ESPN Austin vs 1300 The Zone

[longhorn2004]

ESPNAustin seems to have to gone with more local content, the Zone relies on some local talent but is anchored by Dan Patrick and Jim Rome national syndicated shows. A big plus for ESPNA Austin is that they are simulcasted on 1260AM. The only reason I can hear it in Georgetown, smart and inexpensive move on their part to expand their reach (it was ESPN Spanish). Now that football is in full swing (a time when sport stations have their highest listeners) who is in the lead listeners wise?

 

[mmnassour]

Don't think that 1260 is a big help, at least in North Austin. It's not really reliable until you hit the Williamson country line, and 104.1 can't be heard reliably north of 2222.

"The Horn" still can't be heard across a large part of Travis County. 1260 is a nice add for you folks up by G-town and Round Rock, but the rest of us still have only one sportstalk station that can always be heard.

 

[MisterRadio]

Well, 1260 was pretty much meant for Round Rock and Georgetown. The Horn and the other Border properties are the home for Round Rock Express baseball which can't even be heard in the stadium when the games were just on the Horn (they actually installed a low power transmitter in the stadium for listeners there). The Zone is now on an FM translator to reach into the downtown buildings a little better. 1300 is not great as far as AM's goes (590 is still the king of distance here in Austin) but has much better range than 104.9 does at the moment. The biggest asset the Zone has is the Longhorn Contract which can be both a blessing and a curse, mostly a blessing. If that went away, the so would the Zone (at least as far as any local talent is concerned). ESPN content is arguably better than Fox Sports content, but like him or not, Jim Rome is the king of sports radio right now and Dan Patrick is up there too.

 

[Pete Pyeatt]

I have to give the nod to "The Zone." Jim Rome, Dan Patrick, Astros Baseball (Austin will always be Astros Country, I don't care how many World Series' the Rangers choke away), Westwood One coverage of the NFL, and the best College Football games (The Zone aired #1 LSU vs #2 Alabama last Saturday).

Now that they have an FM translator that virtually covers just as much ground as 104-9 The Horn, I definitely have to cast my vote for The Zone.

 

[CTHank]

I can't get either FM signal clearly in West Travis County, now once I'm past Bee-Caves 104.9 comes in much clearer, I get 103.1 out of San Antonio so I've never even been able to hear KVET on FM.

As far as lineups go, I have to admit I prefer what's on ESPN over the Fox Sports guys. My biggest issue is Cowerd's inane repetition on a subject, he talks things to death, I can pretty much guarantee that at some point in a segment, he's going to mention how he used to work in Vegas, or Portland or Florida and so on and so forth and how the SEC is so much better than any other conference and by the way did you know he used to work in Vegas where he made friends with bookies who keep him informed oh and Alabama is still better than almost anybody else in the country and when he was working in Portland he used to pay attention to the PAC 10, because he grew up in Seattle and then he worked in Vegas....

I do like their local shows, I think Ketchum has a tendency to get a wee bit over-excited especially when talking about that football team up north, but other than that, their shows do seem to cover a range of topics from multiple viewpoints...

As far as KVET goes since I'm not in the 18-24 demographic not many of their programs appeal to me I haven't listened to Rome for a couple of years now and Dan Patrick's laid back style puts me to sleep, I do like Bucky though...

I would interested in knowing who wins the Rome vs Cowherd time slot when they're on head to head

Just my two cents...