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Local sports talk finished on 1250

Holy crap. I guess now 93.7 The Fan can claim victory, to an extent...
 
It's surprising to me that this would happen during Steeler season, but maybe they sold what they thought they could sell for the Steeler shows and are cutting their losses.

If 1250 talent aren't tied down with non-com's, this could fix some of the Fan's problems. Move Stan and Guy's show over. Add Bouchette's reports. Pair cook and starkey in the afternoon. Jettison Alexander (that's not tied to 1250, it's just a good idea).
 
I wonder if CBS was betting/hoping for this, since apparently the rumors have been out there for a while. Get The Fan up and running, it becomes the natural place for 1250 listeners to migrate to (I don't see a 970 with all-national ESPN programming as a viable alternative).

If it comes to pass, it will mean there's quite a pool of sports talent available (sooner or later): Ellis, Stan, Guy, Joe DeStio, Eddy Crow, etc. At the very least, it will provoke plenty of posts about how to rearrange The Fan's lineup.
 
Why didn't 1250 succeed with sportstalk? Just a guess...but, I imagine coverage problems.

Other than the rare high-powered/great coverage AMs (50KW usually)...MOST AM'shave a difficult time competing & driving high ad revenues in multi-stationed markets if they have marginal coverage across the metro market.

Obviously any station on any band has to have compelling programming and invest at least minimal dollars in mass-media promotion in order to have a shot at decent ratings and financial success.

But, without really decent coverage....significant, lasting success is very difficult...if not impossible....especially AM stations.
 
According to Smizik's blog the station has been for sale for some time, but there are no buyers and with the lease on 540 running out at the end of the year came the decision to move Disney over from 540 to 1250.

That being said, I am not sure Radio Disney off of the bird is going to generate any more revenue for them than ESPN's national programming. At least with the sports programming you could continue to sell brokered sports programming, like Tunch and Wolf did on 970, I am not so sure you can do that with much success with Radio Disney.

As for ESPN programming gravitating to 970, I hope not. By and large I like the Fox Sports national shows better, but I realize that statement probably leaves me very much in the minority, but I would rather hear Tony Bruno over Gamenight, JT over All Night (I don't even remember who hosts that show anymore, sorry) and Jim Rome over Colin Cowherd.
 
dB said:
I wonder if CBS was betting/hoping for this... Get The Fan up and running, it becomes the natural place for 1250 listeners to migrate to...
Click to expand...

And apparently, according to Smizik, the advertisers, too. That's what really killed their bottom line.
 
fromtheinsideout said:
...I am not sure Radio Disney off of the bird is going to generate any more revenue for them than ESPN's national programming...
Click to expand...

And mind you, sports radio is one of the most (if not the most) viable format to plop on an AM stick if a radio operator seeks some sort of profit. The fact that this development is going down in a big sports town like Pittsburgh has to have some people scratching their heads.

What are the odds that Disney breaks out an FM translator and puts the ESPN Radio format on that frequency? They do not own any other stations in the market at this time.
 
As a parent of two tweens, Radio disney is gold. You really can't listen to any other station these days without questionable songs (katy perry, Ke$sha, lady gaga) or questionable ads (viagra, cialis, etc.). It's the only thing we listen to in the car with them, and we're in the car a lot with them.
 
fromtheinsideout said:
That being said, I am not sure Radio Disney off of the bird is going to generate any more revenue for them than ESPN's national programming.
Click to expand...

But it costs nothing and does not depend on ratings for sales (it gets no ratings anyhwere).
 
DToTheJ said:
What are the odds that Disney breaks out an FM translator and puts the ESPN Radio format on that frequency? They do not own any other stations in the market at this time.
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Absolutely zero. Translators have to rebroadcast another signal. That would qualify as originating programming, which is against the rules.

Actually I wouldn't be surprised to see a flip-flop and havce the National ESPN stuff end up on 540. It would probably do much better on that massive signal.

970 won't take Mike & Mike, they would rather eliminate a competitor for the DVE morning show. Protect the mothership.

If none of the above happens, it's an opportunity for someone like 660 to put themselves on the map.
 
Stan and Guy are the only valuable commodity on ESPN 1250. I know I am in the minority but I never understood the appeal of Mike and Mike. At least one of them seem to be missing from most of their daily broadcasts anyway. "The Drivel" is so bad that it doesn't deserve anything else printed about it. I hereby implore "The Fan" to PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE hire Stan and Guy. They would be a perfect fit in the 10 A.M.-2P.M. slot. Reassign Ron Cook to another time slot and release Vinnie. He has no ties to, history of, knowledge of and most importantly, no passion for Pittsburgh sports. Stan and Guy certainly do. This is the chance for "The Fan" to right a wrong. Namely bringing in out of towners to host Pittsburgh sports shows. Big mistake. While they are at it they should also bring aboard Ed Bouchette and Ken Laird.
 
I was surprised to read that the station was actually for sale? Where? What broker?

This is a win, win for The Fan. They can pick up some talent, and more importantly, need to pick up the ESPN national talent.
 
Wasn't Pittsburgh by far ESPN's smallest O&O market? I'm surprised it took this long.

They may eventually sell 1250 and shut down Radio Disney in Pgh...depending on how far they want to go in their continued sell-off/shut-downs of RD stations.
 
Absolutely... shocked!

Wonder if the Fan regrets picking up Pitt, as they could have been the Pittsburgh home now of Penn State?
Where will those broadcasts go? May be someone like The X could pick them up.
970 will not and I repeat will not pick up ESPN Radio. CC needs a place to clear their Fox/Premier lineup in Pittsburgh.

I'd actually suggest The Fan become like The Fannatic in Philli. Mike and Mike in the Morning, local sports programming all day. From what limited knowledge I have, Mike and Mike actually do very well in Pittsburgh.

The Fan could wind up being the home of "Pitt, ESPN College Football, WWI (NFL and NCAA Tournament), The World Series, and a whole lot else. Wow!
 
1250WTAE said:
They can pick up some talent, and more importantly, need to pick up the ESPN national talent.
Click to expand...

Pretty much anyone local from 1250 would be an upgrade over the midday show.

I would be surprised if the ESPN product ended up on the Fan, but not totally shocked. CBS' sports talker in Baltimore, 105.7 the Fan, is an ESPN affiliate with local shows and the Orioles, and they just came in #1 in men last month.

Another reasonable choice to take ESPN would be WJAS. They have enough of a night signal to carry some games, if they did maybe just a live PM drive with the rest national it certainly would not have the 12+ of their current audience, but certainly better demos.

If it were me with 93.7 I'd go Mike & Mike mornings, Seibel middays, Gianotti afternoons, and back to ESPN the rest of the day.
 
Parttimer said:
fromtheinsideout said:
That being said, I am not sure Radio Disney off of the bird is going to generate any more revenue for them than ESPN's national programming.
Click to expand...

But it costs nothing and does not depend on ratings for sales (it gets no ratings anyhwere).
Click to expand...

True Radio Disney costs nothing, but ESPN just airing their national programming also costs nothing. Now I will be the first to admit I don't know who does better billing nationally, if ESPN gets more per market for their national spots or if Radio Disney does, nor do I know if Radio Disney does well or poorly with local sales, I haven't listened to more than maybe 5 minutes of their programming since they came to Pittsburgh, but if I am trying to sell a station it would just seem to be a more attractive proposition to have some listeners already built in, because listening habits (especially in this market) are hard to change, but once you do, they are even harder to change back. Despite all of their competitive advantages; an FM station, better signal, all local (until recently) content, The Fan was still struggling to overcome 1250. While there are many reasons for that which have been previous been brought up on a few threads on this board, I would argue one of them is that once a radio dial is set in this town it is hard for it to get changed to something else, which is part of the success of DVE and KDKA AM. So to change formats completely before a sale (provided they don't sell the station before Dec 31st) and all but eliminate an existing audience for one that can best be described as minuscule in most books and may not even find you once the previous Radio Disney signal flips or goes dark or does whatever it does, would seem to diminish the value of the station you are trying to sell. I know if I were going to buy a station, even if I were going to flip the format, I would at least like to have some people hear me flip it, rather than starting from scratch with no listeners on a mediocre AM signal.
 
Ohio radio man said:
Wonder if the Fan regrets picking up Pitt, as they could have been the Pittsburgh home now of Penn State?
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You can make money with Pitt football and basketball, and they're both viable programming for six and a half months (minimum). If you have to take PS basketball to get PS football, you die with those games. They're clutter.
 
Oh, my gosh. I killed it. I've listened to this while drifting off to sleep the past 2 nights, for some reason - I NEVER listen to sports talk on radio. It's like how I went to the Red Room on New Year's Eve for the first time and it was closed a month later. Sorry yinz. :eek:
 
pman44 said:
As a parent of two tweens, Radio disney is gold. You really can't listen to any other station these days without questionable songs (katy perry, Ke$sha, lady gaga) or questionable ads (viagra, cialis, etc.). It's the only thing we listen to in the car with them, and we're in the car a lot with them.
Click to expand...

I actually went through a Radio Disney phase about 8 years ago. However, there was a lot less of the "disney produced" dreck on it - it was basically lots of NSync and Backstreet Boys.
 
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