mariners

[TakeItFromMe]

There was an early thread on best news talent. Got to say one of the best news and sports cowboys in this market is the voice of the Mariners Dave Neihaus ;D
One of the first things this boy noticed when I got to town is how damn good Dave is. Who ended up getting the Mariners for next year ??? Hope Neihaus stays with
the broadcasts whereever they go.

 

[SeattleRadioPro]

Dave, Rick, et. al are employed by the team, not the flagship station, so they go where the rights go.

Mr Neihaus will be inducted into the broadcasting wing of the Baseball Hall Of Fame this July.

No official word yet on who will get the rights in '09, but the street says baseball will be back on 710.

 

[The Street]

I never said that.... in fact, the word I heard used about KIRO' bid was "underwhelming."

 

[SeattleRadioPro]

I never said that.... in fact, the word I heard used about KIRO' bid was "underwhelming."

The reference to "the street" meant the Seattle radio community, not a single Radio-Info member.

 

[radioprofessor]

In my view Neihaus may be the best radio talent in the Seattle market. The Mariners have not had a winning season in some years yet I find the broadcasts entertaining. Broadcast deals are not what they used to be. When I consulted a major group we began dropping all baseball contracts. The pricing peaked a few years ago when some teams were getting 10-20 million a year. Now a major club will be lucky to get 5 million a year, unless you are in NY, Chicago or LA. I know none of the major groups in town (read that to mean Infinity, Clear Channel or Entercom) is in the market for the baseball contract. That leaves Fisher, Sandusky, Crista and Bonneville. I believe it would be fair to surmise that Crista and Sandusky are out. KIRO ratings are as strong as they ever were so they don't need or want to pay for the Mariners. I suspect Bonneville is not in the game unless they want to put the broadcasts on KTTH or B-97.3. That also seems unlikely, in my humble view. Fisher may not need the Mariners either. KOMO is a solid news station and bills very well. I doubt the Mariners would fit on KPLZ or KVI. Many baseball teams are taking the broadcast rights in house just as the Seahawks do. I have seen this done all over the country. The economics of radio have now caught up to sports franchises that used to demand millions and can no longer get it. Again, I do not know the specifics of this team but am very familiar with the economics of baseball contracts in other markets, though I primarily consult music formats. There is a reason Clear Channel, Infinity and Entercom are not interested. It is hard to make money on baseball contracts. Football is even worse because games are on Sunday and there are only 16 a year. TV, Internet and Satellite have also eaten into the revenue pie.

 

[SeattleRadioPro]

Fisher may not need the Mariners either. KOMO is a solid news station and bills very well.

If KOMO loses the rights, you can start the death watch on the all-news format. In my humble opinion.

 

[DXMeister]

You think KOMO 1000 needs the mariners to survive? All News stations in the various markets have survived thus far without needing sports in their lineup.

 

[AQH]

You think KOMO 1000 needs the mariners to survive? All News stations in the various markets have survived thus far without needing sports in their lineup.

All-News operations usually thrive in major markets; New York, LA, Chicago, Washington DC. The rest of the markets have KIRO-like programming in News/Talk.

And Seattle, while large, is not a major market.

Unless KOMO miraculously picks up The Mariners again, there is reason to believe that its format will be canned or severely altered. All-News is an expensive operation to run. Even when they try to combine the TV side onto radio, the talent presenting the news is not cheap.

I think KOMO is still kicking themselves a little for overpaying so much for the rights. Maybe djdan can kick in a little about revenues, but it's my understanding that KOMO barely makes enough to cover the cost of the rights. And their franchise will be worth less without the Mariners.

 

[RichJohnson]

Look at the winter books the past two years, and you'll see that KOMO has held its own in the year's only non-baseball survey. You can take issue with KOMO's news judgement on any given day, but the station has clearly established itself as a 'utility' -- a place you go for a quick update before moving on to you favorite music or talk format. And Seattle is certainly big enough to need traffic every ten minutes. Even on slow news days (or weeks), that's the magnet.

As for staffing, you can look at it two ways.
1. A complete cheap-out, hiring just enough people to keep the needle moving between ball games (or traffic reports).
2. Brilliant, efficient staffing levels that contrast with the bloated competition.

If KOMO loses the Mariners, it can continue to build on five years of format momentum in a radio universe in which NOBODY has that kind of patience any more. Or it can start over from scratch, doing what so may Clear Channel stations do: A bare-bones morning show followed by a 9am sign-off. Excuse me, a 9am shift to wonderful national syndicated talk.

As we all love to say, don't touch that dial. And your radio's old enough to have a dial, think about a trip to Best Buy or Fry's.

 

[AQH]

Look at the winter books the past two years, and you'll see that KOMO has held its own in the year's only non-baseball survey. You can take issue with KOMO's news judgement on any given day, but the station has clearly established itself as a 'utility' -- a place you go for a quick update before moving on to you favorite music or talk format. And Seattle is certainly big enough to need traffic every ten minutes. Even on slow news days (or weeks), that's the magnet.

As for staffing, you can look at it two ways.
1. A complete cheap-out, hiring just enough people to keep the needle moving between ball games (or traffic reports).
2. Brilliant, efficient staffing levels that contrast with the bloated competition.

If KOMO loses the Mariners, it can continue to build on five years of format momentum in a radio universe in which NOBODY has that kind of patience any more. Or it can start over from scratch, doing what so may Clear Channel stations do: A bare-bones morning show followed by a 9am sign-off. Excuse me, a 9am shift to wonderful national syndicated talk.

You're bringing up two different things.

I'm not saying that people would leave in droves from KOMO. But it might be enough, with a loss of the Mariners PBP as a franchise (KOMO's franchise), to make it not worth it.

The clout and credibility that you allude to was built on ALL-NEWS. It can't "build on five years of format momentum" if it abandons ALL-NEWS and goes NEWS/TALK. KOMO doesn't have the money or the brass ones needed to do it.

KIRO has the local talk angle covered, and between KVI, KTTH and KPTK, the good syndicated talk shows are gone. That would leave KOMO with a local talkshow angle, going right up against KIRO. And I don't think they can sustain that battle -- especially with Bonneville back in the fold.

 

[searadiofreak]

I agree, Dave Neihaus is Seattle's best sportscaster, and definitely one of the top local guys in the country. Remember he came from the California Angels, and he probably could have become one of the top guys in L.A., too, but preferred the NW lifestyle. When he retires it is going to be a HUGE loss for Seattle radio/tv. My oh my.

Who remembers the excellent original team of Neihaus and Ken Wilson on KVI in the late 70's and early 80's? They both were good. Wilson ended up leaving for the midwest, then California, I believe he is now in Hawaii.

 

[TowerLamp]

Agree with Rich. KOMO is exactly where it should be. It's got enough momentum and synergy with it's TV cross promotion that a loss of Mariner's PBP will certainly lose a chunk of cume but it will survive. I'd expect the station to drop about a 1.5 share 12+ w/out the M's. But the basics will survive. Give me my traffic, the headlines and buh-bye. I'm off to my CD or fave music station. And that's exactly how the station is marketed and programmed. Now if Fisher can keep it's head on straight, everything will be alright. Blatherwatch has predicted some dire straits ahead for the flour company. We shall see...