The near future of sports media appears to be reflected in the results of a marketing survey revealed by Sporting News Media, based on more than 1,000 interviews of American adultsin 2013. Among the most significant results are that about 44% are now watching sports in HD, while online sports consumption seems to have passed radio and print.
Personally, I find it disappointing that radio and print have been "passed up", after the majority of my years as a sports fan having been spent with both of those playing a major role in shaping my sports world. The results of the SNM Survey show just how much Twitter and Facebook now play a role for sports fans, and to me it is the role that radio used to play.
Not everyone that reads this blog has reacted well to my comments over the past couple of years about sports talk radio losing its luster in many large markets. As much as I would rather this recent survey produced results to prove differently, they don't. Speaking from a sports fan viewpoint, the fact that radio (moreso than print) could have done so much more to prevent this from happening is what makes this frustrating.
Before the internet and mobile and remote access to TV came upon us, radio was the most instant and constant "reporting" media for sports fans. The news stations in major markets would usually have at least one sports focused show or sportscast during each drive time. The (then) few all sports stations spent time reporting on actual sports news and trying to break stories, instead of speculating and guessing with casual fans all day long.
If the radio stations had continued like they used to and maintained a high level of sports reporting and kept the fans' interest, they might not have lost so much of the audience. There have been too many occasions lately where all sports stations air a "scoreboard update" at night or on a weekend, and the out of town scores are often left out or not even updated. A few years ago, this would not have happened this way.
Too many radio stations seems to assume that the listener has access to the updated scores online and/or by phone, and they think they don't need to give them as often, if at all. Therein lies the problem. If I, as a sports fan, need to go online (or somewhere besides that radio station) for the latest scores and headlines, I have far less of a need to listen to that station.
Radio play-by-play has become saturated with more commercials and promos than ever before. It's getting to the point where every type of play is sponsored by an advertiser. Worse yet, the "out of town scoreboard" now seems to be sponsored by still another advertiser, which means it is only heard at certain pre-scheduled times of the broadcast.
Compare this with the good old days when the teams in the same division as your favorite team were mentioned throughout the game you were listening to. No more. The days of "Detroit just scored a run in the 5th inning......" are long gone. Partially because there is so little time for such information because of the clutter of commerical and promotional announcements which plague most play-by-play broadcasts. One more thing that drives sports fans to faster and more instant sources.
The print media has made the huge error of making the internet separate from their operation instead of making it an enhancement. These days, we have newspaper organizations looking to have readers pay for their content online instead of allowing advertisers to make it all happen. Many, if not most, newspapers charge advertisers different rates for the print vs. the online side. Because of that, they guard their online content, even though online viewers almost always see advertising on the same page as the content they are seeking.
Instead of having a newspaper's online site update the morning's content and updating with new stories and columns, they practically hide it from us. Again, because of the prominence of sports related web sites and other news sources, sports fans go elsewhere other than to a newspaper web site. As a result, many sports fans stop thinking of their local newspaper (and often their favorite radio station) as a source of information. Instead, as the marketing survey confirms, they are going to other web sites or even trusted sources online FIRST.
Not all radio or TV stations have adapted well to social media either. We had the example last week of Q101 Chicago, a music FM station which does not do any sports, putting out a controversial tweet. After the (eventual Stanley Cup champion) Blackhawks lost Game 3 of the Finals to Boston, a tweet by the radio station said the team was "raped" during the loss. Needless to say, fan complaints prompted disciplinary action.
However, the fact that the tweet was in poor taste is not my point for this column. The point is that the radio station is being blamed for the tweet as if it went out over the air, and it did not. Now a station with no sports credibility has damaged its "reporting" reputation, and it was over something that was not even on the air. On a different level, this sort of thing is along the lines of newspapers treating their web site(s) as a separate entity, and shows the damage it does for its current, former, and potential audience.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
Give Us Action - Not Opinions
It should be obvious that sports fans love their live play-by-play of the games as they happen. The ratings for TV and in most cases for radio prove that month after month. Hopefully, even the broadcast executives are aware of this. However, it seems that not all of them are.
Fans clearly do NOT want a talk show or an abundance of excess commentary while "their" games are being shown. Look at how many markets show much stronger audience ratings for live game telecasts than they do for the local sports talk stations. And with good reason.
However, the New England Patriots appearantly don't think this is the case, and this could be alarming. The NFL continues to be a ratings bonanza, especially for television. Let's face it. Whether you are interested in Tim Tebow or not, there will be a lot of attention paid to the Patriots in the early going with a focus on whether or not Tebow plays, and how he might perform if he does see game action.
It was with great concern when I saw that the Pats' pre-season local TV for this season will no longer have Don Criqui and Randy Cross, each of whom has done games for national networks over the years, calling the exhibition games they can televise locally starting in just a few weeks.
Kraft Sports Productions, which controls the local telecasts, has every right to make a change in announcers. Heck, listeners to Patriots radio already have to get used to life without Gil Santos, which for many listeners will literally be the case.
The problem on the Channel 4 local telecasts, which begin on August 9th when the Patriots play Philadelphia, is that Kraft Sports is planning to turn the telecast into a talk show, with a (to be announced as of press time) "host" and an analyst on the field, even during the game itself.
Kraft Sports claims they will have reporters who cover and specialize in the Patriots available during the telecast to review the plays. As you might expect, the word is that social media will also play a role.
Could there be a dumber idea than this? Why would they take away emphasis from the game itself?
The fans who watch these pre-season games do so because they want to see how the team(s) looks in preparation for the season. How are the draft choices and free agents doing? For that matter, WHO are the players that just completed the play? After all, in pre-season with larger than ever rosters, even the most avid fan doesn't know the number of every player. Coaches often change players from play to play to see certain guys work in specific situations.
If, instead, fans will be hearing from "experts" instead of being told what specifically is happening on the field, it will resemble a sports talk show moreso than a game telecast.
This appears to be the only instance of an NFL team going to this, and hopefully it will stay that way - if they go through with it. This concept is not completely new, however. For probably the same bizarre reason, the Chicago White Sox have tried this for the past three or four years with some of their pre-season radio broadcasts.
In that case, they actually air the first four or five innings of "regular" play-by-play before then stopping to take phone calls with the game broadcasters and sometimes do related interviews.
Fortunately, this has been the only attempt at this on the MLB side.
At least in the case of the Patriots, the exhibition games will be on TV, so hopefully fans will be able to see every play as it unfolds. Yet, if fans are not told the name of the player(s) involved in each play, instead having analysis, it will make watching those games more of a challenge.
In both of these cases (Patriots and White Sox), there is NO need to clutter up a live game broadcast with this. The Patriots receive plenty of solid coverage aside from the games. WEEI and WBZ-FM Sports Hub devote hour after hour to analysts and fan opinion. The White Sox games air on WSCR The Score, a full-time sports station which could just as easily air White Sox coverage with the broadcasters and team officials at any other time of the day or night during spring training.
Fans tune in for the games. Not to have them analyzed or discussed in place of the action. These days, we as sports fans are paying out of our wallets for these telecasts. (Look at the price of cable / satellite fees every month.) The days of "free" over-the-air games which are completely advertiser supported are over. As it is, we are forced to deal with the excessive amount of advertising and clutter throughout every pro and now many college telecasts.
Now, teams such as Patriots and White Sox have begun steps to rob us of actual descriptions and concentration on the game itself. I still don't see where people are watching the TV sports network "talk shows", whether they feature various reporters and analysts or fan opinions, more than the game telecasts. On the radio side, in most 'major league' markets, the stations airing the play-by-play have better ratings than the stations taking endless phone calls from fans asking and giving their opinions about the teams.
Where is the demand for commentary ahead of actual play-by-play?
Let's carry this a step further. What kind of "analysis" will fans get from these team controlled "interactive" game broadcasts? In the case of the Patriots, Kraft Sports Productions is under Robert Kraft, the owner of the Patriots. White Sox broadcasts are, likewise, controlled by the team. Do you think that if Tim Tebow throws three consecutive interceptions, he will be ripped apart?
What about the advertisers? Most of them are advertising for the purpose of sponsoring the play-by-play game broadcast. If, instead, their ad dollars are going to a "host" reading or showing a Twitter feed that "Joe from the north side thinks the team should trade its first round draft choice", those advertisers are really not getting what they paid for.
Same for the fans. If we as fans want analysis and honest opinion on the Patriots or White Sox (or whatever team), we would tune to one of the sports talk stations (not controlled by the team), read the social media we choose, call our friends, or whatever else we have been doing for years.
Giving fans more reasons not to tune into pre-season games is not healthy for teams looking to sell tickets for the upcoming season and/or merchandise. Please stop the madness - before it begins.
Elsewhere, more of the May radio ratings have come along.
Speaking of Boston, the WBZ call letters have major value at this point in time. WBZ-FM Sports Hub has raised its overall audience by a full ratings point within the past three months, with the Sports Hub clearly taking away from WEEI-FM, which fell by more than 1/2 of a ratings point just from the prior month.
In Detroit, the Tigers' climb into first place and expected serious run this season has already translated to a more than 20% increase in the overall rating for WXYT-FM The Ticket. The flagship station for the Tigers is now in third place in the market. Another example of play-by-play helping the station is in Seattle. KIRO has risen just over of a 1/2 ratings point since March thanks to the Mariners broadcasts, even though the Mariners are slipping away in the standings already.
In Denver, KOA has shot up more than 1 1/2 ratings points since March due mainly to its Rockies broadcasts, while the station continues its news/talk format otherwise. Yet, KKFN The Fan 104.3 dropped slightly again in this book, while KDSP ESPN 102.3 held steady with less than 1 rating.
That's also the story in Cincinnati, where WLW keeps its overall rating in double figures, while not one of the three all-sports stations there could muster anything better than a mere .6 overall. Up in Cleveland, WTAM with the Indians games has risen over a full ratings point since March, while WKRK (all sports) has dropped nearly 1/2 point during the same period. In Kansas City, KCSP, the flagship station for the Royals, has improved more than 1 1/2 ratings points since March while WDAE Sports Animal and WHFS The Fan 98.7 both showed dips during the same time.
In other markets, the fear that I had when CBS and NBC entered into the sports radio derby at the start of this year is coming to fruition.
In Minneapolis, KFXN The Fan continues with strong ratings, while KSTP ESPN 1500 has held steady with less than half of The Fan's overall audience, while the WGVX/WGVZ/WRXP combo of CBS Sports stations has already plummted to a mere 1/2 point overall. Similar story in Tampa, where WDAE Sports Animal, even with a slight dip, still more than doubles up on WHFS 98.7 The Fan, and while WHFS 1010 and its CBS Sports national station didn't even show up. In Orlando, the "competition" is such that WDBO has gone up to only a 1.0 overall rating, which now more than doubles WYGM The Game 740.
Memphis sports fans were excited about the Grizzlies run in the NBA Playoffs, as WMFS showed a more than 1 1/2 ratings point increase since March and entered the market's Top 10 most listened to stations. Yet, the other sports stations, WHBQ, WPGF, and WMC each dropped during the same time and are all under a 1 rating.
One positive note for NFL fans who enjoy the "extra" coverage and analysis. ESPN, NBC, and NFL Network have, coincidentally, added former team executives to analyst roles in time for the coming season.
Former Rams GM Billy Devaney and former Browns GM Phil Savage have both been added to ESPN's new "NFL Insiders" show, which is now scheduled to debut on August 5th. The NFL Network has added Charley Casserly, who has been GM for both Washington and Houston, to an analyst role, with the specifics of his duties to be announced soon.
NBC has countered by adding former Chiefs GM Scott Pioli to its Sunday Night Football coverage. While a welcome addition, it already seems as though there are more hosts and analysts on Sunday Night Football than there are players in the game. Pioli will also appear on NBC Sports Network's Pro Football Talk on Mondays.
Fans clearly do NOT want a talk show or an abundance of excess commentary while "their" games are being shown. Look at how many markets show much stronger audience ratings for live game telecasts than they do for the local sports talk stations. And with good reason.
However, the New England Patriots appearantly don't think this is the case, and this could be alarming. The NFL continues to be a ratings bonanza, especially for television. Let's face it. Whether you are interested in Tim Tebow or not, there will be a lot of attention paid to the Patriots in the early going with a focus on whether or not Tebow plays, and how he might perform if he does see game action.
It was with great concern when I saw that the Pats' pre-season local TV for this season will no longer have Don Criqui and Randy Cross, each of whom has done games for national networks over the years, calling the exhibition games they can televise locally starting in just a few weeks.
Kraft Sports Productions, which controls the local telecasts, has every right to make a change in announcers. Heck, listeners to Patriots radio already have to get used to life without Gil Santos, which for many listeners will literally be the case.
The problem on the Channel 4 local telecasts, which begin on August 9th when the Patriots play Philadelphia, is that Kraft Sports is planning to turn the telecast into a talk show, with a (to be announced as of press time) "host" and an analyst on the field, even during the game itself.
Kraft Sports claims they will have reporters who cover and specialize in the Patriots available during the telecast to review the plays. As you might expect, the word is that social media will also play a role.
Could there be a dumber idea than this? Why would they take away emphasis from the game itself?
The fans who watch these pre-season games do so because they want to see how the team(s) looks in preparation for the season. How are the draft choices and free agents doing? For that matter, WHO are the players that just completed the play? After all, in pre-season with larger than ever rosters, even the most avid fan doesn't know the number of every player. Coaches often change players from play to play to see certain guys work in specific situations.
If, instead, fans will be hearing from "experts" instead of being told what specifically is happening on the field, it will resemble a sports talk show moreso than a game telecast.
This appears to be the only instance of an NFL team going to this, and hopefully it will stay that way - if they go through with it. This concept is not completely new, however. For probably the same bizarre reason, the Chicago White Sox have tried this for the past three or four years with some of their pre-season radio broadcasts.
In that case, they actually air the first four or five innings of "regular" play-by-play before then stopping to take phone calls with the game broadcasters and sometimes do related interviews.
Fortunately, this has been the only attempt at this on the MLB side.
At least in the case of the Patriots, the exhibition games will be on TV, so hopefully fans will be able to see every play as it unfolds. Yet, if fans are not told the name of the player(s) involved in each play, instead having analysis, it will make watching those games more of a challenge.
In both of these cases (Patriots and White Sox), there is NO need to clutter up a live game broadcast with this. The Patriots receive plenty of solid coverage aside from the games. WEEI and WBZ-FM Sports Hub devote hour after hour to analysts and fan opinion. The White Sox games air on WSCR The Score, a full-time sports station which could just as easily air White Sox coverage with the broadcasters and team officials at any other time of the day or night during spring training.
Fans tune in for the games. Not to have them analyzed or discussed in place of the action. These days, we as sports fans are paying out of our wallets for these telecasts. (Look at the price of cable / satellite fees every month.) The days of "free" over-the-air games which are completely advertiser supported are over. As it is, we are forced to deal with the excessive amount of advertising and clutter throughout every pro and now many college telecasts.
Now, teams such as Patriots and White Sox have begun steps to rob us of actual descriptions and concentration on the game itself. I still don't see where people are watching the TV sports network "talk shows", whether they feature various reporters and analysts or fan opinions, more than the game telecasts. On the radio side, in most 'major league' markets, the stations airing the play-by-play have better ratings than the stations taking endless phone calls from fans asking and giving their opinions about the teams.
Where is the demand for commentary ahead of actual play-by-play?
Let's carry this a step further. What kind of "analysis" will fans get from these team controlled "interactive" game broadcasts? In the case of the Patriots, Kraft Sports Productions is under Robert Kraft, the owner of the Patriots. White Sox broadcasts are, likewise, controlled by the team. Do you think that if Tim Tebow throws three consecutive interceptions, he will be ripped apart?
What about the advertisers? Most of them are advertising for the purpose of sponsoring the play-by-play game broadcast. If, instead, their ad dollars are going to a "host" reading or showing a Twitter feed that "Joe from the north side thinks the team should trade its first round draft choice", those advertisers are really not getting what they paid for.
Same for the fans. If we as fans want analysis and honest opinion on the Patriots or White Sox (or whatever team), we would tune to one of the sports talk stations (not controlled by the team), read the social media we choose, call our friends, or whatever else we have been doing for years.
Giving fans more reasons not to tune into pre-season games is not healthy for teams looking to sell tickets for the upcoming season and/or merchandise. Please stop the madness - before it begins.
Elsewhere, more of the May radio ratings have come along.
Speaking of Boston, the WBZ call letters have major value at this point in time. WBZ-FM Sports Hub has raised its overall audience by a full ratings point within the past three months, with the Sports Hub clearly taking away from WEEI-FM, which fell by more than 1/2 of a ratings point just from the prior month.
In Detroit, the Tigers' climb into first place and expected serious run this season has already translated to a more than 20% increase in the overall rating for WXYT-FM The Ticket. The flagship station for the Tigers is now in third place in the market. Another example of play-by-play helping the station is in Seattle. KIRO has risen just over of a 1/2 ratings point since March thanks to the Mariners broadcasts, even though the Mariners are slipping away in the standings already.
In Denver, KOA has shot up more than 1 1/2 ratings points since March due mainly to its Rockies broadcasts, while the station continues its news/talk format otherwise. Yet, KKFN The Fan 104.3 dropped slightly again in this book, while KDSP ESPN 102.3 held steady with less than 1 rating.
That's also the story in Cincinnati, where WLW keeps its overall rating in double figures, while not one of the three all-sports stations there could muster anything better than a mere .6 overall. Up in Cleveland, WTAM with the Indians games has risen over a full ratings point since March, while WKRK (all sports) has dropped nearly 1/2 point during the same period. In Kansas City, KCSP, the flagship station for the Royals, has improved more than 1 1/2 ratings points since March while WDAE Sports Animal and WHFS The Fan 98.7 both showed dips during the same time.
In other markets, the fear that I had when CBS and NBC entered into the sports radio derby at the start of this year is coming to fruition.
In Minneapolis, KFXN The Fan continues with strong ratings, while KSTP ESPN 1500 has held steady with less than half of The Fan's overall audience, while the WGVX/WGVZ/WRXP combo of CBS Sports stations has already plummted to a mere 1/2 point overall. Similar story in Tampa, where WDAE Sports Animal, even with a slight dip, still more than doubles up on WHFS 98.7 The Fan, and while WHFS 1010 and its CBS Sports national station didn't even show up. In Orlando, the "competition" is such that WDBO has gone up to only a 1.0 overall rating, which now more than doubles WYGM The Game 740.
Memphis sports fans were excited about the Grizzlies run in the NBA Playoffs, as WMFS showed a more than 1 1/2 ratings point increase since March and entered the market's Top 10 most listened to stations. Yet, the other sports stations, WHBQ, WPGF, and WMC each dropped during the same time and are all under a 1 rating.
One positive note for NFL fans who enjoy the "extra" coverage and analysis. ESPN, NBC, and NFL Network have, coincidentally, added former team executives to analyst roles in time for the coming season.
Former Rams GM Billy Devaney and former Browns GM Phil Savage have both been added to ESPN's new "NFL Insiders" show, which is now scheduled to debut on August 5th. The NFL Network has added Charley Casserly, who has been GM for both Washington and Houston, to an analyst role, with the specifics of his duties to be announced soon.
NBC has countered by adding former Chiefs GM Scott Pioli to its Sunday Night Football coverage. While a welcome addition, it already seems as though there are more hosts and analysts on Sunday Night Football than there are players in the game. Pioli will also appear on NBC Sports Network's Pro Football Talk on Mondays.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
The "Finals" For Less Advertising On The Court
There will be one more thing to remember from the current NBA Finals between Miami and San Antonio other than the obvious. These game telecasts on ABC will likely be the "Finals" for clutter free televised pro basketball. ABC/ESPN and TNT are paying the big bucks for NBA television rights, and because of that the NBA itself is letting these networks, along with several regional sports networks, have their way for their advertisers.
Those of you enjoying the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NHL season have undoubtedly noticed the increase in the number of advertisements which clutter up the boards in each venue. Plus, in some cases, there are advertisements actually on the ice, in addition to the names of some of the arenas.
Now, the NBA is taking their game telecasts to this level. The league has gone as far as to send a memo to the individual teams about where and how much more "in-game" advertising is being allowed beginning with the coming season. Teams are now able to sell space on the sideline areas between the baselines and the coach's box. From the sound of things, this will be similar to what the NHL has allowed for the boards.
And there's more. The NBA will also allow local teams to have an advertiser's logo on the floor in front of one or both team benches. The league memo says that these logo ads will need to be removable and will be "restricted" to locally televised games. Which, of course, is the majority of the games for even the most popular teams.
My personal contention is that this added advertiser clutter is only going to get worse. Much of the feedback I receive from writing "The Broadcast Booth" focuses on my complaints about teams wearing alternate uniforms (or "throw-up" jerseys as I call them), as well as crap such as pink or special colored wrist bands, patches, bats, shoes, and other items during professional game telecasts.
This practice especially annoys me when players are forced to wear something which is not even a team color and/or that makes it harder to read the numbers or player names.
I'm here to tell you that this is really a "warm-up" for viewers to prepare us for when (and I do mean WHEN) pro leagues allow advertising on the uniforms. At this rate, ten years from now the players will look more like NASCAR drivers than representatives of the teams they play for.
Here's hoping they stop the madness, but I'm not counting on it.
Should game telecasts and broadcasts focus solely on the game when related "news" is breaking?
Last week brought us an interesting example of both sides of that debate in the New York market.
Hours after the story broke (on June 4th) about the possible punishment for MLB players such as Derek Jeter and Ryan Braun, among others, the Yankees game was underway. Those watching the Yannkees telecast vs. Cleveland on YES heard about the story during the game only when studio host Jack Curry gave a brief report during his in-game update. Otherwise, Michael Kay, Al Leiter, and John Flaherty did not discuss this "news", instead sticking with the game accounts and the "regular" information.
This came up on Kay's sports talk show the following afternoon on 98.7 ESPN, on which Kay was responded by saying, in effect, that game telecasts are not for the purpose of opinion and discussion.
At the same time, Tuesday night on the Yankees radio broadcast, John Sterling and Syzyn Waldman went as far as having N.Y. Daily News reporter Mark Feinsand in the booth with them to discuss the situation as it might pertain to Derek Jeter.
That same night, SNY was televising the Mets game against Washington. Gary Cohen and Ron Darling directly discussed the drug story during the game. (I was not able to find out by press time whether or not Mets radio addressed this or not.)
Personally, I understand both viewpoints as to why and why not review the story, especially when it is as heavy as being drug related. However, this situation occurs even when the "news" is not as 'heavy'.
For another example, I'll go back to late September 2011 when the word got out during a Chicago White Sox game that Ozzie Guillen was being fired from his manager position. The White Sox telecast included discussion of the situation, while the radio broadcast, also controlled by the team, did not. It was to the point where the radio broadcast only referred to a "press conference after the game" without so much as speculation, even though the flagship station is an all-sports radio station which supposedly covers breaking news.
Whichever philosophy you agree with (discuss or not discuss), I would hope you would agree that a pro sports league should have a policy in place for its team broadcasts. For all we know, this is a personal decision.
But here is another question. Why does a pro sports league take the time to detail exactly where local advertising can be placed upon its playing surface, but not have a "news coverage" policy in place for those same broadcasts?
The radio ratings for May are starting to be released this week. Briefly, NYC showed slight gains for both WFAN and WEPN. In Chicago, a surprise as WGN Radio, flagship for the Blackhawks and Cubs, showed an overall decrease of 1/2 ratings point. WSCR The Score 670 showed a slight decrease while no longer doubling up on the total audience of WMVP ESPN 1000 which showed a .4 overall ratings increase.
In San Francisco, KNBR continues to lead the market with help from its Giants broadcasts, and continues to have more than four times the overall ratings of The Game KGMZ. The Game, however, did show its biggest audience increase to date as the Oakland A's got off to a solid start.
It's the usual for Los Angeles and Houston where sports talkers continue to struggle. In Houston, only KILT came in with anything above a 1.0 rating (and not by much), while two of its sports stations failed to show up in the ratings book. And you wonder why KTRH got rid of the Astros broadcasts?
CHICAGO: WGN Radio has a problem it enjoys from being the flagship station for both the Blackhawks, now in the Stanley Cup Finals, and the Cubs. The station has decided to go with the Blackhawks as a priority and move the Cubs baseball games which conflict over to WLUP 97.9. Earlier in the Stanley Cup playoffs, WGN was sending the Blackhawks broadcasts over to "The Loop". If the Blackhawks vs. Bruins series goes seven games, there would be three such conflicts.
This could also be due to the fact that Comcast SportsNet's ratings for Cubs baseball are reportedly down about 15% from the same number of early season telecasts as last season. The White Sox, also off to a disappointing start, are showing ratings down more than 20% compared with last season.
ALBANY: Nearby WPTR 1240 Schenectady has become the area's third sports radio station, dropping music to pick up the CBS Sports Radio Network. Curious timing when you realize that WTMM ESPN 104.5 has seen an overall ratings drop of more than 50% this year while Fox Sports 980 failed to show up in the winter ratings book.
JONESBORO AR: KCJF 103.9 The Game will be dropping its sports programming at the end of this month and returning to an undisclosed (as of press time) music format.
BOZEMAN MT: Montana State football will be seen quite often in the region this fall. Max Media has announced that it will televise seven of the school's games, while ROOT Sports has already scheduled four telecasts. As of now, only the MSU at Southern Methodist game on Sept. 7th is not yet scheduled for TV.
Those of you enjoying the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NHL season have undoubtedly noticed the increase in the number of advertisements which clutter up the boards in each venue. Plus, in some cases, there are advertisements actually on the ice, in addition to the names of some of the arenas.
Now, the NBA is taking their game telecasts to this level. The league has gone as far as to send a memo to the individual teams about where and how much more "in-game" advertising is being allowed beginning with the coming season. Teams are now able to sell space on the sideline areas between the baselines and the coach's box. From the sound of things, this will be similar to what the NHL has allowed for the boards.
And there's more. The NBA will also allow local teams to have an advertiser's logo on the floor in front of one or both team benches. The league memo says that these logo ads will need to be removable and will be "restricted" to locally televised games. Which, of course, is the majority of the games for even the most popular teams.
My personal contention is that this added advertiser clutter is only going to get worse. Much of the feedback I receive from writing "The Broadcast Booth" focuses on my complaints about teams wearing alternate uniforms (or "throw-up" jerseys as I call them), as well as crap such as pink or special colored wrist bands, patches, bats, shoes, and other items during professional game telecasts.
This practice especially annoys me when players are forced to wear something which is not even a team color and/or that makes it harder to read the numbers or player names.
I'm here to tell you that this is really a "warm-up" for viewers to prepare us for when (and I do mean WHEN) pro leagues allow advertising on the uniforms. At this rate, ten years from now the players will look more like NASCAR drivers than representatives of the teams they play for.
Here's hoping they stop the madness, but I'm not counting on it.
Should game telecasts and broadcasts focus solely on the game when related "news" is breaking?
Last week brought us an interesting example of both sides of that debate in the New York market.
Hours after the story broke (on June 4th) about the possible punishment for MLB players such as Derek Jeter and Ryan Braun, among others, the Yankees game was underway. Those watching the Yannkees telecast vs. Cleveland on YES heard about the story during the game only when studio host Jack Curry gave a brief report during his in-game update. Otherwise, Michael Kay, Al Leiter, and John Flaherty did not discuss this "news", instead sticking with the game accounts and the "regular" information.
This came up on Kay's sports talk show the following afternoon on 98.7 ESPN, on which Kay was responded by saying, in effect, that game telecasts are not for the purpose of opinion and discussion.
At the same time, Tuesday night on the Yankees radio broadcast, John Sterling and Syzyn Waldman went as far as having N.Y. Daily News reporter Mark Feinsand in the booth with them to discuss the situation as it might pertain to Derek Jeter.
That same night, SNY was televising the Mets game against Washington. Gary Cohen and Ron Darling directly discussed the drug story during the game. (I was not able to find out by press time whether or not Mets radio addressed this or not.)
Personally, I understand both viewpoints as to why and why not review the story, especially when it is as heavy as being drug related. However, this situation occurs even when the "news" is not as 'heavy'.
For another example, I'll go back to late September 2011 when the word got out during a Chicago White Sox game that Ozzie Guillen was being fired from his manager position. The White Sox telecast included discussion of the situation, while the radio broadcast, also controlled by the team, did not. It was to the point where the radio broadcast only referred to a "press conference after the game" without so much as speculation, even though the flagship station is an all-sports radio station which supposedly covers breaking news.
Whichever philosophy you agree with (discuss or not discuss), I would hope you would agree that a pro sports league should have a policy in place for its team broadcasts. For all we know, this is a personal decision.
But here is another question. Why does a pro sports league take the time to detail exactly where local advertising can be placed upon its playing surface, but not have a "news coverage" policy in place for those same broadcasts?
The radio ratings for May are starting to be released this week. Briefly, NYC showed slight gains for both WFAN and WEPN. In Chicago, a surprise as WGN Radio, flagship for the Blackhawks and Cubs, showed an overall decrease of 1/2 ratings point. WSCR The Score 670 showed a slight decrease while no longer doubling up on the total audience of WMVP ESPN 1000 which showed a .4 overall ratings increase.
In San Francisco, KNBR continues to lead the market with help from its Giants broadcasts, and continues to have more than four times the overall ratings of The Game KGMZ. The Game, however, did show its biggest audience increase to date as the Oakland A's got off to a solid start.
It's the usual for Los Angeles and Houston where sports talkers continue to struggle. In Houston, only KILT came in with anything above a 1.0 rating (and not by much), while two of its sports stations failed to show up in the ratings book. And you wonder why KTRH got rid of the Astros broadcasts?
CHICAGO: WGN Radio has a problem it enjoys from being the flagship station for both the Blackhawks, now in the Stanley Cup Finals, and the Cubs. The station has decided to go with the Blackhawks as a priority and move the Cubs baseball games which conflict over to WLUP 97.9. Earlier in the Stanley Cup playoffs, WGN was sending the Blackhawks broadcasts over to "The Loop". If the Blackhawks vs. Bruins series goes seven games, there would be three such conflicts.
This could also be due to the fact that Comcast SportsNet's ratings for Cubs baseball are reportedly down about 15% from the same number of early season telecasts as last season. The White Sox, also off to a disappointing start, are showing ratings down more than 20% compared with last season.
ALBANY: Nearby WPTR 1240 Schenectady has become the area's third sports radio station, dropping music to pick up the CBS Sports Radio Network. Curious timing when you realize that WTMM ESPN 104.5 has seen an overall ratings drop of more than 50% this year while Fox Sports 980 failed to show up in the winter ratings book.
JONESBORO AR: KCJF 103.9 The Game will be dropping its sports programming at the end of this month and returning to an undisclosed (as of press time) music format.
BOZEMAN MT: Montana State football will be seen quite often in the region this fall. Max Media has announced that it will televise seven of the school's games, while ROOT Sports has already scheduled four telecasts. As of now, only the MSU at Southern Methodist game on Sept. 7th is not yet scheduled for TV.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Play-by-play Rules The Ratings
Even as the weather finally improves throughout most of the country, sports fans continue to flock to live telecasts, especially for the playoff games. The NHL continues with strong ratings over the past week. For the current Conference Finals series, solid numbers are to be expected, given the hockey friendly markets of Pittsburgh, Boston, and Chicago. Los Angeles, even with the defending champion Kings, continues to be another story. This past Sunday (6/2) the NBC Sports Network Game 2 telecast from Chicago had a local rating of 2.3, compared with the 16.6 rating for the same telecast in Chicago. Ouch. Especially when you consider that the Saturday Game 1 telecast of Boston vs. Pittsburgh on NBC in prime time resulted in higher ratings than those in both local markets.
The Miami Heat probably saved the day for ABC by beating out the Indiana Pacers in seven games. An Indiana vs. San Antonio finals series would not have been a ratings grabber, but the most casual of basketball fans wants to see if LeBron James and company can win for the second straight year.
However, it appears that even with a prime time pre-game show, ABC will be keeping the same studio crew which still lacks a true broadcaster. Even though Michael Wilbon, Jalen Rose, Magic Johnson, and Bill Simmons each offer solid analysis, they still need someone to be in charge. The best example of this is when Fox Sports tried to do its NFL studio show with Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and the others before finally bringing in Curt Menefee and putting him in the host chair. Right now, this is a case of too many analysts and not enough hosts. Prime time viewers deserve better.
On the baseball side, it appears that fans know exactly when and where they are watching. Last week's "rivalry" stretch provided some interesting local market results for choices with duplicate telecasts. In New York, the Yankees vs. Mets series actually finished with a slightly higher rating for the Mets' telecasts over the Yankees' telecasts, with each showing games on cable and over the air. In Chicago, the Cubs and White Sox rotated telecasts on Comcast SportsNet and over the air, and came in with only a very slight edge to the Cubs.
Yet, in California it's a different story, which is most likely a reflection of the announcing. In the San Francisco area, the Giants' telecasts tripled in the ratings over the A's telecasts, even though the Oakland telecast of their Wednesday meeting had a season high. Frankly, A's announcing over the years hasn't been the most enthusiastic, especially since the days of Bill King.
But same situation in L.A. where the Dodgers telecasts outrated the Angels telecasts by a full ratings point, while the Dodgers games were called by Vin Scully.
An even more interesting MLB ratings find is that sometimes it makes a difference who the pitcher is. At least when Yu Darvish starts for the Rangers. Through his first 11 starts of the 2013 season, the Rangers telecasts on Fox Sports West have an average rating of 1.2 rating points higher than all other local Rangers telecasts this season.
For St. Louis Cardinals fans, it's almost as if ESPN is trying to interfere with Fox Sports Midwest. ESPN has now scheduled the Cardinals for their 4th Sunday Night Baseball appearance, which will be on June 23 vs. Texas. The Cards will also be on this coming Sunday (6/9) from Cincinnati and are scheduled vs. the Cubs on July 14th. They were already featured on April 21st, and could be shown on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball a maximum of five times this season.
ESPN also announced that Baltimore vs. N.Y. Yankees will be its June 30th telecast.
TBS is bringing in Keith Olbermann to be studio host for its MLB post-season coverage. This actually marks a return to Turner Sports for Olbermann, whose first national sportscasting gig was with CNN years ago. His reporting from the NFL strike in 1982 helped bring him to national prominence. Olbermann will handle the post-season studio assignment because once again Ernie Johnson Jr. will be calling play-by-play on the #1 crew, while Brian Anderson will handle the #2 crew play-by-play in October.
DENVER: Congrats to Gary Miller who adds play-by-play of Colorado State University football and basketball airing on ESPN 105.5 starting this summer to start a 3-year contract. Miller has been with KCNC-TV for more than 20 years, and the early word is that he will reduce his TV workload before the start of football season. Brian Roth will continue in the analyst role, returning for his 14th year. Miller, who previously called the Broncos on radio for seven seasons, will also host CSU coaches shows.
CALIFORNIA: Riverside's KTDD 1350 has gone to Fox Sports Radio, dropping its music format, and starting it without local programming. Up in Visalia, KIGS 620 has pulled the plug on Fox Sports Radio, which it had changed to less than a month ago. KIGS has changed over to NBC Sports Radio.
WINNIPEG: CFRW 1290 TSN Radio has already benefited from having the NHL Jets on the station. The station just showed its strongest ratings in nearly ten years, rising more than 1 1/2 rating points overall. This looks more impressive when you factor in that news/talk CJOB 680 dropped to its lowest overall audience in nearly 15 years even though it still leads the market. The realignment of the NHL in time for the 2013-14 season will likely mean even more interest in the Jets, which will be back in the Western Conference and play more games against Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
The Miami Heat probably saved the day for ABC by beating out the Indiana Pacers in seven games. An Indiana vs. San Antonio finals series would not have been a ratings grabber, but the most casual of basketball fans wants to see if LeBron James and company can win for the second straight year.
However, it appears that even with a prime time pre-game show, ABC will be keeping the same studio crew which still lacks a true broadcaster. Even though Michael Wilbon, Jalen Rose, Magic Johnson, and Bill Simmons each offer solid analysis, they still need someone to be in charge. The best example of this is when Fox Sports tried to do its NFL studio show with Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and the others before finally bringing in Curt Menefee and putting him in the host chair. Right now, this is a case of too many analysts and not enough hosts. Prime time viewers deserve better.
On the baseball side, it appears that fans know exactly when and where they are watching. Last week's "rivalry" stretch provided some interesting local market results for choices with duplicate telecasts. In New York, the Yankees vs. Mets series actually finished with a slightly higher rating for the Mets' telecasts over the Yankees' telecasts, with each showing games on cable and over the air. In Chicago, the Cubs and White Sox rotated telecasts on Comcast SportsNet and over the air, and came in with only a very slight edge to the Cubs.
Yet, in California it's a different story, which is most likely a reflection of the announcing. In the San Francisco area, the Giants' telecasts tripled in the ratings over the A's telecasts, even though the Oakland telecast of their Wednesday meeting had a season high. Frankly, A's announcing over the years hasn't been the most enthusiastic, especially since the days of Bill King.
But same situation in L.A. where the Dodgers telecasts outrated the Angels telecasts by a full ratings point, while the Dodgers games were called by Vin Scully.
An even more interesting MLB ratings find is that sometimes it makes a difference who the pitcher is. At least when Yu Darvish starts for the Rangers. Through his first 11 starts of the 2013 season, the Rangers telecasts on Fox Sports West have an average rating of 1.2 rating points higher than all other local Rangers telecasts this season.
For St. Louis Cardinals fans, it's almost as if ESPN is trying to interfere with Fox Sports Midwest. ESPN has now scheduled the Cardinals for their 4th Sunday Night Baseball appearance, which will be on June 23 vs. Texas. The Cards will also be on this coming Sunday (6/9) from Cincinnati and are scheduled vs. the Cubs on July 14th. They were already featured on April 21st, and could be shown on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball a maximum of five times this season.
ESPN also announced that Baltimore vs. N.Y. Yankees will be its June 30th telecast.
TBS is bringing in Keith Olbermann to be studio host for its MLB post-season coverage. This actually marks a return to Turner Sports for Olbermann, whose first national sportscasting gig was with CNN years ago. His reporting from the NFL strike in 1982 helped bring him to national prominence. Olbermann will handle the post-season studio assignment because once again Ernie Johnson Jr. will be calling play-by-play on the #1 crew, while Brian Anderson will handle the #2 crew play-by-play in October.
DENVER: Congrats to Gary Miller who adds play-by-play of Colorado State University football and basketball airing on ESPN 105.5 starting this summer to start a 3-year contract. Miller has been with KCNC-TV for more than 20 years, and the early word is that he will reduce his TV workload before the start of football season. Brian Roth will continue in the analyst role, returning for his 14th year. Miller, who previously called the Broncos on radio for seven seasons, will also host CSU coaches shows.
CALIFORNIA: Riverside's KTDD 1350 has gone to Fox Sports Radio, dropping its music format, and starting it without local programming. Up in Visalia, KIGS 620 has pulled the plug on Fox Sports Radio, which it had changed to less than a month ago. KIGS has changed over to NBC Sports Radio.
WINNIPEG: CFRW 1290 TSN Radio has already benefited from having the NHL Jets on the station. The station just showed its strongest ratings in nearly ten years, rising more than 1 1/2 rating points overall. This looks more impressive when you factor in that news/talk CJOB 680 dropped to its lowest overall audience in nearly 15 years even though it still leads the market. The realignment of the NHL in time for the 2013-14 season will likely mean even more interest in the Jets, which will be back in the Western Conference and play more games against Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Play-By-Play Draws The Viewers and Listeners
The sports fans' collective hunger for live play-by-play continues, even providing the NHL with reasons to be pleased. Coming off a seemingly forgotten lockout which threatened the entire season, the Stanley Cup Playoffs have become a plus for NBC as well as NBC Sports Network. And there are still two rounds to be played.
On Saturday (5/25), the NBC telecast of the Detroit at Chicago Game 5 drew significantly higher ratings than Fox Sports' MLB prime time telecast at the same time. Fox can't even use the excuse that this was its first prime-time telecast of the season, since this was also NBC's first Saturday prime-time telecast of the year as well.
Home markets are another way to measure. Another example was on Monday (5/27) night in Chicago when Game 6 of the Chicago vs. Detroit series doubled the audience of the local baseball telecasts of the White Sox vs. Cubs "City Classic" game. Granted, the hockey game was a potential clinching game compared with the baseball being the opening game of a 4-game series. Chicago ratings records have been set throughout this past regular season as well, especially with the Blackhawks having begun the shortened season with a record non-beaten streak.
On the radio side, baseball and basketball each continue to do well for most local stations which are flagship stations. Recent research via Arbitron reveals that Cincinnati and Milwaukee continue to be strong baseball on radio markets, with sports stations in San Francisco and Detroit (as mentioned here previously) showed increased overall audiences in the recent ratings period which included the baseball season opening week.
In Los Angeles, the Lakers broadcasts helped KSPN Radio, as the Lakers showed much better in cumes than the Clippers even though the Clippers had a much better regular season. New York's teams, the Knicks and Nets, also helped to increase the numbers for their flagship stations. Perhaps the best testimony to this is the increase that came to WTAM Cleveland despite another poor regular season by the Cavaliers.
It does, however, appear that KEX Portland needs to do more promotion of its Blazers broadcasts for next season. The station took over the play-by-play prior to this season, but showed only approximately half of the audience from when the games aired on KXTG The Game.
Not being one to ignore radio, ESPN has quietly (for them) worked a deal for radio rights to the five NFL teams without some form of regional or national distribution for their radio broadcasts. Many would joke that ESPN would have only wanted most of these teams even if more were available.
ESPN Radio can air certain games of the NY Giants, NY Jets, and New England Patriots. They can also air some Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins games. These broadcasts can only air on ESPN stations in NFL markets if and when not opposed by the local team's game. For example, if the Patriots have a 4:00 game, the New England stations could only air an available 1:00 game.
Elsewhere, I continue to hope that the TV networks spending all those millions for the rights to show the games will finally speak up and complain to the pro sports leagues about the "special" uniforms they force the players to wear. This came to light again on Memorial Day for baseball fans. Even though we all knew it was Memorial Day and it has significance, it doesn't mean that all of the teams need to wear special uniforms which render it difficult to impossible to read the numbers when watching on TV or at the game. And then to have umpires wear special camoflage caps?
Teams have their own colors for many reasons, one of which is so that they can be readily identified. When you tune in a baseball game and cannot tell which teams are playing, let alone who the players are because you can't read the number or name, it has gone too far. I would like to think that the networks paying all those millions (as well as the fans that are being gouged in the wallet by having to pay their cable/satellite provider whether they watch or not) should be able to demand continuity.
There should be only two uniforms per pro team. Home and road. Stop the madness.
Speaking of stopping the madness, how can NBC Sports Network continue to show reruns of Dan Patrick Show segments on holidays? It makes no sense for a network looking to draw viewers away from the likes of ESPN and the regional networks (some of which are owned by NBC and had regular staffing that morning). Once again, on Memorial Day morning, fans were asked to watch reruns of segments with Patrick instead of being able to hear and talk about all of the big sports news of the day. They might as well have posted a "We don't care" graphic in between commercials and saved money instead of editing the rerun package.
AUSTIN: KVET The Zone 1300 has reduced its Austin based local programming to afternoon drive on weekdays. The station has picked up (or been forced to add, since it is the same ownership) two hours of the Mike Taylor morning show from nearby KTKR 760 The Ticket from San Antonio to air before KVET goes to its midday syndicated lineup. At least they picked up from the next market over, so a good portion of the "local" programming will be relevant.
DES MOINES: Sorry to learn of the passing of Iowa radio legend Jim Zabel at the age of 91. Zabel handled play-by-play for more than 6,000 sports events (if you include the Drake Relays, bowling, and the like) over the past 60+ years. Just to put this in the proper light, the Sports Director of WHO Radio before Hanley took over was none other than Ronald Reagan.
On Saturday (5/25), the NBC telecast of the Detroit at Chicago Game 5 drew significantly higher ratings than Fox Sports' MLB prime time telecast at the same time. Fox can't even use the excuse that this was its first prime-time telecast of the season, since this was also NBC's first Saturday prime-time telecast of the year as well.
Home markets are another way to measure. Another example was on Monday (5/27) night in Chicago when Game 6 of the Chicago vs. Detroit series doubled the audience of the local baseball telecasts of the White Sox vs. Cubs "City Classic" game. Granted, the hockey game was a potential clinching game compared with the baseball being the opening game of a 4-game series. Chicago ratings records have been set throughout this past regular season as well, especially with the Blackhawks having begun the shortened season with a record non-beaten streak.
On the radio side, baseball and basketball each continue to do well for most local stations which are flagship stations. Recent research via Arbitron reveals that Cincinnati and Milwaukee continue to be strong baseball on radio markets, with sports stations in San Francisco and Detroit (as mentioned here previously) showed increased overall audiences in the recent ratings period which included the baseball season opening week.
In Los Angeles, the Lakers broadcasts helped KSPN Radio, as the Lakers showed much better in cumes than the Clippers even though the Clippers had a much better regular season. New York's teams, the Knicks and Nets, also helped to increase the numbers for their flagship stations. Perhaps the best testimony to this is the increase that came to WTAM Cleveland despite another poor regular season by the Cavaliers.
It does, however, appear that KEX Portland needs to do more promotion of its Blazers broadcasts for next season. The station took over the play-by-play prior to this season, but showed only approximately half of the audience from when the games aired on KXTG The Game.
Not being one to ignore radio, ESPN has quietly (for them) worked a deal for radio rights to the five NFL teams without some form of regional or national distribution for their radio broadcasts. Many would joke that ESPN would have only wanted most of these teams even if more were available.
ESPN Radio can air certain games of the NY Giants, NY Jets, and New England Patriots. They can also air some Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins games. These broadcasts can only air on ESPN stations in NFL markets if and when not opposed by the local team's game. For example, if the Patriots have a 4:00 game, the New England stations could only air an available 1:00 game.
Elsewhere, I continue to hope that the TV networks spending all those millions for the rights to show the games will finally speak up and complain to the pro sports leagues about the "special" uniforms they force the players to wear. This came to light again on Memorial Day for baseball fans. Even though we all knew it was Memorial Day and it has significance, it doesn't mean that all of the teams need to wear special uniforms which render it difficult to impossible to read the numbers when watching on TV or at the game. And then to have umpires wear special camoflage caps?
Teams have their own colors for many reasons, one of which is so that they can be readily identified. When you tune in a baseball game and cannot tell which teams are playing, let alone who the players are because you can't read the number or name, it has gone too far. I would like to think that the networks paying all those millions (as well as the fans that are being gouged in the wallet by having to pay their cable/satellite provider whether they watch or not) should be able to demand continuity.
There should be only two uniforms per pro team. Home and road. Stop the madness.
Speaking of stopping the madness, how can NBC Sports Network continue to show reruns of Dan Patrick Show segments on holidays? It makes no sense for a network looking to draw viewers away from the likes of ESPN and the regional networks (some of which are owned by NBC and had regular staffing that morning). Once again, on Memorial Day morning, fans were asked to watch reruns of segments with Patrick instead of being able to hear and talk about all of the big sports news of the day. They might as well have posted a "We don't care" graphic in between commercials and saved money instead of editing the rerun package.
AUSTIN: KVET The Zone 1300 has reduced its Austin based local programming to afternoon drive on weekdays. The station has picked up (or been forced to add, since it is the same ownership) two hours of the Mike Taylor morning show from nearby KTKR 760 The Ticket from San Antonio to air before KVET goes to its midday syndicated lineup. At least they picked up from the next market over, so a good portion of the "local" programming will be relevant.
DES MOINES: Sorry to learn of the passing of Iowa radio legend Jim Zabel at the age of 91. Zabel handled play-by-play for more than 6,000 sports events (if you include the Drake Relays, bowling, and the like) over the past 60+ years. Just to put this in the proper light, the Sports Director of WHO Radio before Hanley took over was none other than Ronald Reagan.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Should Social Media Fit The Bills?
I'd like to think that those fortunate enough to be able to cover sports for a living would retain a passion for finding actual news and facts to report and seek the thrill of being the first to report or break an accurate story. It doesn't always appear to be that way, even in this era of technology and the additional resources it can bring.
Instead, I see more and more "items" like the one from WGRZ-TV channel 2 in Buffalo sportscaster Jonah Javad. While this is not intended to be a criticism of Javad's reporting or his sportscasts, it is intended to show the need for more aggressive sports reporting.
Last week, Javad was making a big deal about how WGRZ-TV has "teamed up" with the Bills fan social media community known as Bills Mafia. The "teaming up" includes Javad using some of the fan comments from Bills Mafia on his sportscasts along with promoting various fan polls and input.
Call me an old school fuddy-duddy if you must. But, come on, give those of us who watch or listen to a sportscast a break. Please. If we want opinions from casual fans on a slow news day, we can listen to many of the sports talk radio stations that seem to think these opinions are more important than player and coach interviews and score updates all day and evening long.
If I want to read what some of the hardcore Bills fans are thinking, I could also go on social media and see for myself, and respond if I care to. I certainly don't need to wait until the 6:00 news to see what fans might be talking about, especially when I should be seeing comments from Bills players and employees themselves instead.
In my opinion, it is things like this which are the cause of the decline in quality of the sportscast segments within local TV newscasts. This causes the "hardcore" sports audience to have no reason to watch when they can turn to a regional sports network and/or to ESPN for details. Some of the local TV newscasts have reduced or even eliminated the local sports segments as if they have already lost out to the sports only networks. They didn't have to. If WGRZ-TV was providing expert coverage of the Buffalo area teams far better than ESPN or the regional nets currently do, they'd be attracting viewers BECAUSE OF their sports segments. Instead of whisking them away.
This is not to say that Bills Mafia should not be of value to Javad and channel 2, as well as similar social media groups for local stations around the country. Instead of being content when it is really opinion, the Javads of the sports reporting world should be using these social media communities to gauge feedback and then to elicit "official" response to it.
Let me give a made-up example. Suppose a large percentage of the Bills Mafia community was posting about not being happy with the Bills' kicker. A sports "reporter" monitoring fan feedback, which is always one of the tips I pass along for my broadcasting students to do, should pick up on these complaints, and hopefully pull a couple of specific plays or games which prompted these complaints.
This reporter could, for example, research available free agent kickers and compare stats with the current kicker. Perhaps the reporter could get an on-camera or on-phone interview with a coach or team executive and ask if the team is pursuing another kicker.
Just maybe that reporter would come up with a story that there is an available kicker who compares statistically to the current one and provide or show the result of his or her question to a team official about it.
Doing this would show viewers that this reporter is looking to break a story, responsive to fan feedback, and is sincere about devoting coverage to the team. Isn't that better for viewers than simply grabbing a quote from some random fan in order to put a sportscast together?
Social media could enhance TV and radio sportscasts. Not take away from them.
Meanwhile, NBA executives are likely concerned about how the San Antonio vs. Memphis Western Conference Finals play out for ABC/ESPN. Even though the Spurs have had a national network presence with their continuing success over the past 15 years, the Spurs have not always drawn the TV ratings to reflect that. And now with playing against the Memphis Grizzlies, the 'big market' factor is out the window. Both New York and both Los Angeles teams are now eliminated, as are Chicago and Boston. There go the markets that bring in the big numbers, both in terms of local audience and somewhat of a national following.
It showed in Game 1, with the lowest Conference Finals ratings in six years, and ratings lower than the majority of opening round telecasts from this playoff season. That this is happening while the national TV rights for NBA telecasts are about to be negotiated is significant. The NBA is undoubtedly counting on a bidding war from Fox Sports and the likes of TNT and ESPN looking to retain the relationship with the league. Obviously, poor Conference Finals ratings could reduce the bidding among the potential suitors.
Perhaps the fans could benefit by this. We know that at least one network will pony up to get the rights to these games. If that network or those networks secure the rights for less money, it should mean less out of pocket for cable and satellite subscribers because of it.
This is why the current situation surrounding the Houston Astros could wind up helping consumers in the long run. The Astros having a pathetic season and alienating their fan base has already resulted in their new regional TV Network not being picked up by many cable and satellite systems. Reportedly under half of the homes in the Houston area can't even get the games, with reports surfacing that some consumers have gone as far as to ask their cable system NOT to bring on the channel.
Frankly, I'm in favor of that. The public needs to be heard and not charged each month even if they don't want the games. In this case, the lack of being carried directly costs the team money that is saved by consumers.
For years and years the public had local team telecasts on "free" TV and it was completely advertiser supported. Let that be the case now, or don't show the games. It should not be up to consumers to pay for these games whether we want them or not. Based on the ratings over the past couple of years, there is a big demand for live TV sports. Even the Super Bowl telecast sells out. Let the advertisers pay the freight and not consumers.
JACKSONVILLE: Even if the Jaguars still are not going anywhere in the standings for the coming season, the radio coverage of team certainly is. The radio team of Brian Sexton with analysts Jeff Lageman and Tony Boselli (with Boselli added for the 2013 season) will also appear on team related programming on WOKV 104.5. The station is planning 2-hour shows on Monday nights (to recap) and Thursday nights (to preview) which will involve the broadcast team. Boselli joins the radio team after having been the TV analyst for the team's pre-season games for the previous seven seasons. Sexton, meanwhile returns for his 19th season as the voice of the Jaguars, having called every game in the team's history.
St. LOUIS: KXOX 101.1 is about to begin its final season as the Rams' flagship station, although word is the station holds options to continue. What the station will do for Saturdays of college football is still not settled. As of press time, it is still not definite that the station will continue to air St. Louis University football, since that deal expired at the end of last season. The station does have the option to replace, or add, University of Illinois football, since that package was dropped by KFNS along with its sports programming.
DALLAS: Abilene Christian University is about to enter NCAA Division I football with its move to the Southland Conference for this season, but that still isn't enough to get either of the three Dallas sports stations to be interested in airing the games. That part is understandable. To its credit, the school has partnered to get its games on the radio in Dallas. In addition to its flagship station 98.1 The Ticket in Abilene, the school's games will air in Dallas on KBXD 1480, which otherwise is a gospel music format.
Instead, I see more and more "items" like the one from WGRZ-TV channel 2 in Buffalo sportscaster Jonah Javad. While this is not intended to be a criticism of Javad's reporting or his sportscasts, it is intended to show the need for more aggressive sports reporting.
Last week, Javad was making a big deal about how WGRZ-TV has "teamed up" with the Bills fan social media community known as Bills Mafia. The "teaming up" includes Javad using some of the fan comments from Bills Mafia on his sportscasts along with promoting various fan polls and input.
Call me an old school fuddy-duddy if you must. But, come on, give those of us who watch or listen to a sportscast a break. Please. If we want opinions from casual fans on a slow news day, we can listen to many of the sports talk radio stations that seem to think these opinions are more important than player and coach interviews and score updates all day and evening long.
If I want to read what some of the hardcore Bills fans are thinking, I could also go on social media and see for myself, and respond if I care to. I certainly don't need to wait until the 6:00 news to see what fans might be talking about, especially when I should be seeing comments from Bills players and employees themselves instead.
In my opinion, it is things like this which are the cause of the decline in quality of the sportscast segments within local TV newscasts. This causes the "hardcore" sports audience to have no reason to watch when they can turn to a regional sports network and/or to ESPN for details. Some of the local TV newscasts have reduced or even eliminated the local sports segments as if they have already lost out to the sports only networks. They didn't have to. If WGRZ-TV was providing expert coverage of the Buffalo area teams far better than ESPN or the regional nets currently do, they'd be attracting viewers BECAUSE OF their sports segments. Instead of whisking them away.
This is not to say that Bills Mafia should not be of value to Javad and channel 2, as well as similar social media groups for local stations around the country. Instead of being content when it is really opinion, the Javads of the sports reporting world should be using these social media communities to gauge feedback and then to elicit "official" response to it.
Let me give a made-up example. Suppose a large percentage of the Bills Mafia community was posting about not being happy with the Bills' kicker. A sports "reporter" monitoring fan feedback, which is always one of the tips I pass along for my broadcasting students to do, should pick up on these complaints, and hopefully pull a couple of specific plays or games which prompted these complaints.
This reporter could, for example, research available free agent kickers and compare stats with the current kicker. Perhaps the reporter could get an on-camera or on-phone interview with a coach or team executive and ask if the team is pursuing another kicker.
Just maybe that reporter would come up with a story that there is an available kicker who compares statistically to the current one and provide or show the result of his or her question to a team official about it.
Doing this would show viewers that this reporter is looking to break a story, responsive to fan feedback, and is sincere about devoting coverage to the team. Isn't that better for viewers than simply grabbing a quote from some random fan in order to put a sportscast together?
Social media could enhance TV and radio sportscasts. Not take away from them.
Meanwhile, NBA executives are likely concerned about how the San Antonio vs. Memphis Western Conference Finals play out for ABC/ESPN. Even though the Spurs have had a national network presence with their continuing success over the past 15 years, the Spurs have not always drawn the TV ratings to reflect that. And now with playing against the Memphis Grizzlies, the 'big market' factor is out the window. Both New York and both Los Angeles teams are now eliminated, as are Chicago and Boston. There go the markets that bring in the big numbers, both in terms of local audience and somewhat of a national following.
It showed in Game 1, with the lowest Conference Finals ratings in six years, and ratings lower than the majority of opening round telecasts from this playoff season. That this is happening while the national TV rights for NBA telecasts are about to be negotiated is significant. The NBA is undoubtedly counting on a bidding war from Fox Sports and the likes of TNT and ESPN looking to retain the relationship with the league. Obviously, poor Conference Finals ratings could reduce the bidding among the potential suitors.
Perhaps the fans could benefit by this. We know that at least one network will pony up to get the rights to these games. If that network or those networks secure the rights for less money, it should mean less out of pocket for cable and satellite subscribers because of it.
This is why the current situation surrounding the Houston Astros could wind up helping consumers in the long run. The Astros having a pathetic season and alienating their fan base has already resulted in their new regional TV Network not being picked up by many cable and satellite systems. Reportedly under half of the homes in the Houston area can't even get the games, with reports surfacing that some consumers have gone as far as to ask their cable system NOT to bring on the channel.
Frankly, I'm in favor of that. The public needs to be heard and not charged each month even if they don't want the games. In this case, the lack of being carried directly costs the team money that is saved by consumers.
For years and years the public had local team telecasts on "free" TV and it was completely advertiser supported. Let that be the case now, or don't show the games. It should not be up to consumers to pay for these games whether we want them or not. Based on the ratings over the past couple of years, there is a big demand for live TV sports. Even the Super Bowl telecast sells out. Let the advertisers pay the freight and not consumers.
JACKSONVILLE: Even if the Jaguars still are not going anywhere in the standings for the coming season, the radio coverage of team certainly is. The radio team of Brian Sexton with analysts Jeff Lageman and Tony Boselli (with Boselli added for the 2013 season) will also appear on team related programming on WOKV 104.5. The station is planning 2-hour shows on Monday nights (to recap) and Thursday nights (to preview) which will involve the broadcast team. Boselli joins the radio team after having been the TV analyst for the team's pre-season games for the previous seven seasons. Sexton, meanwhile returns for his 19th season as the voice of the Jaguars, having called every game in the team's history.
St. LOUIS: KXOX 101.1 is about to begin its final season as the Rams' flagship station, although word is the station holds options to continue. What the station will do for Saturdays of college football is still not settled. As of press time, it is still not definite that the station will continue to air St. Louis University football, since that deal expired at the end of last season. The station does have the option to replace, or add, University of Illinois football, since that package was dropped by KFNS along with its sports programming.
DALLAS: Abilene Christian University is about to enter NCAA Division I football with its move to the Southland Conference for this season, but that still isn't enough to get either of the three Dallas sports stations to be interested in airing the games. That part is understandable. To its credit, the school has partnered to get its games on the radio in Dallas. In addition to its flagship station 98.1 The Ticket in Abilene, the school's games will air in Dallas on KBXD 1480, which otherwise is a gospel music format.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Live Sports Streaming Takes A Turner For The Better
The news that TNT and TBS will begin live streaming is important for sports fans, since it turns out that their live sports programming will be included. This is expected to be operational in time for the TBS coverage of the MLB post-season, and probably for some of their Sunday afternoon regular season telecasts. TNT's stream is also slated to include its NBA regular season and post-season coverage (starting Fall 2013), as well as the TNT/TBS coverage of the NCAA Tournament in March.
Turner plans to have provide apps for phone and computer use. However, viewers will reportedly be required to log in via their cable or satellite provider account information. Yes, I said "However". This would indicate that consumers who have abandoned (or refuse to pay that much in the first place) cable or satellite will not be able to watch either network. By pointing this out, the hope is that TNT and TBS would make their streaming service available, perhaps on a monthly basis, to anyone who wishes to subscribe for a reasonable fee. Otherwise, this is really something that cable and satellite services should already be providing to their customers. We pay a lot of money each month to access the channels, whether we want them or not, and should have options above and beyond TV sets to do so.
The latest radio ratings for April have been released this week, and it remains a mixed bag for sports radio competition in the larger markets.
Boston continues to be the most curious sports radio city, especially with the recent programming changes made by WEEI-FM as it looks to come back against WBZ-FM Sports Hub. Of course, having the Red Sox play-by-play with the team having its best start to a season in at least three seasons helps, as WEEI-FM rose one full ratings point overall from March to April and moved up to #11 overall. As positive as that seems for WEEI, the audience gain did not come from The Sports Hub. WBZ-FM actually increased its total audience again, having grown by nearly a full ratings point since February, and came in at #7 overall. What this does show is that, unlike some other large markets, the demand for sports radio remains heavy in Boston.
San Francisco loves its Giants, as the defending World Champs helped put KNBR 680 back to #1 overall, as it came close to double the audience it had for the previous ratings period!
Yet, even with the A's off to a good start, KGMZ The Game 95.7 showed only a slight increase and remains buried way back in the pack. KNBR now has literally more than six times the overall audience of The Game. Even though it's a one-horse town, it means that sports radio listening is also up in the Bay Area.
Chicago and Dallas both showed slight increases in the sports audiences. Chicago's WSCR 670 The Score finished slightly up at #14 overall while WMVP ESPN 1000, which had the Chicago Bulls broadcasts during their playoff run, held steady with well under half of the total audience of The Score. In Dallas, KTKS The Ticket remains more than a full ratings point in front over KESN ESPN 103.3 even though it held steady for this book. KESN rose .4 during the month while KRLD-FM dropped .2. This results in a .2 overall sports radio audience increase for the month.
In Detroit, the Tigers best start in a few seasons is paying off for WXYT-FM The Ticket, which showed a gain of nearly two ratings points and once again cracked the market's Top 5 stations overall. In Washington D.C., the Nationals' hot start translated into a half point ratings gain for The Fan WJFK-FM, which now has surpassed WTEM after its .3 ratings drop.
No surprise in Cincinnati, where the Reds rule the airwaves and gave WLW 700 more than a 25% overall audience increase in just the one month. Listeners want the play-by-play way more than the typical sports talk fare, however. (WLW is not full-time sports.) WCKY ESPN 1530 continues to have under a 1 rating, while WSAI Fox Sports 1360 somehow managed to drop to a mere .2. Yet, WSAI is above WCFN FM 100 The Fan, which showed up with a .1 overall.
Of course, the sports talk radio situation continues to be stale in both Los Angeles and Houston. In L.A., KSPN 710 held steady this book, but remains out of the Top 20, while KLAC 570, even with Vin Scully calling the Dodgers games, still can't pull even a 1 rating overall. In Houston, the sports radio audience dipped overall. What makes that newsworthy is how little margin there is for that to happen. KILT dropped by .2 overall, but holds the "top spot" among sports stations by being the only station barely above a 1 rating overall. Even with ratings lower than a 1, KBME and KFNC ESPN 97.5 both dropped again, while KGOW once again showed up with .1, the lowest possible rating.
Perhaps the most interesting sports talk market, other than Boston, is going to be Minneapolis over the next few months. The Twins, off to a poor start and in and out of last place, are now on KTWN, which is not a full-time sports station. The station does show a full rating point overall increase for April, which is a lot more impressive than the team itself. Yet, Sports KSTP, the former flagship station of the Twins, has only lost .2 from its overall ratings since February.
You can interpret that in a number of ways. The gain of the Twins station, which otherwise is mostly music, far outweighs the audience loss from KSTP and an audience gain of KFXN The Fan. This is not as hopeless as Cincinnati and Milwaukee (where the play-by-play and not full-time sports stations are miles ahead of the sports stations), but this ratings race bears watching. Oh, and the small station combo of CBS Sports Network stations, WGVX, WGVZ, and WRXP, totaled up to a .5 overall rating.
CHICAGO: Sports totally dominated the local TV scene on Wednesday (5/15) night with two playoff games airing as part of national TV packages. The NBA Playoff telecast in which the Bulls were eliminated by the Miami Heat finished with a local rating of 8.87 (according to overnight numbers), while the Blackhawks round 2 opener win over Detroit came out at 8.13. The games began one hour apart. What makes this even more noteworthy is that there were no local telecasts of either game, meaning that it is likely a percentage of potential viewers were not aware of where to find the game. TNT had the Bulls game, while NBC Sports Network aired the Blackhawks game.
KANSAS CITY: It was a wonderful tribute the Royals allowed within hours of the death of former long-time radio voice Fred White on Wednesday (5/15). Sadly, White passed away that same day at the age of 76 due to Melanoma, just one day after his sudden retirement announcement. White called Royals games from 1974 through 1998 and was associated with the team for 40 years.
The Royals telecast on Fox Sports Kansas City from Anaheim went silent for the top of the first inning as the team's way of remembering and honoring White.
NEW YORK: CBS managed to retain the play-by-play for the Giants and announced a multi-year extension to remain on WFAN 660 and 101.9. The Fan is expected to add more Giants specific programming beginning during training camp and continuing through its regular season coverage. Bob Papa, Carl Banks, and Howard Cross will continue as the broadcast team.
ATLANTA: As the NBA Hawks have concluded their season, one of the changes before next season could very well be on the radio dial. Reports have surfaced that the team could be soaring over to The Game 92.9, with an official announcement possible by the end of this month.
Turner plans to have provide apps for phone and computer use. However, viewers will reportedly be required to log in via their cable or satellite provider account information. Yes, I said "However". This would indicate that consumers who have abandoned (or refuse to pay that much in the first place) cable or satellite will not be able to watch either network. By pointing this out, the hope is that TNT and TBS would make their streaming service available, perhaps on a monthly basis, to anyone who wishes to subscribe for a reasonable fee. Otherwise, this is really something that cable and satellite services should already be providing to their customers. We pay a lot of money each month to access the channels, whether we want them or not, and should have options above and beyond TV sets to do so.
The latest radio ratings for April have been released this week, and it remains a mixed bag for sports radio competition in the larger markets.
Boston continues to be the most curious sports radio city, especially with the recent programming changes made by WEEI-FM as it looks to come back against WBZ-FM Sports Hub. Of course, having the Red Sox play-by-play with the team having its best start to a season in at least three seasons helps, as WEEI-FM rose one full ratings point overall from March to April and moved up to #11 overall. As positive as that seems for WEEI, the audience gain did not come from The Sports Hub. WBZ-FM actually increased its total audience again, having grown by nearly a full ratings point since February, and came in at #7 overall. What this does show is that, unlike some other large markets, the demand for sports radio remains heavy in Boston.
San Francisco loves its Giants, as the defending World Champs helped put KNBR 680 back to #1 overall, as it came close to double the audience it had for the previous ratings period!
Yet, even with the A's off to a good start, KGMZ The Game 95.7 showed only a slight increase and remains buried way back in the pack. KNBR now has literally more than six times the overall audience of The Game. Even though it's a one-horse town, it means that sports radio listening is also up in the Bay Area.
Chicago and Dallas both showed slight increases in the sports audiences. Chicago's WSCR 670 The Score finished slightly up at #14 overall while WMVP ESPN 1000, which had the Chicago Bulls broadcasts during their playoff run, held steady with well under half of the total audience of The Score. In Dallas, KTKS The Ticket remains more than a full ratings point in front over KESN ESPN 103.3 even though it held steady for this book. KESN rose .4 during the month while KRLD-FM dropped .2. This results in a .2 overall sports radio audience increase for the month.
In Detroit, the Tigers best start in a few seasons is paying off for WXYT-FM The Ticket, which showed a gain of nearly two ratings points and once again cracked the market's Top 5 stations overall. In Washington D.C., the Nationals' hot start translated into a half point ratings gain for The Fan WJFK-FM, which now has surpassed WTEM after its .3 ratings drop.
No surprise in Cincinnati, where the Reds rule the airwaves and gave WLW 700 more than a 25% overall audience increase in just the one month. Listeners want the play-by-play way more than the typical sports talk fare, however. (WLW is not full-time sports.) WCKY ESPN 1530 continues to have under a 1 rating, while WSAI Fox Sports 1360 somehow managed to drop to a mere .2. Yet, WSAI is above WCFN FM 100 The Fan, which showed up with a .1 overall.
Of course, the sports talk radio situation continues to be stale in both Los Angeles and Houston. In L.A., KSPN 710 held steady this book, but remains out of the Top 20, while KLAC 570, even with Vin Scully calling the Dodgers games, still can't pull even a 1 rating overall. In Houston, the sports radio audience dipped overall. What makes that newsworthy is how little margin there is for that to happen. KILT dropped by .2 overall, but holds the "top spot" among sports stations by being the only station barely above a 1 rating overall. Even with ratings lower than a 1, KBME and KFNC ESPN 97.5 both dropped again, while KGOW once again showed up with .1, the lowest possible rating.
Perhaps the most interesting sports talk market, other than Boston, is going to be Minneapolis over the next few months. The Twins, off to a poor start and in and out of last place, are now on KTWN, which is not a full-time sports station. The station does show a full rating point overall increase for April, which is a lot more impressive than the team itself. Yet, Sports KSTP, the former flagship station of the Twins, has only lost .2 from its overall ratings since February.
You can interpret that in a number of ways. The gain of the Twins station, which otherwise is mostly music, far outweighs the audience loss from KSTP and an audience gain of KFXN The Fan. This is not as hopeless as Cincinnati and Milwaukee (where the play-by-play and not full-time sports stations are miles ahead of the sports stations), but this ratings race bears watching. Oh, and the small station combo of CBS Sports Network stations, WGVX, WGVZ, and WRXP, totaled up to a .5 overall rating.
CHICAGO: Sports totally dominated the local TV scene on Wednesday (5/15) night with two playoff games airing as part of national TV packages. The NBA Playoff telecast in which the Bulls were eliminated by the Miami Heat finished with a local rating of 8.87 (according to overnight numbers), while the Blackhawks round 2 opener win over Detroit came out at 8.13. The games began one hour apart. What makes this even more noteworthy is that there were no local telecasts of either game, meaning that it is likely a percentage of potential viewers were not aware of where to find the game. TNT had the Bulls game, while NBC Sports Network aired the Blackhawks game.
KANSAS CITY: It was a wonderful tribute the Royals allowed within hours of the death of former long-time radio voice Fred White on Wednesday (5/15). Sadly, White passed away that same day at the age of 76 due to Melanoma, just one day after his sudden retirement announcement. White called Royals games from 1974 through 1998 and was associated with the team for 40 years.
The Royals telecast on Fox Sports Kansas City from Anaheim went silent for the top of the first inning as the team's way of remembering and honoring White.
NEW YORK: CBS managed to retain the play-by-play for the Giants and announced a multi-year extension to remain on WFAN 660 and 101.9. The Fan is expected to add more Giants specific programming beginning during training camp and continuing through its regular season coverage. Bob Papa, Carl Banks, and Howard Cross will continue as the broadcast team.
ATLANTA: As the NBA Hawks have concluded their season, one of the changes before next season could very well be on the radio dial. Reports have surfaced that the team could be soaring over to The Game 92.9, with an official announcement possible by the end of this month.
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