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FM Sports station in Pittsburgh

Re: Local sports talk, egos, and more

I was gonna add something, but I don't think I can say it any better than you did below.

I will say this though: if it happened, what station would host this mega-sports talk format? I caution that 970 and 1250 do something unrepeatable in polite company to my third testicle after sundown, and during the day they ain't all that hot either. In Washington County, forget it.


> > If one sports station in this town featured Madden, E,
> Crowe
> > and Junker, Tunch and Wolf, and Savran you'd really have
> > something.
>
> Possibly, but then again, that's a lot of egos in the same
> room.
>
> Why did Savran leave ESPN 1250 a few years ago? At the time
> Scott Paulsen had the weekday drive-time gig on "The Burgh"-
> as FOX 970 was called then.
>
> My guess is that he didn't want to have to put up with being
> a second banana on "The Mark Madden Station."
>
> I'll be honest. I LOVE sports talk- but I don't LOVE what
> I'm hearing from the local hosts.
>
> Example-
>
> Madden- Sorry. My IQ is over 50 and I'm a first grade
> graduate. I don't fall for his schtick.
>
> Ellis- A 40 something white guy professing his love for
> Eminem? And while I understand that he tries to paint
> himself as something of a "everyman's fan"- that's tough to
> do when you're reminding everyone you used to be a lawyer.
>
> Whatever happened to Henry Cannon, anyway?
>
> Junker and Crowe- Why must Guy Junker ALWAYS have a
> sidekick? Where is it written he can't do his show alone?
>
> And if he HAS to have one- why must it be the ultimate wet
> blanket and really shallow thinking of Eddy Crowe?
>
> Tunch and Wolf- Energetic. Both are educated in
> broadcasting- which many sports talk hosts are not. My only
> problem with them is that they allow too many idiots on
> their air- like the Raiders fan who calls up thinking he has
> charisma when in actuality he just comes off as a fool.
>
> That guy dragged down Jim Penna's old show. Take my advice,
> fellas, ban him. Something different is good on a radio show
> . . . except when it's a train wreck.
>
> Savran- The last word in broadcast sports talk in Pittsburgh
> but after 30 years we pretty much know where he stands. I
> also tune out when I hear a guy like "Baywood Bernie" on.
>
> Alexander- Never really been able to take off. Not as sappy
> as Tolo or angry as Corby but something missing.
>
> Benz- Whiny, irritating guy who talks down to you. I'll
> pass.
>
> Rocco- That "celebrating the average" bit he does could
> actually be his whole show. Lacks sports knowledge.
>
> Hawthorne- Gets solid guests from the Pirates and then makes
> you forget they were on 10 minutes after they are
> interviewed.
>
> Von Benko- Gotta give him credit for sticking around, even
> if it is AM 590. But a little more personality wouldn't
> hurt.
>
 
Re: Local sports talk, egos, and more

> Why did Savran leave ESPN 1250 a few years ago? At the time
> Scott Paulsen had the weekday drive-time gig on "The Burgh"-
> as FOX 970 was called then.
>
> My guess is that he didn't want to have to put up with being
> a second banana on "The Mark Madden Station."


While ego should never been ignored in any issue involving Savran, there's much, much more to it than that.

At 1250, he had to deal with their crappy post-sunset signal and a timeslot that was frequently butting heads with play-by-play of the Pirates, Pens and Pit hoops.

At 970, they were building things around him (some promises to add more local programming were not filled) and assuring him that he would have a voice in shaping the station. They also offered a better time slot (Stan believed he would get the "serious" sports fans while Madden would hold onto the 14-year-old pro wrestling fans) and the logistics made sense since he was working for Fox on TV. The radio and TV deals were intertwined and he figured one would support the other.
 
Re: Local sports talk, egos, and more

> I was gonna add something, but I don't think I can say it
> any better than you did below.
>
> I will say this though: if it happened, what station would
> host this mega-sports talk format?

Maybe WJAS... none of the other AMs (except KD, of course) get out of Allegheny County at night.

I still think 540 should be the daytime sports signal. Comes in loud and clear as far away as Fairmont and St. Clairsville. Same thing could be done with 1080 (either that signal needs some work, or the current owners just have the processing turned way down, it used to get out much better in the WEEP days).

Part of the reason E does so well at night is that he's on a full-market signal.

The other thing to do would be network it, with stations like WJPA, 620 or 770 in Westmoreland county, something in Butler and WBVP in the Beaver Valley. <P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P>
 
I'm assuming then-

Because when Savran went to "The Burgh"- he originally was given his old 8-9 slot while Paulsen was in the last days of his show.

When was it that they knew that wasn't going to work?


> > Why did Savran leave ESPN 1250 a few years ago? At the
> time
> > Scott Paulsen had the weekday drive-time gig on "The
> Burgh"-
> > as FOX 970 was called then.
> >
> > My guess is that he didn't want to have to put up with
> being
> > a second banana on "The Mark Madden Station."
>
>
> While ego should never been ignored in any issue involving
> Savran, there's much, much more to it than that.
>
> At 1250, he had to deal with their crappy post-sunset signal
> and a timeslot that was frequently butting heads with
> play-by-play of the Pirates, Pens and Pit hoops.
>
> At 970, they were building things around him (some promises
> to add more local programming were not filled) and assuring
> him that he would have a voice in shaping the station. They
> also offered a better time slot (Stan believed he would get
> the "serious" sports fans while Madden would hold onto the
> 14-year-old pro wrestling fans) and the logistics made sense
> since he was working for Fox on TV. The radio and TV deals
> were intertwined and he figured one would support the other.
>
 
Re: I'm assuming then-

The plan all along was that Savran's show would replace Paulsen. That's why they hired him, to make him the focal point of 970. They tried a bold experiment with Paulsen because CC wanted him on the air but really had no slot for him, plus they needed something that would generate attention for the AM.

It didn't work for a variety of reasons, so they decided to go with the more traditional idea of sports talk, while creating a spot for Paulsen back on DVE. Paulsen on 970 wasn't necessarily a bad idea. They hoped he could draw enough of his fans to make the AM work, even if they weren't hardcore sports fans. Steve Dahl was on an AM sports station for a while in Chicago.





> Because when Savran went to "The Burgh"- he originally was
> given his old 8-9 slot while Paulsen was in the last days of
> his show.
>
> When was it that they knew that wasn't going to work?
>
>
> > > Why did Savran leave ESPN 1250 a few years ago? At the
> > time
> > > Scott Paulsen had the weekday drive-time gig on "The
> > Burgh"-
> > > as FOX 970 was called then.
> > >
> > > My guess is that he didn't want to have to put up with
> > being
> > > a second banana on "The Mark Madden Station."
> >
> >
 
Re: Networking

> Better you go on 540. They tried a networking of stations
> with the Post-Gazette in the 90s and it didn't work.
>


The P-G had Savran doing a show on a bunch of smaller stations and it didn't work at all. His producer, Steve Halvonik, wound up being most of the callers because the phones were dead.

Networking doesn't work well because those stations will drop the network programming if they have something local they can sell. WJPA does a lot of high school sports, also carries the Wild Things through the summer.
 
Re: I'm assuming then-

> The plan all along was that Savran's show would replace
> Paulsen. That's why they hired him, to make him the focal
> point of 970. They tried a bold experiment with Paulsen
> because CC wanted him on the air but really had no slot for
> him, plus they needed something that would generate
> attention for the AM.
>
> It didn't work for a variety of reasons, so they decided to
> go with the more traditional idea of sports talk, while
> creating a spot for Paulsen back on DVE. Paulsen on 970
> wasn't necessarily a bad idea. They hoped he could draw
> enough of his fans to make the AM work, even if they weren't
> hardcore sports fans. Steve Dahl was on an AM sports station
> for a while in Chicago.


The other part of that story was that Paulsen's salary came from DVE's budget, not 970's.

Plus, the original concept was for The Burgh to be a "guy talk" station rather than pure sports. As many times as I've heard stations think they're going to make that concept work, I've never seen it stick. The Sports Animal in Tampa tried to start out that way years ago as well, and even included Gary Burbank from WLW as part of the lineup. Now the lineup includes two former NFL players (although one is paired with a long-time classic rock morning guy) and a former pro golfer(a club pro, but as opposed to being a radio guy).

The way I heard it, they reluctantly moved Savran up to PM drive and full-time money, simply because Paulsen and a roster of Fox sports syndication wasn't making a dent in 1250.<P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P>
 
Re: Networking

> Networking doesn't work well because those stations will
> drop the network programming if they have something local
> they can sell. WJPA does a lot of high school sports, also
> carries the Wild Things through the summer.
>

Wild Things are on the FM only. In summer, the AM has Pirates baseball rights...or plays music. But, the AM is also a graveyard frequency with 1kw F/T: great during the day (I've received it well into Ohio on the Tpk.), but at night it's lucky to get out of Washington and South Strabane. Plus, oddly enough, in W&J's dorms, I got a shadow signal on 550 khz.
 
ALL STEELERS FM RADIO

> > Would an all FM Sports Station be successful in
> Pittsburgh?
> > thoughts?
>
> well, with the Steelers on DVE the Penguins + Nascar on 3WS.
> The Panthers on 104.7 not much left for a stand alone all
> sports format to carry, and the way the Steeler radio
> broadcast contract is assigned you have to be a AM/FM combo
> to be the flagship station for that organization. Hence
> forth 970 isn’t going anywhere.
>
> As for a "Lets Talk Sports" type station. That’s a hard sell
> to the advertisers without any "home team" to base that
> station on. Now if you could pull the Pirates from KD, never
> say never on that. then it could work
>
How about 365 day a year, 24/7 Stiller Station. All Steelers All the time. Then Double M, Mark Madden can talk about the Penguins and Pitt and let the Yinzers call the FM side and talk about how the Steelers will get that one for the thumb this year! LOL
 
You must really hate hockey and root for Penn State

To suggest this.


> How about 365 day a year, 24/7 Stiller Station. All Steelers
> All the time. Then Double M, Mark Madden can talk about the
> Penguins and Pitt and let the Yinzers call the FM side and
> talk about how the Steelers will get that one for the thumb
> this year! LOL
>
 
Is that assuming or presuming?

> > The plan all along was that Savran's show would replace
> > Paulsen. That's why they hired him, to make him the focal
> > point of 970. They tried a bold experiment with Paulsen
> > because CC wanted him on the air but really had no slot
> for
> > him, plus they needed something that would generate
> > attention for the AM.
> >
> > It didn't work for a variety of reasons, so they decided
> to
> > go with the more traditional idea of sports talk, while
> > creating a spot for Paulsen back on DVE. Paulsen on 970
> > wasn't necessarily a bad idea. They hoped he could draw
> > enough of his fans to make the AM work, even if they
> weren't
> > hardcore sports fans. Steve Dahl was on an AM sports
> station
> > for a while in Chicago.
>
>
> The other part of that story was that Paulsen's salary came
> from DVE's budget, not 970's.
>
> Plus, the original concept was for The Burgh to be a "guy
> talk" station rather than pure sports. As many times as I've
> heard stations think they're going to make that concept
> work, I've never seen it stick. The Sports Animal in Tampa
> tried to start out that way years ago as well, and even
> included Gary Burbank from WLW as part of the lineup. Now
> the lineup includes two former NFL players (although one is
> paired with a long-time classic rock morning guy) and a
> former pro golfer(a club pro, but as opposed to being a
> radio guy).
>
> The way I heard it, they reluctantly moved Savran up to PM
> drive and full-time money, simply because Paulsen and a
> roster of Fox sports syndication wasn't making a dent in
> 1250.
>
You presume, of course, that Clear Channel ever wants to do more than it has to do for ratings. WBGG has the play-by-play WEAE would love to have. But there is still the feel that ESPN really cares about what it puts out over AM 1250, while AM 970 sounds like the AM stepchild it is among the CC FMs.

By the way, what happens if Savran decides he will challenge Tim Murphy for Congress?
 
Re: Is that assuming or presuming?

> By the way, what happens if Savran decides he will challenge
> Tim Murphy for Congress?
>

Announced today--Savran's not running.
 
Re: Just curious about something...

> > well....if the Pirates left KDKA, they would definitely
> lose
> > their preset spot on my radio. Such a move might very
> well
> > fit the strategy of CC to take them down one slice at at
> > time.
>
> Do you usually tend to surf through only the stations on
> your preset buttons, or do you usually scan the entire dial?
>

Interesting question, as that has changed over the years.
In the old analog car radio days I would just twist the knob,
slide back and forth, and stop on anything that sounded
interesting. Now, with the electronic digital car radios,
that does not seem to work on the AM side (at least on my cars,
when you hit scan it seems to stop every 10kHz, whether there
is a station on the air or not)so I tend to rely much more heavily
on presets, at least for the AM stations.

At home I am still an analog dial-twisting sampler.
 
Re: You must really hate hockey and root for Penn State

Oh no, I think he's on to something. Picture this: the call letters, WYNZ. Not only are those soundalikes to some other great stations, but the letters have double meanings. "Wins" for when the Stillers win, and "Yinz" as in, Yinzer. Yinz love your Stillers n'at. Oh, I can hear the liners now.

And if they put it on FM, whatever the frequency is will instantly become the tag. Dump Star right now and put on Y-100.

During off hours, instead of the bird, how about re-runs of great Steelers games from years gone by. Who wouldn't like to hear Myron Cope's first game again. Or the audio to the Immaculate Reception.

I'm so there.

> To suggest this.
>
>
> > How about 365 day a year, 24/7 Stiller Station. All
> Steelers
> > All the time. Then Double M, Mark Madden can talk about
> the
> > Penguins and Pitt and let the Yinzers call the FM side and
>
> > talk about how the Steelers will get that one for the
> thumb
> > this year! LOL
> >
>
 
Re: Is that assuming or presuming?

> > By the way, what happens if Savran decides he will
> challenge
> > Tim Murphy for Congress?
> >
>
> Announced today--Savran's not running.
>
But the answer would have been 3 more hours of Fox Sports.<P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P>
 
Okay, yes

I would listen to this heavenly station all the time.

But those poor Pitt Panthers and Penguins!

To leave them to Madden!

God, that would be the kiss of death to both of them.

And no smart answer like "Well, you would be listening to the Steelers station so much you would never miss those other teams."

I would quite possibly be taking my radio to the other games.

So there.
 
Re: Is that assuming or presuming?

> > By the way, what happens if Savran decides he will
> challenge
> > Tim Murphy for Congress?
> >
>
> Announced today--Savran's not running.
>

I think that was a wise decision. It could only harm what has otherwise been a successful career as a popular host if he decided to leap into something that is so divisive.
 
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