https://news.****************/artic...ns-Sign-Multi-Year-Deal-with-Skyview-Networks
This is a multiyear deal that starts in 2020.
This is a multiyear deal that starts in 2020.
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Minnesota Twins to broadcast on Skyview Networks
- Thread starter Y2kTheNewOldies
- Start date
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/184892/minnesota-twins-to-air-on-wcco-102-9-the-wolf/
WCCO and 102.9 FM are named to air Minnesota Twins games.
WCCO and 102.9 FM are named to air Minnesota Twins games.
So Entercom sacrifices their country station to steal the Twins from a competitor. We'll see how that works out.
The Twin Cities are a good baseball market and the Twins are expected to contend. I would think the games will do fine on the FM without hurting The Wolf too much during the hours that it's playing music. Neither of us is in Minnesota, though -- so why are you questioning the move?
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It's very out of character with what Entercom does.
WCCO has had the Twins back since 2018, so they aren't "stealing" them from anyone right now, they are just adding an FM outlet for the broadcasts.
That's how I read it, too, but TheBigA sounded like he knew what he was talking about, so I figured he must have had inside info. Silly me.
Doesn't it always sounds like he knows what he is talking about? Plus he likes to pick fights until gets bleed to death. Right now the Twins just like all the MLB teams can't play until who knows when now.
My point was about sacrificing the country station. I can't think of an example where Entercom has put baseball on a music station. Sure, Cumulus did it in Atlanta. But how about Entercom? Then doing the deal with Skyview instead of a radio owner is another unusual aspect.
It gets the Twins on a FM station and probably wants folks to stay on the station other times of the day which would help them in the ratings against K102 (KEEY) in the country demographic
The problem is that today's country music radio has pretty much cleaned out the over-45 audience that the country format used to attract in the '90s and before. Those are the people most likely to be listening to Twins games. Whether three or four hours of baseball at (mostly) night winds up hurting the station in the hours that count remains to be seen. I don't think it's going to bring many new fans to the station's regular programming, which is where I agree with TheBigA's general assessment.
I'm sure that was their intent. Not sure how it will work. It depends on if there is a relationship with the fans of the Twins and country music. To broaden this part of the conversation, the PD of this station is actually based at WUSN in Chicago. Would they be willing to do the same in Chicago?
The other part of the discussion is the role of Skyview. The change here really isn't as much about Entercom as it is with the team making a deal with Skyview rather than a local station. How exactly does that work? Could we see more deals like this where a team does a rights deal with an outside sales & distribution company rather than a radio station? Might this have been a solution for the Oakland As? Was it discussed and Skyview walked away?
But AAA appeals to an older demo, who might be more likely to sit through a 4 hour game. Not so much country fans.
In Atlanta, Cumulus put the Braves on their rock station. They had been on their FM news/talk, but they sold it to EMF.
Skyview, Entercom's KMOX, and the Saint Louis Cardinals have used a similar arrangement for ages, dating back to CBS Radio ownership.
https://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/2/prweb8144435.htm
Oakland's radio network has been run through Skyview for a number of years, including when the system was flagshipped at Entercom's 95.7 The Game. As far as I know that partnership is continuing, just without a station in the Bay Area.
https://skyviewnetworks.com/news/press-releases/mlb-audio-rightsholders/
All this means is that being a "flagship station" of a sports network doesn't mean much anymore -- but I think that's been the case for a decade or two.
There's been a long transition from the network broadcasts being produced by the flagship station and distributed to the stations along the network line, to the teams producing the broadcasts and treating every station, even the one in the team's primary city, as just another affiliate.
I know, and we saw why during the Cumulus bankruptcy hearing with the Chicago White Sox. These stations enter into these deals with teams, and at some point the cost of the deal exceeds the revenue from the spots. In these deals, Skyview takes the risk, and Entercom just provides the platform. Less risk.
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