KFWB=Lame

[robnokshus06]

so my son, the Clippers fan had a previous commitment which kept him from watching tonight's game 6 of the playoffs. Being parental, I emphasized the importance of honoring one's commitments but suggested that he could listen to the game on FM on his android phone. Whoops. First problem. The game isn't on FM. It's on KFWB.

No problem I say, we'll just download CBS' super-duper Radio.com app and he can listen to it via that. App is downloaded, pull up KFWB and, what's this? Traffic on the ones followed by giggly news banter? This can't be right! Hmm, maybe KFWB doesn't have playoff rights. I check the Clippers website and it confirms KFWB is carrying the game. A trip to the KFWB website, replete with Clippers media, pimps their expanded coverage beginning at 5:30 right next to the "Listen Live" button, which I click, and...

More inane news banter?! Finally it takes a trip to the car where AM lives to finally find the broadcast.

Pathetic.

I realize that KFWB is in a trust, but c'mon! With all of the resources of CBS (and let's not kid anyone here, they share the same Miracle Mile space as KNX, KRTH and KTWV and are sold and staffed with CBS employees) this is the best they can do? The Clippers are the best thing that KFWB has going for it and this is how they handle their prize commodity? During the playoffs? Unbelievable! Well, not really.

OK, half time is over. It's back to the TV for me. I'll let my son know how the game turns out...

 

[recto101]

Maybe the NBA does not want the Clippers Games to air on the web due to the fact that the NBA has a deal with Xfinity for NBA League pass on the web and TV. Its like WCBS-AM 880 in NYC they can't air Yankee games on the web due to rights with the MLB and Time Warner Cable to broadcast all MLB games on the web's league pass site or PPV site.

 

[robnokshus06]

Yeah, it probably is something like that.

 

[Fornax]

so my son, the Clippers fan had a previous commitment which kept him from watching tonight's game 6 of the playoffs. Being parental, I emphasized the importance of honoring one's commitments but suggested that he could listen to the game on FM on his android phone. Whoops. First problem. The game isn't on FM. It's on KFWB.

No problem I say, we'll just download CBS' super-duper Radio.com app and he can listen to it via that. App is downloaded, pull up KFWB and, what's this? Traffic on the ones followed by giggly news banter? This can't be right! Hmm, maybe KFWB doesn't have playoff rights. I check the Clippers website and it confirms KFWB is carrying the game. A trip to the KFWB website, replete with Clippers media, pimps their expanded coverage beginning at 5:30 right next to the "Listen Live" button, which I click, and...

More inane news banter?! Finally it takes a trip to the car where AM lives to finally find the broadcast.

Pathetic.

I realize that KFWB is in a trust, but c'mon! With all of the resources of CBS (and let's not kid anyone here, they share the same Miracle Mile space as KNX, KRTH and KTWV and are sold and staffed with CBS employees) this is the best they can do? The Clippers are the best thing that KFWB has going for it and this is how they handle their prize commodity? During the playoffs? Unbelievable! Well, not really.

OK, half time is over. It's back to the TV for me. I'll let my son know how the game turns out...

Don't blame KFWB. NBA teams do not give or sell their Internet rights to flagship stations, they go to third parties or league creations as another revenue stream. Same with MLB. Streams are packaged in premium services for a fee, to you. For awhile baseball was mlb.com, Sprint phones and XM satellite, yet not on the flagship radio station's stream.

 

[FightingIrish]

All the major sports leagues restrict individual station streaming of games.

 

[robnokshus06]

Oh I don't doubt for a minute that the situation is exactly as you portray it, much as the frustration that my son and I went through was a bona fide fan experience. Try pecking around your smart phone on the Clippers' site trying to find out where you can listen to the game. I was barely able to make out the KFWB call letters on their site. Then the misleading KFWB site with the listen live button right next to the Clippers' coverage graphic that doesn't allow you to listen live.

My son is 18 years old. He is not a radio user. He didn't even know he had an FM radio on his smart phone. It didn't occur to him to think of listening to the game on the radio (or phone). Meanwhile dad, sees this as an opportunity for radio to ride in to the rescue and save the day. Fail.

I realize that my little rant will carry no influence beyond the handful of people who will read it on this site, but this should be a wake-up call to those who coordinate these types of things. As ubiquitous as the industry likes to portray radio, it's been over 40-years since I've seen anyone with a transistor radio and one of those little one-ear, ear pieces. The fact that an NBA team in the playoffs cannot be heard in their local market on a portable device is ridiculous, especially when you consider the technology of today vs the technology of 40-years ago, when it was commonplace. A shining example of how radio's glory days are far behind it.

 

[KeithE4]

All the major sports leagues restrict individual station streaming of games.

The NHL does not. They allow their games to be streamed on their flagship stations.

The NBA does require you to listen via NBA.com, but access is free.

 

[radio-darn]

Wow! I am shocked at this news... that there are Clippers fans.

 

[robnokshus06]

The NBA does require you to listen via NBA.com, but access is free.

I just checked that out and, unfortunately, the app is not compatible with my particular phone. Of course, this discovery was made some 14-hours after the fact. Not very helpful to the fan walking out the door who wants to listen to the game on the go. Again, an experience that we just took for granted 40-years ago, for free, next to impossible to achieve today.

 

[michael hagerty]

The NBA does require you to listen via NBA.com, but access is free.

I just checked that out and, unfortunately, the app is not compatible with my particular phone. Of course, this discovery was made some 14-hours after the fact. Not very helpful to the fan walking out the door who wants to listen to the game on the go. Again, an experience that we just took for granted 40-years ago, for free, next to impossible to achieve today.

Well, that's just not true. And you achieve it, for free, the same way you did 40 years ago, by turning on an AM radio.

I couldn't get the Clippers on my phone in 1972, either.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

Someone has made this station worse. I liked listening to laura ingraham and the dude overnight.

WTF are they thinking is what i want to know??????

She is a nice alternative to peter tilden which why he is on from 9-12 am is beyond me.

 

[recto101]

Well Look at KPIX-TV the CBS O&O in San Francisco They cannot air the Oakland Raider games in the Oakland Colosseum due to an agreement from the Raiders, Oakland Colosseum and the NFL to not air Raider Games if the stadium capacity is less than a certain number. This Means CBS and KPIX must get another AFC football game during the time the Raiders are playing. I'm not sure if NFL League Pass blocks Raiders games if you live in Oakland?

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Meanwhile dad, sees this as an opportunity for radio to ride in to the rescue and save the day. Fail.

And isn't that what the kid really took away from this whole episode? "Don't rely on radio, it will fail you."

Way to go radio, you old dinosaur, you've done it again.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Meanwhile dad, sees this as an opportunity for radio to ride in to the rescue and save the day. Fail. 

And isn't that what the kid really took away from this whole episode?  "Don't rely on radio, it will fail you."

Way to go radio, you old dinosaur, you've done it again.

Want to see radio fail again - just try to listen to 980 (or any am signal) while you are at the game in the Staples Center. (In my best Alex Trebek voice) "Oh, so sorry, AM waves can't penetrate into the building so your trusty AM transistor that is down in the garage with its 9-volt battery* isn't going to help in this situation either. Try again".

Oh, you say, there is a radio feed in the Staples Center to address just this sort of problem? Great. Two issues with that though. (1) just try to find the frequency Kenneth, it's a pretty well-kept secret in the building and if you do happen to find it, like I did years ago at a Kings game, the damn thing was delayed by 8 seconds. radio is supposed to be all about the present, not the past. I can tell for myself what happened that far back. Thanks for nothing (again).
____________________________________
*That's right, the old 9-volt, which is always run down on those rare occasions when you actually want to use the thing, and they really don't carry them in the stores very much any more, so you have to go down to the CVS and find it way in the back of the battery section, pay $6.99 + tax for a new package of two before you can even start to use your little transistor...

Plus you know very well that in three years when you have occasion to use the trusty ol' transistor again, like in an extended power outage, you won't find that other 9-volt battery that came in the package, and even if you do, it will be nearly worn out too, even though it has never been used.

 

[michael hagerty]

Meanwhile dad, sees this as an opportunity for radio to ride in to the rescue and save the day. Fail.

And isn't that what the kid really took away from this whole episode? "Don't rely on radio, it will fail you."

Way to go radio, you old dinosaur, you've done it again.

For radio to ride to the rescue, you'd have to have taught your 18-year old how to use one.

 

[robnokshus06]

For radio to ride to the rescue, you'd have to have taught your 18-year old how to use one.

He knows how to use the radio. However, the auditorium he was at, wouldn't allow him to bring his car inside.

 

[michael hagerty]

My son is 18 years old. He is not a radio user. He didn't even know he had an FM radio on his smart phone. It didn't occur to him to think of listening to the game on the radio (or phone).

 

[robnokshus06]

My son is 18 years old. He is not a radio user. He didn't even know he had an FM radio on his smart phone. It didn't occur to him to think of listening to the game on the radio (or phone).

He knows how to ride a bicycle too, but hasn't ridden one one in years, mainly because he doesn't care to and because now he can drive a car. (Radio would be the bicycle in this analogy)

 

[michael hagerty]

My son is 18 years old. He is not a radio user. He didn't even know he had an FM radio on his smart phone. It didn't occur to him to think of listening to the game on the radio (or phone).

He knows how to ride a bicycle too, but hasn't ridden one one in years, mainly because he doesn't care to and because now he can drive a car. (Radio would be the bicycle in this analogy)

Rob: But the bicycle didn't let you or your son down. Radio in general and KFWB in particular did their jobs. The NBA let you down by not supporting your son's cellphone. Period.

 

[FightingIrish]

Well Look at KPIX-TV the CBS O&O in San Francisco They cannot air the Oakland Raider games in the Oakland Colosseum due to an agreement from the Raiders, Oakland Colosseum and the NFL to not air Raider Games if the stadium capacity is less than a certain number. This Means CBS and KPIX must get another AFC football game during the time the Raiders are playing. I'm not sure if NFL League Pass blocks Raiders games if you live in Oakland?

That's the NFL blackout rule. It's in effect across the league. Simply put, if a home game doesn't sell out, or all the tickets aren't purchased, the local TV station (or any TV affiliate within a 70 mile radius) cannot show the game.

And I think League Pass is exempt from the blackout rule.