Boffo Numbers For Opening Day Baseball - On AM Radio

[DToTheJ]

Arbitron numbers cite dramatic increases of listenership for opening day radio broadcasts on stations such as WGN/Chicago (Cubs), WTAM/Cleveland (Indians), and not surprisingly, WCBS-AM/New York (Yankees).
http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=2453087&spid=24698

 

[Pratte4Life]

For as much bashing as AM's signal gets (pop, crackle, I KEEP GETTING INTERFERENCE ON THIS BAND WHEN THE ENGINE IS RUNNING), it should be said that the above stations have the best signals of just about any radio station in America. I remember on cloudy winter days (not nights, days) I could get WTAM (then WWWE) 400 miles away and clear as a bell on my GE Superradio back in the 80s and 90s and can't imagine that's changed.

Listening to the baseball game on the 50,000 watt AM station is part of Americana. It's as much a part of the sport as pine tar and second base.

Even in this era of internet broadcasts, MLB Network and Baseball Tonight, video highlights on demand, running play-by-play on the net, exhaustive statistics at your fingertips and sports on FM, I just think that the baseball team on the local 50KW blowtorch is greatly beneficial to both team and station. To be able to get the game when it goes dark in half the country is suburb marketing.

Why not have as many options as possible for fans to follow the sport? The ballgame on the 50KW blowtorch is traditional, but never obsolete.

 

[schmave]

For as much bashing as AM's signal gets (pop, crackle, I KEEP GETTING INTERFERENCE ON THIS BAND WHEN THE ENGINE IS RUNNING), it should be said that the above stations have the best signals of just about any radio station in America. I remember on cloudy winter days (not nights, days) I could get WTAM (then WWWE) 400 miles away and clear as a bell on my GE Superradio back in the 80s and 90s and can't imagine that's changed.

Listening to the baseball game on the 50,000 watt AM station is part of Americana. It's as much a part of the sport as pine tar and second base.

Even in this era of internet broadcasts, MLB Network and Baseball Tonight, video highlights on demand, running play-by-play on the net, exhaustive statistics at your fingertips and sports on FM, I just think that the baseball team on the local 50KW blowtorch is greatly beneficial to both team and station. To be able to get the game when it goes dark in half the country is suburb marketing.

Why not have as many options as possible for fans to follow the sport? The ballgame on the 50KW blowtorch is traditional, but never obsolete.

As common sense a post as I've seen in a long time. Totally agree. Nothing wrong with keeping that kind of "romance" around, if you will.

 

[KeithE4]

Listening to the baseball game on the 50,000 watt AM station is part of Americana. It's as much a part of the sport as pine tar and second base.

Not all MLB teams are on 50 kW, non-directional blowtorches. In fact, only 1/3 are - the Yankees (WCBS), Mets (WFAN), Phillies (WPHT), Indians (WTAM), Cubs (WGN), White Sox (WSCR), Cardinals (KMOX), Rockies (KOA), Giants (KNBR), and Mariners (KIRO). That's 10 out of 30.

There are others on 50 kW stations, but they are directional and/or lower power at night - the Red Sox (WEEI), Blue Jays (CJCL), Braves (WCNN), Orioles (WBAL), Brewers (WTMJ), Tigers (WXYT), Angels (KSPN), Padres (XEPRS), Astros (KTRH), and Twins (KSTP).

Even in this era of internet broadcasts, MLB Network and Baseball Tonight, video highlights on demand, running play-by-play on the net, exhaustive statistics at your fingertips and sports on FM, I just think that the baseball team on the local 50KW blowtorch is greatly beneficial to both team and station. To be able to get the game when it goes dark in half the country is suburb marketing.

All teams have multiple-station networks. The smallest English-language networks are the Marlins (7 stations) and Dodgers (9 stations). The rest have 15 or more affiliates.

Why not have as many options as possible for fans to follow the sport? The ballgame on the 50KW blowtorch is traditional, but never obsolete.

I can listen to any game I want on my phone. That's the future of sports broadcasting outside a team's local market. How many Cardinals fans outside of the St. Louis area are listening to KMOX on AM 1120? Not many, I'll guess, since the Cardinals network has 110 other affiliates. KMOX may be audible throughout the midwest and most of the east coast and south, but that doesn't matter to them.

I'd rather hear a ball game with clear reception, which I can do on my phone or PC. The days of straining ones ears trying to hear KMOX on a 6-transistor pocket radio or an All-American Five, 500-1000 miles away, are long gone.

 

[N1WVQ]

The Red Sox are also on 1080/WTIC which is a clear as well as the Orioles' WBAL. Yes there are other stations on the frequencies but WEEI is also on 850 like KOA. I believe the original post was about 50kW blowtorches & both WTIC & WBAL are Class A. The Blue Jays are also heard on CHML/900: Hamilton, On. which is another 50kW & is clear here in Massachusetts. XEPRS is a Mexican clear. WPHT gets interference in Providence because of a local 1220 so they can't hear the Phillies well. My mother lived in the same city as 1220's transmitter & would strain to hear her Braves vs. pay for it on a phone or internet app which I cannot blame her for doing because in these lean times, such things are frivolous. Plus, most of the A.M. blasters come in strong. 1500-D.C. (the original WTOP) with the Nationals (which isn't on your list) blasts in here at night. So, the list of teams on Class A stations is larger than just 10 & many of those 10 have other stations on the frequency at night. Again, we can't hear KOA here because of WEEI nor can we hear WSCR most times because of WFAN's HD hash.

Sports on A.M.s is a tradition, one that should NEVER die!

 

[KeithE4]

The Red Sox are also on 1080/WTIC which is a clear as well as the Orioles' WBAL. Yes there are other stations on the frequencies but WEEI is also on 850 like KOA. I believe the original post was about 50kW blowtorches & both WTIC & WBAL are Class A. The Blue Jays are also heard on CHML/900: Hamilton, On. which is another 50kW & is clear here in Massachusetts. XEPRS is a Mexican clear. WPHT gets interference in Providence because of a local 1220 so they can't hear the Phillies well. My mother lived in the same city as 1220's transmitter & would strain to hear her Braves vs. pay for it on a phone or internet app which I cannot blame her for doing because in these lean times, such things are frivolous. Plus, most of the A.M. blasters come in strong. 1500-D.C. (the original WTOP) with the Nationals (which isn't on your list) blasts in here at night. So, the list of teams on Class A stations is larger than just 10 & many of those 10 have other stations on the frequency at night. Again, we can't hear KOA here because of WEEI nor can we hear WSCR most times because of WFAN's HD hash.

This is why MLB Gameday Audio is a good thing. At $15 for the entire season - all teams, all games, all feeds (English and Spanish), and no blackouts, you're spending about as much for a season of baseball on "radio" as you would for a fine dinner for two at Kentucky Fried Chicken.

It is another $15 for the mobile app unless you have the MLB.TV Premium package which includes it, but if you listen in the car, it's worth it. Plug your smartphone into one of those MP3 transmitters and voila! Baseball on radio (OK, it's FM).

Sports on A.M.s is a tradition, one that should NEVER die!

Tradition and $2 will get you a cup of coffee at Denny's. Tradition is living in the past. Tradition will get you barely-audible ballgames on Ancient Modulation stations that don't care one whit if you're listening or not. Besides, not all areas of the country get a lot of baseball on radio. Here in Phoenix, outside of the local D'backs, I can sometimes get the Giants, Padres, & Rockies - barely, and not every night. Forget the LA teams or anything back east other than rare appearances by KMOX/Cardinals or KSTP/Twins via skywave. I need Gameday Audio for this reason.

MLB wants you to spend that $15 if you want to listen to out-of-market games. It may be a bit greedy, but it is a better-quality broadcast, priced fairly, and worth the money.

 

[N1WVQ]

Considering what kind of "future" this country has, living in the past seems a better alternative! As a kid in the '80s it seemed the future would be wonderful. Now, I wonder how long before the U.S. is eclipsed by China & is relegated to the great civilizations of history that time has passed by.

I prefer baseball on free Angel Music versus $15 that can go to pay an electric bill, or mortgage.

Turning to the MiLB package, I've had many problems listening to the Paw Sox because WHJJ's signal doesn't reach here at night nor does WNBH's signal quite make it. So I tried the MiLB package. The links did not work when I tried so I gave up. Haven't tried it since. Same with AHL hockey's feed of the Providence Bruins. In fact I remember the AHL audio site showing how many streaming audio problems they had for all of the games. If I had to pay for that I'd be really pissed!

Internet radio isn't the be-all & end-all. I'd rather have the bandwidth utilized for other ways & get audio from a radio. I still prefer radio & I'm 32.

I remember reading on whatever the St. Louis paper's page is that many people wanted the Cards back on KMOX, much more than on WXOS. Quite a few of them were from places that they could only hear KMOX.