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is a Sports format on radio, a good format for a station to have, does it bring in numbers and money?

A

alok

I ask this because I was in the Jacksonville, FL area during the holidays and three AM stations there had a Sports format. It seemed overkill.
They were ... 690 WOKV (The old RnR BIG APE, WAPE), 930 WFXJ and 1010 WJXL.
Also, when 880 WCBS AM in NYC dropped All-News they went to Sports and changed call letters, why Sports?
810 KGO AM when it dropped talk, went to Sports., again why?
The owners of KGO / KSFO, did not move the Sports format to 560 until they decided what to do with 560, where, as they moved the 560 talk format to 810.
So how well does a Sports format do on radio? On AM, on FM???

Putting my "radio nerd" hat on . . . come on 99% of you here are "deep inside - radio nerds". . . it was fun at sunset to hear 690 go from its 1 tower daytime 50 kw site signal, which is close to Jacksonville near Fleming Island (which does very well, especially up and down the coast there) to its 6 tower nighttime 25kw signal from a site west of Jacksonville near Baldwin, FL
It just so happens that I was SE of Jacksonville about an hour away and when 690 did it at sunset they had the 25 kw fired up over the 50 kw daytime (you did not know it, it was perfect) than they made the switch - but I was in the nulls on the backside and suddenly they went from great to just OK, (not so great) where I was at ... what stations underneath them.
But over Jacksonville they were pushing that 25kw at night.
 
alok said:
I ask this because I was in the Jacksonville, FL area during the holidays and three AM stations there had a Sports format. It seemed overkill.
They were ... 690 WOKV (The old RnR BIG APE, WAPE), 930 WFXJ and 1010 WJXL.
Click to expand...
They're three very different stations, each airing unique programming, each owned by different companies. It's called "competition."

"Sports" is not one thing. There is local sports talk, national sports talk (WFXJ), and sports betting.

alok said:
Also, when 880 WCBS AM in NYC dropped All-News they went to Sports and changed call letters, why Sports?
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Because Audacy was coming out of bankruptcy, and they were offered money to LMA this signal. It's more complicated than a simple format flip. Audacy already owns all-sports WFAN AM/FM in NYC. This station is programmed by Good Karma with ESPN Radio.

New York has two football teams, two baseball teams, two basketball teams, and three hockey teams. Having multiple sports stations means there are fewer chances for games to overlap.

alok said:
The owners of KGO / KSFO, did not move the Sports format to 560 until they decided what to do with 560, where, as they moved the 560 talk format to 810.
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That's not correct. Cumulus owns Sports KNBR AM/FM. The sports format is not on 560. I think 560 is off the air now.

alok said:
So how well does a Sports format do on radio? On AM, on FM???
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It depends on the market. During football season, it can be #1. Sports tends to make a lot of money because the fan base is loyal and they listen. It's not background noise. Quite often, the stations have the rights to content they can stream and make additional money. It works well on either AM or FM. It's not political. Lots of reasons why it's a good format.
 
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Sports is one of the highest billing opportunities of all formats. While it does not do well in 12+ compared to many music formats, it over exceeds in adult males and gets primary placement for accounts targeting men.

Often we see a sports station outside the top 10 in 12+ but #1 in billings.

This is generally true only for live local or mostly local sports stations. Those on networks only don't do as well, but if combined, as Good Karma does, with other sports marketing, the can still be excellent performers.
 
OK, Thanks for the response - TheBigA and David.

The thing that I found funny about the Sports stations in Jacksonville is none of my family members that live in the area, all big sports fans listen to any of the 3 Sports radio stations.
One of my family members was on a group, that works close with the football team, the Jaguars . . . still he doesn't listen to any of the three sports stations.

Also, by the way on the null part for 690, I was not SE, I was SW of Jacksonville, in the nulls of 690.

Again, Thanks for the info from the two of you.
 
alok said:
The owners of KGO / KSFO, did not move the Sports format to 560 until they decided what to do with 560, where, as they moved the 560 talk format to 810.
Click to expand...

TheBigA said:
That's not correct. Cumulus owns Sports KNBR AM/FM. The sports format is not on 560. I think 560 is off the air now.
Click to expand...

I think he means when KGO flipped from talk to that short-lived sports betting format, which was never put on 560 (you are correct, A, they are silent) and which has been merged into the Westwood One Sports network, which Cumulus also owns.
 
alok said:
The thing that I found funny about the Sports stations in Jacksonville is none of my family members that live in the area, all big sports fans listen to any of the 3 Sports radio stations.
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Sports radio is something of an acquired taste. It often has a negative tone, especially when the local team is doing poorly. It can also be pretty repetitive. An NFL game is about 3 hours, but you'll get 98.7 The Jock talking about it for half of the following week.

Jacksonville isn't one of the stronger markets for sports radio. Only having one of the four major pro sports probably hurts a lot.
 
Sports talk isn't necessarily 100 percent apolitical. Several stations run morning shows that blend sports with "guy talk" that can include snide remarks about transgender athletes, changed team nicknames, the WNBA's popularity or lack of same, and other generally "anti-woke" opinions. This is nothing new, either. WEEI Boston's Gerry Callahan and John Dennis drew criticism decades ago when they compared an escaped gorilla to a black student waiting for a bus.
 
CTListener said:
Sports talk isn't necessarily 100 percent apolitical. Several stations run morning shows that blend sports with "guy talk" that can include snide remarks about transgender athletes, changed team nicknames, the WNBA's popularity or lack of same, and other generally "anti-woke" opinions. This is nothing new, either. WEEI Boston's Gerry Callahan and John Dennis drew criticism decades ago when they compared an escaped gorilla to a black student waiting for a bus.
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That is a very important point. The “original” sports station, WFAN, had Imus in the morning for many years, and that show leaned male, but was definitely a “guy talk” show rather than sports 100%.

Truthfully, the format should be called “guy talk” or “bar talk”. But that does not sound as good in a sales presentation.
 
brettbutlerisok said:
It's not a coincidence that CBS radio flipped many of it's hot talk or "Free FM" stations to sports.
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I only remember that happening in a handful of markets. Could you pull from your memory which of its stations CBS flipped? I may well have forgotten some ... I know KLSX was not one of them.
 
How many Free FM stations were there? I know that the two markets I'm most familiar with (other than my current tiny one, which never was on CBS's radar), Boston and Hartford, never got hot talk at all.
 
if you dont have any well liked local/regional/college/pro sports, sports is just filler to modulate the finals.

Where sports does well is if you have local high school and or college stuff and some pro stuff. LOCAL sports bills through the roof if you do it right. I've worked for non sports statiosn that sell so much inventory for a HSFB game that they have to run extra commercial breaks just to burn off some of the commercials.
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
I've worked for non sports statiosn that sell so much inventory for a HSFB game that they have to run extra commercial breaks just to burn off some of the commercials.
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How are the rights for high school football on radio acquired these days? Does the high school or school district buy the airtime and sell inventory? License the games to a third party as is done in college that then buys the time? Does the station buy the rights and sell the ad time itself?

Wait until high school football players demand compensation for the use of their names and physical descriptions, similar to what is happening at the college level. Right now it appears they are playing for free. That won’t continue.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
How are the rights for high school football on radio acquired these days? Does the high school or school district buy the airtime and sell inventory? License the games to a third party as is done in college that then buys the time? Does the station buy the rights and sell the ad time itself?

Wait until high school football players demand compensation for the use of their names and physical descriptions, similar to what is happening at the college level. Right now it appears they are playing for free. That won’t continue.
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all of the above actually

Moore HS Boosters b ought time on KOKC 1520 and sold their own ads.

Sometimes the school will buy it, like when Salem had spanish on 620 in Dallas, they still had english college bball on it because of an existing contract where the shcool had been buying the time.

Sometimes the station will buy rights, sometimes they dont have to
 
The are some "economic and legal" hurtles for high school players receiving direct payments. In most states contracts can not be signed by folks under 18. They are "unprovened" talent too. Plus unless there is living arrangements the student is limited geographically where he can play.
 
alok said:
I ask this because I was in the Jacksonville, FL area during the holidays and three AM stations there had a Sports format. It seemed overkill.
They were ... 690 WOKV (The old RnR BIG APE, WAPE), 930 WFXJ and 1010 WJXL.
Also, when 880 WCBS AM in NYC dropped All-News they went to Sports and changed call letters, why Sports?
810 KGO AM when it dropped talk, went to Sports., again why?
The owners of KGO / KSFO, did not move the Sports format to 560 until they decided what to do with 560, where, as they moved the 560 talk format to 810.
So how well does a Sports format do on radio? On AM, on FM???
Click to expand...

As some of the others have pointed out, sports talk typically doesn't get very good numbers in terms of listening, though I've seen a few, mostly FM's, do very well. It does, however, get a lot of sales, especially in areas that have pro and/or college sports teams. In areas with teams, sports stations can often get in on partnership buys with the teams that smaller markets might not be able to get. Even in areas that don't have teams, sports radio is one of the easiest and most effective ways for advertisers who want to reach men. Granted, most advertisers want to go after women, but those who cater to men generally get better results (and often cheaper spots) with sports radio than they do with music formats like rock and hip-hop. Sports radio can also usually offer more spots per hour than music stations. So, they make up those lower rates with volume.

PTBoardOp93 said:
Sports radio is something of an acquired taste. It often has a negative tone, especially when the local team is doing poorly. It can also be pretty repetitive. An NFL game is about 3 hours, but you'll get 98.7 The Jock talking about it for half of the following week.
Click to expand...

You're not from Springfield, by chance, are you?

Mediafrog+ said:
Wait until high school football players demand compensation for the use of their names and physical descriptions, similar to what is happening at the college level. Right now it appears they are playing for free. That won’t continue.
Click to expand...

Certainly possible. Keep in mind, also, that parents not letting their kids play football due to the head injuries is also a potential problem for the longevity of the sport, especially at the K-12 level. A high school player has a better chance of winning the lottery at some point in his life than he does playing in the NFL. At some point, more parents might decide it's just not worth it. During my brief time studying communications at the University of Arkansas in the mid-90's, I had a professor who worked with ALS patients in the area. One of them remarked about how common it was, and she was concerned the explosion of chicken plants in the area was a contributing cause. Turns out, we now know it was football and cheerleading. Almost everybody in those small towns wants to play football or cheer in high school. Those concussions they got were worse than we initially knew.

secondchoice said:
The are some "economic and legal" hurtles for high school players receiving direct payments. In most states contracts can not be signed by folks under 18. They are "unprovened" talent too. Plus unless there is living arrangements the student is limited geographically where he can play.
Click to expand...

The geographic limits can be waived, at least in some areas. I've been told that, where my sister lives, school districts trade athletes like the professional teams. Private school boosters have also been known to offer parents of good athletes jobs and to pay their kids' tuition if they'll agree to send them to their schools.
 


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