Bills Moving to WGR

[jas2525]

Do people at the stadium listen to the radio anymore with all that's available on the scoreboard?

Having to look at the scoredboard isn't as nice as having the info spoon-fed to you through an earbud.

I've been to hockey games where WGR was in delay, and it was very disappointing. Seeing a game in person while hearing RJ's call of the game is the best of both worlds.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

Objective Observation: Today the Bills announced the signing of Mario Williams, the top free agent on the market and arguably the best defensive player in the league. WGR's Men 25-54 stock just went up. Thanks to a two hour delay in the press conference to announce Williams' signing, the station cached some serious TSL in the Winter book which is on through March 28.

 

[SirRoxalot]

I hope that Entercom sent Ralph a fruit basket or something. The value of that contract just rose dramatically. As did the value of the Bills as a team.

 

[jas2525]

I hope that Entercom sent Ralph a fruit basket or something. The value of that contract just rose dramatically. As did the value of the Bills as a team.

Isn't that still the ELEPHANT in the room?

Ralph is edging much closer to you-know-what.

THEN what?

 

[bbb]

Per Pergmanet, John Murphy leaving Channel 4 to work for the Bills and have a nightly show on the Bills on GR:
http://networkedblogs.com/vPe7U

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

If this is true, it indicates Entercom worked a shrewd deal with the Bills. John Murphy doing a nightly WGR show may have been one of many moving parts of the deal. Could be the Bills made Murphy an offer to draw him away from Ch 4 that he couldn't refuse? What's certain, WGR is making some smart moves. With the Sabres battling for a playoff slot and the upcoming Bills draft, the Spring book should be very interesting. The battle for Men 25-54 just got a little bit hotter.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Hmmmm. Could Pergy be part of a negotiation between Murphy & Channel 4? In case you haven't noticed, Don Paul & his Weather Wonders have been sucking up large amounts of budget and airtime lately, while the sports department has languished. Now, it could be that Murphy's had enough, and has other options. It could also be that he's looking for some help, and this is a way to apply pressure to Channel 4, who'll also be losing Paul Peck after the NFL draft & Sabres season ends.

In reality, does Murphy really want to give up doing two sportscasts - at 6:00 and 11:00 - in order to deal with the moronic radio callers left behind by Mensa Mike & the Bulldog between Sabres broadcasts? If he's getting out, it's likely to work with the Bills, and get his evenings back to himself.

 

[bbb]

I watch verrry little TV. I guess that's why I'm probably the only non radio professional checking out and posting on a radio board.

But, I have to agree with Jeff Simon's article today. He said he's baffled as to why local TV newscasts have given sports such short shrift. When I was growing up, I tried flipping between Van, Rick and Ed to see as much as I could.

How people can care so much about the weather is beyond me. I want to know what is the temperature now, what was the high and low, and what's it going to be like in the next few days.

That is the thing that should take a minute like it used to (at my house growing up, it was time to go to bed when the sports was over).

I can even sports being downsized in markets without big league teams, but we have two plus 4 D1 programs in the area.

 

[Philip_Airtime]

I don't think Alan Pergament would have posted this if it weren't a done deal. Granted, he's now a blogger as opposed to a newspaper columnist. But Pergament is no Joe Illuzi, the local political blogger known for making outlandish claims that later turn out to be false. I would put money that this is happening and is not simply a negotiating ploy. Pergament's credibility would take a significant hit (I know, many in our biz would argue has hasn't any) if Murph stays at Channel 4.

I think we'll learn more about the details once this is all made public. You bring up a good point, Rox, in asking why Murph would subject himself to moronic calls from listeners on WGR. Perhaps the WGR show will be of the once-a-week variety on a Monday after a Bills game. Or the show, if it is nightly, could feature Bills players and coaches or local writers. This would make it less dependent on callers. I remember the days of John Murphy being joined by Larry Felser on WBEN. That was appointment listening for me. Maybe Sully would move from Schopp and the Bulldog to John Murphy's show. The possibilities are endless. The bottomline is that delivering a two-minute TV sportscast, despite the high audience numbers, might not be more appealing if station management is cutting your salary and resources. Plus, it's likely the Murphy show on WGR would not air during the off-season, or only on days when there is major breaking news such as the draft or big free agent signing, giving him free evenings for six to seven months a year.

 

[bbb]

I can't find the article online, but today's News pretty much says Murph from Ch. 4 to the Bills is a done deal. The GR thing is a possibility, it says. It would be like Carucci's deal with the Browns (which I'm not sure exactly what that deal is) - he'd get paid by the Bills and not GR.

 

[Element9]

Television faces as much digital and on-line competition as radio, maybe more. Hulu, YouTube and dozens of other sites affiliated with the networks offer immediate stimulation and gratification for news, weather and sports. ESPN, The Weather Channel, CNN, Fox News, CBS, NBC, ABC and the ultimate reality check, DVR and On Demand create extreme challenges for over the air television. Talk about viewers being in control, DVR gives them the ability to roll through commercial breaks at 4x and get back to programming. John Murphy going back to radio isn't so hard to imagine. It's where he came from and he has cred. The question is, will WGR become a PR mouthpiece for the Bills. Listeners and posters here often hung that rap on 97 Rock when it held the Bills radio rights. With Murphy joining the Bills, what becomes of Chris Brown, another former radio guy who's been the lead journalist at Buffalo Bills.com for the last five years?

 

[bbb]

What I don't understand when it comes to local TV news (which I have to admit I really haven't watched in 20 years or so) is that from what I know and the parts that I've seen, the weather has become way bigger than the sports.

It used to be the total opposite and everything I possibly would want to know about the weather can be done in 30 seconds.

Here you have 2 major league teams, 4 D1 programs, other minor league pro teams, high school, etc. and from what I've heard, they now get a minute or two of time??

 

[Element9]

Here you have 2 major league teams, 4 D1 programs, other minor league pro teams, high school, etc. and from what I've heard, they now get a minute or two of time??

Women want weather, guys want sports. Weather wins. Murph and Ed get reeled in so Don and Kevin can preen. But you're correct, b, there could be some balance. Five minutes of maps, occlusions in Manitoba and Super Duper Double Digital Doppler is overkill. TV insiders say there have actually been words between sports and weather people about their airtime. Now there's some behind the scenes stuff that might make for interesting local television.

 

[yugoidar]

Sports jockeys seem to be losing time on the air everywhere these days. In my neck of the woods, the TV stations continue to make heavy investments in the latest radar technology - seems like a battle to outdo each other.

I wouldn't be surprised if the people at the top are insisting that the folks in the station weather centers get the most on-air exposure to make those major cash outlays worthwhile.

 

[bbb]

I guess I'll never understand women, then. All I need to know from the weather is what is the temp and what will it be like in the foreseeable future.........I also like a little historical perspective, so what was the high and low today, what are the averages for the day, and what are the records for the day.

One minute - done. Just like the old days.

In sports, you can have highlights, opinions, etc. - all kinds of stuff that wouldn't necessarily be on your smart phone.

 

[heydaybegone]

In sports, you can have highlights, opinions, etc. - all kinds of stuff that wouldn't necessarily be on your smart phone.

Why wouldn't they be on the smart phone? Ya want it..ya get it. ???
bbb..stick with never understanding women....that will stand up in debates.

 

[Bob1370]

The reason sports has less TV airtime is that you no longer need to depend on the noon, 6 and 11 PM newscasts to get all the scores and stories...there are plenty of places to get it instantaneously including, in large markets, sports stations like WGR which give you rundowns every 20 minutes and lots of sports talk and/or PBP the rest of the hour. Let's also not forget cable and the Web.

The same thing would be happening to news coverage as well except for a few things; 1) a typical full power, full service TV station has resources that few websites or radio stations can match, 2) newspapers are starting to make the big mistake of charging online readers for more than a small smattering of what they do, making the TV stations, news/talk radio stations and their websites more than competitive (and online newspaper websites superfluous for the typical consumer) because all they ask is for you to put up with some ads as the price for getting the full product...which these days is about as detailed and complete as most local papers anyway.

 

[John C]

I'm starting a new thread because of the importance of this news. The Buffalo News is reporting on its website this evening that the Bills are moving to WGR. There were few details. The News says an official announcement could come as soon as Wednesday. This is the logical choice. WGR is Buffalo's sports radio station. Now it has both of the city's major sports teams. It'll be interesting to hear how all this unfolds. I assume John Murphy will continue as play-by-play man. But would Entercom ask that one of its hosts -- Howard Simon, maybe -- serve as game analyst? Will hosts such as Mike Schopp tone down their rhetoric? Will there be an FM broadcast, perhaps at 107.7FM?

Bringing this back up as I heard "the Bulldog" rip the Bills yesterday for their probable extension of the Toronto agreement. To his credit he acknowledged the new relationship between his station and the Bills. Feel free to let this thread drop to the back burner as I contemplate bringing the Stiffs thread back to page 1.