KOMO Radio and the M's

[CyBeer]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/366200_mradio07.html

http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,51069.0.html (from 2006)

 

[radioprofessor]

Baseball is unique in its ability to turn around a radio station in my humble view. A quick look at the April trend shows evenings on KOMO delivering just under eight shares. The station has a two share 25-54 so most of their numbers come from baseball. KJR-AM would be well-served by adding Mariners so would KIRO. I am surprised KOMO is not doing more to keep the team. Baseball works better than any other sports parameter on radio because of its legacy in the medium and the sheer number of games at 180 including pre-season. No other sport comes close to delivering an impact on radio ratings, in my humble opinion. I see it in cities I have working in like Seattle, NY, Chicago, Boston, SF and LA. One must wonder if Bonneville will attempt to get the Mariners and make the switch they did in Phoenix and Washington DC by putting the News/Talk station on FM in place of troubled KBSG and then taking KIRO-AM all sports with the Mariners and Seahawks. This has been the Bonneville format combination parameter of choice. The END could also go all sports as Entercom has spent significant dollars on baseball in Seattle and other markets.
KJR-AM may make a run at the team to prevent this from happening, though Clear Channel is in the midst of a spending freeze due to their impending sale. In either scenario it is the power of baseball on the radio that can change a radio station like no other broadcast parameter.

 

[djdan]

Many teams handle their own broadcast sales. One scenario might be for the Mariners to take the sales in house, like the Seahawks do and then barter the broadcast time to a local station. This is done in several markets with baseball, football and basketball. Still doesn't answer the question of which station will end up actually running the broadcasts.

 

[AQH]

KJR was used and abused by the Mariners before the team landing on KOMO. Not to mention that CC won't pay for a pencil sharpener right now makes KJR an unlikely suitor.

KOMO didn't realize what they were getting into (in many different ways) with way overpaying for the Mariners. In negotiations, I'm sure the Mariners will make it look and sound like KOMO is scratching and clawing for the team back.

Bonneville is thirsty for the team. They will likely not get any special deal, but I don't think the Mariners will have an abundance of leverage this time around.

 

[jdweaver]

The day's of insane sports right fees may finally be over. Fisher has TWICE worked their asses off to loose a ton money. Both the Husky's (a few years ago) and now the Mariners have been black holes. The ratings jump KOMO got to kick start the news format was significant and for awhile the prestige was great. But that is very expensive promotion. The Fox Sports/KSTW TV deal is equally bad with everyone loosing serious dough there too. My question is when are the teams going to participate in the value of their broadcast based on performance?

 

[SeattleRadioPro]

The day's of insane sports right fees may finally be over.

Un, no they're not. Go look at the new deals for the Yankees and Red Sox. The Cardinals not only own their radio network - they also own their flagship station. If the team is doing well - and some radio group wants them bad enough - the big money is still there.

My question is when are the teams going to participate in the value of their broadcast based on performance?

Why should they, if owners like Fisher, Entercom in Boston and CBS in NYC are willing to pay tens of millions of dollars for the rights?

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

I'm starting to see the value in Everett and Tacoma teams! You go to a small stadium, pay for a small plate, maybe talk to a few players who are GENUINELY appreciative of the opportunity they have ... fans like the team and vice versa.

The majors have lost me ... NFL, NBA, MLB etc. "We need a new facility to do better" and they still suck. "We need higher ticket prices to do better" and they still suck. "We need to move to the midwest" and they BETTER suck. I thought MEDIA egos are bad news ... but seems like many of the sports people are off the map (STORM a possible significant exception....)

This whole "take care of us or we'll turn our back on this community" bullcrap is fine by me. Go ahead. We'll use your damned stadium for a flea market and EVERYONE may end up happier. Kids can afford to be there with their dads or moms...and you don't have to shell out $8 for a glass of lousy beer. So as it extends to media ... I wish there were enough gonads among the two key competitors to say "neither one of us will go north of $2-3M for the season ... so YOU (as a team) need to decide how you want to make this work or don't look to ANY of us for coverage...". The whole under-hand of selling streaming rights after broadcast rights were locked up was just plain annoying as the only thing I took away from that was a clear lack of appreciation for ANY media partnership. Granted ... not in the contract, etc. ... but there's still a "decency" angle to most business transactions.

I stand by my original MLB proposal, for example....
* EVERYONE on the roster gets $30K a year.
* Ya make an out you get a bonus.
* Get to first base you get a bonus.
* Bat someone in ... you get a bonus
* WIN A FREAKING GAME and you get a bonus.
And eventually they are back up to where they claim they deserve to be ... but at least they earn it.

 

[RichJohnson]

Let's also take a moment to light a candle for the late, great WRKO news department, a victim of the Entercom - Red Sox deal. Yes, indeed: Boston's #1 talk station blew away its ENTIRE news department to help pay Red Sox rights fee.

Of course, that means that Fox News Radio's hourly newscasts are heard in Boston every hour. So a personal upside....

 

[radio-a-rama]

Let's also take a moment to light a candle for the late, great WRKO news department, a victim of the Entercom - Red Sox deal. Yes, indeed: Boston's #1 talk station blew away its ENTIRE news department to help pay Red Sox rights fee.

>> Yeah, and what did the rabid Red Sox fans get out of it? Er, never mind...