Is Baseball Radio in Its Ninth Inning?

[Hoxie]

As we witness terrestrial radio's slow decline (both as an industry and as a cultural force), do you foresee a day when the ninety-year tradition of radio play-by-play comes to an end... perhaps replaced by an audio feed of the TV announcers' play-by-play?

How much longer will radio baseball still be profitable enough to justify having a team of broadcasters calling the action and doing post-game chatter? I understand KWFN The Fan's ratings have long been abysmal. Does anyone happen to know how well Padres listenership has held up over the years?

 

[TheBigA]

The fact that the Padres made the playoffs might generate some enthusiasm. But it's hard to make a judgement about the game from this abbreviated season. Some of my baseball fanatic friends aren't even paying attention, because they know the year will have an asterisk next to it forever.

As for the broader question, baseball is trending older as far as audience. But then again so is most real-time broadcasting. My view is all broadcasting is just about creating produced content for web distribution, via social media and other social sites where fans can discuss the games and post their opinions. So radio stations could insert themselves into that chain by producing the content.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

So radio stations could insert themselves into that chain by producing the content.

There's a problem: the clubs want that privilege for themselves, so they can control the message.

A TV simulcast is highly unlikely, because the compromise is too great. Radio play-by-play is too descriptive, and television play-by-play is too reliant on the pictures -- there's no happy medium.

The question will ultimately come down to the clubs. If they charge too high of a rights fee or otherwise make it too hard for the radio rights holder to make money, the radio feed will go away. If the radio business declines to the point of not providing a benefit to the clubs, the radio feed will go away. Otherwise, it stays.

 

[TheBigA]

There's a problem: the clubs want that privilege for themselves, so they can control the message.

They already do that by hiring the announce team. All the radio station does is provide production and distribution services. That's the deal iHeart made in Oakland, and the A's went with it.

 

[davideduardo]

How much longer will radio baseball still be profitable enough to justify having a team of broadcasters calling the action and doing post-game chatter? I understand KWFN The Fan's ratings have long been abysmal. Does anyone happen to know how well Padres listenership has held up over the years?

The Fan, in normal times, is top 5 in 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 men.

Sports is mostly bought with budgets that focus on men, and advertisers often prefer sports over music formats because there is considerable engagement.

As an example, the NYC Fan is around 15th in 12+ ratings. It is top 3 or 4 in billings in the market.

 

[blackgold]

It'll never happen!

Baseball on the radio is eternal. It brings people together in so many ways.

 

[KeithE4]

Baseball on the radio is eternal. It brings people together in so many ways.

Really? Tell that to the good folks at WGN, who told the Cubs "See ya!" after 90 years.

 

[TheBigA]

Really? Tell that to the good folks at WGN, who told the Cubs "See ya!" after 90 years.

Seems to me it was the other way around. The Cubs made the decision. They also are making the games more difficult (and more expensive) for fans to watch by moving TV rights to their own channel.

 

[KeithE4]

Seems to me it was the other way around. The Cubs made the decision. They also are making the games more difficult (and more expensive) for fans to watch by moving TV rights to their own channel.

IIRC, WGN made the first move, opting out of the last two years of their deal in 2013. WGN was supposedly losing money.

 

[davideduardo]

IIRC, WGN made the first move, opting out of the last two years of their deal in 2013. WGN was supposedly losing money.

The disadvantage of the team attitude when self-distributing via paid channels and streams is that some of the biggest fans who can't afford such services will gradually lose interest in the team. Those are the same fans who might buy the less expensive seats at home games, but who don't buy season tickets, booths and the most expensive seats... but there are vastly more of them.

That policy is a good way of killing "team spirit" for a few dollars more.

 

[TheBigA]

IIRC, WGN made the first move, opting out of the last two years of their deal in 2013. WGN was supposedly losing money.

Leave it to Robert Feder to explain the situation. It was both: They were losing money, AND the Cubs got a better offer from CBS:

https://www.robertfeder.com/2014/06/03/why-wgn-radio-lost-the-cubs/

These kinds of things make more sense when the two organizations are owned by the same company, which was the case with Tribune. Once that changed, it became pure economics.

 

[philosofy]

At least the Pads and Entercom had the good sense to put the games on a dedicated sports station when they had the chance. The forced marriage of baseball on what was FM949 (now ALT949) at the time was just a huge cluster and neither set of fans was really happy with that arrangement.