The Broadcast Booth - September 21 update......

One NFL trend is on track for the young 2010 season. TV viewing is already at maximum levels, and the cold weather season has yet to attack the northern states.

CBS-TV is already up about 12% for its Sunday afternoon telecasts compared with last season after these two weeks, while NBC again won the prime-time ratings on Sunday night (9/19) with the Giants vs. Colts game, even though it was not close during the second half.

This really is media "news" as the fans are speaking up that they plan to enjoy this football season.

However, not everything related to the NFL on television is really "news". I cannot believe the number of stories devoted to whether or not certain NFL games sell out and whether or not they will be on TV in local markets. Where a game is televised does not impact my interest in a game as a fan, nor does it have any impact on the outcome, betting lines, or fantasy.

I'm sure the NFL likes these stories plastered all over the media on Thursdays and Fridays - even when games don't sell out. From a marketing standpoint, it hypes the NFL game in the sense that it is "news" when a game is not a complete sellout. But unless there is a betting line somewhere for football fans about certain games selling out or not or an over/under on the number of sellouts each week, there is no reason for this.

What irks me even more is some of the reporters now calling for changes in the NFL's blackout policy, as if this is a crisis because more and more games are not selling out.

More than any other pro sport, the NFL has successfully sold "out of town" games. Maybe too well for their own good in certain NFL markets. When the local NFL team is doing poorly, NOT buying the tickets has become a positive for local NFL fans. Instead of being saddled with a miserable home team performance late in the season, fans instead get to see a matchup with playoff implications, and get to see more meaningful (if not more exciting) games instead.

I, for one, can tell that I have never watched (or not watched) an NFL game because it was or wasn't on in another market. It is not "news" in the sense that some of media continue to make it out to be.

This is not only because of seeing "better" games. These same reporters continue to overlook the cost of these games for NFL fans who do not attend any games in person. They overlook that we are stuck paying inflated cable or satellite bills each month to help pay for the NFL (and other sports) packages. Worse this year is they are now gearing the score and stats boxes on the screen to HD viewers, leaving those still watching in Low Def to struggle to read the scores and information as it appears on the screen.

With higher costs to watch the games, interactive media to help follow, and now for HD TV's and the like, the budget has to come from somewhere. With it really costing this much to watch the NFL (and other leagues) on TV, it's no wonder that people won't spend $200 plus to attend an NFL game in person, and then not have nearly the same amount of information (let alone the personal comfort level) available to them.

It is not news when certain games don't sell out.

On the baseball side, MLB Network emphasizes the Yankees vs. Tampa Bay series during the early part of the week, showing every game it can through Thursday (9/23) when it originates with Bob Costas on the call.

TBS has named Ernie Johnson Jr. as the lead voice for its Division Series and ALCS coverage, working with Ron Darling and John Smoltz. The number-2 crew will feature Red Sox TV voice Don Orsillo along with Buck Martinez.

Additional crews for the Division Series will be Dick Stockton and Bob Brenly, as well as Brian Anderson and Joe Simpson.

TBS will also have its usual cast of thousands in the studio. I might be the only one who finds fault with the "A" team this season. Why are there 2 pitchers on that crew but no "hitters" to comment from the game site? Are they expecting a string of 1 - 0 games?

The AAA Baseball National Championship Game will air on Versus on Tuesday (9/21) night from Oklahoma City in the first of a multi-year deal for Versus to show this.

Versus has already shown a minor league game live this season, when it showed the professional debut of Stephen Strasburg during the Buffalo vs. Syracuse game on June 3rd.

Mike Capps, who just completed his 11th season as the voice of the AAA Round Rock Express, will call the game, while Charlotte Knights Manager (and former Yankees post-season hero) Chris Chambliss will provide analysis.

BOSTON: The Sports Hub 98.5 has come a long way after just one year on the air. The most recent ratings show The Sports Hub finishing ahead of rival WEEI in 25-54 men during both morning and afternoon drive. WEEI won during the 7 to Midnight period, bolstered by Red Sox broadcasts while the team was still in contention.

CHICAGO: The musical chairs game of local TV sportscasters continues. Jill Carlson, whose contract was recently not renewed at WFLD-TV, has emerged as a once per week fill in at WGN Radio, handling Thursday mornings to relieve Northwestern football and basketball voice Dave Eanet. And now filling in on a freelance basis on WFLD-TV is Kerry Sayers. She recently joined The Score 670 for morning updates and also appears on the Big Ten Network after having worked at Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

DETROIT: While the area's pro teams all continue to struggle, it seems to be the talk of the town. 97.1 The Ticket has turned up at number one in the market in the recently released July-August ratings for the 2nd straight month.

WASHINGTON D.C.: WTNT 570 turned all sports as of this week with the focus being on airing ESPN's national lineup.

PHILADELPHIA: With WPHT 1210 airing the Phillies game this coming Saturday (9/25), the Temple vs. Penn State game will be moved to WIP 610. And WIP plans to take advantage, scheduling Rob Charry and Hugh Douglas to do a studio pre-game show starting at 2:00 (for the 3:30 kickoff) before Harry Donahue and Steve Joachim call the game as usual. WIP is also planning an expanded post-game show.

MIAMI: An interesting change of pace was scheduled on Monday (9/20) for the Marlins local broadcast of their late afternoon game vs. the Cardinals. As of press time, 3 of the middle innings were scheduled to have been called by The Ticket 790 afternoon team of Dan LeBatard and Jon Wiener, along with Marlins President David Samson.

Normally, station promotional gimmicks such as this can be annoying to the hardcore fans. In this instance, the addition of the team President is the attraction. After all, we are now into the final two weeks of a failed season for the team.

The LeBatard and Wiener team just beat out WQAM's Sid Rosenberg in men 25-54 in the latest ratings after Rosenberg had finished ahead of them in the 3 prior head-to-head matchups.

St. LOUIS: The wonderful welcome that the Cardinals broadcasts will get for going back to KMOX for next season will create some conflicts. KMOX will continue to carry the NHL Blues and University of Missouri football. The early word is that KMOX will utilize the other CBS Group stations to handle the overflow with KMOX giving priority on a case-by-case basis.

The NFL Rams and St. Louis University basketball remain on WXOS 101.1.

COLUMBUS: This doesn't seem to bother the Blue Jackets, but I continue to believe that these scattered radio arrangements drive the fans nuts. Blue Jacket fans will have to check both the radio and TV listings to find their team's games for the coming season.

97.1 WBNS-FM The Fan will air many of the games. At some point. You see, some of the pre-season contests and then the season opener (against San Jose from Stockholm) will air on WBNS-AM 1460 instead. WWCD 102.5 will carry a couple of pre-season and regular season Saturday broadcasts early on due to conflicts with Ohio State football. George Matthews and Bob McElligott return as the broadcast team for the 10th season (the duration of the team). However, including the pre-season and first week of the regular season, 97.1's first Blue Jackets broadcast won't be until October 15th. "Blue Jackets Sunday Morning Skate" will air on Sundays from 10 to 11 AM on 97.1.

Ft. MYERS/NAPLES: Sister stations WMYR 1410 (Ft. Myers) and WCNZ 1660 (Naples) are serving the transplanted Chicagoans by carrying Chicago Bears broadcasts this season, making these the only stations more than 200 miles away from Chicago to air the Bears Radio Network. These will be in addition to an NFL "Game of the Week" broadcasts and Miami Hurricanes football on Saturdays.

The stations will also air Florida Everblades hockey for the upcoming season, the team's third radio outlet in 3 seasons.

CINCINNATI: WKRC-TV 12 has announced Zach Wells as its new weekend sports anchor and reporter. Wells had a similar position with WXIX-TV until July. He replaces Tara Pachmayer.

HOUSTON: As the NBA Rockets season approaches, it turns out that KTXH-TV 20 will air only 6 regular season games, with Fox Sports Houston carrying as many as 75 games.

The latest radio ratings show KILT taking the lead among men 25-54 passing up KFNC 97.5, but it is a very close race. KFNC retains a slight lead in morning drive, with middays and afternoons being a tight race.

RENO: 94.5 made its debut last week (9/13) with mostly ESPN Radio programming and play-by-play. The station is also carrying Oakland Raiders football this season.

On the schedule side, the SEC television packages get into full swing for this coming Saturday (9/25):

SEC Network, 12:15 ET, UAB at Tennessee
CBS, 3:30 ET, Alabama at Arkansas
ESPNU, 7:00 ET, Kentucky at Florida
FSN, 7:00 ET, Georgia at Miss. State
CSS, 7:30 ET, Fresno State at Ole Miss
ESPN, 7:45 ET, South Carolina at Auburn
ESPN2, 9:00 ET, West Virginia at LSU

Sports Media Report - Sept. 8 update

Great to see that Vin Scully has agreed to return to his Dodgers broadcast duties for the 2009 season, since that will mark an even 60 years as the lead voice of the Dodgers franchise. He will continue to handle the home games and road games no further east than Colorado. After all these years, Scully continues to work alone when he broadcasts.

While going solo has been unique for a number of years, I can't help but think of how we may never have that again. It goes to show how the number of announcers used on a telecast and some radio broadcast packages is getting out of hand. On NBC-TV's Sunday Night Football opener between Chicago and Indianapolis, it seemed like there were three teams with 53 person rosters: the Bears, the Colts, and NBC-TV's studio staff.

Telecasts of games were successful all these years with as few as two announcers to handle everything (including pre and post game) at the games. Now, the networks feel the need to have at least 5 people in studio (NFL, TNT on NBA, others), with football having some telecasts with three in the announcing booth. While this is too much in one direction, radio still has a few instances of too little. Chicago is one example. Even in a top 3 media market, White Sox radio voice Ed Farmer calls each entire game, while Cubs voice Pat Hughes calls at least 8 innings of every game. This is even funnier when you realize that we can SEE the action on TV with tons of announcers but not when listening on radio.

KANSAS CITY: Speaking of long-time broadcasters, this past weekend marked the 40th anniversary of former Chiefs QB Len Dawson along with Larry Moore beginning on KMBC-TV. Let's put this in perspective for football fans. When Dawson began his broadcasting career in Kansas City, the Chiefs were starting their 2nd season in the NFL after coming over from the American Football League. Joe Namath had not guaranteed a Super Bowl win at that point in time.

On that note, congrats to Seattle Seahawks radio voice Steve Raible, who just began his 25th season calling the Seahawks games. He is joined again this season by Warren Moon as analyst on KIRO 710.

SAN DIEGO: As we suspected for weeks, after more than 20 years Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton is now completely out of the San Diego radio market, at least for the moment. It was termed "by mutual agreement" that Hamilton is gone from XTRA Sports 1360 as of last week. Like him or not, Hamilton is a pioneer of hard core sports radio talk, especially on a regional and national level, even when his shows were local. Word is that he is on the lookout for either a college or NFL play-by-play gig.

HOUSTON: Still no announcement about the location of Astros radio broadcasts for next year and beyond, even after the exclusive negotiating period has past for KTRH to retain the games.

CINCINNATI: Bengals fans finally have one station where they can always find the games now that WEBN 102.7 FM has taken over the broadcasts on the FM side from sister station WOFX-FM. On the AM side, WCKY 1530 also airs the games through September. After the Reds baseball season comes to a quiet conclusion, powerhouse WLW 700 will again carry the remainder of the Bengals broadcasts.

ST. LOUIS: Controversial sports host Kevin Slaten returns to the local airwaves on Monday October 6, starting during the midday on KSLG 1380 AM. Slaten was dismissed by KFNS 590 in April after the controversy surrounding Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan reportedly not knowing he was being interviewed live on the air. Oct. 6th is also the date that Slaten's non-compete clause expires.

MILWAUKEE: After several mentions of the Milwaukee sports radio market and heating up and 540 Sports doing a separate Brewers post-game show after night games are over, and the Brewers into a lengthy sellout streak, comes this bit of ratings news. This past Thursday (Sept. 4), the Brewers game telecast against the San Diego Padres drew less than 20% of the audience that watched the NFL season opener between the Giants and Redskins. Not only an out of market game, but not even a divisional game for Packers fans.

That has me interested to see how the next few Packers telecasts do against Brewers games in September.

ELSEWHERE: While it is nowhere near SEC dollars, the Western Athletic Conference now as a 7 year deal with ESPN including ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV. The network properties now hold the rights to all conference controlled games from this season through the 2016-17 seasons.

New Haven CT's ESPN 1300 AM now carries its own version of the "Bobby and the Bird" show each Sunday from 9 AM until 11 AM. The two are well known from Connecticut's WICC 600 AM where they continue their 7 PM to 9 PM Sunday night top rated sports show.

Bowling Green OH's WBGN 1340 has announced a 2 year deal to broadcast the city's Class A baseball team starting in April, including www.1340WBGN.com, and is expected to carry all 140 games.