It's only just over one month in to the NBA regular season, but league officials are most likely to be very concerned about the drop in ratings at both the national and local levels. Circumstances such as the decline of the Warriors and rough starts by New York (Knicks) and Chicago are likely contributors at the national ratings level. Not having Steph Curry and the dominating Warriors on the national game seemingly every week does hurt.
However, it is also possible that the decision to move up the start of the regular season competing with the first two nights of the World Series also contributed. The rumors about possible major adjustments to the regular season schedule moving forward, while only speculation, might have made some casual fans think twice about how closely to follow early regular season games.
One consideration which should be noted is that the NBA no longer has its "permanent" time for a national showcase. Having a full season Thursday night NFL package, along with the NCAA tournament in March, has combined to destroy the consistency which TNT enjoyed for years of Thursday nights being for NBA telecasts. ESPN features college games and is not consistent with doubleheaders on Wednesday and Friday like they used to be.
It is still too soon for the ABC package of Saturday night and Sunday afternoon games to kick in, although their Sunday package has become inconsistent over the past couple of seasons as well. Not having a consistent or regular day and time for national games is more important than the networks realize. Let's keep an eye on how the ratings go as the season develops.
Speaking of ratings, the local NFL telecast ratings for the NYC market for this coming Sunday (12/8) could be very interesting for the early game. CBS airs the Jets vs. Dolphins locally. To be nice, this is not the most meaningful football game available. Fox will be airing the San Francisco vs. New Orleans battle of two of the NFC powerhouses at the same time. The NFL should be pleased that an "out of town" game figures to be the bigger draw.
On the MLB side, fans holding out hope for more 'over the air' telecasts face still another struggle after the announcement that teams can now control their own live streaming rights. (This had been controlled by MLB until now.) Although the stipulation is that only "in market" streaming falls under this policy, it allows for teams to make deals with tech companies beyond the regional sports network. Whether or not this happens depends upon the terms of the current contract between local teams and their regional networks.
One example could very well be Amazon, which earlier this year purchased 15% of YES Network. This situation could lead to more such opportunities for the larger market teams that have a larger metro audience to serve.
NEW YORK: As of press time, still no definite announcement on how WFAN will replace its afternoon show now that Mike Francesa has left as full-time host. Although Francesa could remain as a contributor on the station, it appears that whoever the host will be will not start until the week of January 6th. Evan Roberts is expected to be a part of the new afternoon show, which will begin against increasingly strong competition from The Michael Kay Show on WEPN.
SAN FRANCISCO: The KNBR 680 broadcast of the big 49ers game against New Orleans on Sunday will be without long time analyst Tim Ryan. The team suspended Ryan for (at least) this week's broadcast following racially insensitive remarks Ryan made while appearing on the station's Murph & Mac morning show while discussing Ravens QB Lamar Jackson.
KANSAS CITY: The Chiefs will have a new flagship radio station starting with the 2020 season, which will be WDAF-FM 106.5 The Wolf. Mitch Holthus will be back as play-by-play voice, making 2020 his 27th season of calling the games. Sister station KCSP Sports Radio 610 will air the surrounding programming, including the coach and QB shows and weekly press conferences.
Friday, December 6, 2019
Friday, October 25, 2019
Jumping Through Hoops For TV Choices
The major pro sports leagues are generally not directly tied in with what goes on in the media, but this week provides a solid example of why they should be. They all make a large percentage of their revenue from the television rights. Rights fees which are ultimately passed along to sports fans, and millions of non-sports fans, via the increased costs for cable/satellite providers so we can watch.
From a logistical standpoint, it's easy to understand the NBA deciding to begin the regular season a week sooner than in the past. This allows them to spread out the schedule a bit more and get an earlier start on the playoffs.
However, from an intelligence standpoint, there are plenty of reasons to question the timing. The game nights for the 2019 World Series were announced months before the NBA regular season schedule came out. What this means is that the NBA knowingly put its two opening nights (one for a couple of spotlight games, the second for the majority of the teams) up against Games 1 and 2 of the MLB World Series.
Some will defend this by arguing that the demographics that watch the NBA are not as excited about watching the World Series as they used to be. While that is a reasonable argument, the point is that it forced many fans into making a choice. Under the previous opening games for the NBA season, they may or may not fall up against Game 6 and/or 7 of the WS. At least they have the chance of being unopposed. This week, however, only inclement weather would have put the NBA openers on unopposed.
Before arguing that the ratings have been less than stellar (to put it diplomatically) for the first two Astros vs. Nationals matchups, this is not appropriate for this discussion. The Nationals simply do not have the fan base outside of D.C., nor the tradition of generation after generation. There was a large possibility that the Dodgers or Cardinals, two teams with large fan bases, could have been playing on Tuesday and Wednesday. They would have also gone on against the NBA doubleheaders.
Granted, the prime time sports landscape is more limited for the NBA than in the past. There were many years when the NBA did not have to worry about NFL games on Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays taking up three nights of prime time.
Fans of more than one sport shouldn't have to jump through hoops (pun intended) given the increased cost to watch them on TV or devices.
Meanwhile, it was quite the coincidence that both ESPN and Fox Sports lost MLB analysts within hours of each other. The official announcements that Joe Girardi was being hired as Phillies manager and David Ross as Cubs manager came at almost the same time. Girardi leaves his analyst role with Fox Sports (as well as MLB Network), while Ross was providing studio and game analysis for ESPN for the past couple of seasons.
CHICAGO: Regional network NBC Sports Chicago, which now is making a big promotional splash about being the exclusive local home for Blackhawks and Bulls telecasts this season, needs to stand behind their coverage. Specifically when it comes to their streaming of the games.
On Oct. 18th, the Blackhawks game against Columbus was going into overtime, and I received their text alert to that effect on my phone. Not being near a TV, I went to their app to watch. All I got in two attempts was the opening of their pre-game show introducing the telecast, and not the live stream of overtime.
Then, on Oct. 23rd, while using their phone app to watch (or try to watch) the final few minutes of the Bulls regular season opener against Charlotte, their stream was working. However, the stream contains different commercials than the actual telecast, and adds more of them. Because of this, an entire scoring play out of a time out was missed on the stream with about 90 seconds remaining.
The game went down to the last few seconds. A time out was called with a few seconds remaining. The stream feed ran an extra batch of commercials. Sure enough, when it returned to the stream, we got the final score as part of their sign off, since they failed to show the last few seconds which decided the game.
Fans are paying increased fees to be able to view the games via cable/satellite and on their devices. It is not a privilege. If they must oversell the advertising, let the advertisers pay our fees and give us what is promised.
INDIANAPOLIS: Scott Pollard and Charlie Clifford served as Noon to 3 PM co-hosts on WFNI The Fan 1070 all week, but only as a replacement. Dan Dakich was off, but for the purpose of serving a five day suspension by station management. No public reason was given for the suspension, with the only announcement being that "a failure last year on Dan's part to adhere to journalistic principles".
Have to wonder if the infraction happened all those months ago why a suspension was not invoked until this week.
Dakich has been with WFNI for more than nine years.
From a logistical standpoint, it's easy to understand the NBA deciding to begin the regular season a week sooner than in the past. This allows them to spread out the schedule a bit more and get an earlier start on the playoffs.
However, from an intelligence standpoint, there are plenty of reasons to question the timing. The game nights for the 2019 World Series were announced months before the NBA regular season schedule came out. What this means is that the NBA knowingly put its two opening nights (one for a couple of spotlight games, the second for the majority of the teams) up against Games 1 and 2 of the MLB World Series.
Some will defend this by arguing that the demographics that watch the NBA are not as excited about watching the World Series as they used to be. While that is a reasonable argument, the point is that it forced many fans into making a choice. Under the previous opening games for the NBA season, they may or may not fall up against Game 6 and/or 7 of the WS. At least they have the chance of being unopposed. This week, however, only inclement weather would have put the NBA openers on unopposed.
Before arguing that the ratings have been less than stellar (to put it diplomatically) for the first two Astros vs. Nationals matchups, this is not appropriate for this discussion. The Nationals simply do not have the fan base outside of D.C., nor the tradition of generation after generation. There was a large possibility that the Dodgers or Cardinals, two teams with large fan bases, could have been playing on Tuesday and Wednesday. They would have also gone on against the NBA doubleheaders.
Granted, the prime time sports landscape is more limited for the NBA than in the past. There were many years when the NBA did not have to worry about NFL games on Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays taking up three nights of prime time.
Fans of more than one sport shouldn't have to jump through hoops (pun intended) given the increased cost to watch them on TV or devices.
Meanwhile, it was quite the coincidence that both ESPN and Fox Sports lost MLB analysts within hours of each other. The official announcements that Joe Girardi was being hired as Phillies manager and David Ross as Cubs manager came at almost the same time. Girardi leaves his analyst role with Fox Sports (as well as MLB Network), while Ross was providing studio and game analysis for ESPN for the past couple of seasons.
CHICAGO: Regional network NBC Sports Chicago, which now is making a big promotional splash about being the exclusive local home for Blackhawks and Bulls telecasts this season, needs to stand behind their coverage. Specifically when it comes to their streaming of the games.
On Oct. 18th, the Blackhawks game against Columbus was going into overtime, and I received their text alert to that effect on my phone. Not being near a TV, I went to their app to watch. All I got in two attempts was the opening of their pre-game show introducing the telecast, and not the live stream of overtime.
Then, on Oct. 23rd, while using their phone app to watch (or try to watch) the final few minutes of the Bulls regular season opener against Charlotte, their stream was working. However, the stream contains different commercials than the actual telecast, and adds more of them. Because of this, an entire scoring play out of a time out was missed on the stream with about 90 seconds remaining.
The game went down to the last few seconds. A time out was called with a few seconds remaining. The stream feed ran an extra batch of commercials. Sure enough, when it returned to the stream, we got the final score as part of their sign off, since they failed to show the last few seconds which decided the game.
Fans are paying increased fees to be able to view the games via cable/satellite and on their devices. It is not a privilege. If they must oversell the advertising, let the advertisers pay our fees and give us what is promised.
INDIANAPOLIS: Scott Pollard and Charlie Clifford served as Noon to 3 PM co-hosts on WFNI The Fan 1070 all week, but only as a replacement. Dan Dakich was off, but for the purpose of serving a five day suspension by station management. No public reason was given for the suspension, with the only announcement being that "a failure last year on Dan's part to adhere to journalistic principles".
Have to wonder if the infraction happened all those months ago why a suspension was not invoked until this week.
Dakich has been with WFNI for more than nine years.
Friday, October 18, 2019
Sinclair Deal Doesn't Get Carried Away
A boost for Sinclair Broadcast Group with the news this week that the Group signed a multi-year deal with AT&T, U-Verse, and DirecTV to have its regional sports networks continue to be carried. Unlike when AT&T and U-verse pulled NFL Network earlier this year over a carry dispute, Sinclair was smart to allow their networks to continue to be carried while these now successful negotiations continued.
In addition to what were the Fox Regional Networks, this extension also includes The Tennis Channel (national) and the YES Network, of which Sinclair became a partner following its purchase from Fox.
Significantly, this new deal also includes Chicago area customers being able to receive Marquee, which is the new Chicago Cubs channel which debuts in February. Marquee will be the exclusive home to Cubs telecasts since no over-the-air deals are being made as of this time. This makes U-verse and DirecTV the first local carriers to commit to airing the network.
As of press time, no word as to the cost structure for consumers, such as if all subscribers will be "forced" into paying more or if the channel will be offered as a separate option. The only other Chicago area carrier to take Marquee prior to this announcement was Charter Communications, which has a slice of the market. Comcast (Xfinity) is the area's largest carrier, but owns a portion of NBC Sports Chicago, which airs the White Sox games, along with the Chicago Blackhawks and Bulls.
Now it becomes interesting to see how aggressive Comcast will be toward adding Marquee to its system, and at what cost to its customer base if and when it does. The fact that most Cubs fans subscribed to Xfinity will have an option to switch away should make for interesting negotiations.
Many have been wondering if the Chicago Cubs channel would go the way of YES in New York, getting plenty of coverage, or the way of the Dodgers in L.A. with most of the market holding off due to the financial implications for customers.
SAN FRANCISCO: KNBR AM-FM has added former Warriors great Chris Mullin to its coverage of the team, with the regular season getting under way next week. To start, Mullin will not have a specific air shift, serving as an on air contributor throughout the various local programs.
HOUSTON: It's a rare case of air talent "winning out", but that's what just happened for Rick Kamla. Kamla joined KILT 610 as afternoon drive co-host less than three months ago, coming over from WZGC-FM The Game in Atlanta (as well as working on NBA TV). Kamla's show replaced "Lord & Penergast" and lost even more in the ratings over the couple of months. (Sean Pendergast continues in his morning drive role with Seth Payne, while Rich Lord was not renewed.)
Kamla managed to get hired by SiriusXM Radio for its NBA Channel starting in time for the new season. As of press time, no word on a replacement from KILT.
MIAMI: Greg Likens is out at 790 The Ticket, announcing his decision to leave at the end of his October 6th show, and following more than 10 years in the market. Likens also was part of The Joe Rose Show mornings on WQAM along with hosting Dolphins content for the team.
MILWAUKEE: 105.7 The Fan has dropped its sports headlines updates after 10 AM which had been running twice per hour, stating that doing so allows more time for their hosts. Other sports stations in other markets also owned by Entercom have also begun this trend in recent months.
What this means is that their sports stations are making it more difficult to get the sports "news" of the day at a scheduled time. They act as though sports fans would rather hear some fan commenting about his favorite team's offensive line than hear about an injury which could impact a fantasy pick or a favorite team's status for the next game.
The "argument" is that fans get the injury and transaction news on their phone and various other sources. Although that is true, station management overlooks that fans can also get fan opinions on every social media outlet and hundreds of podcasts on demand, without having to listen to the local sports station which is now delivering less of what they want.
PORTLAND: With the NBA regular season starting next week, the Blazers radio broadcast is perhaps the most significant of changes from last season. It won't be the same without Brian Wheeler, who is no longer calling play-by-play, as he did for the previous 21 seasons. Wheeler was not retained, most likely due to health issues which caused him to miss parts of the past few seasons.
Travis Demers will call the game on 620 AM, with Michael Holton as the new analyst (in addition to his TV studio work surrounding home games).
In addition to what were the Fox Regional Networks, this extension also includes The Tennis Channel (national) and the YES Network, of which Sinclair became a partner following its purchase from Fox.
Significantly, this new deal also includes Chicago area customers being able to receive Marquee, which is the new Chicago Cubs channel which debuts in February. Marquee will be the exclusive home to Cubs telecasts since no over-the-air deals are being made as of this time. This makes U-verse and DirecTV the first local carriers to commit to airing the network.
As of press time, no word as to the cost structure for consumers, such as if all subscribers will be "forced" into paying more or if the channel will be offered as a separate option. The only other Chicago area carrier to take Marquee prior to this announcement was Charter Communications, which has a slice of the market. Comcast (Xfinity) is the area's largest carrier, but owns a portion of NBC Sports Chicago, which airs the White Sox games, along with the Chicago Blackhawks and Bulls.
Now it becomes interesting to see how aggressive Comcast will be toward adding Marquee to its system, and at what cost to its customer base if and when it does. The fact that most Cubs fans subscribed to Xfinity will have an option to switch away should make for interesting negotiations.
Many have been wondering if the Chicago Cubs channel would go the way of YES in New York, getting plenty of coverage, or the way of the Dodgers in L.A. with most of the market holding off due to the financial implications for customers.
SAN FRANCISCO: KNBR AM-FM has added former Warriors great Chris Mullin to its coverage of the team, with the regular season getting under way next week. To start, Mullin will not have a specific air shift, serving as an on air contributor throughout the various local programs.
HOUSTON: It's a rare case of air talent "winning out", but that's what just happened for Rick Kamla. Kamla joined KILT 610 as afternoon drive co-host less than three months ago, coming over from WZGC-FM The Game in Atlanta (as well as working on NBA TV). Kamla's show replaced "Lord & Penergast" and lost even more in the ratings over the couple of months. (Sean Pendergast continues in his morning drive role with Seth Payne, while Rich Lord was not renewed.)
Kamla managed to get hired by SiriusXM Radio for its NBA Channel starting in time for the new season. As of press time, no word on a replacement from KILT.
MIAMI: Greg Likens is out at 790 The Ticket, announcing his decision to leave at the end of his October 6th show, and following more than 10 years in the market. Likens also was part of The Joe Rose Show mornings on WQAM along with hosting Dolphins content for the team.
MILWAUKEE: 105.7 The Fan has dropped its sports headlines updates after 10 AM which had been running twice per hour, stating that doing so allows more time for their hosts. Other sports stations in other markets also owned by Entercom have also begun this trend in recent months.
What this means is that their sports stations are making it more difficult to get the sports "news" of the day at a scheduled time. They act as though sports fans would rather hear some fan commenting about his favorite team's offensive line than hear about an injury which could impact a fantasy pick or a favorite team's status for the next game.
The "argument" is that fans get the injury and transaction news on their phone and various other sources. Although that is true, station management overlooks that fans can also get fan opinions on every social media outlet and hundreds of podcasts on demand, without having to listen to the local sports station which is now delivering less of what they want.
PORTLAND: With the NBA regular season starting next week, the Blazers radio broadcast is perhaps the most significant of changes from last season. It won't be the same without Brian Wheeler, who is no longer calling play-by-play, as he did for the previous 21 seasons. Wheeler was not retained, most likely due to health issues which caused him to miss parts of the past few seasons.
Travis Demers will call the game on 620 AM, with Michael Holton as the new analyst (in addition to his TV studio work surrounding home games).
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Bulls Broadcasts To Be In A Funk One More Season
Another week, another announcement in sports media about disputes between sports networks and cable/satellite providers. There was actually a news release over this past weekend to let people know that Fox Sports, as well as local Fox over the air stations, were "restored" to Dish Network.
In the early years of cable, providers were required to be approved by each local municipality because of their service to the community. In recent years, the paying subscribers have zero say in whether or not certain channels are renewed or dropped, regardless of their impact on the monthly costs.
Sports fans suffer enough with increased costs to watch games on TV and/or devices without having to watch the news to find out whether or not they can enjoy certain sports events and programs on their intended provider. There ought to be a regulation saying that when it happens that providers and networks/channels don't agree, everything stays the same.
One thing that won't stay the same will be the TV voice heard by Chicago Bulls fans after the new NBA season. After 43 seasons of calling NBA games, Neil Funk has announced that this will be his final season. Funk joined the Bulls for the 1991-92 season, which was right after the franchise's very first championship with Michael Jordan. Like last season, Neil will be doing a reduced work load, calling all available home games (not on national TV) and roughly half of the road schedule. No word yet on a replacement, but the word is that radio voice Chuck Swirsky will shift over to the TV side starting next season.
CHICAGO: It remains to be heard whether or not WMVP ESPN 1000 will be able to increase its overall audience and more favorably compete with WSCR The Score 670, but the effort is coming from the new management ESPN has brought in. The group brought in Mike Thomas to be Market Manager for Chicago. Thomas comes from WBZ-FM Sports Hub in Boston, one of the nation's most successful sports stations over the past 10 years. Thomas plans to remain with WBZ-FM in a consulting role to help transition to his eventual replacement.
WMVP faces the challenge of not having any significant local play-by-play. The Cubs and Bulls air on WSCR 670, the Bears on WBBM 780, and the Blackhawks and White Sox on WGN 720.
CINCINNATI: It won't be easy to have a new radio voice of the Reds starting next season after 46 years of Marty Brennaman doing the honors. In a surprisingly low key announcement, the Reds made it official that Tommy Thrall will take over the lead role, continuing to work with Jeff Brantley. Thrall has already been a part of the Reds broadcasts, thus making for an easier transition.
SAN FRANCISCO: KTCT-AM 1050 has become the flagship station for University of San Francisco basketball starting with the coming season. Pat Olson has been named play-by-play voice.
PITTSBURGH: AT&T SportsNet has extended its agreement to show every Pirates game it can (at least 150 per year) as part of its multi-year extension. No replacement has been named (as of press time) for Steve Blass, who retired from the booth after this season, and after 60 years in the Pirates organization. Maybe that is fitting. It's hard to think that anyone could replace Blass and all he did for the team. Of course, there will be a new member added to the broadcast team at some point during this off season.
DENVER: Former Broncos tackle Tyler Polumbus has joined the afternoon show on KKFN The Fan 104.3. Polumbus will work with Darren McKee and Nick Ferguson, replacing Tom Nalen, who is no longer with the station.
In the early years of cable, providers were required to be approved by each local municipality because of their service to the community. In recent years, the paying subscribers have zero say in whether or not certain channels are renewed or dropped, regardless of their impact on the monthly costs.
Sports fans suffer enough with increased costs to watch games on TV and/or devices without having to watch the news to find out whether or not they can enjoy certain sports events and programs on their intended provider. There ought to be a regulation saying that when it happens that providers and networks/channels don't agree, everything stays the same.
One thing that won't stay the same will be the TV voice heard by Chicago Bulls fans after the new NBA season. After 43 seasons of calling NBA games, Neil Funk has announced that this will be his final season. Funk joined the Bulls for the 1991-92 season, which was right after the franchise's very first championship with Michael Jordan. Like last season, Neil will be doing a reduced work load, calling all available home games (not on national TV) and roughly half of the road schedule. No word yet on a replacement, but the word is that radio voice Chuck Swirsky will shift over to the TV side starting next season.
CHICAGO: It remains to be heard whether or not WMVP ESPN 1000 will be able to increase its overall audience and more favorably compete with WSCR The Score 670, but the effort is coming from the new management ESPN has brought in. The group brought in Mike Thomas to be Market Manager for Chicago. Thomas comes from WBZ-FM Sports Hub in Boston, one of the nation's most successful sports stations over the past 10 years. Thomas plans to remain with WBZ-FM in a consulting role to help transition to his eventual replacement.
WMVP faces the challenge of not having any significant local play-by-play. The Cubs and Bulls air on WSCR 670, the Bears on WBBM 780, and the Blackhawks and White Sox on WGN 720.
CINCINNATI: It won't be easy to have a new radio voice of the Reds starting next season after 46 years of Marty Brennaman doing the honors. In a surprisingly low key announcement, the Reds made it official that Tommy Thrall will take over the lead role, continuing to work with Jeff Brantley. Thrall has already been a part of the Reds broadcasts, thus making for an easier transition.
SAN FRANCISCO: KTCT-AM 1050 has become the flagship station for University of San Francisco basketball starting with the coming season. Pat Olson has been named play-by-play voice.
PITTSBURGH: AT&T SportsNet has extended its agreement to show every Pirates game it can (at least 150 per year) as part of its multi-year extension. No replacement has been named (as of press time) for Steve Blass, who retired from the booth after this season, and after 60 years in the Pirates organization. Maybe that is fitting. It's hard to think that anyone could replace Blass and all he did for the team. Of course, there will be a new member added to the broadcast team at some point during this off season.
DENVER: Former Broncos tackle Tyler Polumbus has joined the afternoon show on KKFN The Fan 104.3. Polumbus will work with Darren McKee and Nick Ferguson, replacing Tom Nalen, who is no longer with the station.
Thursday, August 15, 2019
Why We Should Pass On Pub Pass
The announcement earlier this week that NBC Sports is partnering with AEG to create "NBC Sports Pub Pass" is an alarming one for sports fans for a number of reasons.
Although this platform will start out with 140 Premier League soccer matches, additional cycling race coverage (such as Tour de France), and at least 185 Rugby World Cup and Premiership Rugby matches, this could lead to still more sports telecasts becoming a part of this.
Pub Pass is designed to only be shown in what it terms "retail pub and restaurant establishments providing live international sports for their patrons".
Here is NBC Sports telling fans that they will have to go to a restaurant or pub to watch certain events. Events we won't get at home? The same fans who pay rising cable, satellite, or streaming fees to see the live events they have the rights to. From one of the many sports networks which fill up hours every day of meaningless programing which is not always sports related.
Don't think for one minute that we have nothing to worry about since this is "only" for international sporting events. If this concept shows any degree of success, we all know this could expand to the major U.S. sports. It's not like NBC Sports (or any of the other networks that start doing this) will lower residential subscription bills to help with our restaurant costs.
This may seem unrelated, but it falls under the same heading of sports fans (and millions of consumers who are not) being gouged to be able to watch their favorite sports events at home. The L.A. Dodgers still lack TV coverage in 70% of their local market. They have added five late season telecasts to be simulcast on KTLA Channel 5. The Dodgers have no control over the YouTube live streams which include the Dodgers, which include the Sept. 17th home game vs. Tampa Bay. The Dodgers vs. the Yankees upcoming on Aug. 23rd will be available via Facebook.
There has been little mention of how the Dodgers' TV Network does not even offer streaming of its telecasts to the few subscribers they have. Around the country, most of the Fox regional and NBC Sports regional networks offer free streaming to authorized subscribers. This includes the L.A. Angels, whose games can easily be streamed (locally) via the Fox Sports app.
As of now, Dish Network no longer carries any of the 21 Fox Sports regional networks. Dish chairman Charlie Ergen was quoted in Ad Age as saying that it "does not look good that the regional sports will ever be on Dish again". Although that is nothing but a bargaining plea, there is a point to be made.
While this takes place, the Chicago Cubs prepare to launch their own regional network, Marquee Sports, in February. A Comcast official was recently quoted as saying that the Chicago dominant cable provider "had nothing to report" regarding the possibility of carrying the new network.
Although Fox Sports does not get to begin its Thursday Night NFL package at the start of the season, part of its MLB deal includes airing baseball in prime time in September instead. Fox will air Atlanta vs. Philadelphia on Sept. 12 and St. Louis vs. Chicago Cubs on Sept. 19th. To get the jump on the night's NFL game, these games will begin at 7:15 ET.
NEW YORK: Two baseball play-by-play voices in the news. Congrats to Howie Rose on his upcoming induction into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame on Nov. 3rd. Howie now serves as the Mets radio voice in the first of the team's seven year contract with WCBS 880. His time with the Mets goes back to 1987 to 1995 when he hosted pre and post-game coverage on WFAN before taking over on TV from 1996 to 2003. In addition, Rose called Islanders hockey for Fox Sports New York from 1995 to 2016.
The N Y Post reports that Michael Kay is about to return to the Yankees TV booth upon his recovery from vocal chord surgery. Ryan Rucco will continue to fill in for Kay until his return.
CHICAGO: Talk about technical difficulties! During its August 14th telecast of the Cubs vs. Phillies game, NBC Sports Chicago was losing its feed, going to a black screen except for the NBC Sports Chicago Logo. After a couple of minutes of the game feed dropping in an out, a scroll came across the screen. It said "We apologize for the technical difficulties. Stand by for Blackhawks hockey". While their first Blackhawks telecast remains more than a month away, the baseball feed did return seconds after that.
VSiN, the sports betting network with Brent Musberger, will have its "Sunday Preview" show in Chicago on WLS 890 on Saturdays from 6:30 to 8:30 PM along with airing weeknight updates at 6:58 PM. This will be unless pre-empted for University of Illinois football and basketball broadcasts. The VSiN programming expands and moves over from WSCR 670.
Bears fans will have NFL Network's Kyle Brandt on the play-by-play call for the Aug. 29th preseason local telecast. Adam Amin, who calls the other local pre-season games, will be calling the UCLA vs. Cincinnati game on ESPN that night.
DALLAS: KRLD-FM 105.3 The Fan has scrambled its midday and afternoon lineup, which begins on Monday (8/19). Ben & Skin (Ben Rogers and Jeff 'Skin' Wade) shift to 10 AM to 2 PM. GBag Nation with Gavin Dawson, Jeff Cavanaugh, and Lucious Alexander will continue to air for five hours, now from 2 to 7 PM.
PHOENIX: After years of being shuffled to other frequencies due to play-by-play conflicts, the AZ Coyotes finally have a flagship station which makes them the priority. Bob Heethuis and Paul Bissonnette will be calling the games on KGME Sports 910.
CHARLOTTE: Just in time for the exhibition games, the Panthers radio network announced its new analysts, replacing Eugene Robinson. Former QB Jake Delhomme did not wish to do the entire season, but has been hired to do all home games and only the road games from Houston and New Orleans for this season. Former tackle Jordan Gross will serve as analyst for the remaining road games. Mick Mixon is beginning his 15th season on play-by-play. WBT 1110 continues as the flagship station.
SALT LAKE: Spence Checketts returns to the local airwaves after a year and one-half absence. Starting on Monday (8/19), he will be hosting 2 to 6 PM on ESPN 700. Checketts is the son of former Utah Jazz and N Y Knicks President Dave Checketts.
NASHVILLE: WSM 650 returned to full-time country music this week, dropping George Plaster's afternoon drive sports talk show experiment after only one month.
COLUMBIA SC: Chris Miller has been named new host for University of South Carolina football pre and post-game coverage. The pre-game show runs for three hours prior to kickoff. He replaces Jay Philips, who held the role for 17 years, but continues his weekday how on 107.5 The Game.
OMAHA: 1620 The Zone has brought back Mike Severe after a five year absence. He will co-host mornings with Damon Benning, the former University of Nebraska football standout. Gary Sharp moves out of mornings and into the midday spot. Also, University of Nebraska at Omaha basketball and hockey games will continue on 1180 The Zone 2 under a just extended agreement.
BANGOR: 92.9 The Ticket debuts a new early morning show with Wayne Harvey on Monday (8/19). Harvey will host "The Morning Line" from 6 to 8 AM, drawing from his 26 years of local radio and TV experience.
Although this platform will start out with 140 Premier League soccer matches, additional cycling race coverage (such as Tour de France), and at least 185 Rugby World Cup and Premiership Rugby matches, this could lead to still more sports telecasts becoming a part of this.
Pub Pass is designed to only be shown in what it terms "retail pub and restaurant establishments providing live international sports for their patrons".
Here is NBC Sports telling fans that they will have to go to a restaurant or pub to watch certain events. Events we won't get at home? The same fans who pay rising cable, satellite, or streaming fees to see the live events they have the rights to. From one of the many sports networks which fill up hours every day of meaningless programing which is not always sports related.
Don't think for one minute that we have nothing to worry about since this is "only" for international sporting events. If this concept shows any degree of success, we all know this could expand to the major U.S. sports. It's not like NBC Sports (or any of the other networks that start doing this) will lower residential subscription bills to help with our restaurant costs.
This may seem unrelated, but it falls under the same heading of sports fans (and millions of consumers who are not) being gouged to be able to watch their favorite sports events at home. The L.A. Dodgers still lack TV coverage in 70% of their local market. They have added five late season telecasts to be simulcast on KTLA Channel 5. The Dodgers have no control over the YouTube live streams which include the Dodgers, which include the Sept. 17th home game vs. Tampa Bay. The Dodgers vs. the Yankees upcoming on Aug. 23rd will be available via Facebook.
There has been little mention of how the Dodgers' TV Network does not even offer streaming of its telecasts to the few subscribers they have. Around the country, most of the Fox regional and NBC Sports regional networks offer free streaming to authorized subscribers. This includes the L.A. Angels, whose games can easily be streamed (locally) via the Fox Sports app.
As of now, Dish Network no longer carries any of the 21 Fox Sports regional networks. Dish chairman Charlie Ergen was quoted in Ad Age as saying that it "does not look good that the regional sports will ever be on Dish again". Although that is nothing but a bargaining plea, there is a point to be made.
While this takes place, the Chicago Cubs prepare to launch their own regional network, Marquee Sports, in February. A Comcast official was recently quoted as saying that the Chicago dominant cable provider "had nothing to report" regarding the possibility of carrying the new network.
Although Fox Sports does not get to begin its Thursday Night NFL package at the start of the season, part of its MLB deal includes airing baseball in prime time in September instead. Fox will air Atlanta vs. Philadelphia on Sept. 12 and St. Louis vs. Chicago Cubs on Sept. 19th. To get the jump on the night's NFL game, these games will begin at 7:15 ET.
NEW YORK: Two baseball play-by-play voices in the news. Congrats to Howie Rose on his upcoming induction into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame on Nov. 3rd. Howie now serves as the Mets radio voice in the first of the team's seven year contract with WCBS 880. His time with the Mets goes back to 1987 to 1995 when he hosted pre and post-game coverage on WFAN before taking over on TV from 1996 to 2003. In addition, Rose called Islanders hockey for Fox Sports New York from 1995 to 2016.
The N Y Post reports that Michael Kay is about to return to the Yankees TV booth upon his recovery from vocal chord surgery. Ryan Rucco will continue to fill in for Kay until his return.
CHICAGO: Talk about technical difficulties! During its August 14th telecast of the Cubs vs. Phillies game, NBC Sports Chicago was losing its feed, going to a black screen except for the NBC Sports Chicago Logo. After a couple of minutes of the game feed dropping in an out, a scroll came across the screen. It said "We apologize for the technical difficulties. Stand by for Blackhawks hockey". While their first Blackhawks telecast remains more than a month away, the baseball feed did return seconds after that.
VSiN, the sports betting network with Brent Musberger, will have its "Sunday Preview" show in Chicago on WLS 890 on Saturdays from 6:30 to 8:30 PM along with airing weeknight updates at 6:58 PM. This will be unless pre-empted for University of Illinois football and basketball broadcasts. The VSiN programming expands and moves over from WSCR 670.
Bears fans will have NFL Network's Kyle Brandt on the play-by-play call for the Aug. 29th preseason local telecast. Adam Amin, who calls the other local pre-season games, will be calling the UCLA vs. Cincinnati game on ESPN that night.
DALLAS: KRLD-FM 105.3 The Fan has scrambled its midday and afternoon lineup, which begins on Monday (8/19). Ben & Skin (Ben Rogers and Jeff 'Skin' Wade) shift to 10 AM to 2 PM. GBag Nation with Gavin Dawson, Jeff Cavanaugh, and Lucious Alexander will continue to air for five hours, now from 2 to 7 PM.
PHOENIX: After years of being shuffled to other frequencies due to play-by-play conflicts, the AZ Coyotes finally have a flagship station which makes them the priority. Bob Heethuis and Paul Bissonnette will be calling the games on KGME Sports 910.
CHARLOTTE: Just in time for the exhibition games, the Panthers radio network announced its new analysts, replacing Eugene Robinson. Former QB Jake Delhomme did not wish to do the entire season, but has been hired to do all home games and only the road games from Houston and New Orleans for this season. Former tackle Jordan Gross will serve as analyst for the remaining road games. Mick Mixon is beginning his 15th season on play-by-play. WBT 1110 continues as the flagship station.
SALT LAKE: Spence Checketts returns to the local airwaves after a year and one-half absence. Starting on Monday (8/19), he will be hosting 2 to 6 PM on ESPN 700. Checketts is the son of former Utah Jazz and N Y Knicks President Dave Checketts.
NASHVILLE: WSM 650 returned to full-time country music this week, dropping George Plaster's afternoon drive sports talk show experiment after only one month.
COLUMBIA SC: Chris Miller has been named new host for University of South Carolina football pre and post-game coverage. The pre-game show runs for three hours prior to kickoff. He replaces Jay Philips, who held the role for 17 years, but continues his weekday how on 107.5 The Game.
OMAHA: 1620 The Zone has brought back Mike Severe after a five year absence. He will co-host mornings with Damon Benning, the former University of Nebraska football standout. Gary Sharp moves out of mornings and into the midday spot. Also, University of Nebraska at Omaha basketball and hockey games will continue on 1180 The Zone 2 under a just extended agreement.
BANGOR: 92.9 The Ticket debuts a new early morning show with Wayne Harvey on Monday (8/19). Harvey will host "The Morning Line" from 6 to 8 AM, drawing from his 26 years of local radio and TV experience.
Thursday, August 8, 2019
RAMS & RAIDERS? REALLY?
The start of the full NFL pre-season is upon us. While local ratings for exhibition game telecasts don't mean much (beyond the local markets), one of the Saturday (8/10) games will be an interesting one for viewership. It seems that the L.A. Rams play in Oakland. This bring us one team which recently relocated back to L.A. to a so-so fan base playing in the final pre-season opener for the Raiders while they are still an Oakland team.
With both teams originating their respective telecasts, this game can be seen in almost every northern and southern California market, and beyond. The "beyond" includes Honolulu HI, Reno NV, ,Anchorage AK, and, of course, Las Vegas.
The Raiders pre-season games are carried in Los Angeles (where the team resided for years), obviously in Las Vegas (where they move after this season), and also in Honolulu, which is considered within the California region for local telecasts. The Rams are also carried in Las Vegas and Honolulu.
As a result, this exhibition game will appear with both telecasts airing simultaneously in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Honolulu. The Raiders telecast will be called by Beth Mowins with Rich Gannon, while the Rams telecast will have Andrew Siciliano and Nate Burleson on the call.
Ironically, this first week of exhibition games includes the New York battle with the Jets playing the Giants. The Jets are the road team. Yet, for these two established franchises, the Jets are not offering a telecast, forcing their fans to watch the Giants telecast as called by Bob Papa and Carl Banks. Go figure.
On the radio side, we will undoubtedly see the impact of the return of the NFL in key markets over the following couple of months on the ratings of the sports and flagship stations. Interesting research by industry trade publication Talkers Magazine showed that 57% of sports talk stations in metered markets saw declines from May to June this year. This is during the "height" of the NFL off season.
Four of the NBC Sports regional channels, including Washington and Chicago, are or will be airing "The Daily Line" on weekday afternoons. This is actually a simulcast of the NBC Sports Radio show which began earlier this year, but lacks a presence in the big markets. Michael Jenkins and Tim Murray are the hosts. The regional channels will, of course, preempt when local play-by-play and adjacent programming dictates. The focus of this show is on sports gambling. Although four hours a day on this topic may be a stretch, replacing infomercials, previous day game replays, and other programming which doesn't matter is a step in the right direction.
NEW YORK: The strong presence of WFAN 660 and 101.9 will pay dividends starting this week when play-by-play conflicts occur over the next couple of months. WFAN is the flagship for both the Yankees and Giants. When the teams conflict (which is three times in August and four times in September), the Giants broadcasts will air on 660, while Yankees broadcasts will air on 101.9.
BALTIMORE / D.C.: Bobby Trosset has joined WBAL 1090 and 101.5 as morning sports anchor along with being the station's Ravens reporter.
DC's WSBN ESPN 630, which earlier this year broke away from the news/talk simulcast of WMAL-FM, may need to re-think that decision. The just released ratings book showed the station with the lowest possible overall rating of .1.
MINNEAPOLIS: Mark Rosen, the former WCCO-TV sportscaster, and Kirk Cousins will co-host "Under Center with Kirk Cousins" on KFAN 100.3 each Tuesday at 6 PM starting Sept. 3rd. The weekly episodes will also be made available via Vikings.com. The pair plan to have interviews with other Vikings players on this show.
SAN DIEGO: KLSD 1360 has shuffled its weekday schedule. The Darren Smith Show, with co-host and producer Marty Caswell, moves to Noon to 3 PM. Jon Schaffer moves from the midday show to the Loose Cannons from 3 to 6 PM with Steve Hartman and Rich Ohrnberger. Nick Hardwick goes from midday co-host to the role as the NFL "Insider", including an hour on the Monday and Friday morning Costa & Richards show.
RALEIGH/DURHAM: "SportsChannel8: The Radio Show" started this week on WCMC 99.9 The Fan from 10 AM to Noon. Hayes Permar, Josh Goodson, and Brian Geisinger continue as co-hosts. This addition brings listeners nine hours of local sports programming on weekdays. As a result, the Dan LeBatard Show moves to Buzz Sports Radio, which now airs all three hours instead of only two hours.
MOBILE: WNSP 105.5 begins a new afternoon local sports show from 3 to 6 PM on Monday (8/12), co-hosted by David Schultz and Jordan Glass. Schultz joins WNSP from 103.7 The Game in Lafayette LA, where he had served as Program Director for six years.
With both teams originating their respective telecasts, this game can be seen in almost every northern and southern California market, and beyond. The "beyond" includes Honolulu HI, Reno NV, ,Anchorage AK, and, of course, Las Vegas.
The Raiders pre-season games are carried in Los Angeles (where the team resided for years), obviously in Las Vegas (where they move after this season), and also in Honolulu, which is considered within the California region for local telecasts. The Rams are also carried in Las Vegas and Honolulu.
As a result, this exhibition game will appear with both telecasts airing simultaneously in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Honolulu. The Raiders telecast will be called by Beth Mowins with Rich Gannon, while the Rams telecast will have Andrew Siciliano and Nate Burleson on the call.
Ironically, this first week of exhibition games includes the New York battle with the Jets playing the Giants. The Jets are the road team. Yet, for these two established franchises, the Jets are not offering a telecast, forcing their fans to watch the Giants telecast as called by Bob Papa and Carl Banks. Go figure.
On the radio side, we will undoubtedly see the impact of the return of the NFL in key markets over the following couple of months on the ratings of the sports and flagship stations. Interesting research by industry trade publication Talkers Magazine showed that 57% of sports talk stations in metered markets saw declines from May to June this year. This is during the "height" of the NFL off season.
Four of the NBC Sports regional channels, including Washington and Chicago, are or will be airing "The Daily Line" on weekday afternoons. This is actually a simulcast of the NBC Sports Radio show which began earlier this year, but lacks a presence in the big markets. Michael Jenkins and Tim Murray are the hosts. The regional channels will, of course, preempt when local play-by-play and adjacent programming dictates. The focus of this show is on sports gambling. Although four hours a day on this topic may be a stretch, replacing infomercials, previous day game replays, and other programming which doesn't matter is a step in the right direction.
NEW YORK: The strong presence of WFAN 660 and 101.9 will pay dividends starting this week when play-by-play conflicts occur over the next couple of months. WFAN is the flagship for both the Yankees and Giants. When the teams conflict (which is three times in August and four times in September), the Giants broadcasts will air on 660, while Yankees broadcasts will air on 101.9.
BALTIMORE / D.C.: Bobby Trosset has joined WBAL 1090 and 101.5 as morning sports anchor along with being the station's Ravens reporter.
DC's WSBN ESPN 630, which earlier this year broke away from the news/talk simulcast of WMAL-FM, may need to re-think that decision. The just released ratings book showed the station with the lowest possible overall rating of .1.
MINNEAPOLIS: Mark Rosen, the former WCCO-TV sportscaster, and Kirk Cousins will co-host "Under Center with Kirk Cousins" on KFAN 100.3 each Tuesday at 6 PM starting Sept. 3rd. The weekly episodes will also be made available via Vikings.com. The pair plan to have interviews with other Vikings players on this show.
SAN DIEGO: KLSD 1360 has shuffled its weekday schedule. The Darren Smith Show, with co-host and producer Marty Caswell, moves to Noon to 3 PM. Jon Schaffer moves from the midday show to the Loose Cannons from 3 to 6 PM with Steve Hartman and Rich Ohrnberger. Nick Hardwick goes from midday co-host to the role as the NFL "Insider", including an hour on the Monday and Friday morning Costa & Richards show.
RALEIGH/DURHAM: "SportsChannel8: The Radio Show" started this week on WCMC 99.9 The Fan from 10 AM to Noon. Hayes Permar, Josh Goodson, and Brian Geisinger continue as co-hosts. This addition brings listeners nine hours of local sports programming on weekdays. As a result, the Dan LeBatard Show moves to Buzz Sports Radio, which now airs all three hours instead of only two hours.
MOBILE: WNSP 105.5 begins a new afternoon local sports show from 3 to 6 PM on Monday (8/12), co-hosted by David Schultz and Jordan Glass. Schultz joins WNSP from 103.7 The Game in Lafayette LA, where he had served as Program Director for six years.
Monday, July 15, 2019
Boston Morning Landscape
The seriousness of the sports radio race in Boston came to the forefront with a major change in WEEI-FM's daily schedule. Within hours of the spring ratings showing WEEI-FM slipping to more than 1.5 ratings points behind rival WBZ-FM Sports Hub for overall audience, WEEI-FM changed its morning show.
Management opted to bring the Greg Hill Morning Show over from sister station WAAF. Hill will take over the station's weekly interview segment with Tom Brady. What makes this transition even more significant is that Hill's show will carry over some of the "non sports" programming, including its monthly interview segment with Governor Charlie Baker. Danielle Murr will continue as a co-host. The show begins on WEEI-FM on Monday July 29.
The Greg Hill Morning Show replaces Gerry Callahan, who is out after having been a part of the morning show since 1997. Callahan's contract was to expire in August. His ratings were dropping following the November 2018 departure of Kirk Minihane. Recent co-host Mike Mutansky leaves "Mutt & Callahan" to return to evenings.
Recently released spring ratings show WBZ-FM Sports Hub, even with dropping, at #4 overall in the market, while WEEI-FM came in at #8.
The morning show change for WEEI-FM coincides with the opening of training camp for the Super Bowl champion Patriots.
MINNEAPOLIS: WCCO 850 showed its 4th consecutive ratings increase, which coincides with the tremendous start of the Twins. Although the station is at #9 overall in the market, WCCO finishes as the market's highest rated AM station.
CHICAGO: On the radio side, sports talkers WSCR The Score and WMVP ESPN held steady, with WSCR finishing with more than triple the audience size of WMVP, WSCR remains strong, especially at night, as the Cubs flagship station. WGN Radio also held steady with its overall audience, including White Sox broadcasts.
What makes that interesting is that regional sports network NBC Sports Chicago, which airs the majority of White Sox telecasts, showed a large overall ratings increase this season for its telecasts (before the All-Star break) over last season. In fact, their White Sox ratings are the highest average in five years. Of course, this is the first season in more than 30 years in which Ken Harrelson is not announcing White Sox telecasts.
RALEIGH/DURHAM: Congrats to Carolina Hurricanes play-by-play voice John Forslund on his well deserved contract extension. TV analyst Tripp Tracy was also extended, which means that the coming season will their 21st season together. Forslund will be doing his 25th season of TV play-by-play for the Hurricanes.
In addition, Forslund will continue to call selected regional and national telecasts on the NBC Sports networks during the regular season and post-season.
Management opted to bring the Greg Hill Morning Show over from sister station WAAF. Hill will take over the station's weekly interview segment with Tom Brady. What makes this transition even more significant is that Hill's show will carry over some of the "non sports" programming, including its monthly interview segment with Governor Charlie Baker. Danielle Murr will continue as a co-host. The show begins on WEEI-FM on Monday July 29.
The Greg Hill Morning Show replaces Gerry Callahan, who is out after having been a part of the morning show since 1997. Callahan's contract was to expire in August. His ratings were dropping following the November 2018 departure of Kirk Minihane. Recent co-host Mike Mutansky leaves "Mutt & Callahan" to return to evenings.
Recently released spring ratings show WBZ-FM Sports Hub, even with dropping, at #4 overall in the market, while WEEI-FM came in at #8.
The morning show change for WEEI-FM coincides with the opening of training camp for the Super Bowl champion Patriots.
MINNEAPOLIS: WCCO 850 showed its 4th consecutive ratings increase, which coincides with the tremendous start of the Twins. Although the station is at #9 overall in the market, WCCO finishes as the market's highest rated AM station.
CHICAGO: On the radio side, sports talkers WSCR The Score and WMVP ESPN held steady, with WSCR finishing with more than triple the audience size of WMVP, WSCR remains strong, especially at night, as the Cubs flagship station. WGN Radio also held steady with its overall audience, including White Sox broadcasts.
What makes that interesting is that regional sports network NBC Sports Chicago, which airs the majority of White Sox telecasts, showed a large overall ratings increase this season for its telecasts (before the All-Star break) over last season. In fact, their White Sox ratings are the highest average in five years. Of course, this is the first season in more than 30 years in which Ken Harrelson is not announcing White Sox telecasts.
RALEIGH/DURHAM: Congrats to Carolina Hurricanes play-by-play voice John Forslund on his well deserved contract extension. TV analyst Tripp Tracy was also extended, which means that the coming season will their 21st season together. Forslund will be doing his 25th season of TV play-by-play for the Hurricanes.
In addition, Forslund will continue to call selected regional and national telecasts on the NBC Sports networks during the regular season and post-season.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
