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923THEFAN First Impressions

K

kmt

At 1:30pm, what are your first impressions of day one of 923thefan?

For me,

Kiley and Booms - we knew what we were getting, I think a little more focus would help.

Andy Baskin - truly a pro! This show is better with DMAN with him. Without a sidekick the show lacks energy and controversy.

20/20 Sports - I'm listening via computer, doesn't sound like there is any background music during the updates?? I think that would help with energy and pacing. (Note, it does sound like there is some bkgd music, really in the background!!)

Adam the Bull - Looking forward to his show... from what I have heard on WFAN I think Adam may become the 92.3 star.

Noticed that Bernie Kosar did both WKNR and TheFan today.

And hats off to PD Andy Roth. For a first day things seem to be going pretty smoothly. In contrast read about the launches of the all-news stations in Chicago and NYC ... they had a ton of tech problems, etc. the first few weeks. Good job!

More callers during the Andy Baskin show would probably help.... or else it is a little vanilla.

Whaddya think?
 
It's not fair to judge something by it's first day, but I agree with Mike that the midday show needs alot more energy along with discussion (including difference of opinion) - that is what makes interesting radio (love or hate, Howard Stern is the master of this).

Having this many interviews may just be an attempt to give the station immediate credibility.

Dennis Manoloff seems to be a radio natural!
 
kmt said:
20/20 Sports - I'm listening via computer, doesn't sound like there is any background music during the updates?? I think that would help with energy and pacing. (Note, it does sound like there is some bkgd music, really in the background!!)
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The top of the hour "20/20 Sports" on WKRK run dry, with no background music. The :20 and :40 updates have background music.

It's the exact same practice as WFAN/New York (although WFAN's TOH updates are longer and have a weather report at the end). But the Paul Turner-voiced sounder, and the "20/20 Sports" jingles, all are copied directly from WFAN.
 
VO for The Game is Steve Stone. Has the young, natural read but can amp his read and rock when needed (he used to produce K-Rock/NYC). Stone is great. Can't decipher the "AM" VO. Sounds familiar. I like the promo. Creatively simple. In fact... Stone would've been a better choice than Turner for 92-3 given Stone's flexibilty.

Kily & Booms, for me, sounded a bit sleepy. But I'm not familiar with either. Just might have to get acquainted. 20/20 updates I heard were over a jingle bed... which at times the producer had too hot or too low. Baskin and Rucker sounded good together (10am hour). On the whole I like it. 92-3 had the stereo light lit for most of what I heard. Was nice to hear stereo imaging on what I thought would be in mono.

Overall first day grade - B+. Looking forward to listening more. Well done to Andy and his team.
 
Out of the gate like a bull.... it's Adam The Bull!

5 minutes in and sounding alive and refreshing. A HUGE contrast to the AM competition. And now that I think about it the Andy Baskin midday show contrasts pretty strongly with KNR.
 
kmt said:
Out of the gate like a bull.... it's Adam The Bull!

5 minutes in and sounding alive and refreshing. A HUGE contrast to the AM competition. And now that I think about it the Andy Baskin midday show contrasts pretty strongly with KNR.
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That's because Baskin is a grown up and is trying to have intelligent conversations, rather than just running amok because his daddy owns part of the company.
 
VODood said:
VO for The Game is Steve Stone. Has the young, natural read but can amp his read and rock when needed (he used to produce K-Rock/NYC). Stone is great. Can't decipher the "AM" VO. Sounds familiar. I like the promo. Creatively simple. In fact... Stone would've been a better choice than Turner for 92-3 given Stone's flexibilty.

Kily & Booms, for me, sounded a bit sleepy. But I'm not familiar with either. Just might have to get acquainted. 20/20 updates I heard were over a jingle bed... which at times the producer had too hot or too low. Baskin and Rucker sounded good together (10am hour). On the whole I like it. 92-3 had the stereo light lit for most of what I heard. Was nice to hear stereo imaging on what I thought would be in mono.

Overall first day grade - B+. Looking forward to listening more. Well done to Andy and his team.
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Chuck, yup, Steve Stone is impressive. Has some sports radio demos at his site stovevoiceovers.com - will also check out the demos at chuckmatthewsvoice.com :)
 
Steve is my FB buddy :D I'm working on a new sports demo. New NT demo just posted to my FB page. Country demo coming soon as well.
 
No buzzers, no insulting callers. This is much more professional than WKNR already. I'd say mornings will eventually go to 92.3, tRBS is in for a fight, and R&R are toast.
 
My first impression is that KNR might not be in bad shape afterall:

Kiley and Booms - No flow to the show at all, I thought these guys had worked together before? Booms honestly was as advertised, not very funny and a rather annoying voice. He was poking fun at the fact that fans have been falling out of seats at the Texas Rangers' ballpark....ummm, a guy died there Booms....not cool. If Hammer makes that joke then the msg boards are lighting up with people calling for his head.

Andy Baskin - No energy at all. He and Rucker sounded more like a Sunday morning show rather than a midday during the week. I understand it is supposed to be an alternative to TRBS, but damn was it boring. A bit better with D-Man, but still overall very lackluster. Maybe he'll grow into it.

Adam The Bull - WOW, the best show hands down. Very entertaining. Surprisingly good chemistry between he and Fox. I was extremely impressed. Great flow, interesting topics, lively discussion. Sportsboy Tony needs to sharpen up the updates though, Indians pitcher Jenmar Gonzalez? A pitcher's ERE? Ooops. Otherwise thought the show was fantastic.

Ken Carman - Not all that impressed. Probably listened to him less then the others, but sounded rather vanilla and actually a bit amateurish. Thing that will help him is KNR going to low power in the evening soon. Otherwise can't see a reason why you'd listen to him over X's and O's and/or Brinda.

Overall the only thing that really blew me away was The Bull and Fox, that clearly to me is going to be their star show. I know that this is only day one and I'm sure they will smooth out the bumps, but I was honestly surprised at how unimpressive the rest of the line-up sounded. KNR isn't perfect, but neither is The Fan. I don't see 92.3 wiping KNR off the map anytime soon. Right now they are an alternative....but not necessarily a better one.
 
SixOnTheFloor said:
My first impression is that KNR might not be in bad shape afterall:

Kiley and Booms - No flow to the show at all, I thought these guys had worked together before? Booms honestly was as advertised, not very funny and a rather annoying voice. He was poking fun at the fact that fans have been falling out of seats at the Texas Rangers' ballpark....ummm, a guy died there Booms....not cool. If Hammer makes that joke then the msg boards are lighting up with people calling for his head.

Andy Baskin - No energy at all. He and Rucker sounded more like a Sunday morning show rather than a midday during the week. I understand it is supposed to be an alternative to TRBS, but damn was it boring. A bit better with D-Man, but still overall very lackluster. Maybe he'll grow into it.

Adam The Bull - WOW, the best show hands down. Very entertaining. Surprisingly good chemistry between he and Fox. I was extremely impressed. Great flow, interesting topics, lively discussion. Sportsboy Tony needs to sharpen up the updates though, Indians pitcher Jenmar Gonzalez? A pitcher's ERE? Ooops. Otherwise thought the show was fantastic.

Ken Carman - Not all that impressed. Probably listened to him less then the others, but sounded rather vanilla and actually a bit amateurish. Thing that will help him is KNR going to low power in the evening soon. Otherwise can't see a reason why you'd listen to him over X's and O's and/or Brinda.

Overall the only thing that really blew me away was The Bull and Fox, that clearly to me is going to be their star show. I know that this is only day one and I'm sure they will smooth out the bumps, but I was honestly surprised at how unimpressive the rest of the line-up sounded. KNR isn't perfect, but neither is The Fan. I don't see 92.3 wiping KNR off the map anytime soon. Right now they are an alternative....but not necessarily a better one.
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This is why I found it funny how everyone declared KNR dead in 6 months before the station was even on the air. As bad as tRBS has regressed overtime, that show is going to destroy Baskin. I thought Keily and Booms was enjoyable (didn't get a chance to hear Bull and Fox).
 
AntDog152 said:
This is why I found it funny how everyone declared KNR dead in 6 months before the station was even on the air. As bad as tRBS has regressed overtime, that show is going to destroy Baskin. I thought Keily and Booms was enjoyable (didn't get a chance to hear Bull and Fox).
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Dude. After hearing Adam The Bull's monologue today, I was SO pumped up, I was ready to run into a wall! Seriously, he's THAT good. I give his debut an A+++++++++++++++!

As I've said before, if Craig K. is smart, he'll actually listen to the consultants and dramatically overhaul tRBS.

But I just don't think he can.

He's too beholden to his buddies and to GKB's chief financiers that even if he wanted to, they would veto it out of hand. And that's his problem: tRBS has done more than regressed... it's become utterly unlistenable in it's current state, brought forth by the Bratty Bunch, a group that Craig K. is indebted to and can't get rid of. It's in trouble.

If Andy still struggles to find a footing (the co-host issue NEEDS to be resolved), it's an even matchup vs. tRBS. I don't consider 92.3 middays DOA in any way. There will be enough of a honeymoon period that they can try to fix the show and get it working right.

KNR2 is a dead station walking. The 1540 facility will soon become far too unprofitable that it could drag down WKNR with it, unless Craig K. managed to give it away for pennies on the dollar.
 
Adam The Bull is the star. He is really good, down to earth, personable, and earthy without being crude or nasty.

He will take a huge bite out of Trivosonno, who is none of those things.
 
KNR2 is a dead station walking. The 1540 facility will soon become far too unprofitable that it could drag down WKNR with it, unless Craig K. managed to give it away for pennies on the dollar.
[/quote]


KNR2 (WWGK 1540) should go Spanish right now. There's money to be made with that format in metro Cleveland (on a small, lean station).
 
Nathan Obral said:
The top of the hour "20/20 Sports" on WKRK run dry, with no background music. The :20 and :40 updates have background music. It's the exact same practice as WFAN/New York (although WFAN's TOH updates are longer and have a weather report at the end). But the Paul Turner-voiced sounder, and the "20/20 Sports" jingles, all are copied directly from WFAN.
Click to expand...

And even after all these years, WFAN's "20/20 Sports" don't have a primary sponsor like you'll find on the "Sports Flashes" of CBS' other "Fan" stations... How long before 92.3's "20/20 Sports" updates are sponsored?
 
I said on Twitter that I'm not going to do a review of the station two days out on the blog.

I mean, I left David Lee Roth alone, for crying out loud, and once I heard his first show...I had to nearly restrain myself from blasting the show. :D

Just some general thoughts, tho:

* Kiley and Booms started off REALLY slow, and the various attempts to drop bad language on the air (none of it made over-air) slowed them down. My advice: hit the dump button and move on. It picked up that first day (didn't hear them today, a guy's gotta sleep sometime), about 9 or so. The guys have worked together for years, they'll pick up the rhythm again.

* Pay no mind to the early tech glitches (phones on Monday morning). Things happen. Andy Roth is surely on the case - he was there getting stuff fixed on Monday.

* But...I'd like to see them fix the microphone processing, though. After all those years doing WKNR's morning updates remotely from Metro, Jeff Thomas sounds like he's in another location at The Fan! VERY little bass in his reports. I suspect that 92.3's processing has been music-centric, and that'll be fixed. For that matter, the co-host mic needs some processing work.

* Baskin is a pro, better on the radio than I thought he'd be...but that show really, really needs Manoloff to stay to have a shot against Rizzo and the gang.

* Adam is clearly the star, but I knew that going in based on his work at WFAN. R&R is very much in trouble, and he'll give Triv a run for his money, too. Looks like they've got the best guest bookings on the station, too, at least in the first few days (Dustin Fox being one of Tressel's players certainly didn't hurt those chances on Monday).

Again...first impressions, only.
 
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