJJ 920 to work with Steve Hyder. Goldsmith replaces Dan Hoard, who is now in Cincinnati as the voice of the Bengals.
The Sunday (1/8) matchups are bigger draws. The N.Y. Giants host Atlanta in the early game on Fox (with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman) which will draw from the New York markets, while the CBS (Jim Nantz and Phil Simms) game with Pittsburgh at Denver will run into prime time in the east and feature Tim Tebow in post-season action. That should translate to big numbers, whether or not it means a "miracle" finish from Tebow.
On Saturday, NBC-TV handles both games, with the earlier matchup of Cincinnati at Houston. The network has Tom Hammond and Mike Mayock, its Notre Dame football announcing team, handling the call. Although Mayock does a solid job as an analyst, this is a post-season game and should mean NBC stepping up their presentation to have a more "hands on" NFL presence in the booth. It's the same issue I have with ESPN using Doris Burke as analyst on NBA telecasts. While Mayock and Burke are each deserving of high profile roles, it's not as if there isn't anyone else available. We as fans get studio pre-game and half-time shows with seemingly hundreds of former players and coaches practically in a battle for air time to give their insight.
For an NFL post-season game, NBC should have, say, Tony Dungy in the booth, or maybe bring in a current NFL coach whose team did not make the post-season but faced one or both of these teams into the booth. There will be some fans viewing this game who have seen much more of the Texans or Bengals than Mayock did. The prime-time telecast (8 PM ET) of the Detroit at New Orleans rematch (these 2 teams met on Sunday Night Football just a few weeks back) will feature the main team of Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth.
On the following Saturday, Jan. 14, Fox will have the afternoon NFC game from San Francisco with Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston, with CBS following with a prime time telecast from New England with Nantz and Simms. Sunday the 15th has CBS with the early game from Baltimore called by Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf and Fox with the late afternoon game from Green Bay with Buck and Aikman.
NBC comes off major ratings from its regular season finally on Sunday Jan. 1 with record ratings from its Cowboys-Giants telecast, with finished as the highest rated prime time NFL telecast since 1998.
The new year 2012 was barely a few hours in progress when we were saddened another loss from the sports media. We learned of the passing of Jim Huber of Turner Sports for the past 27 years. Huber was a sports anchor on Atlanta TV and seemingly lucked into a role on CNN to save them moving costs to increase their sports team. Huber handled weekend and fill-in work when CNN aired "Sports Tonight" with the likes of the late Nick Charles, Fred Hickman, Vince Cellini, Hannah Storm, and others. He also was able to do what he did best, which was sports feature reporting.
With the former Versus Network into its first week as NBC Sports Network, the network has begun regular national coverage of NCAA hockey. Its first telecast was last Saturday (12/31) when the network has NHL analyst Ed Olczyk work the Boston U. vs. Notre Dame match along with Steve Schlanger. Most of the remaining telecasts will be on Friday nights when there is not an NHL game scheduled and will include the "final four" of the Hockey East tournament. Note the irony that NBC Sports brought in an NHL analyst for its debut telecast of a college game, but is using a college football analyst for a post-season NFL game on NBC.
As ESPN Radio and Fox Sports Radio begin to become more competitive, each network is making adjustments in their weeknight sports talk lineups. ESPN Radio starts the Hill & Schlereth Show in the 7 to 10 PM ET time slot next week, starting on Tuesday Jan. 10th due to football on Monday. Mike Hill, known from SportsCenter is teamed with former NFL standout Mark Schlereth. This is likely a temporary assignment for Schlereth until just after the Super Bowl. Fox Sports Radio has named Rob Tepper as regular host on their 10 PM to 1 AM ET "Fox Sports Tonight" along with co-host baseball analyst Rob Dibble. Tepper, a former morning show on a music station in Seattle, has been guest-hosting with Dibble in recent weeks. In addition, Fox Sports plans to use Chicago based host Mike North for fill-in work during the week, in addition to North's Sunday night show.
On the TV side, Fox Sports Southwest and FS Oklahoma regional sports networks are reported in the final stages (at press time) of a deal to carry University of Oklahoma sports, including at least one live football and several basketball games not picked up by ESPN, Fox (national), or other regional or national networks. Ironically, these games could also be shown on cable systems in and around Austin TX, home of the University of Texas, while some of the same cable systems in north Texas may not be carrying the U. of Texas sports network. Oops.
HOUSTON: Rome has burned out. After more than 13 years, KILT 610 has dropped Jim Rome's radio show, but it is to add more local sports talk programming. Mike Miltser and Brad Davies will host "Mad Radio" from 10 AM to 2 PM, in between Marc Vandermeer and John Lopez' morning show and leading into Rich Lord and Josh Innes who will air from 2 until 6 PM. The first three to six months of this year figure to be critical for Houston's sports stations. The success of the Texans this season has brought sports radio a little bit of hope over the past couple of months' ratings. However, with the Rockets not expected to be serious contenders and the Astros fading into oblivion with a "lame duck National League" season coming up, it will be interesting to see if the Houston sports stations actually can make a dent in the overall audience ratings. KILT has shown an increase, no doubt helped by it being the Texans flagship station.
PHILADELPHIA: Sports fans who pay attention to the digital TV channels from the local stations will notice some ACC basketball games starting this Saturday (1/7). Philadelphia Nonstop Channel 10.2, a digital channel operated by the local NBC Channel 10, will air Wake Forest at VA Tech and show a couple of conference games each week. The channel also aired some ACC football games in the fall. The city's two largest cable systems do carry this channel.
BUFFALO: Bills radio broadcasts were "shuffled off" WGRF or WEDG this week. Starting next season, the Bills will air on WROC Sports 950, which will also air a coaches show and separate (Bills) General Manager show as well as scheduled on-air player appearances. Sister station WCMF 96.5 will also air the game broadcasts, which will continue to feature John Murphy and Mark Kelso.
BIRMINGHAM: WJOX 690 is now known as "The Fan" although it will continue to carry ESPN Radio and other syndicated programming. However, WJOX-FM 94.5 continues as local sports talk, providing listeners with a nice balance of local and national coverage.
PAWTUCKET: The Pawtucket Red Sox have named Aaron Goldsmith as their new play-by-play voice on WHJJ 920 to work with Steve Hyder. Goldsmith replaces Dan Hoard, who is now in Cincinnati as the voice of the Bengals.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
It's The Game - Not The Sports Station
The release of radio ratings for the mid-September to mid-October period provide reasons to re-visit the impact of sports radio stations around the country. These ratings come during the busiest time of the year in sports, with football, baseball, hockey, and (not quite) basketball all keeping the sports pages busy.
Several of the large market sports stations have recently done some lineup shuffling, whether to fend off competing sportstalk stations, add a fresh approach, or both. Over the past year, I have taken the point of view that sports station ratings are driven too much by the local teams or major sports happenings moreso than the personalities hosting the shows day after day.
With so much time spent talking about rumors, speculation, and predictions by the various hosts instead of increasing "hard sports news" reporting and having more quality guests, many of the sports stations continue to not make a significant impact with the local radio audience, local programming or not. For the most part, when local teams are making significant news or changes, it reflects positively on the local sports stations.
This is not good for the industry. It tells me that sports fans know these sportstalk stations are there, but choose to listen for a hot topic, and not the personalities.
Not everyone who reads and responds to me on this topic agrees, and that's fine. However, I'm seeing even less to support their arguments on this. Let's look at the latest radio ratings for a group of larger markets.
In New York City, WFAN is now #12 in the market in overall audience, and did increase .4 from the previous month. WEPN showed a 50% overall audience increase over the September ratings and has more than doubled its total audience since July, which is impressive. Yet, there were no significant program lineup changes during this time. Fans are not listening more to these stations because "such-and-such is now on in the afternoon". The audience increases for both stations came during the Yankees' run to the post-season with higher expectations and the start of the Giants' and Jets' seasons.
In Chicago, WSCR The Score 670 came in at #18 overall with another slight increase. Yet, rival WMVP ESPN 1000, while tied for #20 showed its strongest overall rating this year. This coincides with the Bears' season starting, as evidenced by WBBM 780 and 105.9, which airs the play-by-play, rising from a 5.4 to a 6.6 overall in just one month to finish #1 in the market.
I'm going to comment more (and separately) on Los Angeles sports radio later this month, since that market again failed to place either of its sports stations in the top 25 in overall audience.
San Francisco also brings the point home. As the Giants were fading from their chance to repeat a World Series championship and the 49ers brought low expectations (at the time), KNBR 680 lost about 20% of its overall audience from one month earlier and fell to #9 in the market. KTCT The Ticket did show a large increase in listeners, but shows a total audience less than 1/3 of KNBR.
In Dallas, KESN showed a 25% audience increase and finished #9 in the market, while KRLD-FM showed a similar increase while rising to #18 overall. KTCK The Ticket held steady. This while the Rangers were on their way to another World Series (decided after this ratings period) and the Cowboys' season was now in full swing.
Houston is another significant example of why it is the sports climate and not the stations themselves. The 3 "leading" sports radio stations showed increases for the October ratings just as Texans began a season with higher than usual expectations. Heck, KILT's audience increased enough to put a Houston sports station into the top 20 stations overall, even though they are at #19. (Other than Los Angeles, Houston's sports stations have shown perhaps the lowest major league market sports radio ratings over the past couple of years.)
Boston was a sports 'hot bed' during this time, with the severe Red Sox collapse at the same time as the start of the Patriots' season. WEEI/WMKK moved up over a full ratings point over the one month. Before I get the argument that the WMKK simulcast recently began and this would account for the increase, consider that WBZ-FM The Sports Hub ALSO rose more than one full rating point during the same time. Sports talk had been on FM in the Boston area. The late September local sports scene is what brought the fans to want to talk about it.
In Detroit, the Tigers' run to the post-season, the Lions best start in more than 40 years, the opening of the Red Wings season, and early success of Michigan and Michigan State football created a sports frenzy. WXYT-FM 97.1 The Ticket had a second straight record-setting ratings month, rose by .6 overall, and finished #1 in the market.
In Phoenix, the success of the Diamondbacks into the post-season brought KTAR-AM up to more than double the audience ratings it had for August.
In Columbus, WBNS-FM's overall ratings rose from a 5.5 a month earlier to a 6.7, an impressive increase, raising the station to #4 in the market. Why? You guessed it. The sportstalk station carries Ohio State football play-by-play.
One more large market to comment on. I'm sure I'll hear from a few of you who will argue that the WEEI to FM simulcast was a factor in the Boston sports radio increase. Perhaps you should also research the Philadelphia market. WIP killed off WYSP-FM's music format to simulcast sports radio, giving this long time sports leader an AM-FM presence for the first time. For October, WIP-AM dropped to #23 overall in the market, and has lost more than half of its audience since July. Yet, WPEN rose to #18 in the market, but showed nearly a full ratings point increase. This looks like the impact of Howard Eskin leaving WIP and many of his listeners trying out the competition - during the Phillies' post-season run and with the Eagles' season in full swing.
Here's hoping that sportstalk stations will strive for more than "Let's go to Joe on the north side who thinks that (name of team) needs a new linebacker" to try and attract more listeners.
Elsewhere, I'm glad that ESPN thought to televise the announcements of MLB's Gold Glove Award winners on Tuesday (11/1) night. With all of the time on the national, regional, and league/conference networks, there is room for shows surrounding award announcements, since many fans want to know exactly when these awards will be announced.
However, if ESPN or MLB Network is going to televise these awards (such as Silver Slugger, MVP, Cy Young, etc.), they need to do a better job of making it interesting or there won't be enough of an audience to make it worthwhile in the future.
"All" ESPN did for each position in both leagues was give the list of nominees, have a former player announce the winner, and THEN show highlights of that player's performance. Sorry, but that wasn't enough of a buildup to make it worth watching again.
Show us clips and information about each nominee, like the major movie and TV awards shows air a clip of each show or film in consideration. Instead, ESPN made it seem easier to go to another news source later that night or the next morning and see the list all at once.
Even an MVP or Cy Young Award telecast could be made interesting. They could include some clips and statistical comparisons of some players not even in the "top 10" in the voting to raise the "How could this guy not have been voted higher?" discussion. In this context, it enhances the winning of the award while adding more suspense. That would be a thousand times better than what seemed like it could have been a pre-recorded presentation.
Next Thursday (11/10) begins Thursday Night Football on NFL Network when the Raiders take on the Chargers. Once again, a new season means a new announcing team. This year Brad Nessler, known for his college football play-by-play over the years, will handle it for NFL Network, along with Notre Dame on NBC analyst Mike Mayock.
Although Nessler and Mayock each do a very good job and figure to be a good team, it seems odd that the NFL's own network would not go with an announcing team strongly associated with the NFL instead of college games.
NEW YORK: It wasn't announced until after our press time last week, but the Yankees broadcasts will indeed return to WCBS-AM for the 2012 season. The significance is that this is a one-year extension and not a multi-year deal. Sister station WFAN has the Mets broadcasts, and that contract is also up at the end of next season. One of the aspects the bears watching is how CBS Radio stations approach retaining or bidding for local play-by-play rights over the next few months. If CBS is looking at a lesser role for sports broadcasts, it could create a wild scene in NYC with both teams coming up. Or, CBS could be bidding against itself and others for both teams next summer.
The Yankees' radio team of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman will return. How much or how little those two will actually talk to each other directly on the air remains to be seen - or heard.
While WEPN 1050 lacks for programming since there are no Knicks broadcasts during the NBA lockout, the station will carry Seton Hall basketball starting on Nov. 12th vs. St. Francis. The contract allows for the Seton Hall broadcasts to move to WABC 770 if and when there are Knicks conflicts during the coming season, as well as when there will be Rangers conflicts. (WEPN airs the Rangers games as well.)
WASHINGTON D.C.: Although the college basketball season is about to start, it took until the last minute for Georgetown University basketball to get a deal with WTEM 980. The ESPN station or WSPZ-AM 570 will air the Hoyas games again this season, with Rich Chvotkin going in to his 39th season as play-by-play voice.
DENVER: Nate Kreckman has moved into a co-host role from Noon to 3 PM on 102.3 The Ticket, teaming with Charles Johnson. Former Colorado QB Joel Klatt has left the station, with details sketchy as to what happened there.
ALLENTOWN PA: A Saturday morning mystery, radio style. This past Saturday (10/30), The Fox AM 1470 did not air the "Calling All Sports" Show with Keith Groller, although there was no official announcement. Later, Groller stated in his local newspaper column that the show was taken off the schedule "due to some transitions". The station is owned by a large national radio group which has been eliminating jobs around the country over the past two weeks, and this was a weekly locally produced show. So now the guess is it's no longer a mystery and the show won't be back.
Several of the large market sports stations have recently done some lineup shuffling, whether to fend off competing sportstalk stations, add a fresh approach, or both. Over the past year, I have taken the point of view that sports station ratings are driven too much by the local teams or major sports happenings moreso than the personalities hosting the shows day after day.
With so much time spent talking about rumors, speculation, and predictions by the various hosts instead of increasing "hard sports news" reporting and having more quality guests, many of the sports stations continue to not make a significant impact with the local radio audience, local programming or not. For the most part, when local teams are making significant news or changes, it reflects positively on the local sports stations.
This is not good for the industry. It tells me that sports fans know these sportstalk stations are there, but choose to listen for a hot topic, and not the personalities.
Not everyone who reads and responds to me on this topic agrees, and that's fine. However, I'm seeing even less to support their arguments on this. Let's look at the latest radio ratings for a group of larger markets.
In New York City, WFAN is now #12 in the market in overall audience, and did increase .4 from the previous month. WEPN showed a 50% overall audience increase over the September ratings and has more than doubled its total audience since July, which is impressive. Yet, there were no significant program lineup changes during this time. Fans are not listening more to these stations because "such-and-such is now on in the afternoon". The audience increases for both stations came during the Yankees' run to the post-season with higher expectations and the start of the Giants' and Jets' seasons.
In Chicago, WSCR The Score 670 came in at #18 overall with another slight increase. Yet, rival WMVP ESPN 1000, while tied for #20 showed its strongest overall rating this year. This coincides with the Bears' season starting, as evidenced by WBBM 780 and 105.9, which airs the play-by-play, rising from a 5.4 to a 6.6 overall in just one month to finish #1 in the market.
I'm going to comment more (and separately) on Los Angeles sports radio later this month, since that market again failed to place either of its sports stations in the top 25 in overall audience.
San Francisco also brings the point home. As the Giants were fading from their chance to repeat a World Series championship and the 49ers brought low expectations (at the time), KNBR 680 lost about 20% of its overall audience from one month earlier and fell to #9 in the market. KTCT The Ticket did show a large increase in listeners, but shows a total audience less than 1/3 of KNBR.
In Dallas, KESN showed a 25% audience increase and finished #9 in the market, while KRLD-FM showed a similar increase while rising to #18 overall. KTCK The Ticket held steady. This while the Rangers were on their way to another World Series (decided after this ratings period) and the Cowboys' season was now in full swing.
Houston is another significant example of why it is the sports climate and not the stations themselves. The 3 "leading" sports radio stations showed increases for the October ratings just as Texans began a season with higher than usual expectations. Heck, KILT's audience increased enough to put a Houston sports station into the top 20 stations overall, even though they are at #19. (Other than Los Angeles, Houston's sports stations have shown perhaps the lowest major league market sports radio ratings over the past couple of years.)
Boston was a sports 'hot bed' during this time, with the severe Red Sox collapse at the same time as the start of the Patriots' season. WEEI/WMKK moved up over a full ratings point over the one month. Before I get the argument that the WMKK simulcast recently began and this would account for the increase, consider that WBZ-FM The Sports Hub ALSO rose more than one full rating point during the same time. Sports talk had been on FM in the Boston area. The late September local sports scene is what brought the fans to want to talk about it.
In Detroit, the Tigers' run to the post-season, the Lions best start in more than 40 years, the opening of the Red Wings season, and early success of Michigan and Michigan State football created a sports frenzy. WXYT-FM 97.1 The Ticket had a second straight record-setting ratings month, rose by .6 overall, and finished #1 in the market.
In Phoenix, the success of the Diamondbacks into the post-season brought KTAR-AM up to more than double the audience ratings it had for August.
In Columbus, WBNS-FM's overall ratings rose from a 5.5 a month earlier to a 6.7, an impressive increase, raising the station to #4 in the market. Why? You guessed it. The sportstalk station carries Ohio State football play-by-play.
One more large market to comment on. I'm sure I'll hear from a few of you who will argue that the WEEI to FM simulcast was a factor in the Boston sports radio increase. Perhaps you should also research the Philadelphia market. WIP killed off WYSP-FM's music format to simulcast sports radio, giving this long time sports leader an AM-FM presence for the first time. For October, WIP-AM dropped to #23 overall in the market, and has lost more than half of its audience since July. Yet, WPEN rose to #18 in the market, but showed nearly a full ratings point increase. This looks like the impact of Howard Eskin leaving WIP and many of his listeners trying out the competition - during the Phillies' post-season run and with the Eagles' season in full swing.
Here's hoping that sportstalk stations will strive for more than "Let's go to Joe on the north side who thinks that (name of team) needs a new linebacker" to try and attract more listeners.
Elsewhere, I'm glad that ESPN thought to televise the announcements of MLB's Gold Glove Award winners on Tuesday (11/1) night. With all of the time on the national, regional, and league/conference networks, there is room for shows surrounding award announcements, since many fans want to know exactly when these awards will be announced.
However, if ESPN or MLB Network is going to televise these awards (such as Silver Slugger, MVP, Cy Young, etc.), they need to do a better job of making it interesting or there won't be enough of an audience to make it worthwhile in the future.
"All" ESPN did for each position in both leagues was give the list of nominees, have a former player announce the winner, and THEN show highlights of that player's performance. Sorry, but that wasn't enough of a buildup to make it worth watching again.
Show us clips and information about each nominee, like the major movie and TV awards shows air a clip of each show or film in consideration. Instead, ESPN made it seem easier to go to another news source later that night or the next morning and see the list all at once.
Even an MVP or Cy Young Award telecast could be made interesting. They could include some clips and statistical comparisons of some players not even in the "top 10" in the voting to raise the "How could this guy not have been voted higher?" discussion. In this context, it enhances the winning of the award while adding more suspense. That would be a thousand times better than what seemed like it could have been a pre-recorded presentation.
Next Thursday (11/10) begins Thursday Night Football on NFL Network when the Raiders take on the Chargers. Once again, a new season means a new announcing team. This year Brad Nessler, known for his college football play-by-play over the years, will handle it for NFL Network, along with Notre Dame on NBC analyst Mike Mayock.
Although Nessler and Mayock each do a very good job and figure to be a good team, it seems odd that the NFL's own network would not go with an announcing team strongly associated with the NFL instead of college games.
NEW YORK: It wasn't announced until after our press time last week, but the Yankees broadcasts will indeed return to WCBS-AM for the 2012 season. The significance is that this is a one-year extension and not a multi-year deal. Sister station WFAN has the Mets broadcasts, and that contract is also up at the end of next season. One of the aspects the bears watching is how CBS Radio stations approach retaining or bidding for local play-by-play rights over the next few months. If CBS is looking at a lesser role for sports broadcasts, it could create a wild scene in NYC with both teams coming up. Or, CBS could be bidding against itself and others for both teams next summer.
The Yankees' radio team of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman will return. How much or how little those two will actually talk to each other directly on the air remains to be seen - or heard.
While WEPN 1050 lacks for programming since there are no Knicks broadcasts during the NBA lockout, the station will carry Seton Hall basketball starting on Nov. 12th vs. St. Francis. The contract allows for the Seton Hall broadcasts to move to WABC 770 if and when there are Knicks conflicts during the coming season, as well as when there will be Rangers conflicts. (WEPN airs the Rangers games as well.)
WASHINGTON D.C.: Although the college basketball season is about to start, it took until the last minute for Georgetown University basketball to get a deal with WTEM 980. The ESPN station or WSPZ-AM 570 will air the Hoyas games again this season, with Rich Chvotkin going in to his 39th season as play-by-play voice.
DENVER: Nate Kreckman has moved into a co-host role from Noon to 3 PM on 102.3 The Ticket, teaming with Charles Johnson. Former Colorado QB Joel Klatt has left the station, with details sketchy as to what happened there.
ALLENTOWN PA: A Saturday morning mystery, radio style. This past Saturday (10/30), The Fox AM 1470 did not air the "Calling All Sports" Show with Keith Groller, although there was no official announcement. Later, Groller stated in his local newspaper column that the show was taken off the schedule "due to some transitions". The station is owned by a large national radio group which has been eliminating jobs around the country over the past two weeks, and this was a weekly locally produced show. So now the guess is it's no longer a mystery and the show won't be back.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
The False Fox Headlines
One of the most interesting stories of the past few days is a "media on media" story that appeared in the Sunday editions (Sept. 18) of the Chicago Tribune. The newspaper busted Fox TV Sports for using what it claims were "false headlines" during its Chicago Bears vs. Atlanta Falcons Sept. 11th regional telecast.
Early in that season opener for both teams, Fox showed some graphics which it claimed were "actual" newspaper headlines questioning the physical stamina of Bears QB Jay Cutler following his injury suffered during the Jan. 2011 NFC Championship Game vs. Green Bay.
The Tribune story, which to the best of my knowledge was not also published on the newspaper's web site, points out that it challenged Fox Sports when it researched and failed to find any such specific headlines, and that a Fox Sports official admitted those were not "actual" headlines it had shown.
On one hand, this is an example of excellent reporting and digging for information. Great to see that someone in sports media followed up in detail when something didn't look right, and was able to confirm.
On the other hand, I can't help but wonder how or why it took a week for this story to see the light of day. Even if the (un-named) Tribune reporter or reporters who pursued the story could not get a comment from Fox TV earlier in the week, I see no reason why this information was not published any sooner than the following Sunday after this happened.
Had the Chicago Tribune gone ahead with the story about what was shown on Fox and how it could not come up with any proof after reviewing its and other publication headlines, it would have made not getting a comment from Fox TV even more interesting. For all of the speculation and rumors the Tribune (and other print, electronic, and online sports media) report, a factual story should take priority. Especially one that involves media which seems to have shown millions of viewers something presented as fact which didn't happen - and when it is media which provides some exclusive coverage of the NFL.
Meanwhile, sorry to learn of the passing of long time sportscaster Jack O'Rourke in Philadelphia at the age of 80. O'Rourke is one of those names familiar to some but not all long time sports fans. He was a reporter instead of being a play-by-play man, and covered many important sports events during his 20 years with NBC Radio Network. He covered the Olympics, Super Bowls, and other national events such as track and field and major boxing matches.
O'Rourke was also a sports reporter and anchor for the old "NBC News and Information Service" during the late 1970's, back when radio was a primary source of sports scores and headlines during the day and evening. Before sports phone, cable TV, all sports radio, and the internet, and before most every professional sports game was televised, radio was the dominant source. In Philadelphia, he served on KYW as a news anchor in the 1960's and had returned to the legendary news station in more recent years. His death occured moments after he interviewed some Phillies players.
My best personal memory of Jack O'Rourke wasn't funny then but it is now. I was assigned to cover a major horse race for NBC News & Information Service in the late 70's. To be honest, horse racing wasn't a specialty of mine, but I knew enough to provide accurate and informative reports. The sports producer asked me to call in live a few minutes after the race ended, which was a few minutes before O'Rourke was to deliver the next NIS sports segment. That producer asked me to keep my wrapup of the big race to no more than 25 seconds.
There I was, ready to go with my 22 second voiceover recap, which I gave when O'Rourke gave me the cue. I finished and sent it back to him. Little did I know that he had cleared that entire 2-minute segment to devote it to the horse race, even with the other (and to me more important) sports news of the day. He was asking me short questions as if he couldn't believe I stopped after 20+ seconds, and I'm giving him short answers as if I'm waiting for him to move on. I felt like I did a good job ad-libbing my way through, but knew that he didn't feel he had to ask me those questions to keep me talking. At least I wasn't shocked when NIS didn't survive. Even though a few years later CNN began its national radio news service, very similar in format to what NIS had tried, and it worked well for a number of years.
O'Rourke was definitely a seasoned pro, who enjoyed and thrived on his work. He will be missed, even more than his amazing work ethic.
LOS ANGELES: The situation involving the Dodgers and ownership continues without resolution. Yet, it is almost as if Major League Baseball is more concerned with the team's future TV coverage than with how the team will do on the field during that time. MLB continues to block (or delay) the Dodgers' proposed $3 billion TV deal for 17 seasons from Fox Sports.
The Dodgers claim that this amount would enable them to pay off the team's current debts and get them out of bankruptcy without having to sell off any assets which could devalue the team. On Saturday (9/17), reports surfaced that the Dogers have proposed an aucdtion of the team's media rights which would allow for additional bidding.
It all brings up how significant the media rights fees are for pro teams these days. If this $3 billion contract is able to go through, it guarantees the team a significant revenue flow for each season, regardless of the talent level on the field. 17 seasons is most likely beyond the point where even one player would be on the roster for the entire length of the contract. From a competitive standpoint, I can understand MLB questioning the deal.
Yet, I question it from a media perspective. With that much money tied up in media rights, the cost of the Fox Sports regional TV networks would certainly rise, probably every year. And the fans wind up paying that additional cost, regardless of the on field talent. In fact, those who are not Dodger or even baseball fans would probably wind up paying the cost. It is deals such as this which have contributed heavily to the high cost of cable or satellite TV these days.
The Dodgers, in proposing an auction of their media rights to MLB, reportedly are using deals for other teams, such as the Rangers and Mets (each of which has had financial and ownership issues within the past couple of seasons), as examples of why MLB should not be blocking their attempts to score the big and long-term contract.
NEW YORK: WBBR 1130 Bloomberg Radio has partnered with WEPN 1050 to carry morning sports reports from anchor Jared Max on the business station. Max's reports on WEPN will remain the priority, with his reports on both stations starting during the 5 AM hour on weekdays.
CHICAGO: Fox Sports analyst Troy Aikman will appear once per week during the remainder of the NFL season on WSCR The Score 670's morning show. Each Tuesday morning Aikman will review the NFL games overall and not just focus on Bears games. It so happens that Aikman, a part of Fox Sports' #1 NFL announcing team, called the Bears loss in New Orleans this past Sunday (9/18) and is scheduled to call the Chicago vs. Green Bay double header game on Sunday Sept. 25th.
What makes this interesting is that WSCR is a CBS owned radio station, and Aikman is an analyst for Fox Sports, which, of course, competes against CBS-TV every NFL Sunday. While there is no Fox Sports Radio affiliate in or even near the Chicago area, it's interesting that CBS is allowing this to happen. Boomer Esiason, for example, hosts mornings on sister station WFAN New York.
PITTSBURGH: The Post-Gazette is speculating that the Pirates broadcasts will not remain on 104.7 after this season, which marks the end of the 5-year contract that took the team away from long-time home KDKA-AM. The newspaper suggests that KDKA-FM The Fan would sign the Pirates since its only other local sports play-by-play is Pitt football and basketball. Neither the Steelers or Penguins rights are up at this time.
NASHVILLE: As of press time, still nothing further about why George Plaster's highly rated show is gone from 104.5 The Zone as of this past Friday (9/16). The most recent ratings showed Plaster's afternoon drive show as having the third highest overall audience.
ALBANY: WTMM 104.5 The Team has sunk Sinkoff and brought in Bruce Jacobs to host its afternoon drive slot. Jacobs has filled in on Fox Sports Radio, and will replace Brian Sinkoff. No word as to whether or not Sinkoff will remain with the station.
Early in that season opener for both teams, Fox showed some graphics which it claimed were "actual" newspaper headlines questioning the physical stamina of Bears QB Jay Cutler following his injury suffered during the Jan. 2011 NFC Championship Game vs. Green Bay.
The Tribune story, which to the best of my knowledge was not also published on the newspaper's web site, points out that it challenged Fox Sports when it researched and failed to find any such specific headlines, and that a Fox Sports official admitted those were not "actual" headlines it had shown.
On one hand, this is an example of excellent reporting and digging for information. Great to see that someone in sports media followed up in detail when something didn't look right, and was able to confirm.
On the other hand, I can't help but wonder how or why it took a week for this story to see the light of day. Even if the (un-named) Tribune reporter or reporters who pursued the story could not get a comment from Fox TV earlier in the week, I see no reason why this information was not published any sooner than the following Sunday after this happened.
Had the Chicago Tribune gone ahead with the story about what was shown on Fox and how it could not come up with any proof after reviewing its and other publication headlines, it would have made not getting a comment from Fox TV even more interesting. For all of the speculation and rumors the Tribune (and other print, electronic, and online sports media) report, a factual story should take priority. Especially one that involves media which seems to have shown millions of viewers something presented as fact which didn't happen - and when it is media which provides some exclusive coverage of the NFL.
Meanwhile, sorry to learn of the passing of long time sportscaster Jack O'Rourke in Philadelphia at the age of 80. O'Rourke is one of those names familiar to some but not all long time sports fans. He was a reporter instead of being a play-by-play man, and covered many important sports events during his 20 years with NBC Radio Network. He covered the Olympics, Super Bowls, and other national events such as track and field and major boxing matches.
O'Rourke was also a sports reporter and anchor for the old "NBC News and Information Service" during the late 1970's, back when radio was a primary source of sports scores and headlines during the day and evening. Before sports phone, cable TV, all sports radio, and the internet, and before most every professional sports game was televised, radio was the dominant source. In Philadelphia, he served on KYW as a news anchor in the 1960's and had returned to the legendary news station in more recent years. His death occured moments after he interviewed some Phillies players.
My best personal memory of Jack O'Rourke wasn't funny then but it is now. I was assigned to cover a major horse race for NBC News & Information Service in the late 70's. To be honest, horse racing wasn't a specialty of mine, but I knew enough to provide accurate and informative reports. The sports producer asked me to call in live a few minutes after the race ended, which was a few minutes before O'Rourke was to deliver the next NIS sports segment. That producer asked me to keep my wrapup of the big race to no more than 25 seconds.
There I was, ready to go with my 22 second voiceover recap, which I gave when O'Rourke gave me the cue. I finished and sent it back to him. Little did I know that he had cleared that entire 2-minute segment to devote it to the horse race, even with the other (and to me more important) sports news of the day. He was asking me short questions as if he couldn't believe I stopped after 20+ seconds, and I'm giving him short answers as if I'm waiting for him to move on. I felt like I did a good job ad-libbing my way through, but knew that he didn't feel he had to ask me those questions to keep me talking. At least I wasn't shocked when NIS didn't survive. Even though a few years later CNN began its national radio news service, very similar in format to what NIS had tried, and it worked well for a number of years.
O'Rourke was definitely a seasoned pro, who enjoyed and thrived on his work. He will be missed, even more than his amazing work ethic.
LOS ANGELES: The situation involving the Dodgers and ownership continues without resolution. Yet, it is almost as if Major League Baseball is more concerned with the team's future TV coverage than with how the team will do on the field during that time. MLB continues to block (or delay) the Dodgers' proposed $3 billion TV deal for 17 seasons from Fox Sports.
The Dodgers claim that this amount would enable them to pay off the team's current debts and get them out of bankruptcy without having to sell off any assets which could devalue the team. On Saturday (9/17), reports surfaced that the Dogers have proposed an aucdtion of the team's media rights which would allow for additional bidding.
It all brings up how significant the media rights fees are for pro teams these days. If this $3 billion contract is able to go through, it guarantees the team a significant revenue flow for each season, regardless of the talent level on the field. 17 seasons is most likely beyond the point where even one player would be on the roster for the entire length of the contract. From a competitive standpoint, I can understand MLB questioning the deal.
Yet, I question it from a media perspective. With that much money tied up in media rights, the cost of the Fox Sports regional TV networks would certainly rise, probably every year. And the fans wind up paying that additional cost, regardless of the on field talent. In fact, those who are not Dodger or even baseball fans would probably wind up paying the cost. It is deals such as this which have contributed heavily to the high cost of cable or satellite TV these days.
The Dodgers, in proposing an auction of their media rights to MLB, reportedly are using deals for other teams, such as the Rangers and Mets (each of which has had financial and ownership issues within the past couple of seasons), as examples of why MLB should not be blocking their attempts to score the big and long-term contract.
NEW YORK: WBBR 1130 Bloomberg Radio has partnered with WEPN 1050 to carry morning sports reports from anchor Jared Max on the business station. Max's reports on WEPN will remain the priority, with his reports on both stations starting during the 5 AM hour on weekdays.
CHICAGO: Fox Sports analyst Troy Aikman will appear once per week during the remainder of the NFL season on WSCR The Score 670's morning show. Each Tuesday morning Aikman will review the NFL games overall and not just focus on Bears games. It so happens that Aikman, a part of Fox Sports' #1 NFL announcing team, called the Bears loss in New Orleans this past Sunday (9/18) and is scheduled to call the Chicago vs. Green Bay double header game on Sunday Sept. 25th.
What makes this interesting is that WSCR is a CBS owned radio station, and Aikman is an analyst for Fox Sports, which, of course, competes against CBS-TV every NFL Sunday. While there is no Fox Sports Radio affiliate in or even near the Chicago area, it's interesting that CBS is allowing this to happen. Boomer Esiason, for example, hosts mornings on sister station WFAN New York.
PITTSBURGH: The Post-Gazette is speculating that the Pirates broadcasts will not remain on 104.7 after this season, which marks the end of the 5-year contract that took the team away from long-time home KDKA-AM. The newspaper suggests that KDKA-FM The Fan would sign the Pirates since its only other local sports play-by-play is Pitt football and basketball. Neither the Steelers or Penguins rights are up at this time.
NASHVILLE: As of press time, still nothing further about why George Plaster's highly rated show is gone from 104.5 The Zone as of this past Friday (9/16). The most recent ratings showed Plaster's afternoon drive show as having the third highest overall audience.
ALBANY: WTMM 104.5 The Team has sunk Sinkoff and brought in Bruce Jacobs to host its afternoon drive slot. Jacobs has filled in on Fox Sports Radio, and will replace Brian Sinkoff. No word as to whether or not Sinkoff will remain with the station.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
ESPN Reporters Making News
NFL fans want their football once again this season. The Sunday Night Football opener finished with extremely high ratings, even higher than expected since Dallas and a New York team were included. But I have to wonder if some viewers were burned out by Monday night. Just maybe the Monday Night Football doubleheader was too much for some folks, as the early ratings report for the night was down a bit, although still fairly strong. Not as many viewers as expected were watching when Ron Jaworski used the s-word on ESPN following a play.
At least Jaworski issued his own apology. That's better than ESPN's Bobby Knight who did the same type of slip last college hoops season and then did not apologize, instead leaving that to the play-by-play voice. Since Knight was not knowingly disciplined, I wouldn't expect Jaworski to be either.
Speaking of ESPN, it's interesting that they allow Erin Andrews to be hired as a commercial spokesperson for any entity, let alone a ticket reseller. It seems that a large national ticket reseller has signed Andrews for a sales program targeted toward women. I'm not sure what happened that makes it so acceptable for a reporter to be a 'pitch person' at the same time.
Meanwhile, it is interesting to note how the initial news of the Peyton Manning injury which kept him out of the Colts' opener (and then some) was announced on a national level even before the media which regularly covers the Colts did.
It seems that Colts Vice Chairman Bill Polian, who has not been known as being gracious toward the local media over the years, went on ESPN 1050 in New York before any other media to comment about Manning being out for at least the then upcoming opening game. Hours later, Chris Mortensen of ESPN (nationally) was the one who broke the news about Manning's surgery. While I give major kudos to ESPN 1050 in NYC for breaking this story (as opposed to going with speculation or rumors), this raises the question of why The Fan 1070 in Indianapolis was not the first with this story.
Not only is 1070 The Fan the station which broadcasts the Colts games, but it also happens to be the ESPN Radio affiliate for Indianapolis.
To me, this is an instance where someone should get the blame. However, it's tough to say who. It might not be right to flat out blame The Fan 1070 for not having this story when a member of the team's upper management volunteers to unveil the initial information to a New York station. It's understandable that Mortensen would then get access to the follow up information. After all, ESPN is paying millions and millions of dollars currently, with it getting into the billions, for NFL telecasts and related programming for years to come.
If anything, some degree of blame should go to ESPN in New York because it scooped Indy's 1070 The Fan. If 1070 The Fan was not an ESPN affiliate, I could understand this to some extent. But they are. You would think the ESPN "family" would stick together on what was a huge local and national story. If ESPN's higher ups truly went along with Colts upper management and kept this as a national story, as a few media folks have speculated, then The Fan and other local station management should keep this in mind when the next local rights bidding comes up.
While on one hand, I'm wondering why 1070 The Fan wasn't more on top of the story, on the other I'm thinking about how much NFL fans (and even consumers who don't care about football) actually spend on NFL coverage, and thinking that the local Colts fans were cheated out of coverage.
Yet, we go back to radio station strategies. With the recent trend of moving news and sports AM stations onto FM simulcasts in Philadelphia (WIP) and Chicago (news WBBM added to FM including Bears broadcasts), WEEI in Boston has hopped aboard that bandwagon. Mike-FM turned off the mic, so to speak, and made room for WMKK-FM to simulcast WEEI-AM. This is to compete with WBZ 98.5 the Sports Hub.
While these moves could well increase the ratings of these stations due to combining, I continue to see this as having long term consequences. If and as the AM and FM dials wind up being the same stations with fewer local choices, it will result in even fewer reasons for consumers to keep from jumping to satellite or internet radio. Or, from continuing to listen to streams on phones and other portable devices which totally bypass radio as we knew it.
Yes, this is similar to the music stations selling listeners downloads of the songs they play. While the stations figure they have another revenue stream, encouraging listeners to download the songs they like best gives them reasons to use a device other than radio, have a playlist they really like, and not have to wait through clusters of commercials, contests, voice tracked shows, and the rest.
If it were up to me, these AM/FM combos would not be true simulcasts. What about one station airing the game broadcast as usual, and the other taking phone calls from outside analysts and even a few from fans about the game and the plays as it progresses? Or the "second" station could provide fantasy updates, details about out of town games, highlights from earlier in the game. If radio stations continue to take away and stop innovation, they won't survive against the competition they have allowed to take over.
WEEI did show an increase for the August ratings period, going up .8 in overall audience compared with July. But if the Red Sox September slump continues, it could be an interesting September ratings period even with the FM simulcast.
Still another example of radio giving up some of its uniqueness, and this courtesy of ESPN. As of this week (9/12), ESPNews now carries the video of The Herd with Colin Cowherd and the first two hours of the Scott Van Pelt Show between 10 AM and 3 PM on weekdays.
While I know the "argument" from ESPN is that they air SportsCenter and variations on ESPN and ESPN2 during that time and considered ESPNews as duplicate programming during that time. That's valid. But whether or not you like TV simulcasts of radio shows, these shows should not be carried on ESPNews.
This is the start of another example of how cable TV channels/networks stop doing what they did to gain placement on the various cable and satellite systems. (This is the how MTV rarely shows music programming, TVLand is not "classic TV" that often anymore, argument translating to sports.) ESPNews has had the sole purpose of always having SportsCenter available for fans wanting to get caught up on the latest. Yet, ESPNews has been afraid of "competing" with ESPN, ESPN2, and sometimes ESPNU, rather than compliment these and other channels.
These new TV simulcasts of radio shows mean that for at least 5 hours every weekday ESPNews is no longer doing what they set out to do. Just like ESPN Classic rarely shows the "big 4" sports games of the past like they did when that channel first started. We deserve better than poker and Bulgarian tiddly winks or whatever they put on in prime time these days. Again, whether consumers care about sports or not, millions of people are paying significantly more for our monthly cable or satellite bills, and ESPN is the single biggest factor in that taking place. We should expect each channel to fulfill the role they were created for.
TBS has a rainout to make up for, and has decided to do an MLB doubleheader on Sunday Sept. 25th. After the shock set in that ESPN is actually not going to televise a Yankees-Red Sox game, TBS has indeed scheduled the Boston vs. New York game for 1 PM ET on the 25th. Then, they will televise the San Francisco at Arizona possible showdown at 4 PM ET.
I'm afraid the TBS doubleheader will not go over well, yet is an idea they should seriously look at for next season and beyond. The NFL rules the TV roost, and the AZ vs. S.F. telecast will be going head to head with the Packers vs. the Bears (NFC Championship Game rematch) as the doubleheader game on Fox.
What TBS should look at is the 4 PM ET start time for next season. The TBS Sunday ratings have not set the world on fire. The TBS "argument" is that they go up against local telecasts. My argument to that is how TBS staggers its start times for the telecasts from week to week. I'd bet that many casual fans flip by at 1:30 ET some Sundays and they find a game going on one week and then not for the next 2 weeks. You never know. By always showcasing a west coast game, they would have three American League and three National League stadiums to show games from with multiple choices every week. Fans in the Eastern, Central, and Mountain time zones would know they could always tune in after their earlier local telecasts on Sundays and catch the action on TBS. It would provide them a consistent window.
On the college football scene, CBS has selected the Arkansas at Alabama game as its 3:30 ET featured game on Saturday Sept. 24th.
Fox Sports Radio has moved to replace Tony Bruno on its FSR Evenings show as of this week. Mike North, formerly of Chicago's The Score 670 morning show has been teamed with Rob Dibble for the 3-hour weeknight spot after the two have done some fill-in work on the network. Tony Bruno left his Fox Sports gig to return to Philadelphia and host middays on The Fanatic WPEN 950 and 97.5 starting October 3rd. His simulcast show will be going up against the simulcast of WIP. Both sports stations are gearing up for a busy October as the Phillies begin their post-season run while the Eagles season will be in full swing.
CLEVELAND: Great to have Jim Donovan back in the radio booth calling the Browns games on radio after missing several weeks due to having undergone a bone marrow transplant. Donovan, joined by analyst Doug Dieken, came back for the opener to begin his 13th season of calling the Browns game. In addition, Donovan returns to handle the sportscasts once again on WKYC-TV for the 6 PM and 7 PM newscasts. The 55 year old Donovan has been with Channel 3 since 1985.
VANCOUVER: David Pratt is out from CHUM The Team 1040 after years of co-hosting afternoons. No details given by either Pratt or the station, but it will be interesting to see how this impacts the audience without his "love him or dislike him" style.
TYLER TX: ESPN Radio continues to add affiliates after losing several to Fox Sports Radio earlier this year. KTBB-FM is dropping their talk format to become ESPN 92.1, while sister station KYZS 1490 has changed to ESPN Deportes.
At least Jaworski issued his own apology. That's better than ESPN's Bobby Knight who did the same type of slip last college hoops season and then did not apologize, instead leaving that to the play-by-play voice. Since Knight was not knowingly disciplined, I wouldn't expect Jaworski to be either.
Speaking of ESPN, it's interesting that they allow Erin Andrews to be hired as a commercial spokesperson for any entity, let alone a ticket reseller. It seems that a large national ticket reseller has signed Andrews for a sales program targeted toward women. I'm not sure what happened that makes it so acceptable for a reporter to be a 'pitch person' at the same time.
Meanwhile, it is interesting to note how the initial news of the Peyton Manning injury which kept him out of the Colts' opener (and then some) was announced on a national level even before the media which regularly covers the Colts did.
It seems that Colts Vice Chairman Bill Polian, who has not been known as being gracious toward the local media over the years, went on ESPN 1050 in New York before any other media to comment about Manning being out for at least the then upcoming opening game. Hours later, Chris Mortensen of ESPN (nationally) was the one who broke the news about Manning's surgery. While I give major kudos to ESPN 1050 in NYC for breaking this story (as opposed to going with speculation or rumors), this raises the question of why The Fan 1070 in Indianapolis was not the first with this story.
Not only is 1070 The Fan the station which broadcasts the Colts games, but it also happens to be the ESPN Radio affiliate for Indianapolis.
To me, this is an instance where someone should get the blame. However, it's tough to say who. It might not be right to flat out blame The Fan 1070 for not having this story when a member of the team's upper management volunteers to unveil the initial information to a New York station. It's understandable that Mortensen would then get access to the follow up information. After all, ESPN is paying millions and millions of dollars currently, with it getting into the billions, for NFL telecasts and related programming for years to come.
If anything, some degree of blame should go to ESPN in New York because it scooped Indy's 1070 The Fan. If 1070 The Fan was not an ESPN affiliate, I could understand this to some extent. But they are. You would think the ESPN "family" would stick together on what was a huge local and national story. If ESPN's higher ups truly went along with Colts upper management and kept this as a national story, as a few media folks have speculated, then The Fan and other local station management should keep this in mind when the next local rights bidding comes up.
While on one hand, I'm wondering why 1070 The Fan wasn't more on top of the story, on the other I'm thinking about how much NFL fans (and even consumers who don't care about football) actually spend on NFL coverage, and thinking that the local Colts fans were cheated out of coverage.
Yet, we go back to radio station strategies. With the recent trend of moving news and sports AM stations onto FM simulcasts in Philadelphia (WIP) and Chicago (news WBBM added to FM including Bears broadcasts), WEEI in Boston has hopped aboard that bandwagon. Mike-FM turned off the mic, so to speak, and made room for WMKK-FM to simulcast WEEI-AM. This is to compete with WBZ 98.5 the Sports Hub.
While these moves could well increase the ratings of these stations due to combining, I continue to see this as having long term consequences. If and as the AM and FM dials wind up being the same stations with fewer local choices, it will result in even fewer reasons for consumers to keep from jumping to satellite or internet radio. Or, from continuing to listen to streams on phones and other portable devices which totally bypass radio as we knew it.
Yes, this is similar to the music stations selling listeners downloads of the songs they play. While the stations figure they have another revenue stream, encouraging listeners to download the songs they like best gives them reasons to use a device other than radio, have a playlist they really like, and not have to wait through clusters of commercials, contests, voice tracked shows, and the rest.
If it were up to me, these AM/FM combos would not be true simulcasts. What about one station airing the game broadcast as usual, and the other taking phone calls from outside analysts and even a few from fans about the game and the plays as it progresses? Or the "second" station could provide fantasy updates, details about out of town games, highlights from earlier in the game. If radio stations continue to take away and stop innovation, they won't survive against the competition they have allowed to take over.
WEEI did show an increase for the August ratings period, going up .8 in overall audience compared with July. But if the Red Sox September slump continues, it could be an interesting September ratings period even with the FM simulcast.
Still another example of radio giving up some of its uniqueness, and this courtesy of ESPN. As of this week (9/12), ESPNews now carries the video of The Herd with Colin Cowherd and the first two hours of the Scott Van Pelt Show between 10 AM and 3 PM on weekdays.
While I know the "argument" from ESPN is that they air SportsCenter and variations on ESPN and ESPN2 during that time and considered ESPNews as duplicate programming during that time. That's valid. But whether or not you like TV simulcasts of radio shows, these shows should not be carried on ESPNews.
This is the start of another example of how cable TV channels/networks stop doing what they did to gain placement on the various cable and satellite systems. (This is the how MTV rarely shows music programming, TVLand is not "classic TV" that often anymore, argument translating to sports.) ESPNews has had the sole purpose of always having SportsCenter available for fans wanting to get caught up on the latest. Yet, ESPNews has been afraid of "competing" with ESPN, ESPN2, and sometimes ESPNU, rather than compliment these and other channels.
These new TV simulcasts of radio shows mean that for at least 5 hours every weekday ESPNews is no longer doing what they set out to do. Just like ESPN Classic rarely shows the "big 4" sports games of the past like they did when that channel first started. We deserve better than poker and Bulgarian tiddly winks or whatever they put on in prime time these days. Again, whether consumers care about sports or not, millions of people are paying significantly more for our monthly cable or satellite bills, and ESPN is the single biggest factor in that taking place. We should expect each channel to fulfill the role they were created for.
TBS has a rainout to make up for, and has decided to do an MLB doubleheader on Sunday Sept. 25th. After the shock set in that ESPN is actually not going to televise a Yankees-Red Sox game, TBS has indeed scheduled the Boston vs. New York game for 1 PM ET on the 25th. Then, they will televise the San Francisco at Arizona possible showdown at 4 PM ET.
I'm afraid the TBS doubleheader will not go over well, yet is an idea they should seriously look at for next season and beyond. The NFL rules the TV roost, and the AZ vs. S.F. telecast will be going head to head with the Packers vs. the Bears (NFC Championship Game rematch) as the doubleheader game on Fox.
What TBS should look at is the 4 PM ET start time for next season. The TBS Sunday ratings have not set the world on fire. The TBS "argument" is that they go up against local telecasts. My argument to that is how TBS staggers its start times for the telecasts from week to week. I'd bet that many casual fans flip by at 1:30 ET some Sundays and they find a game going on one week and then not for the next 2 weeks. You never know. By always showcasing a west coast game, they would have three American League and three National League stadiums to show games from with multiple choices every week. Fans in the Eastern, Central, and Mountain time zones would know they could always tune in after their earlier local telecasts on Sundays and catch the action on TBS. It would provide them a consistent window.
On the college football scene, CBS has selected the Arkansas at Alabama game as its 3:30 ET featured game on Saturday Sept. 24th.
Fox Sports Radio has moved to replace Tony Bruno on its FSR Evenings show as of this week. Mike North, formerly of Chicago's The Score 670 morning show has been teamed with Rob Dibble for the 3-hour weeknight spot after the two have done some fill-in work on the network. Tony Bruno left his Fox Sports gig to return to Philadelphia and host middays on The Fanatic WPEN 950 and 97.5 starting October 3rd. His simulcast show will be going up against the simulcast of WIP. Both sports stations are gearing up for a busy October as the Phillies begin their post-season run while the Eagles season will be in full swing.
CLEVELAND: Great to have Jim Donovan back in the radio booth calling the Browns games on radio after missing several weeks due to having undergone a bone marrow transplant. Donovan, joined by analyst Doug Dieken, came back for the opener to begin his 13th season of calling the Browns game. In addition, Donovan returns to handle the sportscasts once again on WKYC-TV for the 6 PM and 7 PM newscasts. The 55 year old Donovan has been with Channel 3 since 1985.
VANCOUVER: David Pratt is out from CHUM The Team 1040 after years of co-hosting afternoons. No details given by either Pratt or the station, but it will be interesting to see how this impacts the audience without his "love him or dislike him" style.
TYLER TX: ESPN Radio continues to add affiliates after losing several to Fox Sports Radio earlier this year. KTBB-FM is dropping their talk format to become ESPN 92.1, while sister station KYZS 1490 has changed to ESPN Deportes.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Broadcast Booth - April 5th Update
Butler University and its incredible run to the NCAA Championship 2 seasons in a row did not translate into huge ratings for CBS. Maybe enough people "already saw that last year" from Butler, or even more people than last year gave up on brackets. Whatever the case, the Monday night championship telecast finished down about 17% compared with last year. And for the first time in years, the telecast did not conflict with MLB season opening games.
Nothing better demonstrates the lower national interest than the early numbers showing the top 3 markets in terms of local ratings being closest to the participating teams. Indianapolis (home of Butler), Hartford (home market of UConn), and Louisville (next market south of Butler U.) were the leaders. Then again, early indications are that the national ratings numbers will finish higher than they were for the 2009 championship game. However you look at it, the telecast lost overall to "Dancing With The Stars".
As long-time sportscaster Gary Bender prepares for retirement, it's great to see the Phoenix Suns plan to honor him during their game on Monday. Bender spent 18 seasons with the Suns. His 27 years at the network level included stints on NFL, NBA, and MLB telecasts. Bender also has the distinction of having done radio play-by-play for both sides of the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers rivalry, even if more than 20 years apart.
OAKLAND/SAN FRANCISCO: The Oakland A's managed to open the season on a real radio station after all. After last year's scramble to get on KTRB and then be asked to consider buying the radio station to get it out of receivership, the A's instead began a 4-year deal on KBWF 95.7. The country music station (otherwise) brings an immediate signal advantage to the northeast corner of the Bay Area (Berkeley, Oakland Hills, etc.).
The broadcast crew, led by Ken Korach, stays the same. Finally, the A's radio station will, at least for this and the following 3 seasons. This, while the Giants games have aired on KNBR going back to 1978.
The 49ers are not changing stations for their radio broadcasts. Just the analyst to work along with Ted Robinson. Former all-pro defensive back Eric Davis, who had served as analyst on local exhibition game telecasts for the prior two seasons, joins the radio crew. He replaces his former 49er teammate, Gary Plummer, in the new role. No word yet on who will take over the analyst role for local exhibition telecasts, but we still aren't sure there will be any this August. (NFL lockout)
CHICAGO: They call WSCR 670 "The Score", but lately have made it seem like "a score" for listeners to get information over the air. This past Friday (4/1), I happened to be driving in the Chicago area over an hour after both the White Sox and Cubs opening day games were over, with the White Sox opener having been broadcast on WSCR.
It was 6:30 PM, and "time for another scoreboard update" they said. For baseball, listeners got quick recaps of both the White Sox and Cubs opening games. But no out-of-town MLB scores, with final scores in and several games in progress at the time. And not even a mention of if or when listeners could or would get those scores. Then, on to the NBA where the Bulls game was just about to start. This we learn. But then nothing about the Celtics game that night, important to Bulls fans as they both battle for the top spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Then, onto an in-progress score of the NHL Blackhawks game. But zero mention about the teams in competition for a playoff spot and their games that night.
Not having "national" scores is bad enough. But not including scores of interest to the local teams is another. This was supposed to be a "scoreboard update". Instead, the reporter hurried through it, making me think maybe a manager of team official from one of the baseball teams was holding or something. But no. The update ends, and it's back to more phone calls with fans' opinions.
WSCR has some very good reporters and hosts, some of whom I know or have known. Yet, the Friday incident, while not the first time they have left me hanging like that, was not the only one.
On Saturday afternoon, it turned out that the White Sox at Cleveland broadcast aired on the 7-second delay used for their call-in shows. OK, it can happen for maybe an inning until somebody catches it. Not on Saturday. The entire game was delayed compared with the TV feed.
Sorry, but this is insane to me. It tells me no one monitors the telecast of the game to make sure this doesn't happen AGAIN. Years ago when I was producing live sports broadcasts for games which were also televised, I recall bringing my own portable TV into the studio so that I could keep an eye on the game in case of technical problems or if something significant happened during the game to discuss with listeners afterward.
But there was more to get upset about. Keep in mind this is a regular season MLB game, not spring training. With Darrin Jackson doing play-by-play in the middle 3 innings as usual, the Indians put in a new pitcher. Jackson, along with main play-by-play voice Ed Farmer, admitted that they did not have information about this pitcher other than his name.
That was bad enough, but even into the NEXT inning, they still didn't. Granted, this technically is not the fault of WSCR, but to me it is a representation. How neither broadcaster would get up and go over to the Indians' people in the press box or to the Cleveland TV or radio booth to get information is beyond me. But where was the flagship station staff? Was no one in the studio that could look up information about a current Major League pitcher?
In my years of teaching sports broadcasting in college and working with students of many ages, I have given a poor grade for a lot less than these offenses. But in today's era, I'll bet the station's response would be "the information I want is on the WSCR web site". It may well be. But when I was in the car, I couldn't access the web. Nor should I have to. An all-sports station is supposed to report the sports news, not tell me I have to go to another source to get it.
Do they really think I'll ever visit their web site again?
BOSTON: While Dave O'Brien continues as the primary voice of ESPN's Wednesday Night Baseball this season, the Red Sox and WEEI have extended his contract for 4 more seasons to remain on Red Sox radio along with Joe Castiglione. This, even though his ESPN duties could take him out of as many as 30 Red Sox broadcasts this season. This week he also was scheduled to call the NCAA Womens hoops championship game on Tuesday (4/5) and the Yankees vs. Twins Weds. Night Baseball game on ESPN, before getting to Cleveland for Thursday's Red Sox vs. Indians game. And he will know everybody that pitches for the Indians, too.
MINNEAPOLIS: Looks like WCCO continues to lose its local sports play-by-play. Word is (as of press time) that the NHL Wild will come off WCCO and move to KFAN starting for next season. The team is expected to buy the air time.
ATLANTA: 680 The Fan adds University of Georgia football and basketball to its impressive local play-by-play roster with a new multi-year deal. The Fan also carries the Braves, Hawks, and Thrashers broadcasts. The U. of Georgia deal also includes baseball broadcasts on (sister station) WFOM 1230 starting next month.
PHILADELPHIA: With Phillies fever (or should that be phever?) running high, the Phillies now have an HD Radio channel on HD4 of WOGL Oldies Radio. The channel will also carry each Phillies game live, and replay the previous day or night's game the following morning at 9 AM. The channel also plans original programming related to Phillies baseball during the day along with classic game replays.
KANSAS CITY: KCSP 610 has added Danny Parkins to its 9 to 11 AM midday show as of this week (Mon. 4/4). Parkins comes to K.C. from WSKO Syracuse, and replaces Shan Shariff, who left the market for Dallas's 105.3 The Fan and started there last week.
DENVER: The Broncos and KOA have given a 3-year contract extension to play-by-play voice Dave Logan. His analyst, at least for the 2011 season (if there is one) will again be former QB Brian Griese.
JACKSONVILLE: 1010XL Radio has moved its "Sports Final" show from morning drive to the 10 AM to 1 PM spot as of this week. The change was made to accommodate the Lex & Terry Show move to the 6 to 10 AM spot.
MUNCIE IN: WXFN 1340 wants to keep its local sports events and programming to the point of dropping ESPN Radio after 10 years. The station is working to pick up Fox Sports Radio programming in the near future.
Nothing better demonstrates the lower national interest than the early numbers showing the top 3 markets in terms of local ratings being closest to the participating teams. Indianapolis (home of Butler), Hartford (home market of UConn), and Louisville (next market south of Butler U.) were the leaders. Then again, early indications are that the national ratings numbers will finish higher than they were for the 2009 championship game. However you look at it, the telecast lost overall to "Dancing With The Stars".
As long-time sportscaster Gary Bender prepares for retirement, it's great to see the Phoenix Suns plan to honor him during their game on Monday. Bender spent 18 seasons with the Suns. His 27 years at the network level included stints on NFL, NBA, and MLB telecasts. Bender also has the distinction of having done radio play-by-play for both sides of the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers rivalry, even if more than 20 years apart.
OAKLAND/SAN FRANCISCO: The Oakland A's managed to open the season on a real radio station after all. After last year's scramble to get on KTRB and then be asked to consider buying the radio station to get it out of receivership, the A's instead began a 4-year deal on KBWF 95.7. The country music station (otherwise) brings an immediate signal advantage to the northeast corner of the Bay Area (Berkeley, Oakland Hills, etc.).
The broadcast crew, led by Ken Korach, stays the same. Finally, the A's radio station will, at least for this and the following 3 seasons. This, while the Giants games have aired on KNBR going back to 1978.
The 49ers are not changing stations for their radio broadcasts. Just the analyst to work along with Ted Robinson. Former all-pro defensive back Eric Davis, who had served as analyst on local exhibition game telecasts for the prior two seasons, joins the radio crew. He replaces his former 49er teammate, Gary Plummer, in the new role. No word yet on who will take over the analyst role for local exhibition telecasts, but we still aren't sure there will be any this August. (NFL lockout)
CHICAGO: They call WSCR 670 "The Score", but lately have made it seem like "a score" for listeners to get information over the air. This past Friday (4/1), I happened to be driving in the Chicago area over an hour after both the White Sox and Cubs opening day games were over, with the White Sox opener having been broadcast on WSCR.
It was 6:30 PM, and "time for another scoreboard update" they said. For baseball, listeners got quick recaps of both the White Sox and Cubs opening games. But no out-of-town MLB scores, with final scores in and several games in progress at the time. And not even a mention of if or when listeners could or would get those scores. Then, on to the NBA where the Bulls game was just about to start. This we learn. But then nothing about the Celtics game that night, important to Bulls fans as they both battle for the top spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Then, onto an in-progress score of the NHL Blackhawks game. But zero mention about the teams in competition for a playoff spot and their games that night.
Not having "national" scores is bad enough. But not including scores of interest to the local teams is another. This was supposed to be a "scoreboard update". Instead, the reporter hurried through it, making me think maybe a manager of team official from one of the baseball teams was holding or something. But no. The update ends, and it's back to more phone calls with fans' opinions.
WSCR has some very good reporters and hosts, some of whom I know or have known. Yet, the Friday incident, while not the first time they have left me hanging like that, was not the only one.
On Saturday afternoon, it turned out that the White Sox at Cleveland broadcast aired on the 7-second delay used for their call-in shows. OK, it can happen for maybe an inning until somebody catches it. Not on Saturday. The entire game was delayed compared with the TV feed.
Sorry, but this is insane to me. It tells me no one monitors the telecast of the game to make sure this doesn't happen AGAIN. Years ago when I was producing live sports broadcasts for games which were also televised, I recall bringing my own portable TV into the studio so that I could keep an eye on the game in case of technical problems or if something significant happened during the game to discuss with listeners afterward.
But there was more to get upset about. Keep in mind this is a regular season MLB game, not spring training. With Darrin Jackson doing play-by-play in the middle 3 innings as usual, the Indians put in a new pitcher. Jackson, along with main play-by-play voice Ed Farmer, admitted that they did not have information about this pitcher other than his name.
That was bad enough, but even into the NEXT inning, they still didn't. Granted, this technically is not the fault of WSCR, but to me it is a representation. How neither broadcaster would get up and go over to the Indians' people in the press box or to the Cleveland TV or radio booth to get information is beyond me. But where was the flagship station staff? Was no one in the studio that could look up information about a current Major League pitcher?
In my years of teaching sports broadcasting in college and working with students of many ages, I have given a poor grade for a lot less than these offenses. But in today's era, I'll bet the station's response would be "the information I want is on the WSCR web site". It may well be. But when I was in the car, I couldn't access the web. Nor should I have to. An all-sports station is supposed to report the sports news, not tell me I have to go to another source to get it.
Do they really think I'll ever visit their web site again?
BOSTON: While Dave O'Brien continues as the primary voice of ESPN's Wednesday Night Baseball this season, the Red Sox and WEEI have extended his contract for 4 more seasons to remain on Red Sox radio along with Joe Castiglione. This, even though his ESPN duties could take him out of as many as 30 Red Sox broadcasts this season. This week he also was scheduled to call the NCAA Womens hoops championship game on Tuesday (4/5) and the Yankees vs. Twins Weds. Night Baseball game on ESPN, before getting to Cleveland for Thursday's Red Sox vs. Indians game. And he will know everybody that pitches for the Indians, too.
MINNEAPOLIS: Looks like WCCO continues to lose its local sports play-by-play. Word is (as of press time) that the NHL Wild will come off WCCO and move to KFAN starting for next season. The team is expected to buy the air time.
ATLANTA: 680 The Fan adds University of Georgia football and basketball to its impressive local play-by-play roster with a new multi-year deal. The Fan also carries the Braves, Hawks, and Thrashers broadcasts. The U. of Georgia deal also includes baseball broadcasts on (sister station) WFOM 1230 starting next month.
PHILADELPHIA: With Phillies fever (or should that be phever?) running high, the Phillies now have an HD Radio channel on HD4 of WOGL Oldies Radio. The channel will also carry each Phillies game live, and replay the previous day or night's game the following morning at 9 AM. The channel also plans original programming related to Phillies baseball during the day along with classic game replays.
KANSAS CITY: KCSP 610 has added Danny Parkins to its 9 to 11 AM midday show as of this week (Mon. 4/4). Parkins comes to K.C. from WSKO Syracuse, and replaces Shan Shariff, who left the market for Dallas's 105.3 The Fan and started there last week.
DENVER: The Broncos and KOA have given a 3-year contract extension to play-by-play voice Dave Logan. His analyst, at least for the 2011 season (if there is one) will again be former QB Brian Griese.
JACKSONVILLE: 1010XL Radio has moved its "Sports Final" show from morning drive to the 10 AM to 1 PM spot as of this week. The change was made to accommodate the Lex & Terry Show move to the 6 to 10 AM spot.
MUNCIE IN: WXFN 1340 wants to keep its local sports events and programming to the point of dropping ESPN Radio after 10 years. The station is working to pick up Fox Sports Radio programming in the near future.
Monday, February 28, 2011
The Broadcast Booth - March 1st Update........
Usually when a media member is voted into a Hall of Fame it understandably takes a back seat to the players and coaches who are also honored. But not this time. The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame should add an extra wing for the induction of Eddie Einhorn, even though he never played at the college level.
I have often said that while James Naismith is credited with inventing the game of basketball, Einhorn should be credited with "inventing" college basketball as we know it.
Those of us over the age of 40 most likely remember how very few college basketball games were on TV until the late 1960's. It was Einhorn who formed the TVS Television Network of stations (regardless of CBS, NBC, ABC, or independent affiliation) to show a few of college basketball's biggest matchups on Saturday afternoons during the regular season. Prior to that, TVS only handled coverage of the NCAA Tournament. You see, it wasn't the billion dollar deal with days and nights of live games it is today. When Einhorn "invented" the game, none of the national networks so much as bothered with college hoops, even at tournament time.
At this time of the year, the "E" in ESPN should really stand for Einhorn. He paved the way for them.
The 1968 game between UCLA (with Lew Alcindor, later to be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) against Houston (with Elvin Hayes) played in the Astrodome was one of the first prominent regular season games ever to be nationally televised, and it was Einhorn's TVS that made it possible.
From there, the major schools (for basketball) of the day, such as UCLA, Kentucky, Notre Dame, LSU, and Maryland, began to appear on a series of Saturday afternoon telecasts. And the era of televised college basketball was born.
Induction ceremonies, including Einhorn's will be on November 20 in Kansas City. Any station or network which televises college hoops should be there in tribute.
Today, Einhorn remains Vice Chairman of the Chicago White Sox and is in his 30th season as a team official.
Elsewhere, it was good to see an error corrected because of a reporter knowing to verify what another source "reported". And in this case, it was as innocent mistake.
Orlando Cabrera, the infielder who recently signed with the Cleveland Indians for the coming season, then did a lengthy interview (reportedly nearly 2 hours) with a radio station in Cartagena in his native Colombia which was totally in Spanish. One of the questions had Cabrera addressing what things might be like when a player decides to retire from the big leagues. The Colombian Newspaper, El Universal, also picked up the interview. Then, in a translation to English, the quote was interpreted as Cabrera saying this would be his final season.
The "final season" story was picked up in the U.S. by several sources including MLB Network. It wasn't until hours later when local reporters began to ask Cabrera about his comment that he (Cabrera) issued a denial that it would be his last season. I am not certain as to which reporter(s) uncovered the error, but this shows the value of checking with the source rather than reporting what someone else is reporting.
Meanwhile, with ESPN being busy with a ton of college basketball games as tournament time draws nearer, NBA-TV keeps the ball bouncing with an additional slate of games this week.
On Tuesday (3/1) they originate the N.Y. at Orlando game. On Wednesday (3/2) they pick up a doubleheader (instead of ESPN) with local feeds from the New Orleans vs. N.Y. game followed by Houston at L.A. Clippers. After TNT does its usual Thursday doubleheader, NBA-TV will air the 2 regular season games from London this Friday and Saturday (3/4 - 3/5) afternoon between Toronto and New Jersey.
Unfortunately, sports media lost two of its major figures within the past few days. Fans of the Kansas City Chiefs are mourning the loss of Bill Grigsby, who was a part of the Chiefs radio broadcasts from 1963 through 2009. His biggest moments included the Chiefs' lone Super Bowl win in Super Bowl IV. Grigsby also called Kansas City A's games in the 50's and 60's (before their move to Oakland) as well as some University of Kansas football games.
Charleston WV sports radio host Wes Ryan passed away last week at the age of 33. Ryan was Program Director of WSWW Radio and a co-host (with Carl Lee) of a daily show.
In addition, University of Iowa radio football analyst Ed Podolak continues to recover from serious injuries after having been struck by a vehicle early last week in Scottsdale AZ. Podolak has been on Hawkeyes radio since the late 80's, after having played for the K.C. Chiefs in the NFL.
St. LOUIS: On a much brighter note, this week marks the return of Cardinals baseball to KMOX after a 5-year absence. The exhibition schedule includes 2 weekday afternoon broadcasts each week during this month, bumping KMOX's airing of Rush Limbaugh to the station web site on those days.
For this Saturday (3/5), KMOX will air the Cards on tape delay following the NHL Blues' Noon game aired live. Ironically, on Tuesday March 29th KMOX will air the Blues game live and move the Cardinals broadcast to KTRS, the station the Cards came from due to weak signal coverage at night. KMOX will give priority to the Cardinals once the regular season starts, even ahead of any Blues post-season games.
The end of the current college hoops season will end the University of Missouri's contract with KMOX. Word is that KMOX will not continue due to the return of the Cardinals and the number of the conflicts with the Cards and the Blues.
BALTIMORE: The Fan 105.7 has fine-tuned its weekday schedule as of this week. The Norris & Davis morning show has expanded until 10 AM, moving Mark Vivano's show back to 10 AM to 1 PM. Bob Haynie takes over the 1 to 3 PM slot from Bruce Cunningham, while Scott Garceau and Jeremy Conn air from 3 to 7 PM.
PORTLAND ME: The Western Maine High School Basketball Tournament broadcasts have returned to the radio airwaves via 96.3 FM and 1310 AM. But it's how they got there. A pair of local businessmen actually bought the time from the stations and are selling the advertising time on their own. It will be interesting to see how the broadcasts are received by the audience, and just how much advertising revenue is generated. In other words, whether the businessmen or the station lose revenue this season. (The station would lose if the businessmen sell enough time to make the venture profitable.) That will go a long way toward if or how the games are aired next year. So far, the men say that they are already considering adding high school football broadcasts for the fall.
WINNIPEG: Sports Radio 1290 adds a new local show in 2 weeks (starting March 16) with The Hustler & Lawless Show. Gary Lawless, a local columnist, and Andrew "Hustler" Paterson will co-host. What makes this even more interesting is that the show will also stream on the WinnipegFreePress.com newspaper site.
I have often said that while James Naismith is credited with inventing the game of basketball, Einhorn should be credited with "inventing" college basketball as we know it.
Those of us over the age of 40 most likely remember how very few college basketball games were on TV until the late 1960's. It was Einhorn who formed the TVS Television Network of stations (regardless of CBS, NBC, ABC, or independent affiliation) to show a few of college basketball's biggest matchups on Saturday afternoons during the regular season. Prior to that, TVS only handled coverage of the NCAA Tournament. You see, it wasn't the billion dollar deal with days and nights of live games it is today. When Einhorn "invented" the game, none of the national networks so much as bothered with college hoops, even at tournament time.
At this time of the year, the "E" in ESPN should really stand for Einhorn. He paved the way for them.
The 1968 game between UCLA (with Lew Alcindor, later to be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) against Houston (with Elvin Hayes) played in the Astrodome was one of the first prominent regular season games ever to be nationally televised, and it was Einhorn's TVS that made it possible.
From there, the major schools (for basketball) of the day, such as UCLA, Kentucky, Notre Dame, LSU, and Maryland, began to appear on a series of Saturday afternoon telecasts. And the era of televised college basketball was born.
Induction ceremonies, including Einhorn's will be on November 20 in Kansas City. Any station or network which televises college hoops should be there in tribute.
Today, Einhorn remains Vice Chairman of the Chicago White Sox and is in his 30th season as a team official.
Elsewhere, it was good to see an error corrected because of a reporter knowing to verify what another source "reported". And in this case, it was as innocent mistake.
Orlando Cabrera, the infielder who recently signed with the Cleveland Indians for the coming season, then did a lengthy interview (reportedly nearly 2 hours) with a radio station in Cartagena in his native Colombia which was totally in Spanish. One of the questions had Cabrera addressing what things might be like when a player decides to retire from the big leagues. The Colombian Newspaper, El Universal, also picked up the interview. Then, in a translation to English, the quote was interpreted as Cabrera saying this would be his final season.
The "final season" story was picked up in the U.S. by several sources including MLB Network. It wasn't until hours later when local reporters began to ask Cabrera about his comment that he (Cabrera) issued a denial that it would be his last season. I am not certain as to which reporter(s) uncovered the error, but this shows the value of checking with the source rather than reporting what someone else is reporting.
Meanwhile, with ESPN being busy with a ton of college basketball games as tournament time draws nearer, NBA-TV keeps the ball bouncing with an additional slate of games this week.
On Tuesday (3/1) they originate the N.Y. at Orlando game. On Wednesday (3/2) they pick up a doubleheader (instead of ESPN) with local feeds from the New Orleans vs. N.Y. game followed by Houston at L.A. Clippers. After TNT does its usual Thursday doubleheader, NBA-TV will air the 2 regular season games from London this Friday and Saturday (3/4 - 3/5) afternoon between Toronto and New Jersey.
Unfortunately, sports media lost two of its major figures within the past few days. Fans of the Kansas City Chiefs are mourning the loss of Bill Grigsby, who was a part of the Chiefs radio broadcasts from 1963 through 2009. His biggest moments included the Chiefs' lone Super Bowl win in Super Bowl IV. Grigsby also called Kansas City A's games in the 50's and 60's (before their move to Oakland) as well as some University of Kansas football games.
Charleston WV sports radio host Wes Ryan passed away last week at the age of 33. Ryan was Program Director of WSWW Radio and a co-host (with Carl Lee) of a daily show.
In addition, University of Iowa radio football analyst Ed Podolak continues to recover from serious injuries after having been struck by a vehicle early last week in Scottsdale AZ. Podolak has been on Hawkeyes radio since the late 80's, after having played for the K.C. Chiefs in the NFL.
St. LOUIS: On a much brighter note, this week marks the return of Cardinals baseball to KMOX after a 5-year absence. The exhibition schedule includes 2 weekday afternoon broadcasts each week during this month, bumping KMOX's airing of Rush Limbaugh to the station web site on those days.
For this Saturday (3/5), KMOX will air the Cards on tape delay following the NHL Blues' Noon game aired live. Ironically, on Tuesday March 29th KMOX will air the Blues game live and move the Cardinals broadcast to KTRS, the station the Cards came from due to weak signal coverage at night. KMOX will give priority to the Cardinals once the regular season starts, even ahead of any Blues post-season games.
The end of the current college hoops season will end the University of Missouri's contract with KMOX. Word is that KMOX will not continue due to the return of the Cardinals and the number of the conflicts with the Cards and the Blues.
BALTIMORE: The Fan 105.7 has fine-tuned its weekday schedule as of this week. The Norris & Davis morning show has expanded until 10 AM, moving Mark Vivano's show back to 10 AM to 1 PM. Bob Haynie takes over the 1 to 3 PM slot from Bruce Cunningham, while Scott Garceau and Jeremy Conn air from 3 to 7 PM.
PORTLAND ME: The Western Maine High School Basketball Tournament broadcasts have returned to the radio airwaves via 96.3 FM and 1310 AM. But it's how they got there. A pair of local businessmen actually bought the time from the stations and are selling the advertising time on their own. It will be interesting to see how the broadcasts are received by the audience, and just how much advertising revenue is generated. In other words, whether the businessmen or the station lose revenue this season. (The station would lose if the businessmen sell enough time to make the venture profitable.) That will go a long way toward if or how the games are aired next year. So far, the men say that they are already considering adding high school football broadcasts for the fall.
WINNIPEG: Sports Radio 1290 adds a new local show in 2 weeks (starting March 16) with The Hustler & Lawless Show. Gary Lawless, a local columnist, and Andrew "Hustler" Paterson will co-host. What makes this even more interesting is that the show will also stream on the WinnipegFreePress.com newspaper site.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Broadcast Booth - August 17th update
There is no excuse for the decision of Detroit Tigers' TV not to have shown the dugout confrontation which occured during this past Sunday's (8/15) game in Chicago.
After the (opposing) White Sox had batted bottom of the first inning, a heated discussion took place between Tigers starting pitcher Armando Gallaraga and catcher Alex Avila which resulted in the pitcher needing to be restrained from a possible physical confrontation with Gerald Laird (also a catcher).
When the top of the 2nd was beginning, the White Sox telecast on Comcast SportsNet did show the confrontation, with announcer Steve Stone making a comment to the effect of "the battery could be getting battered" and then getting back to the game. Obviously, fans in attendance seated on the 3rd base side could see it, and probably White Sox personnel from the 3rd base dugout, and the TV cameras caught it.
Yet, fans watching their Tigers on Fox Sports Detroit did NOT see this video, and it was their team involved. Media accounts from Detroit indicate this was a decision made by the crew and not by FSD executives or the Tigers. FSD did show the video of the incident on its pre-game show on Monday night, but that should have been the case even had it been shown right away on Sunday.
This should not have been a "cover up". FSD replays errors and poor play by the Tigers on the field. The dugout is in full view of fans and media. It's not like this incident occured in the clubhouse or someplace off limits and was secretly videotaped.
For example, baseball fans recall the June incident with Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano and his tantrum in the dugout that caused manager Lou Pinella to remove him after 1 inning and suspend him from the team. That was immediately shown on TV. The list goes on. If FSD is going to say the dugout "is not part of the playing field", then they shouldn't show the bullpen. They put Manager Jim Leyland on camera during the game, mostly when he is in the dugout. Why was this important incident off limits?
This is not the first time a TV crew has been called out for not covering an incident which happened during the course of a game. My memory even went back to the late 70's when Ohio State was in a bowl game and Coach Woody Hayes punched an opposing linebacker live on camera. Yet, the announcing team made absolutely no mention of what took place while local TV ABC-TV stations were all flooded with phone calls from confused fans.
Hopefully TV sports crews will take note of what happened, or as I should say, didn't happen, during Sunday's Tigers telecast, and make certain that the fans watching the game are given all of the pertinent "news" of the game. And not just the opposing team's telecast either.
Speaking of fans not seeing what they are entitled, it's time for another NFL season. Thus, the media "right of summer" that not everyone can get The NFL Network, even when they once had it.
It seems that Comcast Cable has taken away the NFL Network from some of the Digital Starter packages they offer, even though it was once a part of the package. Naturally, those who are effected by this could get it again, if (you guessed it) they upgrade to a higher package for more money each month.
On the NBA side, it's good to see the Portland Trailblazers get involved in a similar mess. Team President Larry Miller reportedly has written to the FCC regarding Comcast and its handling of the Blazers' TV rights, which will soon enter the 4th year of a 10-year agreement. Comcast is being accused of making it financially difficult for competing carriers to carry its Blazers telecasts.
Comcast isn't the only problem. The MLB Network is still not available on AT&T U-Verse, Dish Network, or Wow. With all of this, sports fans everywhere continue to be subjected to game telecasts being blacked out on cable and satellite, even though we still have to pay for a full day's worth of programming.
Maybe we should all write the FCC.
Meanwhile, Fox Sports sports adds coach Jim Mora Jr. and former QB Kurt Warner to its roster of analysts for the coming season. Mora will act as a 2nd analyst along with Charles Davis while Dick Stockton handles play-by-play on that crew. Warner will provide color commentary on the "Chris crew" working with either Chris Myers or Chris Rose.
ARKANSAS: Renee Gork should be pursuing becoming a household name, if she isn't already. Gork appears to have been fired by KAKS Sports Hog on Monday (8/16). Not because of anything she said or did on the air. Not because she is female. Not because she made an error of fact or missed an assignment.
All she did was wear a Florida Gators hat at an Arkansas news conference which got coach Bobby Petrino upset. Amazing that Petrino held back the tears. Here's hoping that a regional or national media organization hires Gork. Her first report should be to question University of Arkansas and SEC officials about why they allow a coach representing a major university to conduct himself in such a matter. Then find students on the Arkansas campus wearing items from other schools and ask if they feel safe. And keep on the story until Petrino is disciplined.
While one media member loses her job for no apparent good reason, another is about to be hired, likely without enough qualifications. If this is a legit advertisement, a Portland radio sports station is attempting to hire via Craigslist.
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/tfr/1894650652.html
If this were for a small town I could maybe understand, but not for a "major league" market. Even at the low pay the position probably offers, you would think they could find applicants from other stations in the area. This is almost as insane as the contests to hire sportscasters.
Steve Czaban has become even busier. He has joined Sporting News Radio to co-host the 6 to 9 AM morning show along with Scott Linn from Washington D.C. Czaban will continue to co-host the "Sports Reporters|" with Andy Pollin on WTEM 980(Washington D.C.) from 4 to 7 PM. What about in between? He continues to contribute to The Hog 102.9 in Milwaukee during afternoon drive with segments for that rock station.
LONDON ENGLAND: BBC 5 changed its live MLB broadcast this past Sunday (8/15) in order to broadcast the Rogers Cup Final between Roger Federer and Andy Murray. They got a more important game in the process, taking the later starting Giants vs. Padres broadcast instead of the originally scheduled Yankees vs. Kansas City game.
CLEVELAND: Congrats to Joe Tait on receiving the Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Basketball Hall of Fame this past Friday. This honor comes a few weeks before Tait begins his final season calling the Cavaliers games on his way to retirement. Hopefully he will be honored throughout the NBA on his "final stop" at the various arenas throughout the season. He has called the Cavs' games for most of the seasons since 1970. He will also be remembered for calling Indians games during most of the 70's and 80's along with Herb Score.
St. LOUIS: Even though the Rams are not considered a threat to make the Super Bowl this season, I still like the idea of an HD Radio channel "Rams Radio" as unique programming. Now Rams fans around the country can hear it, at least for the time being as this channel is wisely being streamed since hardly anyone has purchased an HD Radio lately.
http://www.clearchannelmusic.com/hdradio/
NEW YORK: Michael Kay and WEPN 1050 pushed one under the rug last Wednesday (8/11) when they were not able to interview Isiah Thomas during the 4 PM hour as originally scheduled. The N.Y. Daily News reported that the NBA and the Knicks may have played a role in canceling the interview after Thomas was not allowed to have a consulting position with the Knicks due to his college coaching gig.
It would have been interesting to hear Thomas' take on the situation. Wonder what is being hidden that he couldn't go on the radio to talk about. WEPN was deprived of a chance to have a newsworthy interview. Might have helped, considering that the latest monthly ratings show WFAN with literally 3 times the overall audience of WEPN, finishing at #10 in the market overall.
CHICAGO: AM radio listeners preferred sports radio a bit more often during the June - July ratings period. Sports stations WSCR The Score and WMVP 1000 combined for a .5 overall ratings increase, while NewsRadio WBBM and News / Talk WGN combined to drop .6 overall.
DETROIT: WXYT-FM The Ticket picked up enough of the ratings it lost in June and regained the #1 spot overall in the market for the July ratings. In a similar trend to Chicago, NewsRadio WWJ fell by .3 overall.
MINNEAPOLIS: KSTP 1500 isn't taking any chances with its Twins contract, given the big attendance and standings year the team is having. The station has successfully extended for 2 more seasons, continuing as the flagship station for the Twins' Network through the 2012 season. The Network totals 85 stations for this season.
DENVER: It is all but official that the Nuggets and Avalanche broadcasts will quickly be moving to a better signal. KRWZ 950 is expected to air the games of both teams, with KCKK 1510 only being used when there is a conflict with both teams playing.
DALLAS: Bruce Gilbert replaces Tom Bigby as Program Director at The Fan 105.3 in hopes of improving the station's ratings quickly. Gilbert was P.D. at The Ticket for about 6 years until 2003, and returned to Dallas from Washington D.C. where he was with the sports stations owned by Redskins owner Dan Snyder.
Last week's Rangers telecasts vs. the Yankees (on Tuesday 10 and Weds. 11) set ratings records for Fox Sports Southwest. They were the most watched Rangers telecasts on FSS since 1998, and its most watched event since a Mavericks game vs. the Lakers late in the 2001-02 regular season.
With TV voice Josh Lewin also calling San Diego Chargers pre-season games as of this past weekend, Dave Barnett moves over on the games Lewin is not available for to handle TV play-by-play, while Bryan Dolgin fills in for Barnett.
CINCINNATI: While WLW again tops the ratings with its Reds broadcasts, the full-time sports stations again did not fare well, even with the Reds in contention. WCKY 1530 finished tied for 17th overall, while Fox Sports WSAI 1360 failed to crack the top 25 overall. Same for WQRT 1160 which is not a sports station other than Andy Furman's afternoon drive show.
St. LOUIS: KMOV-TV Channel 4 and WXOS 101.1 will utilize each other's reporters starting in 2 weeks. Channel 4's Steve Savard will do a 5:45 PM report on WXOS while radio reporters will handle some of the weekend sports reporting on the TV side.
BALTIMORE: The Ravens games will also be heard on Washington's WTOP-FM 103.5 starting this season in addition to WBAL Baltimore.
PITTSBURGH: The Fan KDKA-FM has overtaken WEAE 1250 ESPN by 1/10 of a ratings point in the latest ratings, while WBGG Fox 970 is a very distant 3rd.
LEXINGTON: To some it was only a 3-game exhibition series for the University of Kentucky's basketball team in Ontario Canada this past weekend. But not to Kentucky fans. All 3 games were shown live on WKYT-TV in Lexington and WMYO-TV Louisville along with Fox Sports South, and broadcast on WLAP Radio Lexington and WHAS Louisville.
SCHEDULES: ESPN will again kick off the college hoops regular season with a 24-hour marathon of live games on November 16th, with start times Eastern:
Midnight Miami at Memphis ESPN
2 a.m. St. John’s at Saint Mary’s ESPN
4 a.m. Central Michigan at Hawaii ESPN
6 a.m. Stony Brook at Monmouth ESPN
8 a.m. Robert Morris at Kent State ESPN
10 a.m. Northeastern at Southern Illinois ESPN
Noon Oral Roberts at Tulsa ESPN
2 p.m. La Salle at Baylor ESPN
4 p.m. Virginia Tech at Kansas State ESPN
5:30 p.m. NIT Season Tip-Off (from Villanova): Marist at Villanova ESPNU
6 p.m. Ohio State at Florida ESPN
7:30 p.m. CBE Classic (from Durham): Miami (Ohio) at Duke ESPNU
8 p.m. Butler at Louisville ESPN
9:30 p.m. NIT Season Tip-Off (from Knoxville): Belmont at Tennessee ESPNU
10 p.m. South Carolina at Michigan State ESPN
11 p.m. CBE Classic (from Spokane): San Diego State vs. Gonzaga ESPN2
11:30 p.m. NIT Season Tip-Off (from Los Angeles): Nevada or Pacific at UCLA ESPNU
After the (opposing) White Sox had batted bottom of the first inning, a heated discussion took place between Tigers starting pitcher Armando Gallaraga and catcher Alex Avila which resulted in the pitcher needing to be restrained from a possible physical confrontation with Gerald Laird (also a catcher).
When the top of the 2nd was beginning, the White Sox telecast on Comcast SportsNet did show the confrontation, with announcer Steve Stone making a comment to the effect of "the battery could be getting battered" and then getting back to the game. Obviously, fans in attendance seated on the 3rd base side could see it, and probably White Sox personnel from the 3rd base dugout, and the TV cameras caught it.
Yet, fans watching their Tigers on Fox Sports Detroit did NOT see this video, and it was their team involved. Media accounts from Detroit indicate this was a decision made by the crew and not by FSD executives or the Tigers. FSD did show the video of the incident on its pre-game show on Monday night, but that should have been the case even had it been shown right away on Sunday.
This should not have been a "cover up". FSD replays errors and poor play by the Tigers on the field. The dugout is in full view of fans and media. It's not like this incident occured in the clubhouse or someplace off limits and was secretly videotaped.
For example, baseball fans recall the June incident with Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano and his tantrum in the dugout that caused manager Lou Pinella to remove him after 1 inning and suspend him from the team. That was immediately shown on TV. The list goes on. If FSD is going to say the dugout "is not part of the playing field", then they shouldn't show the bullpen. They put Manager Jim Leyland on camera during the game, mostly when he is in the dugout. Why was this important incident off limits?
This is not the first time a TV crew has been called out for not covering an incident which happened during the course of a game. My memory even went back to the late 70's when Ohio State was in a bowl game and Coach Woody Hayes punched an opposing linebacker live on camera. Yet, the announcing team made absolutely no mention of what took place while local TV ABC-TV stations were all flooded with phone calls from confused fans.
Hopefully TV sports crews will take note of what happened, or as I should say, didn't happen, during Sunday's Tigers telecast, and make certain that the fans watching the game are given all of the pertinent "news" of the game. And not just the opposing team's telecast either.
Speaking of fans not seeing what they are entitled, it's time for another NFL season. Thus, the media "right of summer" that not everyone can get The NFL Network, even when they once had it.
It seems that Comcast Cable has taken away the NFL Network from some of the Digital Starter packages they offer, even though it was once a part of the package. Naturally, those who are effected by this could get it again, if (you guessed it) they upgrade to a higher package for more money each month.
On the NBA side, it's good to see the Portland Trailblazers get involved in a similar mess. Team President Larry Miller reportedly has written to the FCC regarding Comcast and its handling of the Blazers' TV rights, which will soon enter the 4th year of a 10-year agreement. Comcast is being accused of making it financially difficult for competing carriers to carry its Blazers telecasts.
Comcast isn't the only problem. The MLB Network is still not available on AT&T U-Verse, Dish Network, or Wow. With all of this, sports fans everywhere continue to be subjected to game telecasts being blacked out on cable and satellite, even though we still have to pay for a full day's worth of programming.
Maybe we should all write the FCC.
Meanwhile, Fox Sports sports adds coach Jim Mora Jr. and former QB Kurt Warner to its roster of analysts for the coming season. Mora will act as a 2nd analyst along with Charles Davis while Dick Stockton handles play-by-play on that crew. Warner will provide color commentary on the "Chris crew" working with either Chris Myers or Chris Rose.
ARKANSAS: Renee Gork should be pursuing becoming a household name, if she isn't already. Gork appears to have been fired by KAKS Sports Hog on Monday (8/16). Not because of anything she said or did on the air. Not because she is female. Not because she made an error of fact or missed an assignment.
All she did was wear a Florida Gators hat at an Arkansas news conference which got coach Bobby Petrino upset. Amazing that Petrino held back the tears. Here's hoping that a regional or national media organization hires Gork. Her first report should be to question University of Arkansas and SEC officials about why they allow a coach representing a major university to conduct himself in such a matter. Then find students on the Arkansas campus wearing items from other schools and ask if they feel safe. And keep on the story until Petrino is disciplined.
While one media member loses her job for no apparent good reason, another is about to be hired, likely without enough qualifications. If this is a legit advertisement, a Portland radio sports station is attempting to hire via Craigslist.
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/tfr/1894650652.html
If this were for a small town I could maybe understand, but not for a "major league" market. Even at the low pay the position probably offers, you would think they could find applicants from other stations in the area. This is almost as insane as the contests to hire sportscasters.
Steve Czaban has become even busier. He has joined Sporting News Radio to co-host the 6 to 9 AM morning show along with Scott Linn from Washington D.C. Czaban will continue to co-host the "Sports Reporters|" with Andy Pollin on WTEM 980(Washington D.C.) from 4 to 7 PM. What about in between? He continues to contribute to The Hog 102.9 in Milwaukee during afternoon drive with segments for that rock station.
LONDON ENGLAND: BBC 5 changed its live MLB broadcast this past Sunday (8/15) in order to broadcast the Rogers Cup Final between Roger Federer and Andy Murray. They got a more important game in the process, taking the later starting Giants vs. Padres broadcast instead of the originally scheduled Yankees vs. Kansas City game.
CLEVELAND: Congrats to Joe Tait on receiving the Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Basketball Hall of Fame this past Friday. This honor comes a few weeks before Tait begins his final season calling the Cavaliers games on his way to retirement. Hopefully he will be honored throughout the NBA on his "final stop" at the various arenas throughout the season. He has called the Cavs' games for most of the seasons since 1970. He will also be remembered for calling Indians games during most of the 70's and 80's along with Herb Score.
St. LOUIS: Even though the Rams are not considered a threat to make the Super Bowl this season, I still like the idea of an HD Radio channel "Rams Radio" as unique programming. Now Rams fans around the country can hear it, at least for the time being as this channel is wisely being streamed since hardly anyone has purchased an HD Radio lately.
http://www.clearchannelmusic.com/hdradio/
NEW YORK: Michael Kay and WEPN 1050 pushed one under the rug last Wednesday (8/11) when they were not able to interview Isiah Thomas during the 4 PM hour as originally scheduled. The N.Y. Daily News reported that the NBA and the Knicks may have played a role in canceling the interview after Thomas was not allowed to have a consulting position with the Knicks due to his college coaching gig.
It would have been interesting to hear Thomas' take on the situation. Wonder what is being hidden that he couldn't go on the radio to talk about. WEPN was deprived of a chance to have a newsworthy interview. Might have helped, considering that the latest monthly ratings show WFAN with literally 3 times the overall audience of WEPN, finishing at #10 in the market overall.
CHICAGO: AM radio listeners preferred sports radio a bit more often during the June - July ratings period. Sports stations WSCR The Score and WMVP 1000 combined for a .5 overall ratings increase, while NewsRadio WBBM and News / Talk WGN combined to drop .6 overall.
DETROIT: WXYT-FM The Ticket picked up enough of the ratings it lost in June and regained the #1 spot overall in the market for the July ratings. In a similar trend to Chicago, NewsRadio WWJ fell by .3 overall.
MINNEAPOLIS: KSTP 1500 isn't taking any chances with its Twins contract, given the big attendance and standings year the team is having. The station has successfully extended for 2 more seasons, continuing as the flagship station for the Twins' Network through the 2012 season. The Network totals 85 stations for this season.
DENVER: It is all but official that the Nuggets and Avalanche broadcasts will quickly be moving to a better signal. KRWZ 950 is expected to air the games of both teams, with KCKK 1510 only being used when there is a conflict with both teams playing.
DALLAS: Bruce Gilbert replaces Tom Bigby as Program Director at The Fan 105.3 in hopes of improving the station's ratings quickly. Gilbert was P.D. at The Ticket for about 6 years until 2003, and returned to Dallas from Washington D.C. where he was with the sports stations owned by Redskins owner Dan Snyder.
Last week's Rangers telecasts vs. the Yankees (on Tuesday 10 and Weds. 11) set ratings records for Fox Sports Southwest. They were the most watched Rangers telecasts on FSS since 1998, and its most watched event since a Mavericks game vs. the Lakers late in the 2001-02 regular season.
With TV voice Josh Lewin also calling San Diego Chargers pre-season games as of this past weekend, Dave Barnett moves over on the games Lewin is not available for to handle TV play-by-play, while Bryan Dolgin fills in for Barnett.
CINCINNATI: While WLW again tops the ratings with its Reds broadcasts, the full-time sports stations again did not fare well, even with the Reds in contention. WCKY 1530 finished tied for 17th overall, while Fox Sports WSAI 1360 failed to crack the top 25 overall. Same for WQRT 1160 which is not a sports station other than Andy Furman's afternoon drive show.
St. LOUIS: KMOV-TV Channel 4 and WXOS 101.1 will utilize each other's reporters starting in 2 weeks. Channel 4's Steve Savard will do a 5:45 PM report on WXOS while radio reporters will handle some of the weekend sports reporting on the TV side.
BALTIMORE: The Ravens games will also be heard on Washington's WTOP-FM 103.5 starting this season in addition to WBAL Baltimore.
PITTSBURGH: The Fan KDKA-FM has overtaken WEAE 1250 ESPN by 1/10 of a ratings point in the latest ratings, while WBGG Fox 970 is a very distant 3rd.
LEXINGTON: To some it was only a 3-game exhibition series for the University of Kentucky's basketball team in Ontario Canada this past weekend. But not to Kentucky fans. All 3 games were shown live on WKYT-TV in Lexington and WMYO-TV Louisville along with Fox Sports South, and broadcast on WLAP Radio Lexington and WHAS Louisville.
SCHEDULES: ESPN will again kick off the college hoops regular season with a 24-hour marathon of live games on November 16th, with start times Eastern:
Midnight Miami at Memphis ESPN
2 a.m. St. John’s at Saint Mary’s ESPN
4 a.m. Central Michigan at Hawaii ESPN
6 a.m. Stony Brook at Monmouth ESPN
8 a.m. Robert Morris at Kent State ESPN
10 a.m. Northeastern at Southern Illinois ESPN
Noon Oral Roberts at Tulsa ESPN
2 p.m. La Salle at Baylor ESPN
4 p.m. Virginia Tech at Kansas State ESPN
5:30 p.m. NIT Season Tip-Off (from Villanova): Marist at Villanova ESPNU
6 p.m. Ohio State at Florida ESPN
7:30 p.m. CBE Classic (from Durham): Miami (Ohio) at Duke ESPNU
8 p.m. Butler at Louisville ESPN
9:30 p.m. NIT Season Tip-Off (from Knoxville): Belmont at Tennessee ESPNU
10 p.m. South Carolina at Michigan State ESPN
11 p.m. CBE Classic (from Spokane): San Diego State vs. Gonzaga ESPN2
11:30 p.m. NIT Season Tip-Off (from Los Angeles): Nevada or Pacific at UCLA ESPNU
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
The Broadcast Booth - July 8th update
Publicity and news have practically merged over the past month when it comes to radio and TV sportscasts. If this NBA free agent "scramble" were to have happened during the years that I was a Sports Director, it would have meant an occasional mention at best during the period from the Lakers winning the championship until last Thursday (July 1st).
Sure, LeBron James was going to decide which team to play for during at least the upcoming season. Wade, Bosch, and others were also possibilities to change teams. Because of the NBA time frame for the negotiation period, nothing (I repeat, NOTHING) could have happened officially regarding the contract status for those and other NBA players during those 2+ weeks.
Sorry, but every "reporter", sportscaster, writer, blogger, etc., has been flooding us with his/her opinion and speculation about who could sign where. That's fine, if done as a feature piece, column, blog, or some form of commentary. However, this total speculation has taken up valuable sportscast time for weeks.
The NBA could have spent millions (although they didn't need to) and not received this much publicity to sports fans. The majority of sportscasts seemingly worked to create a big event that wasn't going to happen until this week regardless of how much air time it got.
My problem with this is that virtually none of it was really news. Worse yet, I heard instances of sports radio stations using their "update" time to bring us more speculation and then not take the time to give all of the out of town baseball scores. As a result, I continue to spend more time checking scoreboards online after years and years and years of relying on radio or TV to bring me scores and actual game information.
If only they had waited until there was an actual news story, such as a free agent signing, I would have cared. By the time they are actually signing and making "news", my patience has run out. I need a break from the NBA, even though the NBA had nothing to do with this. If only sports reporters would report sports news.
St. LOUIS: The Fan 590 and Team 1380 will become sisters, as the owners of KFNS are in the process of purchasing KSLG. It's too early to tell if or how this will impact the respective on-air lineups. However, if KFNS loses the Cardinals broadcasts back to KMOX for next season, as speculated, it might not make much difference.
Cardinals fans in central Illinois are happier, as Comcast has finalized an agreement to continue to carry the full schedule of Cardinals telecasts this season from Fox Sports West. Since the cable service began carrying every game it could, those fans will get 130 telecasts this season, about 20 more than they previously received. Then again, it makes no sense that 20 more telecasts on the same network should even be a negotiation point.
PITTSBURGH: WBGG 970 is adding West Virginia University football and basketball beginning with the coming seasons.
BALTIMORE / D.C.: WJZ-FM 105.7 Then Fan began the "Norris and Davis Show" from 5 to 9 AM this week (started Tuesday 6th). Steve Davis has previously been with WBAL Radio and Channel 45 TV as an anchor.
University of Maryland football and basketball moves to ESPN 980 for the coming season. The Terps broadcasts will have priority over all play-by-play except for Redskins football, which would create few if any conflicts. This completes an indirect "trade" of college football and basketball broadcasts between ESPN 980 and The Fan 106.7, which will carry VA Tech broadcasts starting this season. Last season, these schools were on the other of these stations. I would think that Maryland broadcasts will attract the most interest among the two schools in the D.C. market. Unless there is a "school to be named later", I think 980 will get the better of this swap.
ATLANTA: Still another sports radio station is holding a contest to find a "20-something" to get some airtime, experienced or not. Applicants are to be aged 21 to 29, and can apply, through July 15, at YoungGunsAtl.com. The selected applicant will host the station's planned "Young Guns Show". I'm all for the American dream, but I'm even more in favor of someone with reasonable broadcast experience "winning" the position.
HOUSTON: Sports Radio 1560 is looking to make the NFL Texans a path to increased ratings as they battle with 3 other sports stations in town. For this entire month of July, the weekday morning, midday, and afternoon shows will all talk Texans during the last hour. Thus, John & Lance from 9 to 10 AM, Nuno & Hoffy from 2 to 3 PM, and Sean & John from 6 to 7 PM will focus on the Texans and the NFL, as we approach and begin training camp this month.
INDIANAPOLIS: The Butler did it. Butler University's run to the NCAA Championship Game in April has brought them to local radio prominence starting with the coming season. WFNI 1070 The Fan will carry the broadcasts, moving the games from a 5,000 watt station (WXNT 1430) to the 50,000 watt station.
While this is quite a coup for Butler, but for WFNI it amounts to replacing Pacers broadcasts (which moved to sister 93.1 FM for the coming season) with the Butler games. There are three times the number of Pacers broadcasts and much more regional interest in the NBA.
CINCINNATI: With two November games on cable, the Bengals have awarded the local telecast simulcast rights to WKRC-TV Channel 12, instead of WLWT-TV Channel 5. The simulcasts look to be important games. WKRC-TV will carry the ESPN feed on Nov. 8th against division rival Pittsburgh, and the NFL Network feed on Thanksgiving night when the Bengals face the N.Y. Jets for the first time since last season's playoffs.
This move makes a lot of sense for Channel 12. The CBS affiliate carries some of the Sunday home games, most of the road games, and the Bengals' pre-season games not shown on national networks. Brad Johansen, who will again handle the team's radio play-by-play, is also Sports Director of WKRC-TV.
COLUMBUS: Nice move by STO Sports Time Ohio cable network on Independence Day. The network carried the Columbus Clippers minor league game telecast, which it sometimes does. In this instance, the Clippers were taking on the Toledo Mudhens in Toledo. The result was a AAA game between affiliates of the Indians and Tigers, and happened to feature a matchup of pitchers who had each pitched in the American League earlier in the season.
STO carried the Toledo feed, showing the game live on Sunday night (July 4th) with a full midday replay on Monday the 5th. Play-by-play voice Jason Griffin did an excellent job by acknowledging the affiliations and that fans of both MLB teams would be watching, and providing plenty of information about both teams.
It was great to see a regional cable network show a game that would be of interest to a percentage of fans instead of the poker, paid programming, and 'garbage' programming that fills way too much time.
ASBURY PARK: Monmouth University football will continue for another 3 seasons on the Shore Sports Network of Shore Sports 1310 and WOBM 1160. The games will also be streamed live on ShoreSportsNetwork.com.
PANAMA CITY: WDIZ 590 has become ESPN Sports, dumping an adult standards format last week. The station starts with everything ESPN with the lone exception, as of now, being planned local high school football broadcasts. Yes, this station retains the W-DIZ call letters, which used to be for an Orlando FM, and continues as a station not a part of the Disney Radio Network.
SATELLITE RADIO: The idea is great, even if the execution isn't. Sirius/XM has launched a new sports channel dedicated to fantasy sports 24 hours a day. This is the sort of niche programming that provides satellite subscribers with niche programming which isn't (yet) found on the AM or FM dial. Even if it doesn't attract a large audience, there figures to be certain advertisers who would love to reach an audience of fantasy sports participants.
However, Sirius subscribers do not automatically receive this channel, unless they buy the "Best of XM" package. So instead of having a good idea to promote and attract every listener it can to, this supposedly "merged" company expects thousands of sports fan to suddenly pay extra just to hear it. No wonder "Fantasy" is in the title of this channel.
SCHEDULES: A fun idea by the great MLB Network to air the 1965 All-Star Game this Sunday night (July 11th) at 8:00 ET. There are at least 16 Hall Of Fame members in this game. MLB Network claims this will be the first time this telecast will air since it took place exactly 45 years earlier.
The game telecasts continue this week, including a Thursday (July 8) doubleheader. The Angels at White Sox at 2:00 PM with Cinci at Philadelphia at 7 PM.
On Friday, MLB Network will show Atlanta at the Mets, and its Saturday night game is Cinci at Philadelphia.
Sure, LeBron James was going to decide which team to play for during at least the upcoming season. Wade, Bosch, and others were also possibilities to change teams. Because of the NBA time frame for the negotiation period, nothing (I repeat, NOTHING) could have happened officially regarding the contract status for those and other NBA players during those 2+ weeks.
Sorry, but every "reporter", sportscaster, writer, blogger, etc., has been flooding us with his/her opinion and speculation about who could sign where. That's fine, if done as a feature piece, column, blog, or some form of commentary. However, this total speculation has taken up valuable sportscast time for weeks.
The NBA could have spent millions (although they didn't need to) and not received this much publicity to sports fans. The majority of sportscasts seemingly worked to create a big event that wasn't going to happen until this week regardless of how much air time it got.
My problem with this is that virtually none of it was really news. Worse yet, I heard instances of sports radio stations using their "update" time to bring us more speculation and then not take the time to give all of the out of town baseball scores. As a result, I continue to spend more time checking scoreboards online after years and years and years of relying on radio or TV to bring me scores and actual game information.
If only they had waited until there was an actual news story, such as a free agent signing, I would have cared. By the time they are actually signing and making "news", my patience has run out. I need a break from the NBA, even though the NBA had nothing to do with this. If only sports reporters would report sports news.
St. LOUIS: The Fan 590 and Team 1380 will become sisters, as the owners of KFNS are in the process of purchasing KSLG. It's too early to tell if or how this will impact the respective on-air lineups. However, if KFNS loses the Cardinals broadcasts back to KMOX for next season, as speculated, it might not make much difference.
Cardinals fans in central Illinois are happier, as Comcast has finalized an agreement to continue to carry the full schedule of Cardinals telecasts this season from Fox Sports West. Since the cable service began carrying every game it could, those fans will get 130 telecasts this season, about 20 more than they previously received. Then again, it makes no sense that 20 more telecasts on the same network should even be a negotiation point.
PITTSBURGH: WBGG 970 is adding West Virginia University football and basketball beginning with the coming seasons.
BALTIMORE / D.C.: WJZ-FM 105.7 Then Fan began the "Norris and Davis Show" from 5 to 9 AM this week (started Tuesday 6th). Steve Davis has previously been with WBAL Radio and Channel 45 TV as an anchor.
University of Maryland football and basketball moves to ESPN 980 for the coming season. The Terps broadcasts will have priority over all play-by-play except for Redskins football, which would create few if any conflicts. This completes an indirect "trade" of college football and basketball broadcasts between ESPN 980 and The Fan 106.7, which will carry VA Tech broadcasts starting this season. Last season, these schools were on the other of these stations. I would think that Maryland broadcasts will attract the most interest among the two schools in the D.C. market. Unless there is a "school to be named later", I think 980 will get the better of this swap.
ATLANTA: Still another sports radio station is holding a contest to find a "20-something" to get some airtime, experienced or not. Applicants are to be aged 21 to 29, and can apply, through July 15, at YoungGunsAtl.com. The selected applicant will host the station's planned "Young Guns Show". I'm all for the American dream, but I'm even more in favor of someone with reasonable broadcast experience "winning" the position.
HOUSTON: Sports Radio 1560 is looking to make the NFL Texans a path to increased ratings as they battle with 3 other sports stations in town. For this entire month of July, the weekday morning, midday, and afternoon shows will all talk Texans during the last hour. Thus, John & Lance from 9 to 10 AM, Nuno & Hoffy from 2 to 3 PM, and Sean & John from 6 to 7 PM will focus on the Texans and the NFL, as we approach and begin training camp this month.
INDIANAPOLIS: The Butler did it. Butler University's run to the NCAA Championship Game in April has brought them to local radio prominence starting with the coming season. WFNI 1070 The Fan will carry the broadcasts, moving the games from a 5,000 watt station (WXNT 1430) to the 50,000 watt station.
While this is quite a coup for Butler, but for WFNI it amounts to replacing Pacers broadcasts (which moved to sister 93.1 FM for the coming season) with the Butler games. There are three times the number of Pacers broadcasts and much more regional interest in the NBA.
CINCINNATI: With two November games on cable, the Bengals have awarded the local telecast simulcast rights to WKRC-TV Channel 12, instead of WLWT-TV Channel 5. The simulcasts look to be important games. WKRC-TV will carry the ESPN feed on Nov. 8th against division rival Pittsburgh, and the NFL Network feed on Thanksgiving night when the Bengals face the N.Y. Jets for the first time since last season's playoffs.
This move makes a lot of sense for Channel 12. The CBS affiliate carries some of the Sunday home games, most of the road games, and the Bengals' pre-season games not shown on national networks. Brad Johansen, who will again handle the team's radio play-by-play, is also Sports Director of WKRC-TV.
COLUMBUS: Nice move by STO Sports Time Ohio cable network on Independence Day. The network carried the Columbus Clippers minor league game telecast, which it sometimes does. In this instance, the Clippers were taking on the Toledo Mudhens in Toledo. The result was a AAA game between affiliates of the Indians and Tigers, and happened to feature a matchup of pitchers who had each pitched in the American League earlier in the season.
STO carried the Toledo feed, showing the game live on Sunday night (July 4th) with a full midday replay on Monday the 5th. Play-by-play voice Jason Griffin did an excellent job by acknowledging the affiliations and that fans of both MLB teams would be watching, and providing plenty of information about both teams.
It was great to see a regional cable network show a game that would be of interest to a percentage of fans instead of the poker, paid programming, and 'garbage' programming that fills way too much time.
ASBURY PARK: Monmouth University football will continue for another 3 seasons on the Shore Sports Network of Shore Sports 1310 and WOBM 1160. The games will also be streamed live on ShoreSportsNetwork.com.
PANAMA CITY: WDIZ 590 has become ESPN Sports, dumping an adult standards format last week. The station starts with everything ESPN with the lone exception, as of now, being planned local high school football broadcasts. Yes, this station retains the W-DIZ call letters, which used to be for an Orlando FM, and continues as a station not a part of the Disney Radio Network.
SATELLITE RADIO: The idea is great, even if the execution isn't. Sirius/XM has launched a new sports channel dedicated to fantasy sports 24 hours a day. This is the sort of niche programming that provides satellite subscribers with niche programming which isn't (yet) found on the AM or FM dial. Even if it doesn't attract a large audience, there figures to be certain advertisers who would love to reach an audience of fantasy sports participants.
However, Sirius subscribers do not automatically receive this channel, unless they buy the "Best of XM" package. So instead of having a good idea to promote and attract every listener it can to, this supposedly "merged" company expects thousands of sports fan to suddenly pay extra just to hear it. No wonder "Fantasy" is in the title of this channel.
SCHEDULES: A fun idea by the great MLB Network to air the 1965 All-Star Game this Sunday night (July 11th) at 8:00 ET. There are at least 16 Hall Of Fame members in this game. MLB Network claims this will be the first time this telecast will air since it took place exactly 45 years earlier.
The game telecasts continue this week, including a Thursday (July 8) doubleheader. The Angels at White Sox at 2:00 PM with Cinci at Philadelphia at 7 PM.
On Friday, MLB Network will show Atlanta at the Mets, and its Saturday night game is Cinci at Philadelphia.
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