• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

New trend of sports stations dumping ESPN?

M

Mainedude2007

I've noticed several sports stations dropping ESPN Radio or dropping sports all together (presumably because ESPN has begun charging for programming)

so far:

WZON Bangor, Maine: Stephen King's heritage local sports talker, almost 20 years and drops ESPN for a simulcast of his left leaning FM talker, keeping local sports, Westwood One and ESPN Radio PxP

KCBF Fairbanks, AK...keeps the sports format but from FSR

WFXH Hilton Head, SC drops sports completely for Adult Standards as "AM 1130 The Island"

I'm sure there's more or going to be more...
 
If you've got strong morning and/or afternoon shows, it would seem to be possible to do well without ESPN Radio (at least from an everyday talk content standpoint). Even with a direct sports talk competitor in your market, how hard would it be to plug in Jim Rome or Dan Patrick for 5-6 hours of your broadcast day, plus some combo of SNR or Fox Sports hosts?

My daytime lineup sans ESPN (central time)

5AM-9AM: 'Competent local morning show'
9-11AM: Dan Patrick
11am-2pm: Jim Rome
2-6pm: 'Competent local afternoon show' or SNR or FSR.
 
Mainedude2007 said:
I've noticed several sports stations dropping ESPN Radio or dropping sports all together (presumably because ESPN has begun charging for programming)

so far:

WZON Bangor, Maine: Stephen King's heritage local sports talker, almost 20 years and drops ESPN for a simulcast of his left leaning FM talker, keeping local sports, Westwood One and ESPN Radio PxP

KCBF Fairbanks, AK...keeps the sports format but from FSR

WFXH Hilton Head, SC drops sports completely for Adult Standards as "AM 1130 The Island"

I'm sure there's more or going to be more...
Click to expand...

Are they still running ESPN's ads during other programming? That's what KTAR Phoenix does. They only run ESPN Radio overnights and weekends, plus Cowherd and 1-2 hours of Mike & Mike (2 hours starting next week, after the time change).
 
which Sports Radio Network do you all like or dislike and why and why not???

ESPN is the most famous. Personnally I like both Fox Sports Radio and Sporting News Radio because both are very simular and both sound more "Alive" and more capturing, as well as both seem to have more listenner interaction.
I do like some of the host on ESPN such as Amy Lawrence, V Show, and Fred Coleman.
How about you all???
If the sports talk radio station in your area change ESPN to another Sports Talk Network, which one would you like to hear???
 
There has been some bad network sports programming out there. James Washington telling me the Baltimore Ravens wouldn't have won the Super Bowl had they not moved from Cleveland because Cleveland is too cold comes to mind. So does Stephen A. Smith trying to tell me that Ken Griffey Sr. and Josh Gibson played in the same era.

Colin Cowherd is now doing something called rock band bracket on the web. Which is fine, except WIP in Philadelphia did this same thing 20 years ago.

I haven't listened to David Stein in years because of his overuse of the term "Winner, Winner! Chicken Dinner!" A catch phrase is one thing. Saying it 20 times in an hour is another.

As for Lauro's list, I've always thought Fred Coleman was smooth and Bob Valvano was somewhat innovative, be it the way he joyously hosted "The Match Game" or what not.
 
I prefer FSR. I listen at night. I like PMS and Bruno. I love Ben Maller on the weekends.


What I don't understand, how does John Fricke not have a fulltime radio gig?
 
I always felt Fricke should be getting more face time, especially during college football season. To this day, I don't know why FSR decided to have him on each weekend.
 
I agree with "Stod" and "The Golden Boy" Fox Sports Radio should have John Fricke on more. If they had him and Hacksaw Hamilton, they will be the BEST Sports Radio Network!!!! I like both those radio hosts. Both are very simular
 
I also got a chance to work with Big Ben Maller when he came to our station to broadcast his show live from Boston (when our station used to hive them on overnights and weekends) but now our station carry ESPN Radio on overnights and various times on weekend and weekend overnights
I wish our station should've gotten Sporting News Radio, because they sound more attention grabbing.
Another station accross the street from ours (also a different company) now has Fox Sports Radio on overnights and weekends and weekend overnights "The Sports Hub" The sad thing about that station is, if you listen to it from a walkman, if you are within the city, that station does not come in on a walkman when you are inside the city, I assume it's the same for people living inside the city or work inside the city. If you have a good Car Stereo System with a good Antanna, then yeah it comes in good in the city
Once you get outside the city, it's fine

Our station is on AM
 
Pratte4Life said:
There has been some bad network sports programming out there. James Washington telling me the Baltimore Ravens wouldn't have won the Super Bowl had they not moved from Cleveland because Cleveland is too cold comes to mind. So does Stephen A. Smith trying to tell me that Ken Griffey Sr. and Josh Gibson played in the same era.
Click to expand...

Two things....James Washington is actually on the radio again?
And..............I hope you are joking about Stephen A. saying that Griffey and Gibson played in the same era. Please tell me were joking around.
 
oakas said:
Pratte4Life said:
There has been some bad network sports programming out there. James Washington telling me the Baltimore Ravens wouldn't have won the Super Bowl had they not moved from Cleveland because Cleveland is too cold comes to mind. So does Stephen A. Smith trying to tell me that Ken Griffey Sr. and Josh Gibson played in the same era.
Click to expand...

Two things....James Washington is actually on the radio again?
And..............I hope you are joking about Stephen A. saying that Griffey and Gibson played in the same era. Please tell me were joking around.
Click to expand...
Maybe he said BOB Gibson and you misheard?
 
In my view ESPN's radio division has always been rather pompus in their assesment of their own worth and gluttonous in their demands of affiliates.


But for ESPN to start CHARGING for programming as opposed to doing tradeouts? Heavens to Betsy, that is just stupid. Especially in this day and age when it has become almost impossible to garner new listeners, much less retain them. And outside of a top 20 market it is damn near impossible to drum up business for national programming that your clients for the most part will be completely unfamiliar with. Kinda hard to call ole Colin Cowherd out to come do a remote at the new Nissan dealership!


No wonder why the new 'sports superstation' combo here in the Piedmont of North Carolina (1320AM, 1230 AM, 1200AM, all Curtis media properties) is having to run App State baseball games as opposed to the NCAA tourney! Because old Uncle Don is getting reemed with charges for ESPN's blathering boulderdash.

Most stations that flip to sports do so strictly due to the cheap nature of the programming because it is easier to give away inventory as opposed to gaining new clients to offset the costs. And because of the nature of the sports talk beast there is a lot more inventory to offer along with an audience that is proven to be willing to sit thru stopsets much more willingly than a music format.
 
I doubt ESPN is charging affils to cover Cowherd or Mike & Mike's salary...I'm pretty sure it's because of the PxP rights to baseball and basketball in addition to moving most of their PxP to their main channel as opposed to giving the affils an option between games and talk
 
ESPN has been doing that for a couple years now. It's kind of lame. They just do this so that they don't have to do an alternate feed for their network anymore.

We get stuck with almost every NBA game they feed because of that. Their weekend programming is getting lamer and lamer. Outside of Dari and Mel and that show with John Stashower on Sunday mornings, along with John Kinkade, their weekend programming is a wasteland of lame talent, stories mainly taken from the TV, and NBA analysis.
 
Guys, I wish I was making that up about Smith's comments on Gibson and Griffey. But I heard it myself about 13-14 months ago driving to work.

Smith is all schtick and no substance.

And thankfully, Washington is not on the radio anymore.
 
What do you all think ESPN can do to make things better?

I think they should be more interactive with listenners, have more live talk shows on. Few weeks ago John Kincade actually had an interested show. He asked callers to call in and play a game, "It's 24 hours from now, I'm filling in for Mike and Mike, lats talk like it's 24 hours from now" One caller did excelent, he was talking about ??? one of the NBA games and how it won, and. It was actually great to hear that. I thought that was pretty cool.

For the last few weeks "Sports Center Saturday" which airs 4pm-Midnight (with a few different hosts) has been very good to hear. Especially the feature they have (The Best SoundClips of the week) the music he uses behind that is a Chinese Hip Hop Beat used in the most recent "Karate Kid" movie. The V Show is awesom. "All Night with Jason Smith" his show needs to be more interactive with callers. Without the listenner interaction, his show is so boring. I'm sorry, but they need to make ESPN sound more alive.

How about your thoughts? What can ESPN do to make themselves better?
 
LAUROJRM said:
What do you all think ESPN can do to make things better?

I think they should be more interactive with listenners, have more live talk shows on. Few weeks ago John Kincade actually had an interested show. He asked callers to call in and play a game, "It's 24 hours from now, I'm filling in for Mike and Mike, lats talk like it's 24 hours from now" One caller did excelent, he was talking about ??? one of the NBA games and how it won, and. It was actually great to hear that. I thought that was pretty cool.

For the last few weeks "Sports Center Saturday" which airs 4pm-Midnight (with a few different hosts) has been very good to hear. Especially the feature they have (The Best SoundClips of the week) the music he uses behind that is a Chinese Hip Hop Beat used in the most recent "Karate Kid" movie. The V Show is awesom. "All Night with Jason Smith" his show needs to be more interactive with callers. Without the listenner interaction, his show is so boring. I'm sorry, but they need to make ESPN sound more alive.

How about your thoughts? What can ESPN do to make themselves better?
Click to expand...

Well... they could eliminate all of the pretentiousness and hype that surrounds all of their programming (Colin Cowherd? Jason Smith?). Actually allow for more caller-driven participation. Stop the insistence among all affiliates to must-carry either Mike and Mike or Cowherd. Maybe relent on the branding standardization for ESPN Radio affiliates.

But that flies in the face of how ESPN exists in the first place. It's not just Stephen A. Smith or Cowherd, the ENTIRE FAMILY OF ESPN NETWORKS are always about the sizzle over the steak. All "East Coast-West Coast," all the time, and to hell with the heartland.

Bob Valvano is their best host, and he's buried in weekend overnights... just like Ben Maller is FSR's best host, and is too stuck in that same time slot.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom