As of press time, not so much as a "no comment" or a denial from WQAM Miami's Sid Rosenberg regarding a Miami Herald report that the sports talk host is being chased for an alleged gambling debt:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/12/2635294/radio-host-sid-rosenberg-alleged.html#storylink=misearch
This story was also picked up by several radio trade sites, but also without a reaction. There are some stories where a lack of reaction or denial can be interpreted as being accurate. From being a sports fan, sports reporter, and media consultant over the past 40 years, the lack of a denial or even a comment is disturbing. (I should mention that I do not recall meeting or knowing Mr. Rosenberg and have no further information beyond this report.)
It's easy to think, "So what?" when learning about the possibility that a sportscaster has been gambling thousands of dollars. Of course, Sid is not the only person to do this (if indeed the story is true). However, I'd like to think that those whose job it is to report information to us as sports fans do not have anything else riding on this information.
Sports betting is very often dictated by where the money is going. How do we know that a sportscaster who is a heavy gambler is not "reporting" information about key players or teams which could sway a potential bet? Suppose a sportscaster has bet thousands of dollars on Cleveland against Detroit later tonight. Suppose that same sportscaster only "reports" on an injury which could impact the status of a key Cleveland player for that game. This could make the casual betting fan lean toward putting his money on Detroit. If enough fans put more money on Detroit, it increases the payoff if Cleveland wins.
In the Rosenberg situation, the lack of a denial or comment also brings to light that Sid had just returned from a suspension by WQAM. The reason? Gambling.
This Miami Herald story includes a report of the gambling establishment supposedly contacting the radio station. How and why did that story get out? Since the reputation of a major radio station and well established sportscaster are at stake, wouldn't a complete denial of such a contact be shot down before it became public?
Although we don't need background checks on every sportscaster out there, this situation indicates a need for dealing with the situation more thoroughly than seems to be happening thus far. Given how the pro sports leagues will not put a team in Las Vegas or Atlantic City and have discipline in place for any players involved in any way with gamblers, how "news" is reported to sports fans could be playing a part in how thousands and thousands of dollars change hands, legally or not.
Meanwhile, the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Golf Tournament last weekend drew more media attention, just as it drew more viewers than usual. CBS-TV saw its highest ratings for this tournament since 1997 on Sunday (2/12) when Tiger Woods issued a challenge to Phil Mickelson early in the final round. The Sunday ratings were up more than 95% over last year's.
Many credit the stronger (than recent months) performance of Tiger Woods for drawing the added interest. Here, I'll credit something totally different. The NFL. After another very strong ratings season, this past Sunday was the first one since August without NFL football on. Sports fans are used to having "must see" TV every Sunday, and settled on golf. Frankly, ABC/ESPN blew it by only having one NBA telecast during the afternoon on ABC which didn't start until 3:30 PM ET, and then putting a doubleheader on ESPN that night.
ABC does not seem to be pushing the NBA as much this season. There was no "early" telecast on Super Bowl Sunday, as networks have done in the past (other than a so-so game on NBA-TV instead that day). Then, they should have had a marquee matchup doubleheader this past Sunday in an effort to establish the NBA as "must see". Even with the shortened season after the lockout, TNT is among the networks showing noticeable ratings increases so far.
Not to pick on televised golf, but if the Pebble Beach National had gone up against the NFL, these paragraphs would have been about something completely different.
NBC is beefing up its NHL coverage, showing what is essentially an NHL tripleheader next Sunday (2/19). Starting at Noon ET with 3 regional games, NBC will then show the Boston at Minnesota game at 3 PM ET nationally. Then NBC Sports Network will carry the New Jersey vs. Montreal game with coverage starting at 6 PM ET.
NBC Sports Group also announced a 5-year contract to televise Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) football and basketball games. The new contract includes NBC Sports Network and its Comcast SportsNet regional networks. This announcement seems much overblown. Those that made a big deal about this announcement seem to have overlooked that the CAA includes the likes of Towson University, George Mason, Northeastern, Drexel, Hofstra, and others. These are all excellent institutions. That is not in question. It's just that the 'typical' college basketball fan isn't waiting for the schedule to come out to alter their days for the Delaware vs. North-Carolina-Wilmington telecasts. What this "announcement" really means is that NBC Sports Group is seeking live programming for its networks in place of informercials for fitness products and some of the other oddities taking up time on their sports networks during odd hours.
Along those same lines, PlayOn Sports Network announced plans to debut a high school sports related TV channel later this year including high school sports events from what is already 21 states. While I understand and appreciate increased coverage of high school football and basketball, it should be on a local or regional (at most) level and not on a national platform. The network's release points out the millions of high school sports participants and how many millions attend or watch high school sports across the country. While those statistics are true, they are due to the local schools and clearly not because there is a demand for high school sports across the board, especially for a 24-hour network.
Somebody will be expected to help defray the costs of producing live telecasts from around the country. And you can easily guess that the PlayOn Sports people expect it to be paid from cable and satellite subscribers each month whether they care or not. I'm already paying my local cable provider each month for their local access channels which showcase an occasional local high school game. I don't wish to pay to see high school games from hundreds of miles away with schools and players I have never heard of and have no interest in.
My other problem with this is how it takes away from local radio stations. If and as even more high school football and basketball games are televised, it tells even more local radio stations they don't need to broadcast the local high school games anymore. And instead of going with live programming from their studios, the radio stations will continue to pick up syndicated and network shows.
MLB Network is adding to its on-air studio staff in time for the start of spring training. Alanna Rizzo joins MLB Network from ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain where she appeared on Rockies telecasts, and previously covered the Brewers as weekend sports anchor at WISC-TV Madison. Scott Braun also joins MLB Network, coming over from ESPN where he handled college basketball play-by-play for ESPN and covered the Miami Heat for the ESPN web site. Also joining is Lauren Shehadi, who comes over from the CBS Sports web site. Shehadi has also been a sports anchor at KXMC-TV in Minot ND and worked at Comcast SportsNet Washington.
Sorry to learn that "The Fabulous Sports Babe", Nanci Donnellan, has left Tampa's ESPN 1040 due to serious health issues. She was one of those "love her or hate her" broadcasters when she became the first female to host a national sports show in the mid-90's. Whitney Johnson, formerly with WDAE 620, has taken over the Noon to 3 PM show from Donnellan on ESPN 1040.
NEW YORK: It is now official that Josh Lewin joins Howie Rose in the Mets' radio booth starting with the coming season on WFAN, replacing Wayne Hagin. Lewin plans to continue handling San Diego Chargers radio, which will make for some long weekends both in the air and on the air.
JACKSON: Still another loss in the sports media world. Frank Underwood of WBFG 96.5, who covered sports for nearly 10 years, passed away on Sunday (2/12) after a brief but undisclosed illness.
Showing posts with label wqam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wqam. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
The Broadcast Booth - July 14th update
How about this? Opposing radio stations actually hustling to compete for listeners. This month. It's about time. Miami sports radio stations are gearing up for the upcoming NFL season whether the Dolphins are in contention or not.
We are waiting to learn what impact there may be as 790 The Ticket begins its extensive Dolphins coverage with play-by-play and an afternoon drive show dedicated to Dolphins and NFL coverage. Now rival Sports Talk WQAM 560 is bringing definitive football talk to the early afternoon. WQAM has reportedly signed Michael Irvin to host the local Noon to 3 PM slot beginning on July 26th and prior to the pre-season openers.
Many NFL fans may not realize that Irvin played high school football in South Florida and was a Miami U. Hurricane prior to his success with the NFL Dallas Cowboys. Thus the local ties in place.
Irvin's show appears to be an ideal fit. In addition to the local tie-in to draw Dolphins fans, his national scope figures to appeal to the large number of 'transplants' who follow other NFL teams but now reside in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area during at least some of the year.
Yet, what appeals to me the most about this is that WQAM is making the effort to compete against The Ticket for the NFL and Dolphins fans. This type of move is all too rare in local radio these days. In the markets with more than one sports stations, it seems like all these stations do is promote ratings victories over the other other station instead of breaking stories.
There is too much reporting what other media is reporting and spending hours and hours speculating about rumored trades and signings. Worse yet, I continue to hear "scoreboard updates" on sports stations which sometimes do not include scores in progress or finals of out of town games.
The Dolphins may not contend this season, but their fans will be among the best informed courtesy of the local sports stations.
Meanwhile, I'll admit that I am surprised by the two most watched sports programs over the past week. It goes to show how much the public has taken to live sports programming.
Even the LeBron James announcement finished among the 3 highest watched cable TV programs for the entire year, as fans not in those cities that had a chance to sign him watched as well. Those ratings speak for themselves.
I'll admit I was also surprised to see the large audience for ABC-TV and the World Cup final game this past Sunday (July 11). I was among the majority who had anticipated a large drop in audience after the USA was eliminated. After all of the "I suppose the over-under is 1 1/2 on these games" jokes about the lack of scoring that would seem to keep many casual observers from watching, the audience was there with a world championship on the line.
Getting back to the success of the LeBron James decision show. I must say that I was among the few who were fine with ESPN having the exclusive to the actual announcement. Maybe an hour looked to be overblown, but the audience response seems to say otherwise. ESPN has been and is a sports news organization, as well as a major partner in showcasing the NBA.
My personal hunch is that the LeBron decision show will prove to be the start of a new concept. I could see one of the NBA's television partners (ESPN, TNT, NBA-TV, etc.) hosting a one-hour showcase on July 8th (or whatever the first signing night will be) to let at least one major free agent announce where he will go. Granted, there won't be a LeBron James every year, but maybe there doesn't have to be. The audience for LeBron's decision from all over the USA tells me that people are going to watch even without direct local team impact. You read this here first.
Congrats to Chris Berman of ESPN on being awarded the Pete Rozelle Radio-Televison Award for "longtime exceptional contributions to radio and TV in pro football". Berman will go...........all............the...........way to Canton OH (the Pro Football Hall of Fame) to receive the award on August 6th. Believe it or not, Berman is about to begin his 25th season of hosting ESPN's Sunday NFL programming.
ESPN also continued its dominance in media news by announcing a new 12-year agreement for ACC telecasts, which takes effect for the 2011-12 seasons. This pact includes Raycom Sports handling regional distribution of Conference games not selected for ESPN or ABC.
While separate from the ACC contract, the College GameDay show will add another hour each Saturday morning. Starting September 4th, ESPNU will begin the show from 9 to 10 AM ET prior to its regular 2-hour airing on ESPN to set the scene for the day's and night's games. In addition, the entire 3-hours will also air on ESPN Radio.
During the games, Chris Fowler will host College Football Live on ESPN while John Saunders continues as ABC's pre-game, half-time, and postgame studio anchor.
NEW YORK: Add WFAN 660 to the list of sports stations holding contests for on-air positions. The Fan is holding auditions at 4 regional malls along with some locations of a sponsor of the promotion, while planning a live "finals" judging on August 27th. This is not new, even to WFAN, which found Joe Benigno (its current midday host) by a similar method back in 1995. Last week we reported on the sports station in Atlanta holding a contest to find a new program host.
In the Yankees' TV booth, John Flaherty, the former catcher, became more than an analyst when he happened to be working the telecast on Sunday (July 11). He displayed his catching skills when he caught a foul ball (on the fly) in the broadcast booth.
Speaking of timing, how about Fran Healy's "Game 365" series showing a series of interviews in tribute to George Steinbrenner this past Sunday on most of the Fox Sports regional TV networks? This scheduled installment in the series happened to air 2 days before Steinbrenner's passing.
NASHVILLE: Fox Sports Tennessee and SportsSouth have signed a new 4-year deal to televise the NHL Predators which takes effect for the coming season and increases the number of telecasts. 60 regular season games will be shown during the coming season, with the number increasing to 70 games during the 4th season. One benefit for Fox Sports, despite the increased rights fees, is getting SportsSouth added to Comcast's channel lineup in Nashville.
DENVER: Mark Schlereth, the former Broncos lineman, is set to join "D-Mac" and former Broncos teammate Alfred Williams on 104.3 The Fan for the 4 to 7 PM show starting August 2nd. The 3-time Super Bowl champ (2 with Denver) has done some part-time analyst work in the Denver market since 2004, and is expected to continue part-time on ESPN.
AUSTIN: The Horn 104.9 is losing its morning sports host, at least until November. For once, it is actually not due to cutbacks. Dan Neil claims he was "forced off the air" because he is currently running for the Texas House of Representatives in the November election. Neil claims that his opponent, Donna Howard, has forced him off the air because the station did not wish to give her (Howard) the daily air (equal) time she requested at no charge. Neil is a former University of Texas lineman and played for the NFL Denver Broncos. The lost income is expected to cost him about $3,000 per month. No word yet on a replacement.
NAPLES FL: Sports talk is coming off of the sister stations 1200 AM (Lee and Charlotte Counties) and 1460 AM (Collier County) at the end of July. Both stations will convert to an all-news format supporting the WINK-TV news department as of August 2nd. The stations will have sports news updates twice per hour when the revised format takes effect.
FARGO: Nice move by WDAY 970 to get NHL Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher as a live guest and taking phone calls on Wednesday (July 14) during its midday "Sports Talk" show. The team recently signed local (Fargo area) standout Matt Cullen. It is rare for an NHL GM (or major representative of an NHL team) to appear on an out-of-market station.
We are waiting to learn what impact there may be as 790 The Ticket begins its extensive Dolphins coverage with play-by-play and an afternoon drive show dedicated to Dolphins and NFL coverage. Now rival Sports Talk WQAM 560 is bringing definitive football talk to the early afternoon. WQAM has reportedly signed Michael Irvin to host the local Noon to 3 PM slot beginning on July 26th and prior to the pre-season openers.
Many NFL fans may not realize that Irvin played high school football in South Florida and was a Miami U. Hurricane prior to his success with the NFL Dallas Cowboys. Thus the local ties in place.
Irvin's show appears to be an ideal fit. In addition to the local tie-in to draw Dolphins fans, his national scope figures to appeal to the large number of 'transplants' who follow other NFL teams but now reside in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area during at least some of the year.
Yet, what appeals to me the most about this is that WQAM is making the effort to compete against The Ticket for the NFL and Dolphins fans. This type of move is all too rare in local radio these days. In the markets with more than one sports stations, it seems like all these stations do is promote ratings victories over the other other station instead of breaking stories.
There is too much reporting what other media is reporting and spending hours and hours speculating about rumored trades and signings. Worse yet, I continue to hear "scoreboard updates" on sports stations which sometimes do not include scores in progress or finals of out of town games.
The Dolphins may not contend this season, but their fans will be among the best informed courtesy of the local sports stations.
Meanwhile, I'll admit that I am surprised by the two most watched sports programs over the past week. It goes to show how much the public has taken to live sports programming.
Even the LeBron James announcement finished among the 3 highest watched cable TV programs for the entire year, as fans not in those cities that had a chance to sign him watched as well. Those ratings speak for themselves.
I'll admit I was also surprised to see the large audience for ABC-TV and the World Cup final game this past Sunday (July 11). I was among the majority who had anticipated a large drop in audience after the USA was eliminated. After all of the "I suppose the over-under is 1 1/2 on these games" jokes about the lack of scoring that would seem to keep many casual observers from watching, the audience was there with a world championship on the line.
Getting back to the success of the LeBron James decision show. I must say that I was among the few who were fine with ESPN having the exclusive to the actual announcement. Maybe an hour looked to be overblown, but the audience response seems to say otherwise. ESPN has been and is a sports news organization, as well as a major partner in showcasing the NBA.
My personal hunch is that the LeBron decision show will prove to be the start of a new concept. I could see one of the NBA's television partners (ESPN, TNT, NBA-TV, etc.) hosting a one-hour showcase on July 8th (or whatever the first signing night will be) to let at least one major free agent announce where he will go. Granted, there won't be a LeBron James every year, but maybe there doesn't have to be. The audience for LeBron's decision from all over the USA tells me that people are going to watch even without direct local team impact. You read this here first.
Congrats to Chris Berman of ESPN on being awarded the Pete Rozelle Radio-Televison Award for "longtime exceptional contributions to radio and TV in pro football". Berman will go...........all............the...........way to Canton OH (the Pro Football Hall of Fame) to receive the award on August 6th. Believe it or not, Berman is about to begin his 25th season of hosting ESPN's Sunday NFL programming.
ESPN also continued its dominance in media news by announcing a new 12-year agreement for ACC telecasts, which takes effect for the 2011-12 seasons. This pact includes Raycom Sports handling regional distribution of Conference games not selected for ESPN or ABC.
While separate from the ACC contract, the College GameDay show will add another hour each Saturday morning. Starting September 4th, ESPNU will begin the show from 9 to 10 AM ET prior to its regular 2-hour airing on ESPN to set the scene for the day's and night's games. In addition, the entire 3-hours will also air on ESPN Radio.
During the games, Chris Fowler will host College Football Live on ESPN while John Saunders continues as ABC's pre-game, half-time, and postgame studio anchor.
NEW YORK: Add WFAN 660 to the list of sports stations holding contests for on-air positions. The Fan is holding auditions at 4 regional malls along with some locations of a sponsor of the promotion, while planning a live "finals" judging on August 27th. This is not new, even to WFAN, which found Joe Benigno (its current midday host) by a similar method back in 1995. Last week we reported on the sports station in Atlanta holding a contest to find a new program host.
In the Yankees' TV booth, John Flaherty, the former catcher, became more than an analyst when he happened to be working the telecast on Sunday (July 11). He displayed his catching skills when he caught a foul ball (on the fly) in the broadcast booth.
Speaking of timing, how about Fran Healy's "Game 365" series showing a series of interviews in tribute to George Steinbrenner this past Sunday on most of the Fox Sports regional TV networks? This scheduled installment in the series happened to air 2 days before Steinbrenner's passing.
NASHVILLE: Fox Sports Tennessee and SportsSouth have signed a new 4-year deal to televise the NHL Predators which takes effect for the coming season and increases the number of telecasts. 60 regular season games will be shown during the coming season, with the number increasing to 70 games during the 4th season. One benefit for Fox Sports, despite the increased rights fees, is getting SportsSouth added to Comcast's channel lineup in Nashville.
DENVER: Mark Schlereth, the former Broncos lineman, is set to join "D-Mac" and former Broncos teammate Alfred Williams on 104.3 The Fan for the 4 to 7 PM show starting August 2nd. The 3-time Super Bowl champ (2 with Denver) has done some part-time analyst work in the Denver market since 2004, and is expected to continue part-time on ESPN.
AUSTIN: The Horn 104.9 is losing its morning sports host, at least until November. For once, it is actually not due to cutbacks. Dan Neil claims he was "forced off the air" because he is currently running for the Texas House of Representatives in the November election. Neil claims that his opponent, Donna Howard, has forced him off the air because the station did not wish to give her (Howard) the daily air (equal) time she requested at no charge. Neil is a former University of Texas lineman and played for the NFL Denver Broncos. The lost income is expected to cost him about $3,000 per month. No word yet on a replacement.
NAPLES FL: Sports talk is coming off of the sister stations 1200 AM (Lee and Charlotte Counties) and 1460 AM (Collier County) at the end of July. Both stations will convert to an all-news format supporting the WINK-TV news department as of August 2nd. The stations will have sports news updates twice per hour when the revised format takes effect.
FARGO: Nice move by WDAY 970 to get NHL Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher as a live guest and taking phone calls on Wednesday (July 14) during its midday "Sports Talk" show. The team recently signed local (Fargo area) standout Matt Cullen. It is rare for an NHL GM (or major representative of an NHL team) to appear on an out-of-market station.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Sports Media Report - March 3rd update
The Miami Dolphins have turned the past season's high NFL television ratings into what appears to be a very successful new radio deal. Earlier this week, the team opted out of a possible 4th season of its contract with WQAM 560 and signed a fresh 6-year "partnership" with Clearance Channel. The team technically goes from one to two flagsh stations, as both WBGG Big 105.9 and WINZ 940 will air the games starting with the pre-season in August.
This deal reportedly includes WINZ airing a year-round Dolphins and NFL show weekdays from 5 to 7 PM.
What also makes this deal interesting is that the Dolphins are doing this without a rights fee, instead keeping the majority of the advertising revenue. I see some risks for the stations and the team from this new deal, but the local Dolphins fans will certainly come out the big winners on this.
Dolphins fans will continue to get extended pre and post-game programming (including choices), likely continuing to total 8 to 9 hours total on game days and nights. The year-round weekday show devoted to the Dolphins and NFL should be welcomed by the hardcore fans. It is also likely that the other Clearance Channel stations in the market will be active in Dolphins related promotions, adding more exposure for the fans via various radio formats.
The Dolphins front office takes a risk by taking the advertising revenue instead of probably $2 to $3 million per season for selling the broadcast rights. Why would the team do this?
Because they see it as a golden opportunity to package the radio time along with other team offerings the team has. Advertisers can get radio time "added" to buying stadium signage, game program space, game day suites, space on the Dolphins' web site, and on it goes. Or, they can get one or more of those perks when they purchase radio time. This COULD result in more revenue for the team compared with outright selling of the radio rights, but it is no guarantee. Again, the fans "win" because the team needs to be competitive to attract enough advertiser and sponsor response.
However, this aspect is where I see Clearance Channel taking a bigger risk than they realize. Their flagship stations will now, in effect, be selling time on their Dolphins and other sports related programming, offering time on the stations, and perhaps any other perks that Clearance Channel offers. The big spending advertisers seeking to reach the 25-52 male audience are much more likely to go with a package offered by the Dolphins for more than "just" the radio deal. They have reason to take advantage of reaching the target audience via radio spots, at the stadium, on the web site, and so on.
This will probably limit the radio stations (WINZ and WBGG) to attracting "lesser" advertisers (in terms of spending) to their own Dolphins and sports related programming. From a sales standpoint, that means more risk and more effort for the same or less revenue. It also continues to allow radio to be a lesser option for sponsors seeking to reach the pro sports audience.
I'm sure that a big reason for Clearance Channel to make this move is to get the game broadcasts away from rival WQAM. CC is hoping that this move will hurt WQAM's ratings, and ultimately their revenue.
Look again. WQAM has already announced that it will continue to provide its own pre and post-game programming for the Dolphins, including Dan Marino and Channing Crowder, along with other Dolphins related coverage and programming other than during Dolphins games.
Television ratings for the NFL were up in virtually every market this past season. It's not like the majority of fans are opting for radio coverage instead of watching the game on a big screen. Many of these fans have become used to tuning to WQAM before and after the games over the past 3 seasons.
Yet, now WQAM can provide their same programming, but without spending millions of dollars to the Dolphins for the broadcast rights, and retaining all of the ad revenue they sell. On those same game days, Clearance Channel's two stations are limited in revenue because of the chunk that will now go to the Dolphins. As a result, WQAM could "win" when it comes to billing.
Providing adjacent programming is not at all unprecedented. In Chicago, WGN Radio has not broadcast the Bears games for about five years now. Yet, the station kept going with up to 3 hours of pre and post-game call-ins and interviews on most Bears game days.
They have WBBM 780, which is the Bears' flagship station and is also the CBS Radio all-news outlet for Chicago, hyping the Bears to death all year round. To the point of having Jeff Joniak, the Bears' play-by-play voice on "reporting" on their sportscasts last week from the just concluded NFL Combine as the lead story. I'm serious. The Bears don't even have picks in the first 2 rounds of the upcoming NFL Draft, yet WBBM was leading sportscasts with reports about the coaches being at a scouting combine of college players.
In Miami, it will be interesting to see if the Dolphins are as competitive in the next 3 NFL seasons as the revenue battle between WQAM and Clearance Channel over the Dolphins contract.
Personally, I think radio stations are risking it with certain advertisers by doing these revenue share deals. Teams and stadiums are coming up with better options for the same advertisers.
NEW YORK: I realize that all-sports radio stations sometimes feel the need to stray away from sports for a few minutes here and there. But I was very disappointed in Mike Francesa's show last week on WFAN (and shown on YES TV) when he had Steve Phillips in studio for a full hour.
Phillips, you may recall, was let go by ESPN last year in a reported sex scandal. But here was the former GM of the local Mets in studio right as spring training camps are opening. I enjoyed Phillips' analysis over the years on ESPN and was interested to hear his thoughts looking ahead to the season.
Instead, the majority of the discussion with Francesa was about his sex addiction treatment and his personal life. Even to the point of taking several phone calls about his treatment. If this was not a sports show, I might have found the conversation interesting. But this is WFAN becoming WOR for an hour. That was the place to talk about the Mets and look ahead to the start of the baseball season. I'm still waiting.
SAN FRANCISCO: KNBR 680 is getting ready for baseball. As of this week they have moved F. P. Santangelo to the 7 to 10 PM slot or following Giants broadcasts. As a result, Damon Bruce has moved to Noon to 4 PM on sister station 1050 AM.
PHILADELPHIA: 76ers radio play-by-play voice Tom McGinnis missed a pair of game broadcasts last week due to "a personal matter". Jon Gurevitch, the former Sixers announcer now with Comcast, filled in for the broadcasts from Phoenix and Los Angeles.
CINCINNATI: Still another long-time newspaper writer will be picking up a microphone starting this week. Hal McCoy, who was forced into retirement at the end of the Reds 2009 season, has been hired by Fox Sports Ohio for its Reds game coverage. As a result, McCoy will get to cover the team for his 38th season. In addition to appearing on "Reds Live" pre and post-game shows, he will also contribute to the Fox Sports Ohio web site with stories and interviews.
CLEVELAND: SportsTime Ohio, the local cable TV network, has increased its spring training coverage this year. The 6-day a week "All Bets Are Off" talk show hosted by Bruce Drennan is airing all this week from the Indians' training camp in Goodyear AZ. The network will carry the team's exhibition opener this Friday but will be picking up the Reds' feed. Might be a bit tough on the Indians fans to have the other team's announcing, but if it helps to get the telecast on, it works for me.
PITTSBURGH: The Fan 93.7 KDKA-FM scored points with its audience when they got Pirates President Frank Coonelly to call in last week. A prominent local interview always helps. However, considering the number of qualified sportscasters looking for work, the station could also do better than Kalena Bell doing some of their sports updates. Not only don't NHL players "make" goals, but misprouncing the name Kent Tekulve in Pittsburgh doesn't help to endear the station to serious sports fans.
The Fan did add New York Vinnie (Vinnie Richichi) last week to co-host afternoon drive with columnist Ron Cook. Vinnie comes to Pittsburgh after several years in Seattle including a stint at KIRO.
HOUSTON: Astros fans with cable (or satellite which carries Fox Sports Houston) will feast this season. Fox Sports Houston will carry 152 games this season with KTXH-TV airing only 7 games. If Fox-TV stays with 3 Astros regional Saturday telecasts, fans could see literally every game on TV this season.
HAWAII: KUPA 1370 is back on the air, and is now a Fox Sports Radio affiliate. To their credit, much of the programming will air live, putting Jim Rome on during morning drive. Here is one instance where delaying Dan Patrick's show is justified. Rather than air live from 3 to 6 AM local time, it will air from 9 AM until Noon on weekdays. At least the games being previewed won't already have finished, such as happens in Chicago and some other markets airing Patrick on tape delay. However, as of now the station has yet to announce any local programming, and starts up against KKEA 1420 ESPN Radio, which does have some local shows.
ALABAMA: ESPN-TV is aware of the interest in University of Alabama football. The spring football game has drawn at least 80,000 fans over the past few years. As a result ESPN will televise the game, for the 2nd straight year, now scheduled for April 17th.
REDDING CA: Just after we carried the story last week that 96.1 FM will carry the San Francisco Giants broadcasts this season comes word that Fox Sports 1670 will carry the Oakland A's games. In addition, 1670 is picking up the NBA Sacramento Kings games starting March 16th when the Kings meet the Lakers, and continuing through the following season. A restriction by Comcast Cable prevents the Kings telecasts from being shown in Redding, thus the significance of the radio package. Then again, the way the Kings are going this season, they might do better to restrict telecasts anyway.
BILLINGS: Congrats to Joe Block for becoming the play-by-play voice of the baseball minor league Billings Mustangs starting this season. Much further south, Block handles the pre-game, halftime, and post-game for the New Orleans Hornets Radio Network, as well as handling play-by-play assignments for Comcast Sports Southeast and Cox Sports Television.
MARSHFIELD PA: WATD Sports Director Bill Wilhelm continues to recover from being in a coma for more than a day last week. He is a local icon who has broadcast more than 2,000 sports events over the past 30+ years. In a wonderful gesture, WATD has devoted a page on its web site for well wishers, and more than 100 comments were up within the first 12 hours.
This deal reportedly includes WINZ airing a year-round Dolphins and NFL show weekdays from 5 to 7 PM.
What also makes this deal interesting is that the Dolphins are doing this without a rights fee, instead keeping the majority of the advertising revenue. I see some risks for the stations and the team from this new deal, but the local Dolphins fans will certainly come out the big winners on this.
Dolphins fans will continue to get extended pre and post-game programming (including choices), likely continuing to total 8 to 9 hours total on game days and nights. The year-round weekday show devoted to the Dolphins and NFL should be welcomed by the hardcore fans. It is also likely that the other Clearance Channel stations in the market will be active in Dolphins related promotions, adding more exposure for the fans via various radio formats.
The Dolphins front office takes a risk by taking the advertising revenue instead of probably $2 to $3 million per season for selling the broadcast rights. Why would the team do this?
Because they see it as a golden opportunity to package the radio time along with other team offerings the team has. Advertisers can get radio time "added" to buying stadium signage, game program space, game day suites, space on the Dolphins' web site, and on it goes. Or, they can get one or more of those perks when they purchase radio time. This COULD result in more revenue for the team compared with outright selling of the radio rights, but it is no guarantee. Again, the fans "win" because the team needs to be competitive to attract enough advertiser and sponsor response.
However, this aspect is where I see Clearance Channel taking a bigger risk than they realize. Their flagship stations will now, in effect, be selling time on their Dolphins and other sports related programming, offering time on the stations, and perhaps any other perks that Clearance Channel offers. The big spending advertisers seeking to reach the 25-52 male audience are much more likely to go with a package offered by the Dolphins for more than "just" the radio deal. They have reason to take advantage of reaching the target audience via radio spots, at the stadium, on the web site, and so on.
This will probably limit the radio stations (WINZ and WBGG) to attracting "lesser" advertisers (in terms of spending) to their own Dolphins and sports related programming. From a sales standpoint, that means more risk and more effort for the same or less revenue. It also continues to allow radio to be a lesser option for sponsors seeking to reach the pro sports audience.
I'm sure that a big reason for Clearance Channel to make this move is to get the game broadcasts away from rival WQAM. CC is hoping that this move will hurt WQAM's ratings, and ultimately their revenue.
Look again. WQAM has already announced that it will continue to provide its own pre and post-game programming for the Dolphins, including Dan Marino and Channing Crowder, along with other Dolphins related coverage and programming other than during Dolphins games.
Television ratings for the NFL were up in virtually every market this past season. It's not like the majority of fans are opting for radio coverage instead of watching the game on a big screen. Many of these fans have become used to tuning to WQAM before and after the games over the past 3 seasons.
Yet, now WQAM can provide their same programming, but without spending millions of dollars to the Dolphins for the broadcast rights, and retaining all of the ad revenue they sell. On those same game days, Clearance Channel's two stations are limited in revenue because of the chunk that will now go to the Dolphins. As a result, WQAM could "win" when it comes to billing.
Providing adjacent programming is not at all unprecedented. In Chicago, WGN Radio has not broadcast the Bears games for about five years now. Yet, the station kept going with up to 3 hours of pre and post-game call-ins and interviews on most Bears game days.
They have WBBM 780, which is the Bears' flagship station and is also the CBS Radio all-news outlet for Chicago, hyping the Bears to death all year round. To the point of having Jeff Joniak, the Bears' play-by-play voice on "reporting" on their sportscasts last week from the just concluded NFL Combine as the lead story. I'm serious. The Bears don't even have picks in the first 2 rounds of the upcoming NFL Draft, yet WBBM was leading sportscasts with reports about the coaches being at a scouting combine of college players.
In Miami, it will be interesting to see if the Dolphins are as competitive in the next 3 NFL seasons as the revenue battle between WQAM and Clearance Channel over the Dolphins contract.
Personally, I think radio stations are risking it with certain advertisers by doing these revenue share deals. Teams and stadiums are coming up with better options for the same advertisers.
NEW YORK: I realize that all-sports radio stations sometimes feel the need to stray away from sports for a few minutes here and there. But I was very disappointed in Mike Francesa's show last week on WFAN (and shown on YES TV) when he had Steve Phillips in studio for a full hour.
Phillips, you may recall, was let go by ESPN last year in a reported sex scandal. But here was the former GM of the local Mets in studio right as spring training camps are opening. I enjoyed Phillips' analysis over the years on ESPN and was interested to hear his thoughts looking ahead to the season.
Instead, the majority of the discussion with Francesa was about his sex addiction treatment and his personal life. Even to the point of taking several phone calls about his treatment. If this was not a sports show, I might have found the conversation interesting. But this is WFAN becoming WOR for an hour. That was the place to talk about the Mets and look ahead to the start of the baseball season. I'm still waiting.
SAN FRANCISCO: KNBR 680 is getting ready for baseball. As of this week they have moved F. P. Santangelo to the 7 to 10 PM slot or following Giants broadcasts. As a result, Damon Bruce has moved to Noon to 4 PM on sister station 1050 AM.
PHILADELPHIA: 76ers radio play-by-play voice Tom McGinnis missed a pair of game broadcasts last week due to "a personal matter". Jon Gurevitch, the former Sixers announcer now with Comcast, filled in for the broadcasts from Phoenix and Los Angeles.
CINCINNATI: Still another long-time newspaper writer will be picking up a microphone starting this week. Hal McCoy, who was forced into retirement at the end of the Reds 2009 season, has been hired by Fox Sports Ohio for its Reds game coverage. As a result, McCoy will get to cover the team for his 38th season. In addition to appearing on "Reds Live" pre and post-game shows, he will also contribute to the Fox Sports Ohio web site with stories and interviews.
CLEVELAND: SportsTime Ohio, the local cable TV network, has increased its spring training coverage this year. The 6-day a week "All Bets Are Off" talk show hosted by Bruce Drennan is airing all this week from the Indians' training camp in Goodyear AZ. The network will carry the team's exhibition opener this Friday but will be picking up the Reds' feed. Might be a bit tough on the Indians fans to have the other team's announcing, but if it helps to get the telecast on, it works for me.
PITTSBURGH: The Fan 93.7 KDKA-FM scored points with its audience when they got Pirates President Frank Coonelly to call in last week. A prominent local interview always helps. However, considering the number of qualified sportscasters looking for work, the station could also do better than Kalena Bell doing some of their sports updates. Not only don't NHL players "make" goals, but misprouncing the name Kent Tekulve in Pittsburgh doesn't help to endear the station to serious sports fans.
The Fan did add New York Vinnie (Vinnie Richichi) last week to co-host afternoon drive with columnist Ron Cook. Vinnie comes to Pittsburgh after several years in Seattle including a stint at KIRO.
HOUSTON: Astros fans with cable (or satellite which carries Fox Sports Houston) will feast this season. Fox Sports Houston will carry 152 games this season with KTXH-TV airing only 7 games. If Fox-TV stays with 3 Astros regional Saturday telecasts, fans could see literally every game on TV this season.
HAWAII: KUPA 1370 is back on the air, and is now a Fox Sports Radio affiliate. To their credit, much of the programming will air live, putting Jim Rome on during morning drive. Here is one instance where delaying Dan Patrick's show is justified. Rather than air live from 3 to 6 AM local time, it will air from 9 AM until Noon on weekdays. At least the games being previewed won't already have finished, such as happens in Chicago and some other markets airing Patrick on tape delay. However, as of now the station has yet to announce any local programming, and starts up against KKEA 1420 ESPN Radio, which does have some local shows.
ALABAMA: ESPN-TV is aware of the interest in University of Alabama football. The spring football game has drawn at least 80,000 fans over the past few years. As a result ESPN will televise the game, for the 2nd straight year, now scheduled for April 17th.
REDDING CA: Just after we carried the story last week that 96.1 FM will carry the San Francisco Giants broadcasts this season comes word that Fox Sports 1670 will carry the Oakland A's games. In addition, 1670 is picking up the NBA Sacramento Kings games starting March 16th when the Kings meet the Lakers, and continuing through the following season. A restriction by Comcast Cable prevents the Kings telecasts from being shown in Redding, thus the significance of the radio package. Then again, the way the Kings are going this season, they might do better to restrict telecasts anyway.
BILLINGS: Congrats to Joe Block for becoming the play-by-play voice of the baseball minor league Billings Mustangs starting this season. Much further south, Block handles the pre-game, halftime, and post-game for the New Orleans Hornets Radio Network, as well as handling play-by-play assignments for Comcast Sports Southeast and Cox Sports Television.
MARSHFIELD PA: WATD Sports Director Bill Wilhelm continues to recover from being in a coma for more than a day last week. He is a local icon who has broadcast more than 2,000 sports events over the past 30+ years. In a wonderful gesture, WATD has devoted a page on its web site for well wishers, and more than 100 comments were up within the first 12 hours.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Sports Media Report - January 4th update
Unfortunately, the loss of a unique journalist and broadcaster starts out the new year and decade, even if his age is 87. Sorry to learn of the death of Bill Gleason this past weekend, the long long time Chicago columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and Southtown Economist. Yet, many around country knew of him for helping to pioneer the concept of regularly scheduled sports writers appearing on electronic media.
Back in 1975, WGN Radio Chicago decided to experiment with some Sunday afternoon time following Cubs or Bears broadcasts, and gave an hour to a group of local sports writers to discuss the sports news of the week with strong opinion. The "experiment" soon went permanent and expanded. In the late 1980's, "The Sports Writers on TV" was formed by then SportsChannel Chicago, and was also shown in other "SportsChannel" cities including Los Angeles. Anyone who saw or heard this show knows how programs such as "The Sports Reporters" on ESPN got started and evolved into others such as PTI. Those shows will continue to serve as reminders of what Bill Gleason helped to start.
When I was covering games in the Chicago area for radio in the mid to late 70's, I always enjoyed my talks with Bill Gleason. He was one of the rare breed that always wanted to hear ideas and opinions of others, regardless of their age. I miss him already.
It's hard to believe how much sports media space leading into the new year and decade was taken up by the anxious moments while cable and satellite providers negotiated with TV networks about carrying of programming. Some of the negotiations had a "happy" ending, while others didn't. But it has gotten out of hand.
Some cities nearly lost all of the Fox-TV channels, both cable and over-the-air. Others still don't get NFL Network after literally years of "negotiations". Around the country, the cable and satellite operators blame the networks, and vise versa. You know what? It's time to blame them all.
Suppose you just signed up for new cell phone service, but then the carrier tells you that with this plan you can only call certain area codes but not others. You would, of course, be outraged. For years you have been able to call into any and every area code you want.
Suppose you just signed up for internet broadband service for a monthly fee. And then found out that you could not log on to certain social networks because the only broadband provider in your building doesn't access them. That wouldn't fly, would it?
Yet, cable and satellite TV providers are in effect doing this to us. Why are they getting away with it? Who are they to tell us which channels and networks we can and can't watch?
Every one of us, whether cable or satellite should incur a minimal monthly charge for the service the company we select is providing, as well as to receive all of the local over-the-air channels serving our area. Beyond that, it should be the choice of the customer.
We all have seen how much cable/satellite monthly fees have skyrocketed over the past five years. For what? The cable/satellite company we hire still provides the same services and benefits.
Any and all additional channels and networks should be available to us for an optional additional fee. No matter where we live (in the U.S.) we should be able to get the NFL Network, Versus, Big Ten Network, and others, if we want it and if we want to pay the price for it. Period.
Most sports fans are not able to receive every sports channel they want, and it isn't about price. Choices are limited. But it is just as unfair that people who are not sports fans are also paying several dollars each month for sports channels they don't even watch.
I don't have any small children in my household. Yet, I'm paying each month for kids' channels. I am forced to pay for channels in languages I do not speak or understand, and channels dedicated to religions I do not participate in. Along with others that for whatever reason I never watch. All this while I can't get certain sports channels I would pay a couple bucks more a month to get.
Where is our government to protect us from this? I'm sure many of you remember the period in the early 80's when local politicians were setting regulations for cable companies to install and build their local systems, subject to government approval. And when regulations about back yard satellite dishes were put in place. If there was or is some government control, then where did it go?
Currently, I am looking into starting a web site and pursuing avenues to alert local politicians that TV viewers everywhere deserve to make their own choices. I would rather do that than read article after article from around the country about networks blaming cable companies and how sports fans are often deprived of watching sports events that are important to them.
Of course, this is not only an attack on the networks and the cable/satellite providers. Going to an a la carte channel selection across the country would level the playing field for all concerned. Any of the channels and networks that charge too much will feel it in the wallet, too.
Overall, it now costs way too much to be a sports fan. Not only is going to games getting priced out, but the cost to simply watch games on TV is getting out of hand. Now it's time for us as fans to negotiate.
Meanwhile, NBA-TV continues to step up its game coverage. While ESPN and TNT offer a reduced load of national games surrounding the New Year holiday, the Network is offering games every possible night. On Tuesday night (Jan. 5), NBA-TV is presenting a live doubleheader picking up local telecasts. The Network has added the Orlando at Indiana game at 7 PM ET and studio analysis as a lead in to its Fan Night voted selection of Houston at the L.A. Lakers at 10:30 PM ET.
What makes this wonderfully unique from the ESPN and TNT doubleheaders is that NBA-TV will devote at least 7 hours of live coverage for the night. In addition to a full pre-game show before the first telecast and post-game wrapup after the second, there could be nearly one hour between games with studio analysis.
NBC-TV finishes the regular season with 15 "wins" in the Sunday night ratings for its 16 weeks of telecasts. No surprise that the Jets game vs. Cincinnati scored well in the ratings at the start, but for the numbers to hold up in spite of the game being a blowout speaks well for the NBC team.
For the upcoming weekend, NBC has slated Tom Hammond, Joe Gibbs, and Joe Theismann to call the Jets rematch at Cincinnati for Saturday's first game. Then at 8 PM ET, the A team of Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth will call the Dallas vs. Philadelphia rematch.
Then, on Sunday, CBS will have the Ravens–Pats game at 1 PM ET with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms, while FOX will have the next game at 4:30 ET with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman calling the Green Bay vs. Arizona rematch.
As one who does not like having this Wild Card weekend anyway, the thought of 3 of the games being a one-week-later rematch takes away even more, but the show must go on.
The MLB Network continues to improve seemingly every week. This Wednesday (Jan. 6th) features the debut of Peter Gammons, who begins with the Network's telecast of the Hall of Fame announcement.
ESPN is producing the Big East (Conference) Network Game of the Week in regional syndication this season, and has lined up a group of TV stations that will cover 41% of the U.S. The list of cities covered includes the usual suspects such as NYC, Chicago, Philly, Boston, D.C., Hartford, and Pittsburgh among others. What makes this year's group of stations so interesting is that markets including Tampa, Orlando, and Los Angeles are also included, with L.A. being among the first-timers. Pretty soon it might be called the "Big Deal" game of the week.
MIAMI: The WFTL group of AM stations which feature regional and national sports programming primarily north of Miami have just hired a well known Miami area sports personality for afternoon drive starting next week.
Ed Kaplan will handle the 4 to 7 PM spot on 640 AM and 2 other stations which also carry the same feed. Since being let go by WQAM in 2007, Kaplan had been retired until this past October when WFTL brought him in to host Yankees related programming surrounding the recent World Series broadcasts.
Kaplan is a pioneer of sorts in the market. He was the first to host a sports show on WQAM when it was still a mostly music station in 1986, and helped to transition 560 into a full-time sports station. For those not old enough to remember Sonny Hirsch on WKAT in the late 1960's, Kaplan introduced a lot of sports fans to this format.
CINCINNATI: Quick recoveries sometimes happen on the field, but it is great to see this one in broadcasting. Ken Broo was on the air on Sunday (Jan. 3) from Noon to 3 PM on "SportsTalk" on WLW. Quite an accomplishment, considering that Broo, also Sports Director of Channel 5 TV, had emergency heart surgery on December 24th after one artery was discovered as being completely blocked. Now that's a Happy New Year!
Back in 1975, WGN Radio Chicago decided to experiment with some Sunday afternoon time following Cubs or Bears broadcasts, and gave an hour to a group of local sports writers to discuss the sports news of the week with strong opinion. The "experiment" soon went permanent and expanded. In the late 1980's, "The Sports Writers on TV" was formed by then SportsChannel Chicago, and was also shown in other "SportsChannel" cities including Los Angeles. Anyone who saw or heard this show knows how programs such as "The Sports Reporters" on ESPN got started and evolved into others such as PTI. Those shows will continue to serve as reminders of what Bill Gleason helped to start.
When I was covering games in the Chicago area for radio in the mid to late 70's, I always enjoyed my talks with Bill Gleason. He was one of the rare breed that always wanted to hear ideas and opinions of others, regardless of their age. I miss him already.
It's hard to believe how much sports media space leading into the new year and decade was taken up by the anxious moments while cable and satellite providers negotiated with TV networks about carrying of programming. Some of the negotiations had a "happy" ending, while others didn't. But it has gotten out of hand.
Some cities nearly lost all of the Fox-TV channels, both cable and over-the-air. Others still don't get NFL Network after literally years of "negotiations". Around the country, the cable and satellite operators blame the networks, and vise versa. You know what? It's time to blame them all.
Suppose you just signed up for new cell phone service, but then the carrier tells you that with this plan you can only call certain area codes but not others. You would, of course, be outraged. For years you have been able to call into any and every area code you want.
Suppose you just signed up for internet broadband service for a monthly fee. And then found out that you could not log on to certain social networks because the only broadband provider in your building doesn't access them. That wouldn't fly, would it?
Yet, cable and satellite TV providers are in effect doing this to us. Why are they getting away with it? Who are they to tell us which channels and networks we can and can't watch?
Every one of us, whether cable or satellite should incur a minimal monthly charge for the service the company we select is providing, as well as to receive all of the local over-the-air channels serving our area. Beyond that, it should be the choice of the customer.
We all have seen how much cable/satellite monthly fees have skyrocketed over the past five years. For what? The cable/satellite company we hire still provides the same services and benefits.
Any and all additional channels and networks should be available to us for an optional additional fee. No matter where we live (in the U.S.) we should be able to get the NFL Network, Versus, Big Ten Network, and others, if we want it and if we want to pay the price for it. Period.
Most sports fans are not able to receive every sports channel they want, and it isn't about price. Choices are limited. But it is just as unfair that people who are not sports fans are also paying several dollars each month for sports channels they don't even watch.
I don't have any small children in my household. Yet, I'm paying each month for kids' channels. I am forced to pay for channels in languages I do not speak or understand, and channels dedicated to religions I do not participate in. Along with others that for whatever reason I never watch. All this while I can't get certain sports channels I would pay a couple bucks more a month to get.
Where is our government to protect us from this? I'm sure many of you remember the period in the early 80's when local politicians were setting regulations for cable companies to install and build their local systems, subject to government approval. And when regulations about back yard satellite dishes were put in place. If there was or is some government control, then where did it go?
Currently, I am looking into starting a web site and pursuing avenues to alert local politicians that TV viewers everywhere deserve to make their own choices. I would rather do that than read article after article from around the country about networks blaming cable companies and how sports fans are often deprived of watching sports events that are important to them.
Of course, this is not only an attack on the networks and the cable/satellite providers. Going to an a la carte channel selection across the country would level the playing field for all concerned. Any of the channels and networks that charge too much will feel it in the wallet, too.
Overall, it now costs way too much to be a sports fan. Not only is going to games getting priced out, but the cost to simply watch games on TV is getting out of hand. Now it's time for us as fans to negotiate.
Meanwhile, NBA-TV continues to step up its game coverage. While ESPN and TNT offer a reduced load of national games surrounding the New Year holiday, the Network is offering games every possible night. On Tuesday night (Jan. 5), NBA-TV is presenting a live doubleheader picking up local telecasts. The Network has added the Orlando at Indiana game at 7 PM ET and studio analysis as a lead in to its Fan Night voted selection of Houston at the L.A. Lakers at 10:30 PM ET.
What makes this wonderfully unique from the ESPN and TNT doubleheaders is that NBA-TV will devote at least 7 hours of live coverage for the night. In addition to a full pre-game show before the first telecast and post-game wrapup after the second, there could be nearly one hour between games with studio analysis.
NBC-TV finishes the regular season with 15 "wins" in the Sunday night ratings for its 16 weeks of telecasts. No surprise that the Jets game vs. Cincinnati scored well in the ratings at the start, but for the numbers to hold up in spite of the game being a blowout speaks well for the NBC team.
For the upcoming weekend, NBC has slated Tom Hammond, Joe Gibbs, and Joe Theismann to call the Jets rematch at Cincinnati for Saturday's first game. Then at 8 PM ET, the A team of Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth will call the Dallas vs. Philadelphia rematch.
Then, on Sunday, CBS will have the Ravens–Pats game at 1 PM ET with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms, while FOX will have the next game at 4:30 ET with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman calling the Green Bay vs. Arizona rematch.
As one who does not like having this Wild Card weekend anyway, the thought of 3 of the games being a one-week-later rematch takes away even more, but the show must go on.
The MLB Network continues to improve seemingly every week. This Wednesday (Jan. 6th) features the debut of Peter Gammons, who begins with the Network's telecast of the Hall of Fame announcement.
ESPN is producing the Big East (Conference) Network Game of the Week in regional syndication this season, and has lined up a group of TV stations that will cover 41% of the U.S. The list of cities covered includes the usual suspects such as NYC, Chicago, Philly, Boston, D.C., Hartford, and Pittsburgh among others. What makes this year's group of stations so interesting is that markets including Tampa, Orlando, and Los Angeles are also included, with L.A. being among the first-timers. Pretty soon it might be called the "Big Deal" game of the week.
MIAMI: The WFTL group of AM stations which feature regional and national sports programming primarily north of Miami have just hired a well known Miami area sports personality for afternoon drive starting next week.
Ed Kaplan will handle the 4 to 7 PM spot on 640 AM and 2 other stations which also carry the same feed. Since being let go by WQAM in 2007, Kaplan had been retired until this past October when WFTL brought him in to host Yankees related programming surrounding the recent World Series broadcasts.
Kaplan is a pioneer of sorts in the market. He was the first to host a sports show on WQAM when it was still a mostly music station in 1986, and helped to transition 560 into a full-time sports station. For those not old enough to remember Sonny Hirsch on WKAT in the late 1960's, Kaplan introduced a lot of sports fans to this format.
CINCINNATI: Quick recoveries sometimes happen on the field, but it is great to see this one in broadcasting. Ken Broo was on the air on Sunday (Jan. 3) from Noon to 3 PM on "SportsTalk" on WLW. Quite an accomplishment, considering that Broo, also Sports Director of Channel 5 TV, had emergency heart surgery on December 24th after one artery was discovered as being completely blocked. Now that's a Happy New Year!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Sports Media Report - July 21st update
The sports world may yet feel some impact from the challenging economy as soon as later this year. Here we are just a couple of weeks from the opening of NFL training camps, and word is that the TV networks carrying NFL games are only about one-third sold out regarding commercial time for the upcoming season.
These are the same networks that usually base their costs according to prime time prices. However, the economy has already had an impact on prime time TV inventory sales, thus reducing the opportunity for higher or even consistent ad rates compared with last year.
In addition, primary sponsors such as auto makers and financial institutions are struggling or have gone away since last season, leaving fewer ad dollars to be divided among the networks.
MediaWeek.com reports that about 1/3 of network ad time has been sold for the upcoming season, a definite reflection of the concern. TV ad sales were already significantly reduced for NASCAR, even if that is due more to the problems in the auto industry.
The next NFL TV rights negotiations could be a better battle than anything on the field. The networks are not going to continue to pay hundreds of millions if they can't sell enough inventory. As it stands now, fans complain when a few of the Thursday night games can't be seen without paying extra for the NFL Network. If the networks do not wish to pony up for the league packages and the NFL games go local (such as with baseball, basketball, and hockey), it would mean way fewer out of market games shown each weekend.
It is not like the NFL can get away with raising their ticket prices even more. Many are already priced out from going and TV is their only source. If and when the NFL rights are reduced, this figures to carry over to baseball and basketball negotiations.
On the other hand, MultiChannel.com reports that ad revenue is doing well for soccer and the 2010 World Cup. It says that Univision has already sold nearly 2/3 of its inventory, even though the Cup doesn't get underway until long after the coming NFL season has been concluded.
NEW YORK: WFAN 66 continues as the nation's most popular sports station, actually increasing its audience to the point of finishing first in men 25-54 during both morning and afternoon drive in the most recent ratings.
This indicates the continued success of Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton in the morning. The Fan showed more than 4 times the audience of WEPN 1050 in this demographic. WEPN has finally been able to incrase power to 50,000 watts and improve its signal coverage around the NYC region.
HOUSTON: KILT continues as the leader among Houston's sports station, including finishing first among the sports talkers during every daypart except mornings. Although KGOW won the sports battle in the morning, the latest audience measurement showed an overall drop of more than 1 1/2 points among all of the sports stations during morning drive. The summer ratings could get interesting, since the Astros have gotten within striking distance in the N. L. Central and the Texans season will be starting shortly.
KILT will continue to broadcast the Texans games, with Marc Vandermeer and Andre Ware returning as the broadcast team. KFNC 97.5 will be airing the Compass Media NFL broadcasts including 3 Dallas Cowboys games in the Houston market. Those are Dallas vs. K. C. on Oct. 11, vs. Atlanta on Oct. 25, and vs. Washington on Nov. 22. On the TV side, KIAH-TV 39 has secured the over-the-air rights to the Texans game scheduled for Monday Night Footballon Nov. 23rd against Tennessee. They will also air the Aug. 31 pre-season game against Minnesota (also shown on ESPN).
LOS ANGELES: San Diego Chargers games will air again this season in Los Angeles, as KLAC 570 picks up the Chargers Network with Josh Lewin and Hank Bauer.
SALT LAKE CITY: The Utah Jazz will begin their run on KFNZ 1320 this season and have named David Locke as the new play-by-play voice. Usually, changing radio stations is the significant part of such an announcement. Not this time. Locke becomes only the 2nd voice of the Jazz in (Utah) franchise history due to the recent and very quiet retirement of Hot Rod Hundley after 35 seasons.
Hundley developed a national following when he was on CBS-TV when that network had the NBA coverage in the 70's and into the early 80's. Locke handled the Seattle Supersonics play-by-play for the 2006-07 season and has also done TV play-by-play of University of Washington football and basketball.
BALTIMORE: Hard as it may be to believe, the (now) 4 sports talkers in Baltimore will have to work hard to have the best Ravens coverage. WBAL Radio continues with play-by-play and extended pre and post-game programming again this season. But they don't stop there. The station has cleared the 6 to 10 PM spot throughout the week for a block of Ravens related programming. This will include coaches shows, call-ins, and all things Ravens all week.
The Ravens game broadcasts will be simulcast on Rock 98 FM. The FM side plans a separate and "lighter" pre and post-game show even though the game broadcast is simulcast. The FM side will be more of a "tailgate party" style show.
Jerry Sandusky and Stan White continue to call the games. In addition, the Ravens' broadcast team will also be utilized on 3 of their 4 pre-season games shown locally on WBAL-TV Channel 11.
The Westwood One NFL prime time package will air in Baltimore on WJZ-FM.
St. LOUIS: The crowded sports radio dial gets a slight reduction this week (starting Weds. 7/22) when WFXX-AM drops Dan Patrick and Jim Rome's respective syndicated sports fare during the day in favor of more urban talk. Sports is expected to be among the topics on Craig Black's and Maurice Scott's talk shows during weekday afternoons.
DENVER: It looks like the winter sports teams believe that the increase in signal on 1510 AM KCKK will make a difference. Both the NBA Nuggets and NHL Avalanche have agreed to 2-year contract extensions to remain on the station.
I am suprised that both teams would agree to this, since NBA and NHL teams have many conflicts throughout the season, resulting in one of the teams being placed on another station.
MIAMI: Ever since I lived in Southern California in the mid-80's, I have said that "national sports" has a place on So. California and Florida radio because of all of the "transplant" sports fans. In those places it is common for fans to be attending pro games and rooting for the opposing team because that is what they have always done.
While it is true I often complain about syndicated shows being on instead of local shows, Miami remains one of those markets where there is a definite place for both.
The latest radio ratings show significant progress for WINZ 940, which began its sports format at the start of April. Sure enough, Dan Patrick's and Jim Rome's respective shows already fare better than WQAM 560 and 790 The Ticket.
WQAM has actually already countered this when they bought out Neil Rogers' contract recently (which was not a sports show) in order to finally become "all sports" radio. But no matter what, it shows WINZ had good instinct when it brought over 2 shows it knew would reach the "transplants".
Miami area listeners trend toward the show itself rather than a particular station, and that is rarely the case when compared with most markets.
Overall, WINZ finished well below The Ticket and WQAM, but it has a good start with middays. The Ticket scores well in afternoon drive as Dan LeBetard and Jon Weiner more than doubled the audience of WQAM and Jim Mandich. Yet, in morning drive WQAM with Joe Rose is the clear winner over The Ticket.
GRAND RAPIDS: It might just be radio stations refusing to pay the performance royalties for music or wanting to make less use of a quality stereo signal. For whatever reason, WMAX-FM 96.1 will drop its alternative music format next month and become ESPN 96.1. Its soon-to-be competitor WBBL 107.3 "The Ball" remains all sports, but dropped ESPN last May.
The new station plans to air Mike & Mike in the morning and add a local sports show for the afternoon.
COLUMBIA SC: WCOS The Team 1400 is moving former Gamecock and N Y Giant Corey Miller and J. C. Shurbutt into a new afternoon drive show starting in August. The 2 will join former U. of South Carolina basketball and baseball play-by-play voice Mike Morgan from 3 to 6 PM. Morgan will have the flexibility he needs to continue as the pre-season voice of Carolina Panthers pre-season telecasts.
HUNTSVILLE: Tennnessee Titans NFL broadcasts will air in the Huntsville market, even if it might take some digging to find them. WUMP at 730 AM and 103.9 FM are scheduled to carry the game day coverage, the Tuesday night (coach) Jeff Fisher Show and the daily Titans Report. In the event of conflict with U. of Alabama coverage or Friday night high school football (the latter of which is highly unlikely to cause a conflict), then WVNN at 770 AM and 92.5 FM will carry the Titans coverage.
Mike Keith begins his 11th season as voice of the Titans and continues to work with Frank Wycheck and Larry Stone.
These are the same networks that usually base their costs according to prime time prices. However, the economy has already had an impact on prime time TV inventory sales, thus reducing the opportunity for higher or even consistent ad rates compared with last year.
In addition, primary sponsors such as auto makers and financial institutions are struggling or have gone away since last season, leaving fewer ad dollars to be divided among the networks.
MediaWeek.com reports that about 1/3 of network ad time has been sold for the upcoming season, a definite reflection of the concern. TV ad sales were already significantly reduced for NASCAR, even if that is due more to the problems in the auto industry.
The next NFL TV rights negotiations could be a better battle than anything on the field. The networks are not going to continue to pay hundreds of millions if they can't sell enough inventory. As it stands now, fans complain when a few of the Thursday night games can't be seen without paying extra for the NFL Network. If the networks do not wish to pony up for the league packages and the NFL games go local (such as with baseball, basketball, and hockey), it would mean way fewer out of market games shown each weekend.
It is not like the NFL can get away with raising their ticket prices even more. Many are already priced out from going and TV is their only source. If and when the NFL rights are reduced, this figures to carry over to baseball and basketball negotiations.
On the other hand, MultiChannel.com reports that ad revenue is doing well for soccer and the 2010 World Cup. It says that Univision has already sold nearly 2/3 of its inventory, even though the Cup doesn't get underway until long after the coming NFL season has been concluded.
NEW YORK: WFAN 66 continues as the nation's most popular sports station, actually increasing its audience to the point of finishing first in men 25-54 during both morning and afternoon drive in the most recent ratings.
This indicates the continued success of Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton in the morning. The Fan showed more than 4 times the audience of WEPN 1050 in this demographic. WEPN has finally been able to incrase power to 50,000 watts and improve its signal coverage around the NYC region.
HOUSTON: KILT continues as the leader among Houston's sports station, including finishing first among the sports talkers during every daypart except mornings. Although KGOW won the sports battle in the morning, the latest audience measurement showed an overall drop of more than 1 1/2 points among all of the sports stations during morning drive. The summer ratings could get interesting, since the Astros have gotten within striking distance in the N. L. Central and the Texans season will be starting shortly.
KILT will continue to broadcast the Texans games, with Marc Vandermeer and Andre Ware returning as the broadcast team. KFNC 97.5 will be airing the Compass Media NFL broadcasts including 3 Dallas Cowboys games in the Houston market. Those are Dallas vs. K. C. on Oct. 11, vs. Atlanta on Oct. 25, and vs. Washington on Nov. 22. On the TV side, KIAH-TV 39 has secured the over-the-air rights to the Texans game scheduled for Monday Night Footballon Nov. 23rd against Tennessee. They will also air the Aug. 31 pre-season game against Minnesota (also shown on ESPN).
LOS ANGELES: San Diego Chargers games will air again this season in Los Angeles, as KLAC 570 picks up the Chargers Network with Josh Lewin and Hank Bauer.
SALT LAKE CITY: The Utah Jazz will begin their run on KFNZ 1320 this season and have named David Locke as the new play-by-play voice. Usually, changing radio stations is the significant part of such an announcement. Not this time. Locke becomes only the 2nd voice of the Jazz in (Utah) franchise history due to the recent and very quiet retirement of Hot Rod Hundley after 35 seasons.
Hundley developed a national following when he was on CBS-TV when that network had the NBA coverage in the 70's and into the early 80's. Locke handled the Seattle Supersonics play-by-play for the 2006-07 season and has also done TV play-by-play of University of Washington football and basketball.
BALTIMORE: Hard as it may be to believe, the (now) 4 sports talkers in Baltimore will have to work hard to have the best Ravens coverage. WBAL Radio continues with play-by-play and extended pre and post-game programming again this season. But they don't stop there. The station has cleared the 6 to 10 PM spot throughout the week for a block of Ravens related programming. This will include coaches shows, call-ins, and all things Ravens all week.
The Ravens game broadcasts will be simulcast on Rock 98 FM. The FM side plans a separate and "lighter" pre and post-game show even though the game broadcast is simulcast. The FM side will be more of a "tailgate party" style show.
Jerry Sandusky and Stan White continue to call the games. In addition, the Ravens' broadcast team will also be utilized on 3 of their 4 pre-season games shown locally on WBAL-TV Channel 11.
The Westwood One NFL prime time package will air in Baltimore on WJZ-FM.
St. LOUIS: The crowded sports radio dial gets a slight reduction this week (starting Weds. 7/22) when WFXX-AM drops Dan Patrick and Jim Rome's respective syndicated sports fare during the day in favor of more urban talk. Sports is expected to be among the topics on Craig Black's and Maurice Scott's talk shows during weekday afternoons.
DENVER: It looks like the winter sports teams believe that the increase in signal on 1510 AM KCKK will make a difference. Both the NBA Nuggets and NHL Avalanche have agreed to 2-year contract extensions to remain on the station.
I am suprised that both teams would agree to this, since NBA and NHL teams have many conflicts throughout the season, resulting in one of the teams being placed on another station.
MIAMI: Ever since I lived in Southern California in the mid-80's, I have said that "national sports" has a place on So. California and Florida radio because of all of the "transplant" sports fans. In those places it is common for fans to be attending pro games and rooting for the opposing team because that is what they have always done.
While it is true I often complain about syndicated shows being on instead of local shows, Miami remains one of those markets where there is a definite place for both.
The latest radio ratings show significant progress for WINZ 940, which began its sports format at the start of April. Sure enough, Dan Patrick's and Jim Rome's respective shows already fare better than WQAM 560 and 790 The Ticket.
WQAM has actually already countered this when they bought out Neil Rogers' contract recently (which was not a sports show) in order to finally become "all sports" radio. But no matter what, it shows WINZ had good instinct when it brought over 2 shows it knew would reach the "transplants".
Miami area listeners trend toward the show itself rather than a particular station, and that is rarely the case when compared with most markets.
Overall, WINZ finished well below The Ticket and WQAM, but it has a good start with middays. The Ticket scores well in afternoon drive as Dan LeBetard and Jon Weiner more than doubled the audience of WQAM and Jim Mandich. Yet, in morning drive WQAM with Joe Rose is the clear winner over The Ticket.
GRAND RAPIDS: It might just be radio stations refusing to pay the performance royalties for music or wanting to make less use of a quality stereo signal. For whatever reason, WMAX-FM 96.1 will drop its alternative music format next month and become ESPN 96.1. Its soon-to-be competitor WBBL 107.3 "The Ball" remains all sports, but dropped ESPN last May.
The new station plans to air Mike & Mike in the morning and add a local sports show for the afternoon.
COLUMBIA SC: WCOS The Team 1400 is moving former Gamecock and N Y Giant Corey Miller and J. C. Shurbutt into a new afternoon drive show starting in August. The 2 will join former U. of South Carolina basketball and baseball play-by-play voice Mike Morgan from 3 to 6 PM. Morgan will have the flexibility he needs to continue as the pre-season voice of Carolina Panthers pre-season telecasts.
HUNTSVILLE: Tennnessee Titans NFL broadcasts will air in the Huntsville market, even if it might take some digging to find them. WUMP at 730 AM and 103.9 FM are scheduled to carry the game day coverage, the Tuesday night (coach) Jeff Fisher Show and the daily Titans Report. In the event of conflict with U. of Alabama coverage or Friday night high school football (the latter of which is highly unlikely to cause a conflict), then WVNN at 770 AM and 92.5 FM will carry the Titans coverage.
Mike Keith begins his 11th season as voice of the Titans and continues to work with Frank Wycheck and Larry Stone.
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