> > The Sports Animal has yet to prove itself. I think ESPN
> has a good product. The real question is what audience is
> there for it? I say that is the real question. Ken Charles
> just made a decision to do something with a station not
> performing. He can not be faulted there.
>
He obviously did not do enough research as far as what SUCCESSFUL Sports stations do. Look at some of the top performing sports stations... WFAN/New York, WEEI/Boston, KNBR/San Francisco... these stations are mostly local talent and air local sports teams. ESPN & Fox Sports Net programming is not going to cut it. Right now KILT has more local programming than KBME.
The question I have is why are neither one of these stations doing much in the way of promotions. I see a few billboards for KILT, but I've yet to see anything on KBME, unless they are advertising in the Chronicle. They should be buying time, like on KRIV Fox 26 during their Sports Xtra on Sunday nights, or before or after the Sports segment. Or, on any of the other TV stations during sports. They are running ads for some of their other stations, why not these sports stations, if they are truly committed to this format and want it to work.
I haven't listened to much of the Astros coverage on KTRH this year. Are they promoting KBME during the games? If not, that would also be a good idea.
The other problem is not necessarily their fault. Sports Talk seems to do better when teams are winning. WEEI/Boston's numbers are through the roof right now, because the Patriots have won 3 Super Bowls in 4 years. The Red Sox just won the World Series for the first time in 86 years and the Celtics finally made it back to the playoffs this year, so there was and is a lot of positives to talk about. The Rockets coverage will probably carry over a slight edge for KILT when the official numbers come out. But with the Astros off to a rough start, that doesn't help either one of these stations and we'll have to see what the Texans do this year. And, that really is the key to success, when your NFL team is riding high, it will reap tremendous rewards for the Sports talk formats, because of its popularity. I see it a lot when visiting my parents in New England and visiting friends in Pittsburgh. If the Texans turn the corner this year, it will help KILT.
KBME has to try and go after one of the local sports teams to try and help its numbers. I don't know how long KILT's contract with the Rockets/Comets is, but that is the obvious choice. They have a long contract with the Texans and the Astros will not move from the 50k powerhouse of KTRH. But that is the way for them to prove they are serious about being a player in the Sports market in this town and give them some credibility. <P ID="signature">______________
KVIL Highland Park
KVIL-FM Highland Park/Dallas-Fort Worth
Thanks for the memories Ron Chapman!</P>
