Buck Belue Moving to Weeknights, Adding Saturday Show on 680 The Fan
"We are thrilled to offer our listeners more opportunities to enjoy Buck Belue’s expertise and passion for sports."
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680 The Fan
- Thread starter gdstout
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Only to preempted 4 or so nights a week during baseball season.
He desperately needs a cohost on the weekly show. He’s unlistenable solo.
He desperately needs a cohost on the weekly show. He’s unlistenable solo.
Is this a promotion or a demotion?
If the Braves radio audience was attractive for advertisers, Cox, Cumulus, or iHeart would bid on the coverage. The Braves were on 750 AM for decades but apparently there wasn't enough money for Cox to keep them so they allowed 680 to take over.
The "City to busy to hate" is the city to listen.
I think the cost of the rights and format compatibility are bigger reasons why those companies didn't go after the Braves when the contract was last up. But that was some time ago.
680/93.7 has had the Braves for quite a while; I believe they signed a 10-year contract and have at least a few years remaining. As MrRadio alluded to, it’s amazing that Braves play-by-play on FM is relegated to a translator. Of course, 92-9 The Game was not around when the current contract was negotiated.
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Exactly! I do wish 92.9 would snag them on the next opportunity. It looks bush-league when people come into town and can't pick up the Braves in their home city.
Dickey signed a 10yr deal in 2016 (680/93.7 The Fan signs 10-year deal to keep Atlanta Braves there until 2026) 92.9 the game came on the air in 2012...
So maybe there's hope for a decent radio partner in 2026. The Dickeys are obviously great business folks, but their signals stink.
Is there room on 92.9 for (nearly) nightly Braves action? Could they split the load with V-103?
(How many of us still call 92.9 "Z-93"?)
The challenge will be when baseball and football/basketball seasons overlap. They could move one of those conflicting sports to V-103.
The Hawks could conflict with spring training and the first half of April at the end of the NBA season, and playoff baseball in October at the beginning of the NBA season. The Falcons could conflict on (usually) Sundays from August through September or October. It's possible that you could have a Falcons game, a Braves postseason game, and a Hawks game on the same Sundays in October, which could be tricky. Audacy could put one of the games on Star 94 or V-103 or WAOK.
And I still call 92.9 and 94.1 Z-93 and 94Q respectively.
Jabba, you’re right that conflicts would be an issue.
Just Some Guy corrected me about The Game’s sign-on date so the station was on the air when The Fan signed the contract. So either 92-9 didn’t want the Braves or wasn’t willing to pay the dollars. After what happened at Audacy this past week, I wonder whether they would be willing to fork over the money required. Who knows what the situation will be when the contract comes up?
One thing about carrying the Braves: Doing it has a major positive effect on the station in all dayparts, which the Falcons also do to a large extent and the Hawks do not.
The Braves used to be carried on 100.5 as well as 93.7, but that contract expired. Still hard to believe that market #7 has no full FM station carrying its winning MLB team.
If 92.9 did pick up the Braves, it would be difficult to see 680/93.7 having much of a future.
Just Some Guy corrected me about The Game’s sign-on date so the station was on the air when The Fan signed the contract. So either 92-9 didn’t want the Braves or wasn’t willing to pay the dollars. After what happened at Audacy this past week, I wonder whether they would be willing to fork over the money required. Who knows what the situation will be when the contract comes up?
One thing about carrying the Braves: Doing it has a major positive effect on the station in all dayparts, which the Falcons also do to a large extent and the Hawks do not.
The Braves used to be carried on 100.5 as well as 93.7, but that contract expired. Still hard to believe that market #7 has no full FM station carrying its winning MLB team.
If 92.9 did pick up the Braves, it would be difficult to see 680/93.7 having much of a future.
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If I recall correctly, 680’s move to The Battery was announced at the same time as the last extension. Not only are they rights holders, the Braves are their landlord.
Assuming their lease expires at the same time as their broadcast rights agreement, and they would want out of The Battery if they no longer had the Braves, they would incur moving expenses in addition to losing the Braves. Meanwhile, the Braves would lose revenue from empty office space.
Remember at the time Dickeys got the Braves, they also controlled Cumulus. IIRC the Braves were on 100.5 too. I don't know if they charged Cumulus a "fee". But if they did, it would be some extra money for the Dickey family.
Another issue is a lot of Atlanta's advertisement buyers are instructed to buy sub 55 demos.
IMHO :The Braves are very sellable but their demos could skew a little old to "just wait for the agency money" to roll in. It would take a "old style " salesperson to find the advertisers. Some would write a check for the whole season when you make the call just to get a "discount".* You might have to write and produce the commercials too.
* It's happened to me selling High School and College sports last century. I hope things have not changed that much.
IMHO :The Braves are very sellable but their demos could skew a little old to "just wait for the agency money" to roll in. It would take a "old style " salesperson to find the advertisers. Some would write a check for the whole season when you make the call just to get a "discount".* You might have to write and produce the commercials too.
* It's happened to me selling High School and College sports last century. I hope things have not changed that much.
Audacy/Entercom has been simulcasting the Hawks on V-103 HD subchannels and WAOK for some games. Not sure why when they're on 92.9 unless they need programming for WAOK...although WAOK could rerun their daytime programming.
Moving a studio(s) is not a budget buster. In fact it is a chance to upgrade the PCs or servers without the danger of dead air. Assuming the new studios have good Internet service and you can do a lot of "soundproofing" the biggest hassle could be moving a microwave STL, if you are fortunate enough to still have one or a satellite dish if you still
receive programming that way.
They just announced the broadcast agreement and lease were extended through 2037.
Wow!
apparently there isn't enough interest for radio pay by pay of the Braves for one of the big operators in town to make a serious bid. That is why Cox dropped them decades ago. The Braves are corporate baseball. It's all about the money. Tradition doesn't pay the bills.
I personally have wondered why co owned WFOM with a decent AM signal at the ball park wasn't permoted at the park for any one who can't work a FM radio.
Plus they are definitely in the WFOM translator 106.3's 60 db.
12 years is a long time for a sports media contract. Look at what is going on in college football.
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