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How Does 1250-ESPN Respond?
- Thread starter dB
- Start date
The "dump Cowherd" movement would probably get a lot of support, but just as I have no clue who The Fan is going to find to fill a schedule, there's nothing really available to replace him, short of extending the existing local shows. But I think the netwrk wants a national show cleared here.
Problem is that Scott Van Pelt runs 2-4 PM, so it's an awkward scheduling issue, and Cowherd's better.
Actually the answer to the topic might be "Buy an FM signal ASAP."
Problem is that Scott Van Pelt runs 2-4 PM, so it's an awkward scheduling issue, and Cowherd's better.
Actually the answer to the topic might be "Buy an FM signal ASAP."
Jim Trefney said:
Hells yeah! Jason & the Scorchers 24/7! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBjTEy5PKhs
Seriously though, I could see KDKA-FM being a threat if executed properly. 1250 doesn't have that great a signal, and an FM with strong programming could work very well. Emphasis on the "strong programming" aspect of course. Stealing the Pirates mayhaps?
This is the Punk Country I was talking about! Listen to the Tomorrow Radio demo from the 70's!
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/04/365_days_111_tm.html
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/04/365_days_111_tm.html
If CBS does the FM sports station the right way, 1250 is screwed.
If CBS does local shows and has quality news updates through the day, 1250 will be dead sooner rather than later. There's no great loyalty for any of the programming on 1250, apart from Stan and Guy, and people will go to FM for the superior signal.
If CBS does local shows and has quality news updates through the day, 1250 will be dead sooner rather than later. There's no great loyalty for any of the programming on 1250, apart from Stan and Guy, and people will go to FM for the superior signal.
Boss Radio said:
Yep.
It's my understanding that ESPN 1250 needs to broadcast a certain amount of the network shows by contract. There may be exceptions for play-by-play contracts.
If I'm ESPN 1250, what I do is-
A- I'm going to have to try and play up the fact that they are the "heritage" sports station. I'm going to try and play up that this is the station you listened to for Cope and Fleming and still do for Savran, and that they do have the legendary Stan and Guy in the morning.
In many ways, this works for KDKA to this day.
B- Petition Bristol for more money to promote the station. Can't hurt. Somewhere the ghost of RadioRealist is saying "billboards," but truthfully when Scott Paulsen was supposedly going to take on Mark Madden in 2001 ESPN 1250 took out a lot of billboards with Madden on them saying "Serious Sports Talk- Sort Of." Paulsen's promotion was not as prevailent.
C- They have to try and stay ahead of the curve. They have to make their next talent hired not to be what we've already heard but the next big thing.
D- Go after PBP contracts. I read where Pitt was up. The Tribune-Review helped establish their sports section by devoting more coverage to Pitt- ESPN 1250 could do the same.
E- Give Ken Laird a lively, high profile color man when he does high school football next year.
F- ESPN Radio in general has tried to move away from caller participation (not just Pittsburgh; it was a staple of content when the network debuted in 1991), but one of the things that made sports talk in Pittsburgh so great was that the callers on a show like Myron Cope's were characters, just like the host. This also works- to this day- for WFAN.
Here's the big thing that will define the two stations. It seems The Fan will have single hosts still depending on caller participation. ESPN 1250, down to the fact they have multi-host shows, much less so.
That may be the determination of who wins. Has ESPN changed sports talk over the past 20 years that we no longer look at sports talk as the open forum, but instead a digest of what's going on from hired talent.
If I'm ESPN 1250, what I do is-
A- I'm going to have to try and play up the fact that they are the "heritage" sports station. I'm going to try and play up that this is the station you listened to for Cope and Fleming and still do for Savran, and that they do have the legendary Stan and Guy in the morning.
In many ways, this works for KDKA to this day.
B- Petition Bristol for more money to promote the station. Can't hurt. Somewhere the ghost of RadioRealist is saying "billboards," but truthfully when Scott Paulsen was supposedly going to take on Mark Madden in 2001 ESPN 1250 took out a lot of billboards with Madden on them saying "Serious Sports Talk- Sort Of." Paulsen's promotion was not as prevailent.
C- They have to try and stay ahead of the curve. They have to make their next talent hired not to be what we've already heard but the next big thing.
D- Go after PBP contracts. I read where Pitt was up. The Tribune-Review helped establish their sports section by devoting more coverage to Pitt- ESPN 1250 could do the same.
E- Give Ken Laird a lively, high profile color man when he does high school football next year.
F- ESPN Radio in general has tried to move away from caller participation (not just Pittsburgh; it was a staple of content when the network debuted in 1991), but one of the things that made sports talk in Pittsburgh so great was that the callers on a show like Myron Cope's were characters, just like the host. This also works- to this day- for WFAN.
Here's the big thing that will define the two stations. It seems The Fan will have single hosts still depending on caller participation. ESPN 1250, down to the fact they have multi-host shows, much less so.
That may be the determination of who wins. Has ESPN changed sports talk over the past 20 years that we no longer look at sports talk as the open forum, but instead a digest of what's going on from hired talent.
The major teams in town will not have an AM station as their flagship. The ones that might be available to 1250 (Duquesne, Robt Morris) don't matter enough to make a difference.
That's why I wasn't kidding when I said the real answer for them is to move to FM.... hello, Keymarket?
Do you think Salem would sell 101.5?
They could also do something like buy a few suburban FM signals and a repeater in the city, but teams would never go for that for PBP.
Assuming the various owners would sell, you could cobble together 94.9 or 95.3 to the south, or Stevens could turn a quick buck on his 103.1 move in, and I can't think of anything that would stand in the way of moving 97.7 closer to the city from Butler (they're third-channel adjacent to 98.3, I'm not sure how hard it is to do that with the current FCC)...
Or ESPN might just sell 1250 and get out of the market.
Do you think Salem would sell 101.5?
They could also do something like buy a few suburban FM signals and a repeater in the city, but teams would never go for that for PBP.
Assuming the various owners would sell, you could cobble together 94.9 or 95.3 to the south, or Stevens could turn a quick buck on his 103.1 move in, and I can't think of anything that would stand in the way of moving 97.7 closer to the city from Butler (they're third-channel adjacent to 98.3, I'm not sure how hard it is to do that with the current FCC)...
Or ESPN might just sell 1250 and get out of the market.
Both buying an FM outlet and obtaining PBP rights are fairly long-term strategies, I would think. What about the short term (the next few months), to retain existing listenership instead of losing it and having to try to win it back at a later date?
Would ESPN sell? I'm sure they would, at the right price, but Pittsburgh is well known as a fanatical sports town and the current home of both the NFL and NHL champions, so selling might not be so attractive.
Would ESPN sell? I'm sure they would, at the right price, but Pittsburgh is well known as a fanatical sports town and the current home of both the NFL and NHL champions, so selling might not be so attractive.
They need more good local talent, the Drive stinks, maybe give Paulson something on his own. Steigie might be a good choice, why not a Sports Reporter show like Gene Collier had on cable about 12 years ago, or was that Smizik? I'd love to see them go FM, in my basement office or if I'm driving in the greater Pitcairn-Trafford area, I can't pick them up. ;D
Should be fun watching.
Should be fun watching.
G
garnet
Guest
Is it rather odd that the total available share of sports audience is about a 3? TAE has maybe a 2.5 and 970 has maybe a .7, trying to decifer the part time sports stuff is hard, but really, its a pretty small pie to fight over. And with all local hosts and producers, can you imagine the costs.
I didn't understand the following move: Why does the weak and maligned "The Drive" (which I call "The Drivel") have more airtime each day than your strongest and most popular show "Stan and Guy". I am a big fan of Colin Cowherd. But I would prefer having the last hour of "Stan and Guy" on the radio instead of the internet only.
pghfmradiosucks said:
Some of that is just a function of the network lineup. When Tirico and Van Pelt ran from 1-3PM that was a natural fit. Now Cowherd runs from 10-2 and Van Pelt 2-4. Cowherd is by far the better show. I don't think they wanted to plug in 2 1-hour segments from different shows.
I think EAE would prefer to have Stan and Guy afternoons but Stan wanted an earlier shift because of his TV commitments (I wonder if that still matters to him now that SportsBeat was canceled by FSN?)
Having said that, however, I think Stan and guy draw old demos, Paulsen and Co. might skew a little younger.
garnet said:
Suggesting that the entire pie might be a 3 is assuming than any and all sports fans listen to AM radio as well as FM, which I would argue isn't the case. Plenty of people have all but abandonded the AM band, with all of the signal difficulty that comes with it. Rather I would argue an FM sports station mighty be able to bring people back to the format who otherwise wouldn't listen at all if it was solely relegated to AM. 104.7 has made great inroads doing talk on FM, despite the fact most of their shows come off of the dish and have little local content at all and I would argue a major reason for their success is that the signal is significantly clearer than any talk found on the AM band. That isn't to diminish the lineup they have, obviously someone like Rush brings a following with him, but prior to 104.7 people like Hannity, Savage, and Beck weren't heard in this market. LIkewise when Boortz was removed from the FM (where he was beating Rush in that timeslot) over to AM the audience didn't follow. Did the people who listened to Boortz just up and decide not to like him, or were they people who by and large don't listen to the AM band at all and instead found something else to listen to? The few sports talkers on FM (Mark Madden, Ellis Cannon) have not suffered for lack of listeners, but have done a decent job building and holding their audience, despite the offerings on the AM dial. An FM sports station is going to create a presence that heretofore was unavailable to those that don't listen to AM radio.
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