major WKNR announcement

[OhioMediaWatch]

vjm, is that schedule yours or theirs? Cause the only question I had was about Brinda and "GameNight"...most nights, it appears Chris Fedor hosted the early "GameNight" portions.

With the show pushed to a 9 PM start, maybe they're just conceding that Brinda is already there. Is it the Greg Brinda Show or is it Greg Brinda Hosting The Various Post-Game Shows And Himself When There's No Game? Did they actually mention his name in the announcement?

Silly questions, but I want to nail that part down, it's a small nail sticking out

 

[DToTheJ]

So not even a couple of hours before the "major announcement," articles (including this one, published at 9:01 AM today), come out of the woodwork, disclosing exactly what the "major announcement" for WKNR is! Way to keep a secret, KNR!

 

[asterisk]

To recap:

Roda gets the 6pm hour off now
Browns infomercial from 6-7
X's and O's gets an extra hour, which is something they have been doing for the better part of the year anyway with the revolving door in the "power hour," but instead of having a better listening time of 6-8, they will pretty much be on during gametime, taking a lot away from their audience.

Yawn...

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

As far as team propaganda goes, this reminds me of the Browns bouncing Andre Knott from the Browns Radio sideline gig, and replacing him with Team Employee Jamir Howerton.

Jamir, by the way, will be on the show, along with Jim Donovan and Doug Dieken (Jim and Doug on WKNR, what a strange thought).

It appears all WKNR is providing is the transmitter.

 

[Ron Lee]

As far as team propaganda goes, this reminds me of the Browns bouncing Andre Knott from the Browns Radio sideline gig, and replacing him with Team Employee Jamir Howerton.

Jamir, by the way, will be on the show, along with Jim Donovan and Doug Dieken (Jim and Doug on WKNR, what a strange thought).

It appears all WKNR is providing is the transmitter.

I never did get the story as to why Knott lost that gig. Any more details to go along with that?

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

So not even a couple of hours before the "major announcement," articles (including this one, published at 9:01 AM today), come out of the woodwork, disclosing exactly what the "major announcement" for WKNR is! Way to keep a secret, KNR!

Good catch on that article by Crain's Cleveland Business!

Heck, I could have had this out yesterday (without some of the details, see my earlier post on this very thread) but wanted to wait till about 9 or 10 AM today. Off-blog business kept me away from the computer until early afternoon.

But the article does confirm what I said about WTAM/WMMS not wanting the show, and why:

(Browns Sr. VP Jim) Ross said the team spoke with Clear Channel Communications, the parent company of the Browns' flagship radio station, WTAM-AM 1100, about the show. But the Browns wanted the prime 6 p.m. time slot, and WTAM — with the Mike Trivosonno Show and Cavaliers and Indians programming — could not offer it.

Yes, I know the article in Crain's Cleveland Business came out this morning, before my messages, but I didn't see it until your link.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

I never did get the story as to why Knott lost that gig. Any more details to go along with that?

That's basically it...my understanding is that the Browns wanted a "team employee" on the sidelines. They didn't express dissatisfaction with Andre, they just wanted "their own guy" (Jamir) there.

Teams are controlling their messages even more these days. In addition to this show, of course, the Browns have a number of shows on STO.

The Crain's article says the show's "later this summer" start could be affected if the NFL lockout stretches on.

 

[Rusty Muck]

KOA in Denver is a 50kW blowtorch (a la WTAM here in Cleveland), so stations stay clear for interference reasons. Just like stations East of the Mississippi River avoid 1100 (or at most have stations on 1100 AM as daytimers).

Exactly. Most of the clear-channel allocations were first granted in the late 1920s/early 1930s (WTAM was awarded their in 1927), to help provide information to a wide-spread populace in case of a national emergency.

The number of clear channel allocations in cities vary significantly. Cleveland only has one (despite 1220's large signal at night, it doesn't count as a clear), as does Denver, Schenectady-Albany, Detroit, San Antonio, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Wheeling and Baltimore, just to name a few. Cincinnati, Nashville, Los Angeles and San Francisco each have two clear channel allocations, while New York and Chicago each have five.

 

[vjm]

vjm, is that schedule yours or theirs? Cause the only question I had was about Brinda and "GameNight"...most nights, it appears Chris Fedor hosted the early "GameNight" portions.

With the show pushed to a 9 PM start, maybe they're just conceding that Brinda is already there. Is it the Greg Brinda Show or is it Greg Brinda Hosting The Various Post-Game Shows And Himself When There's No Game? Did they actually mention his name in the announcement?

Silly questions, but I want to nail that part down, it's a small nail sticking out

On Cavs or Indian game nights, GameNight started at 8 p.m., with Fedor going until game completion (9 times out of 10 by 10 p.m.) and then Brinda taking over with 10th Inning/KNR OT until midnight.

When there was no game, Brinda would go with straight sports talk on GameNight from 8 until midnight.

Basically, the 9 p.m. show is called GameNight until game completetion, when it becomes 10th Inning/KNR OT. If there's no game, then it's Gamenight from 9-midnight.

Technicallities aside, it's Brinda from 9-12 in some way, shape, or form.

 

[becker5]

I hope this works out! WKNR would be powerful

 

[SonoSational18]

KOA in Denver is a 50kW blowtorch (a la WTAM here in Cleveland), so stations stay clear for interference reasons. Just like stations East of the Mississippi River avoid 1100 (or at most have stations on 1100 AM as daytimers).

Exactly. Most of the clear-channel allocations were first granted in the late 1920s/early 1930s (WTAM was awarded their in 1927), to help provide information to a wide-spread populace in case of a national emergency.

The number of clear channel allocations in cities vary significantly. Cleveland only has one (despite 1220's large signal at night, it doesn't count as a clear), as does Denver, Schenectady-Albany, Detroit, San Antonio, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Wheeling and Baltimore, just to name a few. Cincinnati, Nashville, Los Angeles and San Francisco each have two clear channel allocations, while New York and Chicago each have five.

Maybe I’m quibbling a bit here. You are correct that WTAM is the dominant station on a clear channel. There were originally, IIRC, 23 frequencies allocated to the US where no station but one could operate at night. Later the rules were changed to permit additional stations on those channels so long as their nighttime signal didn’t interfere with the dominant station’s within a 750-mile contour. Today, there are directional signals on 1100 in Colorado, Texas, Florida, and California.

Several of the cities on your list don’t have a dominant (previously classified I-A) clear channel signal. Detroit (760), San Antonio (1200), Pittsburgh (1020) have stations formerly designated I-A. Cincinnati has just one (700), as does Nashville (650). LA has one former I-A (640), but although KNX (1070) was classified I-B, they might as well be I-A as they’re non-directional and protected over a wide area. That’s also the case in San Francisco with KNBR (680) being a non-directional I-B, Denver (850), and Schenectdady (810). New York only has three true clear channel allocations (660, 770, 880). Chicago has four (670, 720, 780, 890). Wheeling (1170) and Baltimore (1090) are home to stations that operate with 50kw at night but must go directional. WFNI Indianapolis (1070) has to cut back to 10kw at night and operate with a fairly critical 6-tower array. (They don’t even make it to Anderson at night.)

Other US cities with former I-A allocations include Atlanta (750), Ft. Worth (820), Minneapolis (830), Louisville (840), New Orleans (870), Boston (1030), Des Moines (1040), St. Louis (1120), Salt Lake (1160), Rochester (1180), and Philadelphia (1210). Although they could operate non-directional at night, the stations in Boston and New Orleans voluntarily operate with a directional array with nulls over the ocean to put more signal over land.

 

[SonoSational18]

Now getting back on topic after taking an engineerring geek tour of the US..... Do I get this right.... a Browns show.... produced by the Brrowns, all year round from 6-7? Please tell me why I should give a rat's rear end about the Browns in April unless they fire the coach? What were those call letters again? W-K-Yawn-R?

 

[DToTheJ]

Ask the people in Atlanta if they give a rat's rear end about the Falcons in April: yesterday, one of their sports talk stations announced a new nightly show, "Football Night In Atlanta" (which I have a gut feeling is going to draw a C&D from NBCU). I would argue that the Browns' fan base is more passionate about their franchise (e.g. fans staging "walk outs" during Monday Night Football games) than the Falcons.

 

[vjm]

Now getting back on topic after taking an engineerring geek tour of the US..... Do I get this right.... a Browns show.... produced by the Brrowns, all year round from 6-7? Please tell me why I should give a rat's rear end about the Browns in April unless they fire the coach? What were those call letters again? W-K-Yawn-R?

Actually, April is a great month for Browns talk on the radio, as that is NFL Draft time (aka Cleveland's Super Bowl).

 

[asterisk]

Now getting back on topic after taking an engineerring geek tour of the US..... Do I get this right.... a Browns show.... produced by the Brrowns, all year round from 6-7? Please tell me why I should give a rat's rear end about the Browns in April unless they fire the coach? What were those call letters again? W-K-Yawn-R?

The big part people need to factor in here is "Produced by the Browns..." and the power the Browns will want to hold for this "partnership." To the average fan, and how Craig Karmazin will spin it, this is going to be a heavily promoted partnership that the Browns wanted to have with WKNR. To others who try and understand the business (I'm not in it, I'm just a knowledge nerd) it's a brokered show that their flagships wanted NO PART OF and WKNR was willing to take the scraps for one hour of their time.

IMHO, I believe this show will be produced almost to ESPN radio levels. There will be little to no fan interaction. As much as I respect the work of Vic Carucci, this is going to be a borefest of epic proportions. IF WKNR were to, say... be able to use Carucci as their exclusive beat reporter for the Browns due to this deal, then that would be great. But you'd have to assume the team is going to make him available to TAM and MMS, who they are getting money from. I think we will see the hosts of WKNR go soft on the Browns for fear of losing this "partnership," and the quality of the product decline even more.

 

[X-Nooz]

I tend to agree. Not that I care much about WKNR, but it seems odd they'd be so public about selling significant air time to an entity it theoretically covers. Talk about conflict of interest.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

In that article in Crain's, the Browns VP denies that it's a direct brokered buy for the Browns...and says both sides have risks (and benefits).

I have no idea what that means, but on-air, it'll sound like a Browns infomercial, basically. I wonder what kind of editorial freedom Vic will have, as well as other folks (Jim and Doug, etc.).

Remember, the team bumped Andre Knott as Browns Radio sideline reporter because they "wanted their own guy" on the sidelines (Jamir Howerton).

I also wonder how it'll affect the rest of the WKNR schedule. Can TRBS, R&R and the like rip into the 0-12 Browns next season?

 

[asterisk]

In that article in Crain's, the Browns VP denies that it's a direct brokered buy for the Browns...and says both sides have risks (and benefits).

I have no idea what that means, but on-air, it'll sound like a Browns infomercial, basically. I wonder what kind of editorial freedom Vic will have, as well as other folks (Jim and Doug, etc.).

Remember, the team bumped Andre Knott as Browns Radio sideline reporter because they "wanted their own guy" on the sidelines (Jamir Howerton).

I also wonder how it'll affect the rest of the WKNR schedule. Can TRBS, R&R and the like rip into the 0-12 Browns next season?

The one name that interests me is LeCharles Bentley... he could do some great stuff being the counterpoint to the propaganda point... but when will KNR brass get nervous.

 

[vjm]

I want to be optimistic and say that for 23 hours a day, KNR will shoot straight about the Browns.

This isn't the PBP we're talking about here, it's a 1 hour thinly disguised commercial. So I wanna think (hope) that GKB is treating this as a nice little nugget, but not the holy grail.

This is basically a slice of pizza the the flagships were too full to eat, so 850's finishing it off.

As far as Vic Carrucci goes, he is a Browns employee, as his main job is actually as a writer on Clevelandbrowns.com. So I don't think he'll be any sort of "beat reporter" for WKNR. If anything, he'll probably be part of the Browns Radio Network pre and post game shows, as he has been for the Buffalo Bills for the last few years.

That job will probably go to Greg Brinda, who took over for Darryl Ruiter after he bid the Galleria adios...Berea by day, GameNight/10th Inning/KNR OT in the evening

The Browns main priority radio wise is still TAM/MMS, and Donovan/Dieken/Howerton/Holmgren/Shurmur will be going on those stations for their weekly "excuslive interviews" with Wills/Triv/Frantz/Rover/Cox/etc.

I wonder if those interviews will be repurposed for "Browns Daily"...if that's the case, then all WKNR got would be "sloppy seconds".

 

[johnbasalla]

Since so many people here are either radio-insiders or those who follow the business closely, we tend to forget that most, or at least many, of the listeners don't follow the ins-and-outs of radio as we do. Therefore, making a grand announcement about this show makes good business sense. The listeners I'm talking about will not be focused on, nor even realize, its "infomercial" status unless something goes awry with the show that makes them start wondering. It's a regularly scheduled show about The Cleveland Browns on the Sports-talk station. Makes simple sense.