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Baseball on music stations?

P

phils07

Should baseball be on music stations? I think it is very unique. I think baseball is cooler on a music station than a talk station.
 
Depends on the market!

A small-town station, let's say, in the Chicago Cubs radio network, doesn't have the finances/resources for all-sports or news/talk. They'd be more full-service to the community, or music-oriented.

However, I don't know any "flagship" station today, of any major sports team, that isn't *at least* news/talk, or better, all-sports.

Note: I used to be an Atlanta Braves fan in the 70s & 80s....I used to listen to either Milo Hamilton or Ernie Johnson give a spiel, when it started to rain, and the game was in a delay, something like "we're gonna send it back to the affiliates for 20 minutes; so to the affiliates, get your records ready...." :)

cd
 
If you mean the difference between listening to it on FM rather than AM then yes it does sound better.
I grew up in Boston and for years the Pats games were on a few different Am stations then they moved to WBCN on the FM dial and it was like night and day!
The game sounded clearer, crisper, you could hear the ambient noise of the crowd that much better not to mention it was easier to get the game on the radio because 'BCN had a huge signal.
I haven't listened to much baseball on FM but I'm sure it will sound just as good.
 
So what if they are? In small markets there is only one or two sports stations. Sports stations often have contracts with either local minor league teams or local universities. The sports have to go on to other stations. Most sports on music radio are on rock music station. That may be that the people who listen to them are both sports fans and rock music fans.
 
I know of a country music station in Sikeston, MO and a classic hits station in Arkansas that are Cardinals affiliates.

Back when the Braves used to be on WSB-AM, when it conflicted with the Georgia Bulldogs, the Braves were moved to WSB-FM (B98.5).
 
Overall I don't think that baseball fits in to well on music formatted stations as it just eats up too much air time. The big problem is that if you are going to carry baseball then you are committing 3-4 hours of airtime almost every night from April through September. That's a lot of airtime. Personally I think that baseball fits in best with either news/talk or sports formatted stations. In small markets it is a entire different story as there might not be a news/talk or sports station available to carry baseball locally so many times it goes on a music station. But in small markets some music stations are more of a "full service" variety type of operation.

Now football is different. I think that many stations that carry football are indeed music stations, in many cases rock or classic rock. To carry football you are only committing 4-5 hours once a week on Sunday when listener ship is on the low side anyway. Plus football fits in well with rock orientated formats as both are popular with male listeners.
 
I agree on the football angle. How many NFL flagships are music stations? I know right off the bat, the Chargers and Falcons are.

I didn't think about the airtime for baseball on a music station. It made think about 2010's 20-inning game between the Cardinals and the Mets. That had to be a nightmare for stations.
 
the golden boy said:
I agree on the football angle. How many NFL flagships are music stations? I know right off the bat, the Chargers and Falcons are.

I didn't think about the airtime for baseball on a music station. It made think about 2010's 20-inning game between the Cardinals and the Mets. That had to be a nightmare for stations.
Click to expand...

That was one great game, and I didn't even have a dog in the fight. I'm still trying to find out if this was the deepest into a game where it was 0-0 and then *both* teams scored in the same extra inning. (Mets won 2-1, and both teams got 1 in the 19th.)

cd
 
cd637299 said:
I'm still trying to find out if this was the deepest into a game where it was 0-0 and then *both* teams scored in the same extra inning. (Mets won 2-1, and both teams got 1 in the 19th.)

cd
Click to expand...

The answer to that question is no. The Astros and Mets played a game in 1968 in which the two teams were scoreless until the bottom of the 24th. Astros beat the Mets in the Astrodome, 1-0.

http://www.astrosdaily.com/history/19680415/
 
cd637299 said:
Depends on the market!

A small-town station, let's say, in the Chicago Cubs radio network, doesn't have the finances/resources for all-sports or news/talk. They'd be more full-service to the community, or music-oriented.

However, I don't know any "flagship" station today, of any major sports team, that isn't *at least* news/talk, or better, all-sports.
cd
Click to expand...

Braves flagship is Rock 100.5, though they spit the "Flagship" title with WCNN -AM.

Ditto for the Falcons, who have Star 94 as their Flagship, also shared with WQXI-AM.

Don't know about other networks, but in college, the Tennessee Vols Flagship in football and basketball has been a music station for 30+ years, WIVK, a country station.
 
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