Furman Resurfaces

[KRCincy]

Reports have it that Andy Furman will indeed crank up a new local sports talk show on Supertalk 96.5 after the first of the year.
Despite protestations to the contrary, I think everyone saw this one coming.

 

[brian65]

I wish he would be on AM instead of FM.

I guess the future of Am local-talk-radio is FM talk-radio.

 

[master_of_muppets]

story is on the front page of the cincy biz journal:

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com

 

[KRCincy]

OK I didn't see this coming...the new Furman show will be from 4-7 pm, going directly after Lance and part of his old show. They got some big cojones at Supertalk!

 

[brian65]

I will definately give Andy a listen. It will be interesting to hear him in a new setup with new engineering, sponsors, and without his usual studio sidekick distractions.

If he runs out of material he might even consider talking about minor league hockey and baseball (if its still legal to talk about minor league sports).

 

[WyllyWylly]

if its still legal to talk about minor league sports

Why would it be illegal? It's not so much a matter of legality as it is that no one cares. Minor league is not what draws listeners, which begets numbers, which begets advertising dollars. Follow the money trail...

 

[KRCincy]

Brian, I got your joke even if Wylly didn't.

 

[brian65]

Brian, I got your joke even if Wylly didn't.

Yes. I did mention it tongue in cheek but when you think about it, I wonder if there is indeed a 'taboo' against mentioning minor league sports teams which are not sponsors, or possibly even more importantly, might possibly be entertainment competition for an actual major team that is a sponsor.

Have listeners actually ever called in and complained about these teams actually having been mentioned? I doubt it. Or have the hosts just declared that 'no one wants to hear about that stuff, they'd rather hear about my son throwing up after he ate a jar or olives'. Like we enjoy that stuff.

I'm not talking about any real in depth coverage, just an occasional mention of the teams and maybe a little info about them. Maybe even to be bold enough to accept a call from someone who wants to talk about them. Its seems now that the hosts are afraid to even acknowledge that these teams exist. I'm talking about the Cincinnati Cyclones and the Florence Freedom.

Maybe Andy can start something new, now that he is away from clear channel and their unmentioned 'arrangements'.

 

[Toddy-0]

You mean there is hockey and horse racing in and around Cincinnati? Is there really an NBA and NHL? You'd never guess it by the media in this town.

 

[exradio]

Here's part of a December 2005 Harris poll of people's favorite sports:

Pro football 33
Baseball 14
College football 13
Auto racing 11
Men’s college basketball 5
Hockey 5
Men’s pro basketball 4
Men’s golf 4
Boxing 2
Men’s soccer 2
Horse racing 2
Men’s tennis 1
Women’s tennis 1
Bowling 1

Since Cincinnati lacks big-time college football (maybe that'll change in a couple years), and since NASCAR fan loyalties are divided dozens of ways, and since we have a ton of college hoops tradition, I expect that Furman gets response by talking Reds and Bengals ad nauseum, with a side order of college hoops, and other sports in short segments on occasion or when they somehow create controversy.

In the past, Furman seemed to like doing minor sports, but when he did, half the calls seemed to be from people that knew the guest personally.

 

[LocalGuy]

Curling was evidently left out of that survey.

Lots of curling talk, Furman! The age-old "in-turn vs out-turn" and "draw-to-the-button vs take-out-and-stick" debates are sure to explode the phone lines everytime!

 

[brian65]

"...In the past, Furman seemed to like doing minor sports, but when he did, half the calls seemed to be from people that knew the guest personally."

I seem to recall specifically one time when someone calling Andy's show trying to mention something about a promotion the Florence Freedom was giving. Andy wouldn't let him talk, the reason being that the guy had some business connection with the team and "if you want us to talk about the team, buy some air time". I clearly understood that incident. It wasn't hearsay.

I think that pretty much explains the WLW-Florence Freedom situation. If you want us to talk about your team, you have to buy some air time first. But the worst part was the hosts always telling callers that "no one wants to hear about them".

 

[keys2]

Personally I'll keep listening to Lance because he actually talks sports. Furman's tendency to stir up crap and focus on the soap operas in sports has always disinterested me. Of course, how much of that was a directive from CC I don't know. If the SuperTalk folks let him actually talk sports then granted, things could get interesting in the market.

Another thing that may help 96.5 is if they can keep the spot load down. While I enjoy the local segments on 1530, sometimes the spots and clutter drive me crazy and force me to tune away. The guys can never get any momentum going because they have to break every four minutes for an interminable amount of commercials and lots of highly suspect clutter that masquerades as information.

 

[NewtotheNasti]

He’s a true radio icon, with an unparalleled run of dominance in his time slot over the past 59 quarterly rating periods.

For chrissakes, show me some numbers, will ya...

Wow, Furman was dominant in his demo during the NIGHTTIME daypart--in addition, his ratings daypart is mixed with Reds baseball broadcasts 6 months a year.

Give me frickin' a break--I've never seen as much attention given to a nighttime host in my life. Unless Cincinnati is dramatically different than any Top 30 market I've ever worked in, the numbers for his previous 6-9 daypart are a joke.

Being #1 with a paltry 1.2 rating (I don't care what the share is) means jack $hit...

 

[Flavin]

When the Red's weren't playing that time slot was consistently beaten by the following stations at night.
WUBE, WKFS, WRRM.
I don't see any "12 in Touch" news polls about the jocks on those stations. The fact that Friday's Enquirer had a blurb about his resurfacing front page above the fold is an absolute joke. Don't get me wrong, good for Andy, glad he got his gig back. But c'mon! For this to be one of the top stories on all local newscasts is ridiculous! It was almost like the good folks at Cumulus bought time on the telecasts! Just picture Sally Q Homemaker in her easy chair watching Dana Eubanks talk about a guy she probably never heard of getting a job on a station she'll probably never listen to! Just wanted to get that off my chest.
Merry Christmas to all!

 

[ilovescotch]

This just in Craig Kopp resurfaces on 96.5 as well! ;D

Come on 96.5, STOP THE RETREADS! DEVELOP SOMETHING NEW!! This is not going to end well. his salary is probably waaayyy to much for a station who runs PSA's, Radio Shack HD Radio spots, and Gawd Awful Mancow promos (side bar - I thought promos made you want to listen to the show??? If that's the best of Mancow...woo...I wonder what the mediocre is??)

I predict 1 year before the new owners realize their mistake.

(For those on this board who are too dense, the Craig Kopp line was a joke)

 

[titoisradio]

He’s a true radio icon, with an unparalleled run of dominance in his time slot over the past 59 quarterly rating periods.

For chrissakes, show me some numbers, will ya...

Wow, Furman was dominant in his demo during the NIGHTTIME daypart--in addition, his ratings daypart is mixed with Reds baseball broadcasts 6 months a year.

Give me frickin' a break--I've never seen as much attention given to a nighttime host in my life. Unless Cincinnati is dramatically different than any Top 30 market I've ever worked in, the numbers for his previous 6-9 daypart are a joke.

Being #1 with a paltry 1.2 rating (I don't care what the share is) means jack $hit...

Didn't you learn anything last time? First ad rates are set on share and cume for radio, no one ever looks at the rating. Also Cincinnati is a much different market than any other market you've worked in. Also where did you get the 1.2 rating? Do you have access to numbers or did you just make things up.

 

[LocalGuy]

First ad rates are set on share and cume for radio, no one ever looks at the rating.

Uh.....wow.

Boy. ???

Um...let's just say you and I have had drastically different experiences when it comes to how buyers do math.

 

[titoisradio]

First ad rates are set on share and cume for radio, no one ever looks at the rating.

Uh.....wow.

Boy. ???

Um...let's just say you and I have had drastically different experiences when it comes to how buyers do math.

I just realized I committed the one sin of debate, never use the word never. I obviously oversimplified the radio buying process as well as pricing. Other factors not even related to Arbitron also affect pricing for a particular station. I retract that comment.

 

[WyllyWylly]

This just in Craig Kopp resurfaces on 96.5 as well! ;D

Come on 96.5, STOP THE RETREADS! DEVELOP SOMETHING NEW!! This is not going to end well. his salary is probably waaayyy to much for a station who runs PSA's, Radio Shack HD Radio spots, and Gawd Awful Mancow promos (side bar - I thought promos made you want to listen to the show??? If that's the best of Mancow...woo...I wonder what the mediocre is??)

I predict 1 year before the new owners realize their mistake.

(For those on this board who are too dense, the Craig Kopp line was a joke)

On the whole, I'd prefer the live and local retreads to syndicated, cookie cutter programming with no personality. After observing this thread develop, I'd say Furman doesn't even have to be on the air to get people talking.