Impact of Blue Jays - Bisons affiliation on radio?

[rdcuffpa1]

I have always marveled that NY baseball teams get more comprehensive WNY coverage than the four teams closer to Buffalo (Tigers, Indians, Pirates, Blue Jays).

The Tigers / Indians / Pirates I can somewhat understand, but the Blue Jays would seem to be a natural connection - I remember early on, Blue Jays games were aired on WWOL / 1120 (now WBBF).

Now the Blue Jays have switched their AAA affiliate to the Bisons, after the NY Mets switched from the Bisons to Las Vegas.

(see http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/baseball/mlb/09/18/blue-jays-buffalo-triple-a.ap/index.html?sct=mlb_t2_a4)

Now that I'm in Eastern PA, I can see a natural benefit to having your minor league teams close by.

So I wonder if Blue Jays games will wind up on a WNY station? Several years back I know CHML carried some (most?) games - they come in quite well down here.

Or is the Buffalo-Toronto sports antipathy (viz. the Buffalo Bills) such that no PD in WNY would want to bother?

Richard in Eastern PA

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

The Blue Jays just don't seem to get the traction you'd think a major league team would get, being 90 minutes up the QEW. Buffalo is an American League city and the Bisons will do better as a Blue Jays affiliate than Mets affiliate. The real connection for the AAA club was the period when it was affiliated with the Indians. Western New York allegiance seems almost totally given to the New York Yankees. There are some fans of the Tribe in the area and even a few fans of the Yankees farm team, otherwise known as the Boston Red Sox. That's not my sentiment, it's just a line I heard in a bar a few years back, hurled by a Yankees lifer toward a Red Sox fan. I have to admit it made me laugh. And what better way to stir the pot and get Fybush involved in the thread.

 

[Fenway1912]

Part of the 'romance' of the Yankees is the games are available on basic cable and in HD ( I don't believe the Mets are in HD in Buffalo )

You can't get the Jays on cable in the US unless you buy the MLB package.

Of course this works in reverse for the Sabres where MSG is not available in Ontraio.

Correct me if I am wrong but I seem to recall the CRTC gave Empire a waiver to show hockey south of Hamilton.

This is also a major headache in Detroit/Windsor.

I am still surprised Entercom doesn't feed the Red Sox to WWKB as the night signal would fill in holes in New England.

 

[Bob1370]

Couple things...IIRC none of the fulltime Blue Jays affiliates have a reliable half-millivolt signal into buffalo...CHML pounds in but carries a limited number of games, and Fan 590 isn't so hot east of the Niagara River. The Jays games are spotty int the region. Meanwhile the Yankees established a fan base as early as the 1950s whe they were the perennial featured team on CBS' Game of the Week. Today almost every Yankee game is seen on Time-Warner Cable in both Buffalo and Rochester. The Bisons need to persuade T-W to make room for Blue Jays games on one of their channels.

 

[bmcglynn]

Couple things...IIRC none of the fulltime Blue Jays affiliates have a reliable half-millivolt signal into buffalo...CHML pounds in but carries a limited number of games, and Fan 590 isn't so hot east of the Niagara River. The Jays games are spotty int the region. Meanwhile the Yankees established a fan base as early as the 1950s whe they were the perennial featured team on CBS' Game of the Week. Today almost every Yankee game is seen on Time-Warner Cable in both Buffalo and Rochester. The Bisons need to persuade T-W to make room for Blue Jays games on one of their channels.

I don't see it as much of an issue of signal coverage, but instead a function of Marketing and commitment by broadcasters South of the Border to broadcast the games. Unlike Windsor, the Canadian broadcasters near Buffalo do not target the Buffalo market. Listeners want a local content commitment, and the Broadcasters on the other side of the border are not interested in serving WNY. Why should they? Hamilton is now 500K+ population, Oakville - 125K, Mississauga - 775K; all with very high levels of growth. The entire GTA is 6M-8M depending on where you draw the lines.

It all comes down to ad sales, and there is a lot more money North of the border.

I agree, the Blue Jays could develop a market down here but the key word is "develop". Firstly, they need US broadcasters. Rogers would need to decide on how much investment there would be on their side to develop that market, versus what the payoff would be. They are the only Canadian Baseball team, and there is certainly a lot of upside in developing and maximizing Southern Ontario.

I would consider putting the Jays on in our small market, but the infrastructure is not there. 1) How do you get the games down here? US broadcasters use 139W for satellite, Canadian Broadcasters use 107.3W. (Canada also uses mostly fibre for distribution vs. satellite) 2) Is it a cash deal for broadcast? There is certainly no barter value for Rogers.

Brian

 

[rdcuffpa1]

The entire GTA is 6M-8M depending on where you draw the lines.

That's the most important stat there. Scary to think how large the region has become.

The team would have to look at WNY coverage as "found money" - after all, when you look at their approach to media, they promote themselves as "Canada's team" since the Expos are now in Washington. So it's perfectly understandable that priorities 1, 2, and 3 would be be Canadian media.

Shoot, they could buy the old CJRN/710 and simulcast The Fan/590 on it...and put the travelers' information programming on a micropower TIS where it belongs...hey, I can dream...

That would put a passable signal into the densest part of the Buffalo / Niagara Falls area, though the signal strength attenuates rapidly to protect WOR.

Richard in Allentown, PA

 

[GeorgeKramer]

Blue Jays are the talk of baseball right now with the major trade they pulled off earlier this month. I guess WNYers will just have to catch them on 590AM.

Anywhere else they can be heard (on the radio or online?)

 

[umtrr-author]

In theory I imagine that there is streaming-- I have not checked this and will defer to the distinguished Mr. Fybush for that.

However... I also note that there is more "geoblocking" than ever with respect to 'net content. I used to listen to Monday Night Football (when it was not cleared locally OTA, which was frequently) over a station out of Calgary. Last time I tried the stream was disallowed.