Cleveland sportstalk

[ctown29]

Boy this board seems to have slowed down lately.

Here's a question.

If you were to take over WKNR tomorrow and had all of the local Cleveland talent at your disposal to fill out the lineup, what would you do?

Does Brinda keep his job?
Does Roda keep his job?
Do you rob WTAM of some of their underutilized talent and give them daytime gigs?
Do you go after TV personalities?
Bring back Les Levine?
Hire a bunch of interns from OCB to do shows?

Wait no KNR already does that.

Seriously people whine about sportstalk in Cleveland between KNR, TAM and the internet stuff but if you were in charge what would you do?

 

[JohnnyMorganWXJX]

> Boy this board seems to have slowed down lately.
>
> Here's a question.
>
> If you were to take over WKNR tomorrow and had all of the
> local Cleveland talent at your disposal to fill out the
> lineup, what would you do?

Can I change the station to standards? No? Oh, alright then...

> Does Brinda keep his job?

Yes. He's a staple in this town. And I'd keep him at mid-mornings.

> Does Roda keep his job?

Weekends. Too much other talent.

> Do you rob WTAM of some of their underutilized talent and
> give them daytime gigs?

Mark Schwab gets 6-9pm. No doubt.

> Do you go after TV personalities?

Rizzo...but he's already sworn off radio because TV prep takes up his time.

> Bring back Les Levine?

Absolutely.

> Hire a bunch of interns from OCB to do shows?
>
> Wait no KNR already does that.
>
> Seriously people whine about sportstalk in Cleveland between
> KNR, TAM and the internet stuff but if you were in charge
> what would you do?


Weekdays:

AM drive: Mike Trivisonno. Essentially take his PM shaow and move it to mornings. It's already a zoo-format anyway. He'd be #1 men----especially post-Stern--and probably take a good hit away from Lanigan. Traffic and weather and full-service news, etc. (No "Dirty Kurt" though...he's annoying.)

Mid-AMs: Greg Brinda. Not brash enough for drive times, but knowledgable. No showtunes.

Middays: Bill Needle. Or Rome. Whichever gets ratings.

PM drive: Les Levine. Intelligent sports talk in drive time, with the right amount bluster and opinion. Plus news, traffic, weather, etc.

Evenings: Mark Schwab. Best young talent in town--in any talk genre.

Nights: If no sports team PBP, then Pat McCabe (if possible). I know he teaches during the day, so we'd have to figure something out. Maybe switch McCabe and Schwab. But I need them both.

Overnights: hell, who knows. Does it matter? The signal's anemic.

Sports anchors: Snyder as SD. Hands down best sports guy in town; second is Les. Coleman as anchor; Matt Dery (he still working?) too. Mark Tromba.

Weekends:

Saturday AM: Obligatory PSA stuff.

8am-noon: Kenny Roda. That's some good eatin'--pre-Buckeyes. Or a Pro-Bucks pre-game smorgasboard.

Noon-4pm: Football season PBP. Or some other network PBP.

4pm-6pm: Post-game, or one of the kids.

6pm-10pm: Kevin Keane. He's a great host, even being a homer. But you kind of need that one guy, ya know?

10pm-overnights: Again, does it matter?

Sunday AM: PSA churches, etc.

10am-1pm: Pre-game, if Browns then a Browns show. If not, then whatever sport it is--even network.

1pm-4pm: Post-game/wrapup, or other sundry item. If no one local, network is fine.

4pm-7pm: One of the kids.

7pm-10pm: Kevin Keane.

10pm-overnight: [static]

 

[nate81]

> > Boy this board seems to have slowed down lately.
> >
> > Here's a question.
> >
> > If you were to take over WKNR tomorrow and had all of the
> > local Cleveland talent at your disposal to fill out the
> > lineup, what would you do?

First things first: PD Mike Luczak gets canned. No questions needed. I'd do the honors.

Secondly, get a REAL VO talent to image WKNR. Since Luczak would be history, that's easy. There has to be some good, capable announcers out there- even local talent. Also, Ted Lux comes back.

Thirdly, can all infomercials, brokered programming, and other non-sports related block programming that is stuck on the weeknight sched. (The God-awful "Issues and Answers" show on 850 that was essentially a clone - or parody - of CC's Sunday morning "Community Forum" was cancelled. A start...)

Fourthly, bring back Rich Passan, Dave Milo, Ken Silverstein, and other past weekend talent that WKNR either has hid away or let go. And have them mesh with the YUPS (Young, UnderPaid Staffers... on the weekends. If the YUPS are kept at all.

Fifthly, bring back legitamate weekend sportstalk. Any of the previously cited hosts would qualify.

Sixthly, any and all locally-based shows MUST be freshened up. That means no more "dino rock" bumpers; liners that are better written and tighter; and no more "You're on the air on Sports/Talk 850 WKNR: The Voice of The Fan."

Seventhly, change the station's positioner BACK to "SportsRADIO 850 WKNR." And cut new jingles, too...

Eighthly, can the lethal "Mike and Mike" - and never let board-op Eddie Mulars utter a phrase on-the-air ever again. It's a joke.

Ninethly, a law should be passed preventing Salem from ever owning a sports-formatted station ever AGAIN.

And that's it.

- nate81<P ID="signature">______________
Nathan Obral
University Partnership Representative: LCCC Student Senate, Elyria, Ohio

Soon-to-be-webmaster - http://www.lcccradio.com</P>

 

[OldAkronite]

> And that's it.

That's quite a list, and it's hard to disagree with nearly everything you and Johnny have brought up.

I have a few priorities:

* Schwabbie is definitely a Prime Time talent, and generally wasted on 'TAM right now. I'd put him at very LEAST weekday evenings, and maybe even afternoon drive.

* As mentioned, 'KNR had a hell of a weekend bench with folks like Rich Passan and Dave Milo. That's been thrown away.

* Les Levine's in the mix...somewhere.

Unfortunately, none of this is likely to happen.

-OA<P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>

 

[ajhenderson]

> If you were to take over WKNR tomorrow and had all of the
> local Cleveland talent at your disposal to fill out the
> lineup, what would you do?

Move the format to 1420 and program something better on 850's 50kW stick.

 

[RadioNoob]

FYI, Rich Passan has retired to Arizona. He still writes for BerniesInsiders.com and hosted the radio show (on Sports Talk Network) up through a few weeks ago.

 

[ctown29]

Some good ideas.

Triv would be awesome in the morning. I know its something hes always wanted to do but I can't imagine WTAM without him in the afternoon.

I don't mind Mike and Mike though. For a syndicated show, they do a great job in morning drive. I would work in a talented air personality to do Eddie Mularz's job though. Someone who could not only intro the traffic and give the temperature but also squeeze in some basic Cleveland sports news and add a little more content to the KNR local cut-ins. Quite frankly I dont know why they dont just have Jeff Thomas do it in the first place.

I'd put Shwabbie and Kevin Keane on from 9-12. Brinda is too vanilla for me. I agree with everyone who thinks Mark Schwab is an underutilized talent at WTAM and he and Keane are great together on Keanes TAM show.

Keep Jim Rome. Good national coverage and a cult following.

Les Levine from 3-7. I'd put a dynamic personality in there with him though to do updates and serve as a sidekick. Someone emotional and eccentric.

Move Roda to postgames. His schtick is old, although he's emotional enough to do a good job reacting to a game just played with some good insight.

Weekends:

Young talent. Give kids like Mike Catan, Ryan McNoughton, Neal Bender, and Joe Lull a chance. Maybe that old caller Sportsboy Tony. He always had good insight and was entertaining and I thought I heard he was getting into broadcasting. That Hammer and Toolbox show on sportstalknetwork is pretty good too. Maybe give them some time during the afternoon.

It's too bad people like Tony Rizzo and Jeff Phelps arent doing anything in radio. They're really talented but dont have the time to do radio I guess.

Its too bad sports talk is in its current state in Cleveland. I like WTAM's stuff when its on, but they're not 24 hr sports. Sportstalknetwork has a couple decent people on but its hard to listen since its only internet. KNR is pretty sad.

Oh well. Unless someone comes in and buys a station and starts fresh we're pretty stuck with what we got.

 

[Whkam1420]

Ok ok...

Matt Dery is doing extremely well in Detroit - he's a staple on the Piston's broadcasts and has even done fill-in work for their play-by-play. Believe me, this is exactly the reason that real stations hire people from Syracuse rather than the OCB.

Les Levine and Triv would be the anchors of your station - and, they can sell ADVERTISEMENTS. No hosts in this city can deal with their callers the way that they can. Host/Caller rapport drive good radio, something that KNR has NEVER understood - dating back to the days of Mike Wolfe and Sindelar. My only beef w/ Triv is Kim. There are a ton of people that could come in and provide witty back and forth banter. Remember, Triv is controversial - so why exactly does Kim agree w/ everything he says??? There's a reason Opie and Anthony call women like Robin Quivers and Kim M. "holes" - you figure it out. Even the awful Duji on Rover would make for a better morning partner than Kim. Seriously, why is Kimi on the show??

As for Rizzo - he was very close to coming back to radio this year. Had the "suits" come in and finalize the deal - it would have been Les and Riz back on the air daily. This was really close to happening, and it's a shame the deal got dropped in the final hours.

Schwabbie is terrific - and won't be around long if he doesn't get an opportunity in this market. I can guarantee you that.

No way Kevin Keane is brought it. The only thing he's got are those pipes - great voice. But the laughing at his own jokes w/o punchlines need to stop. Also, not very innovative.

Brinda's days would be numbered. Also a chronic laugher - and he's not a staple in this town. 20 years from now, he will be known for doing some of the most bland, thoughtless radio ever in this town. Awful give and take w/ callers. Why would anyone think that good radio is just an opening monologue, followed by 2 calls in the first hour, and then 10 more calls the rest of the show, with absolutely no deviation from day to day. Do some bits, do some FUN contests like Levine; do something new...does his show ever use pre-produced elements ever?

Incidentally, I think Sportsboytony is reporting in North Carolina, does anyone know where he is??

Roda - has gotten significantly better throughout the years, and would be a terrific 7-11 pm host. Allowing callers to vent about games as they're happening.