If a radio station reports something but not over the air, does it still count? It seems that WSCR 670 The Score in Chicago raised that very question on Monday night (9/26).
It so happens that the Chicago White Sox are my favorite baseball team, so I was watching their game vs. Toronto on Monday night which began hours after (then) Manager Ozzie Guillen had met with team owner Jerry Reinsdorf and speculation was heavy that Guillen would not be returning as manager. Early in the game, media reports began to surface that this game would be Guillen's last as manager, which indeed was announced right as the game ended.
I had gone onto Twitter and began to follow various media reports about the Guillen situation while watching and listening to the White Sox game. It so happens that I find White Sox TV announcer Ken Harrelson (or "Horrible-son" as he is called by some) to be dreadful and instead listen to the radio play-by-play with Ed Farmer and Darrin Jackson on WSCR.
Sometime around the 2nd inning, Ed Farmer said, to the effect of, (not an exact quote) "There has been a lot of speculation about manager Ozzie Guillen, but at this point it is all speculation, and if there is an official announcement we'll tell you".
A while later, a friend sent me a text message he received from WSCR, for which he signed up to receive texts of sports headlines. This text said, to the effect of "WSCR reports that Ozzie Guillen will be out as manager after the game". Of course, I told this friend that WSCR "has NOT" reported that, since I have been listening for over an hour prior to this text.
As the game itself progressed, various media reports surfaced with variations of the story that Guillen was managing his last game. Another friend who somehow tolerates the TV audio said that Harrelson and Steve Stone were discussing the Guillen reports during the game, while on WSCR (and the White Sox Radio Network), Farmer and Jackson gave no further mention of the situation until the 8th inning.
During the 8th inning, Ed Farmer said something to the effect of "There will be a news announcement at the end of the game" but did not elaborate. By that time, the various media reports I found via Twitter from a combination of print reporters, TV correspondents, and bloggers, were all reporting the upcoming announcement and press conference.
Now back to my initial question. Did WSCR "report" this information? The answer is philosophical as much as technical.
My personal philosophy is that WSCR The Score is a radio station, and that radio station did NOT report the Guillen story until Ed Farmer read the announcement on the air right after the final out of the game. To me, the web site and the Twitter updates and text messages are not the radio station. I understand that WSCR thinks it "reported" this news early on. Not everyone agrees with my personal philosophy, and that's fine.
However, it magnifies an issue I have been commenting on over the past couple of years. Maybe it's because I'm a radio guy from many years ago. It's not that I don't embrace the new media and social media being utilized by radio and TV stations, because I do. It's just that I still see WSCR as only being a radio station. Their web site, social media, and text messaging are secondary. My opinion is that WSCR did NOT report the Ozzie Guillen story until after the game had ended, whereas WSCR says it reported the story during the 2nd inning of the game. They are radio station, and their radio station itself did not give the information.
On a separate point, I find it interesting that White Sox TV and Radio took opposite approaches dealing with this breaking story even though the team has control over both broadcasts. If it were up to me, WSCR should have "broken in" during the game broadcast or between innings to truly report this story as a news source, just as they would for a weather bulletin.
As it is, WSCR is not a source I go to for breaking sports news. During the evening and many weekend times when there are big slates of games in progress, their so-called "Scoreboard Update" consists of what are really sports headlines and then the Chicago team scores. Some of their "reporters" go on as if there are no out of town games in existence instead of realizing that some people would tune in or stay tuned in longer to be kept up to date. Because of this, I see no reason to use their web site, subscribe to their text messages, or any of what I consider to be "extras". First, they have to deliver the goods on their true product, which is being a sports radio station. And, again, the radio station failed to deliver on the biggest story for White Sox fans all year, even though they were broadcasting the game.
Meanwhile, Ozzie Guillen also will not be returning (as of press time) to Fox TV Sports for its post-season coverage this year, although the White Sox will still have a presence. Guillen did pre and post-game analysis for Fox on its World Series coverage last year and also did color on the Spanish coverage. This year, White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski will be on the Fox crew for its ALCS and World Series coverage. Pierzynski was hired as analyst for ESPN studio coverage of the 2010 ALCS and World Series.
Speaking of the baseball post-season, it begins this Friday (9/30) with Turner Sports coverage of all Division Series action. Sorry to report that Ernie Johnson will be away due to the illness of his son. As a result, Brian Anderson moves up to the TBS lead crew and will be working a division series (to be determined) and then the entire NLCS with Ron Darling and John Smoltz as analysts.
Dick Stockton will be joined by Chicago Cubs TV analyst Bob Brenly, most likely on a National League series. The American League series will be handled by Don Orsillo (Red Sox TV voice) and Buck Martinez on one crew, and Victor Rojas and Joe Simpson on the other ALDS.
Fox Sports did follow up on the story which the Chicago Tribune reported a week after the fact regarding their use of fake headlines about Bears QB Jay Cutler during their week 1 telecast of the Chicago vs. Atlanta game. This past Sunday (9/25), Curt Menefee issued an on-air apology during its NFL Sunday pregame show, as if Daryl Johnston had been given incorrect information when he made the comments. The apology also was geared toward Jay Cutler as well as to the Chicago Bears in addition to the audience. Nice to see that Fox did respond to the matter and did so on a national basis.
NEW YORK: The N.Y. Daily News reports that the Yankees "are not close" to a new radio deal to start for next season even as the team enters the post-season. WCBS-AM 880 did not renew during its exclusive window, leading to speculation that WEPN ESPN 1050, WABC, and WRXP-FM could be in the running. The broadcast combination of John Sterling and Syzyn Waldman has also not been renewed as of press time.
SEATTLE: Even though the Mariners are finishing a bad season on the field, their radio relationship with KIRO 710 remains solid. The station has completed a multi-year extension to continue the broadcasts, which had returned to the station prior to the '09 season.
ATLANTIC CITY: AM 1490 now carries a simulcast of WIP AM-FM from Philadelphia, adding to the FM simulcast of the station in the Philadelphia area.
BOSTON: the Felger & Massarotti Show on 98.5 The Sports Hub will begin a TV simulcast on Comcast SportsNet next week. Felger is no stranger to the CSN audience outside of the Boston area, since he already hosts Sports Sunday and some Sports Tonight shows on CSN.
On one hand, the additional visibility could help in the radio ratings battle between the Sports Hub and WEEI, and also provide more regional coverage for the show since CSN has millions of potential viewers outside of the FM signal reach of the Hub. However, those viewers within the immediate Boston area would take away from radio ratings points.
Showing posts with label white sox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label white sox. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Who's paying attention?
I was watching "Baseball Tonight" on ESPN on Sunday (April 12) when during a commercial break the local Comcast Cable commercials were running. On came a promo for the free preview of the Extra Innings package.
On paper, that sounds like good placement for Comcast to run a baseball on TV spot during ESPN's primary baseball show. However, this commercial happened to air 20 minutes AFTER the final out of the last game available during the free preview which ran all week.
Thus, a baseball fan who did not know about the free preview and who tuned over to see which games were on would have then found out that they missed everything. In other words, careless scheduling of a spot, even if it was for a free offering from Comcast.
By the way, I am again NOT purchasing the Extra Innings package. They continue to black out local games. Their argument is that I can see them anyway. My argument is, as a Chicago White Sox fan, that I would pay the fee for the season to be able to watch the OTHER team telecasts against the White Sox in order to escape the horrible announcing that White Sox fans are subjected to on the local telecasts.
For that matter, I don't think that cable telecasts of local teams should be blacked out either, such as when on ESPN, TBS, and starting this year on the MLB Network. I am also paying an exhorbitant fee to my cable company just to watch TV. The cable companies pay these networks to carry the programming based on the number of subscribers. The networks showing the games (except for MLB Network) pay millions to MLB to carry the games.
Thus, I feel that I should get everything available for the amount I am paying and the cable companies and leagues have no right to black anything out.
On paper, that sounds like good placement for Comcast to run a baseball on TV spot during ESPN's primary baseball show. However, this commercial happened to air 20 minutes AFTER the final out of the last game available during the free preview which ran all week.
Thus, a baseball fan who did not know about the free preview and who tuned over to see which games were on would have then found out that they missed everything. In other words, careless scheduling of a spot, even if it was for a free offering from Comcast.
By the way, I am again NOT purchasing the Extra Innings package. They continue to black out local games. Their argument is that I can see them anyway. My argument is, as a Chicago White Sox fan, that I would pay the fee for the season to be able to watch the OTHER team telecasts against the White Sox in order to escape the horrible announcing that White Sox fans are subjected to on the local telecasts.
For that matter, I don't think that cable telecasts of local teams should be blacked out either, such as when on ESPN, TBS, and starting this year on the MLB Network. I am also paying an exhorbitant fee to my cable company just to watch TV. The cable companies pay these networks to carry the programming based on the number of subscribers. The networks showing the games (except for MLB Network) pay millions to MLB to carry the games.
Thus, I feel that I should get everything available for the amount I am paying and the cable companies and leagues have no right to black anything out.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Red Rush passes away
Sorry to learn of the passing of "Red" Rush at the age of 81 this past Sunday. Rush was one of the most enthusiastic play-by-play men of any era, having shined in the Chicago and San Francisco markets during the 60's and 70's, and even into the 1980's.
In Chicago, he called baseball, basketball, and hockey. He is remembered for being the voice of the Loyola Ramblers on radio during their 1963 run to the NCAA Championship, and then joining the late Bob Elson in the White Sox radio booth for the 1966 and 1967 seasons. He replaced Milo Hamilton when Milo left Chicago to join Braves radio booth for their first season in Atlanta in '66. Red also handled TV play-by-play of (and I'm showing my age here!) the WHA Chicago Cougars in WSNS-TV in the mid-70's.
The hockey stint was upon his return from San Francisco, where he was hired by Charlie Finley for radio play-by-play of the Oakland A's. (The Finley Farm in LaPorte Indiana was easily within range of the White Sox radio games, so Finley knew what he was getting.)
Rush later went on to handle Warriors basketball and a variety of other Bay Area assignments.
Yet, when the story first broke, the Chicago Tribune misspelled his real first name, Wresley, calling him "Wesley". The San Francisco Chronicle got his name right.
I was fortunate enough to meet Red on several occasions while working in Chicago in the early and mid-70's. As a result, I already miss him as a person, as well as from his broadcasting days.
Heaven is having its most enthusiastic week in a long time. No doubt about it. Thanks, Red!
In Chicago, he called baseball, basketball, and hockey. He is remembered for being the voice of the Loyola Ramblers on radio during their 1963 run to the NCAA Championship, and then joining the late Bob Elson in the White Sox radio booth for the 1966 and 1967 seasons. He replaced Milo Hamilton when Milo left Chicago to join Braves radio booth for their first season in Atlanta in '66. Red also handled TV play-by-play of (and I'm showing my age here!) the WHA Chicago Cougars in WSNS-TV in the mid-70's.
The hockey stint was upon his return from San Francisco, where he was hired by Charlie Finley for radio play-by-play of the Oakland A's. (The Finley Farm in LaPorte Indiana was easily within range of the White Sox radio games, so Finley knew what he was getting.)
Rush later went on to handle Warriors basketball and a variety of other Bay Area assignments.
Yet, when the story first broke, the Chicago Tribune misspelled his real first name, Wresley, calling him "Wesley". The San Francisco Chronicle got his name right.
I was fortunate enough to meet Red on several occasions while working in Chicago in the early and mid-70's. As a result, I already miss him as a person, as well as from his broadcasting days.
Heaven is having its most enthusiastic week in a long time. No doubt about it. Thanks, Red!
Monday, October 27, 2008
A legitimate World Series..........
OK, the 2008 World Series won't go down as the most exciting one ever played. Yet, I personally will remember and appreciate it because of how legitimate it is and how both teams got there fair and square. Not always the case in sports these days.
In all sports, the post-season has too many teams. I always have and always will believe that a team should have to "win to win". This business where a second or third place team can go on to win the championship demeans the regular seasons.
Having said that, it brings to mind the beauty of this year. Both teams in the World Series won their respective Eastern Division. Even though both had to beat the "Wild Card" team which, in my opinion, had no business being in the post-season, the Phillies and Rays each defeated one other Division winner. That is as fair as it gets.
In addition, we are fortunate because the abomination known as "interleague play" during June did not allow the opportunity for the Phillies and Rays to have already played each other. That adds still more legitimacy to this year's World Series.
Not only did both teams take equal steps to get to the Series, but there is no regular season matchup to go by, and that is as it should be.
Before you start questioning me on this, look back at recent years.
The 2007 Series included the Colorado Rockies, who technically did not win their Division. In fact, their finishing 1/2 game back deprived us fans of at least 1 "win or go home" game to finish up the regular season. (And we saw the added excitement in 2008 with the White Sox literally playing 4 American League teams out of 4 consecutive games to win the A.L. Central and then get into the ALDS vs. Tampa Bay.)
In 2006, it was Detroit which finished in second place. While some fans complain about the Cardinals winning only 83 games that season, they should have been complaining because the Cardinals won it all by beating a team that folded down the stretch and failed to win its division.
In 2005, Houston did not win its division, and it showed as they were swept by the White Sox, who led wire-to-wire that season.
And on it goes.
Please. If we are not going to remember this 2008 World Series for in-game excitement, let's remember it for being legitimate. That's a winner in my book.
In all sports, the post-season has too many teams. I always have and always will believe that a team should have to "win to win". This business where a second or third place team can go on to win the championship demeans the regular seasons.
Having said that, it brings to mind the beauty of this year. Both teams in the World Series won their respective Eastern Division. Even though both had to beat the "Wild Card" team which, in my opinion, had no business being in the post-season, the Phillies and Rays each defeated one other Division winner. That is as fair as it gets.
In addition, we are fortunate because the abomination known as "interleague play" during June did not allow the opportunity for the Phillies and Rays to have already played each other. That adds still more legitimacy to this year's World Series.
Not only did both teams take equal steps to get to the Series, but there is no regular season matchup to go by, and that is as it should be.
Before you start questioning me on this, look back at recent years.
The 2007 Series included the Colorado Rockies, who technically did not win their Division. In fact, their finishing 1/2 game back deprived us fans of at least 1 "win or go home" game to finish up the regular season. (And we saw the added excitement in 2008 with the White Sox literally playing 4 American League teams out of 4 consecutive games to win the A.L. Central and then get into the ALDS vs. Tampa Bay.)
In 2006, it was Detroit which finished in second place. While some fans complain about the Cardinals winning only 83 games that season, they should have been complaining because the Cardinals won it all by beating a team that folded down the stretch and failed to win its division.
In 2005, Houston did not win its division, and it showed as they were swept by the White Sox, who led wire-to-wire that season.
And on it goes.
Please. If we are not going to remember this 2008 World Series for in-game excitement, let's remember it for being legitimate. That's a winner in my book.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
One right, one wrong for MLB this post-season
Would the A.L. Central title game have had a different outcome if Game 163 was played in Minnesota instead of Chicago? Maybe or maybe not. We'll never know.
The Twins and their fans remain upset following their 1-0 loss to the White Sox in Chicago about the game having been played in Chicago. They point out that the Twins took the season series from the White Sox by one game. They have a valid point on that one.
Such an important game should not be decided by a coin toss, especially because "that's the way it has always been". I agree it is time to change that system. Hopefully MLB will revise this during the off-season and have a new policy for tie-breakers ready for 2009, before we know which teams might be involved.
But this doesn't mean that this year's game should not have been played in Chicago. In many cases, I agree that a season series between two teams should be the way to determine a tie-breaker. But until or unless MLB does something about its oddball and unbalanced schedules, I'm not sure I agree in this instance.
The fact is that the White Sox vs. Twins game was played specifically to decide the winner of the A.L. Central Division. While I don't like most of the changes in MLB over the past 12 years, I love the fact that a championship was decided on the field and not past results. This game added to the drama, and would have even if it had not been a 1-0 game.
Sure, MLB could have decided the division champion without this game. They could have based it on head-to-head competition between the two teams, their records within the entire Central Division, records vs. the other playoff teams, or something else. But if they had, the drama of the White Sox having to defeat three different division rivals in three days to win the title never would have happened. Now that it has, there is reason to be sure that MLB keeps it this way.
I couldn't help but think about the season the Chicago Bears made the NFL playoffs because of "point differential" by running up the score in their season finale against the Cardinals, who had nothing to play for. Compare that with the drama in Chicago in their games vs. Detroit and Minnesota. As a sports fan, which way would you prefer it?
I thought so.
So why should the White Sox vs. Twins game indeed have been held in Chicago? Because the most important criteria to determine this game's location was not taken into consideration. Had it been, no doubt the game would have taken place in the same park it did.
Since this game was for first place, and not a tiebreaker between the White Sox and Twins, I say the amount of time a team spends in first place during the season should count toward a title in the rare event of a dead heat. Fact is the White Sox spent all but two weeks (or less) of the entire season holding first place.
To me, that means Minnesota should have to overtake Chicago to finish there. On Chicago's turf. Or in this case, grass. It so happens that due to a coin toss, the game wound up in Chicago. Sorry, Twins fans, but that's where it should have been in, so to speak, the first place.
Fortunately, we were spared the embarassment of their having to be a game just to decide the Wild Card. (See my recent column about that.) But if the Mets and Brewers would have had to go through with it, there is no doubt that game should have been in New York. Nothing to do with the possible end of Shea Stadium at all.
Same formula. The Mets spent weeks in first place in their division, while the Brewers spent a few days there at most.
Let's make the amount of time a team spends on the field in first place count for something in MLB. The NFL can keep its tiebreakers for determining playoffs. Remember, even some overtime games are also decided by a coin flip. Which do you find more exciting?
MY COMEBACK FOR THIS AWARD:
At least that White Sox-Twins game turned out to be in the right place. Better than I can say for American League "Comeback Player of the Year". Cliff Lee???? Right player, wrong award. If there were a major award for "Most Improved Player", Cliff Lee wins it unanimously. However, the award reads "Comeback of the Year".
When was Cliff Lee ever at or even close to the level he showed this year. How can a guy who never won in double digits make a "Comeback" to win 22 games? He has never been there before. If this is how the people who vote are paying attention, I'll have to look to see how Cliff Lee fares in voting for the "Silver Slugger" Award. After all, he batted a couple of times against the National League this past season, and got more at-bats than he did in 2007. Makes about as much sense.
The Twins and their fans remain upset following their 1-0 loss to the White Sox in Chicago about the game having been played in Chicago. They point out that the Twins took the season series from the White Sox by one game. They have a valid point on that one.
Such an important game should not be decided by a coin toss, especially because "that's the way it has always been". I agree it is time to change that system. Hopefully MLB will revise this during the off-season and have a new policy for tie-breakers ready for 2009, before we know which teams might be involved.
But this doesn't mean that this year's game should not have been played in Chicago. In many cases, I agree that a season series between two teams should be the way to determine a tie-breaker. But until or unless MLB does something about its oddball and unbalanced schedules, I'm not sure I agree in this instance.
The fact is that the White Sox vs. Twins game was played specifically to decide the winner of the A.L. Central Division. While I don't like most of the changes in MLB over the past 12 years, I love the fact that a championship was decided on the field and not past results. This game added to the drama, and would have even if it had not been a 1-0 game.
Sure, MLB could have decided the division champion without this game. They could have based it on head-to-head competition between the two teams, their records within the entire Central Division, records vs. the other playoff teams, or something else. But if they had, the drama of the White Sox having to defeat three different division rivals in three days to win the title never would have happened. Now that it has, there is reason to be sure that MLB keeps it this way.
I couldn't help but think about the season the Chicago Bears made the NFL playoffs because of "point differential" by running up the score in their season finale against the Cardinals, who had nothing to play for. Compare that with the drama in Chicago in their games vs. Detroit and Minnesota. As a sports fan, which way would you prefer it?
I thought so.
So why should the White Sox vs. Twins game indeed have been held in Chicago? Because the most important criteria to determine this game's location was not taken into consideration. Had it been, no doubt the game would have taken place in the same park it did.
Since this game was for first place, and not a tiebreaker between the White Sox and Twins, I say the amount of time a team spends in first place during the season should count toward a title in the rare event of a dead heat. Fact is the White Sox spent all but two weeks (or less) of the entire season holding first place.
To me, that means Minnesota should have to overtake Chicago to finish there. On Chicago's turf. Or in this case, grass. It so happens that due to a coin toss, the game wound up in Chicago. Sorry, Twins fans, but that's where it should have been in, so to speak, the first place.
Fortunately, we were spared the embarassment of their having to be a game just to decide the Wild Card. (See my recent column about that.) But if the Mets and Brewers would have had to go through with it, there is no doubt that game should have been in New York. Nothing to do with the possible end of Shea Stadium at all.
Same formula. The Mets spent weeks in first place in their division, while the Brewers spent a few days there at most.
Let's make the amount of time a team spends on the field in first place count for something in MLB. The NFL can keep its tiebreakers for determining playoffs. Remember, even some overtime games are also decided by a coin flip. Which do you find more exciting?
MY COMEBACK FOR THIS AWARD:
At least that White Sox-Twins game turned out to be in the right place. Better than I can say for American League "Comeback Player of the Year". Cliff Lee???? Right player, wrong award. If there were a major award for "Most Improved Player", Cliff Lee wins it unanimously. However, the award reads "Comeback of the Year".
When was Cliff Lee ever at or even close to the level he showed this year. How can a guy who never won in double digits make a "Comeback" to win 22 games? He has never been there before. If this is how the people who vote are paying attention, I'll have to look to see how Cliff Lee fares in voting for the "Silver Slugger" Award. After all, he batted a couple of times against the National League this past season, and got more at-bats than he did in 2007. Makes about as much sense.
Monday, September 8, 2008
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.
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.
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