Mark Madden and Jim Wexell get physical

[apostate]

Not only that, but Ellis Cannon was beating him when they went head to head from 6-7.

Madden used to make excuses for it on his show, among them that it was his fourth hour on the air as compared to Cannon's first.

That didn't wash too well with me considering when I would listen to Cannon's first hour, it usually was hearing John Duffy tell us what the starting lineup of the Pirates game was going to be.

I will say Madden has perhaps the most DEVOTED audience. I've heard cars blare his show from their speakers as if it was gangsta rap, which I can't say for any other show.

But in terms of largest, no.

By the way, I'm hearing I may need more birdies. Another board is reporting Clear Channel has severed ties with Wexell.
I wasn't aware Wexell was working for Clear Channel. I knew he did guest spots on the WBGG talk shows but wasn't aware they were paid spots.

Any info?

IIRC, Madden generated an 8.7 in afternoon drive on the worldwide leader in Fall 2007. No one else has ever come close on a sports-talk show, and I believe he was #1 in the demo/daypart among all stations in the market.

 

[Talk_Dude]

IIRC, Madden generated an 8.7 in afternoon drive on the worldwide leader in Fall 2007. No one else has ever come close on a sports-talk show, and I believe he was #1 in the demo/daypart among all stations in the market.

What was he up against at that time? Was that before or after 92.9 shot itself in the foot with "The Man Station"? Was Madden really that good, or was he the beneficiary of really, really weak competition?

I'm not asking to make a point. I genuinely don't recall what the competitive situation was back in Fall of 2007.

 

[apostate]

Again, IIRC, there would only have been Bendel on 970 from 3p-6p, and the first hour of Planet E in Madden's last hour, from 6p-7p, as far as sportstalk competitors. But the other stations with the largest shares in the daypart/demo at the time were The X and DVE. 93.7 would not have been a factor, whether it was the Man Station or B-94 at the time, but it was B-94 by the fall book, I believe.

 

[Boss Radio]

Here's verification on the Madden-Tolo numbers:

http://www.post-gazette.com/magazine/20000302madden2.asp

Now provide documentation for the numbers you've been citing, other than what Madden has proclaimed.

 

[Parttimer]

Was that before or after 92.9 shot itself in the foot with "The Man Station"?

It was 93.7, not 92.9.

 

[Parttimer]

Here's verification on the Madden-Tolo numbers:

http://www.post-gazette.com/magazine/20000302madden2.asp

Now provide documentation for the numbers you've been citing, other than what Madden has proclaimed.

And Tolo actually had 35-54s, of which KD now has none with their all right-wing lineup....

 

[Talk_Dude]

Was that before or after 92.9 shot itself in the foot with "The Man Station"?

It was 93.7, not 92.9.

The "Man Station" was so bad it screwed up every spot on the dial from 92.1 up to 95.1. :

 

[Pratte4Life]

Snafu- When Mike Tomlin is opening his press conference up by alluding to this shoving match, you really think the only reporter covering sports media in this town should look the other way?

You really think, under that circumstance, reporting this circumstance is a personal vendetta?

I know you don't think that, not if you have any news sense whatsoever.

 

[Pratte4Life]

Nonetheless, it's a combination. It's not a talk show. And it's done that way in part so the calls can be taped and a producer can review everything he says.

You can drop the "in part." It's entirely to buy time so they can edit him.

I think's it's also done to keep his demo's young by driving the old people away.

"Old people" aren't going to be listening to The X.

 

[Pratte4Life]

IIRC, Madden generated an 8.7 in afternoon drive on the worldwide leader in Fall 2007. No one else has ever come close on a sports-talk show, and I believe he was #1 in the demo/daypart among all stations in the market.

What was he up against at that time? Was that before or after 92.9 shot itself in the foot with "The Man Station"? Was Madden really that good, or was he the beneficiary of really, really weak competition?

I'm not asking to make a point. I genuinely don't recall what the competitive situation was back in Fall of 2007.

I'd just like to say that from a historical perspective, 8.7 isn't mark of greatness I think you may believe it is.

Consider the days when KDKA would get double digit ratings numbers. For us to believe that 8.7 is the all-time ranking, then we would have to believe that when KDKA ran a weekend sports talk show called "Sports Huddle" in the 80s and 90s they were losing almost half their audience by airing the show.

It stands to reason the show wouldn't have been on for as long as it was if their rating was so significantly lower from the other shows they ran.

Furthermore, in the early '80s, sports talk show hosts such as Pete Franklin, Bob Trumpy, and Ken Beatrice dominated the numbers. Sports Illustrated reported once that one out of every four men listening to the radio in Cleveland was listening to Franklin when he was on.

I don't know what Myron Cope's ratings were at the time. I am told that they were comparable. Again, it stands to reason they would be since at that time, if one wanted to listen to sports talk- that was it. If there are 72 hours of sports talk available to listen to today, there were only a handful then; Cope, Savran, and perhaps Nover. That's 3-5 hours.

Now, we can discuss if a 19 rating then or an 8.7 now is more impressive. There is a school of thought winning 300 games today is more impressive than Cy Young winning 511 100 years ago.

 

[Boss Radio]

I don't know this for a fact, but I think the 8.7 was within a certain demo rather than an overall 12+ share. If it was an overall 12+ number, he was outperforming the station by a huge number.

 

[apostate]

Here's verification on the Madden-Tolo numbers:

http://www.post-gazette.com/magazine/20000302madden2.asp

Now provide documentation for the numbers you've been citing, other than what Madden has proclaimed.

Not as specific as what you cited:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08144/884238-194.stm

I'll look and see if I can find the book.

I did not dispute anything about Tolo vs. Madden 12+. That was not in afternoon drive, where Madden achieved his highest ratings. The numbers cited also reflect 1999, when Madden was not the established host he was in 2007. Even in 1999, though, and even in the evening, Madden was ahead in M18-34.

In my posts, I repeatedly refer to the daypart/demo, the daypart being afternoon drive (in the fall of 2007, not long before Madden got canned), and the demo being M18-34, which is what sportstalk sells against.

__________________________________

@Pratte4Life:

An 8.7 rating is a very large share. I don't know what it was at the time. Shares, however are not comparable, as the PUR levels are not the same from one daypart to the next. Evening shows may generate higher shares, but lower ratings, than their counterparts in other dayparts, particularly drive times.

__________________________________

What my comment was about originally was the argument that Madden is barely second-tier, in terms of his place among Pittsburgh sports media people.

 

[Snafu]

Snafu- When Mike Tomlin is opening his press conference up by alluding to this shoving match, you really think the only reporter covering sports media in this town should look the other way?

You really think, under that circumstance, reporting this circumstance is a personal vendetta?

I know you don't think that, not if you have any news sense whatsoever.

Actually I said nothing of the sort. Go back and read it again. Slowly.

 

[Boss Radio]

>>>In my posts, I repeatedly refer to the daypart/demo, the daypart being afternoon drive (in the fall of 2007, not long before Madden got canned), and the demo being M18-34, which is what sportstalk sells against.<<<

That's a demo an all-sports station would sell, but Tolo and Cope were not on all-sports stations. Nor was their target ever that narrowly defined.

 

[Parttimer]

Sports talk always wants to sell 18-34 male numbers, but that's not who listens. Mostly it's males 35-64.... but that's why ESPN isn't really interested in guys like Beano talking about stuff from the 1940's anymore...

 

[DToTheJ]

Well, ESPN still has Tony Kornheiser on the payroll...

...Madden has perhaps the most DEVOTED audience. I've heard cars blare his show from their speakers as if it was gangsta rap, which I can't say for any other show...

Quite a statement, considering his show is on a music station...

 

[apostate]

>>>In my posts, I repeatedly refer to the daypart/demo, the daypart being afternoon drive (in the fall of 2007, not long before Madden got canned), and the demo being M18-34, which is what sportstalk sells against.<<<

That's a demo an all-sports station would sell, but Tolo and Cope were not on all-sports stations. Nor was their target ever that narrowly defined.

Yes, but that's all I ever claimed. You are nitpicking to the nth degree, but in your attempts to do so, you continually shoot at claims I never made. I get it. Tolo and Cope = good. Madden = bad.

All I ever said was that he generated the highest sportstalk rating the market had ever seen. That's M18-34 and it was in afternoon drive eight years after the comparison you want to make to Tolo in 1999. And it's still true. And I still can't stand his act, so I don't listen.

No one ever has, and no one ever will, buy 12+ numbers. Everyone on this board seems to make that point, other than in this thread.

 

[apostate]

Sports talk always wants to sell 18-34 male numbers, but that's not who listens. Mostly it's males 35-64.... but that's why ESPN isn't really interested in guys like Beano talking about stuff from the 1940's anymore...

1250 did sell M18-34 when Madden was there and he was #1 in his daypart. Can we just keep the boundaries of the argument consistent? I'm only talking about M18-34 and PM drive when it applies to Madden. That's where he was dominant at 1250.

 

[FreddyE1977]

No one ever has, and no one ever will, buy 12+ numbers.

"Hey, look what I'm doing with 13 year old boys!" Dr. Johnny Fever

(ironic in view of the fact that this station is about to flip to Radio Disney...)

 

[apostate]

It's not so much the 12, but rather the +, that is the problem. Just ask the sales staffs at the 50,000 watt blowtorch and WJAS.