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Over-the-air sports radio coverage in the Seattle market

F

fordranger797

I know that radio discussions may not be the appropriate avenue for this type of discussion, but there is no other forum to speak about it. Lately I have become disappointed in the lack of sports coverage on some of our local television stations.

First of all, i'm glad to see that the Seahawks are featured on a local television station each time they play (I mean, why wouldn't they? The Seahawks are such a big business in Washington). I wish I could say the same for the Mariners. When I was a kid, Mariners baseball games would consistently be on a local television station (usually KSTW). I don't recall when Fox Sports Net (now "ROOT") took over the rights, but I don't recall seeing a Mariners game on a local television station since. Now I am sitting here thinking "what happened?" I read somewhere KONG TV currently holds a right to air mariners games, but from what I can tell, they have not aired a single game.

We all know, the Mariners are going through a rough patch, and I understand that viewership is probably a struggle. However, at this point I am unsure if the Mariners will ever be on a local television station like they used to be. KONG is one station that truly puzzles me. It would be a great, independent local channel if they started showing local sports coverage, and aired sitcoms and movies instead of being a bandwidth waster, awash with infomercials.
 
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They have "That 70s Show" but I don't think that is enough for KONG. After the 700 Club it's 2 hours of infomercials in the middle of the morning! When KONG first started it was full of classic TV shows and movies and even 1930s/40s movie serials (I have a tape of All in the Family episodes taped off KONG way back in the beginning, no commercials but taped around 1997)

-crainbebo
 
crainbebo said:
They have "That 70s Show" but I don't think that is enough for KONG. After the 700 Club it's 2 hours of infomercials in the middle of the morning! When KONG first started it was full of classic TV shows and movies and even 1930s/40s movie serials (I have a tape of All in the Family episodes taped off KONG way back in the beginning, no commercials but taped around 1997)

-crainbebo
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At this point, KONG is reminiscent of being nothing more than a sub-channel of KING. It could be a great, local station if they put a little effort into it.
 
Also, I am still stumped as to why NHL hockey coverage is non-existent in the Seattle market when we have 5+ sports radio stations in town. If Seattle ever receives a NHL or NBA team, I sincerely hope that KJR-AM would try to get the rights to air the play by play. At this point, there is really nothing keeping KJR alive with KIRO-AM holding the rights to everything in town.

KFNQ and KHHO really need to go. Those two stations would be much better off doing something different.
 
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I wouldn't mind KONG having some Vancouver Canucks games - but then it would cause conflict with CBUT if they air during "Hockey Night in Canada" on Saturdays.

-crainbebo
 
As a major fan, I would greatly appreciate that. I don't think it would cause conflict during the week when games air on a local sportsnet. However, KONG will never do that. I think there needs to be a radio station (at the very least) that carries Canucks NHL hockey though. There is no reason for there not to be. At the same time, there is no reason for the Mariners to be on a cable channel when there are TONS of people who would rather watch the game on KONG rather than see their current programming.
 
While there is the big win in Seattle with the Seahawks,( I followed a motor coach up from Portland last Sat that had Seahawks written all over it, albeit with Oregon plates) but I think the euphoria has waned.

I think sports does well when most people are employed and not worrying about their savings, both are troublesome even around here. Your pocketbook is more important now and so is world events and whatever is 24/7 News and planes disappearing, helos crashing and landslides. Sports takes a back seat to having a live event occurring which is cost effective from the whole perspective of a tv operation. The way the NFL operates, dynasties are not possible these days in terms of back to back championships, NBA maybe more so, but fans are fickle on all sports terms when the mid term looks ugly, hence the lack of viewer participation and the stations see that. Seattle got a big time, maybe one time shot like the 79 Sonics. Q13 gambled and it paid off big, but who knows next year.

Now to keep it on raydio..

The plethora of mostly out of town radio sports talk is annoying, but a couple of things happened. CBS Radio wanted to create or enable a holding pattern for network owned stations like AM 1090 with the possible outcome that it might catch on--5 or 6 talk radio stations, why not 5-6 sports radio stations. The Sonics never came back, dashing their hopes to pick up 8 months of play by play if that was possible... 1090 had a 1.0 share with Progressive Talk, they never got a bump after Jan,2013 until months later and it was tiny.

The Mariners want a lot of money, just as any sports team wants lots of money, including NASCAR for broadcast rights. The networks and the stations don't have a lot of money to give, with an industry in decline. They're chasing the same dollar bill in a windy parking lot like everyone else.

Its time for those 5-6 sports news stations to pair down. Maybe rebroadcast Pandora genres.
 
Amen on taking off a couple of sports stations! We only have one thank god here in Yakima (ESPN 1460, KUTI). Over there it's KIRO, KJR, KHHO, KFNQ, KRKO! (Plus 1170 in Bellingham, KPUG, if you want to count them.) Too many sports stations in this market. I think 2 is good. KIRO for pro leagues and KJR for college. Other stations including ones like KKNW, KIXI, KTTH etc can cover HS FB on Friday nights. (and hardly ANYONE ever does! KRKO usually but almost never anyone in King/Pierce County.)

-crainbebo
 
crainbebo said:
Amen on taking off a couple of sports stations! We only have one thank god here in Yakima (ESPN 1460, KUTI). Over there it's KIRO, KJR, KHHO, KFNQ, KRKO! (Plus 1170 in Bellingham, KPUG, if you want to count them.) Too many sports stations in this market. I think 2 is good. KIRO for pro leagues and KJR for college. Other stations including ones like KKNW, KIXI, KTTH etc can cover HS FB on Friday nights. (and hardly ANYONE ever does! KRKO usually but almost never anyone in King/Pierce County.)

-crainbebo
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Don't forget, coverage of NHL hockey and NBA basketball (Canucks and Trailblazers) somewhere too. Also, if Seattle does indeed get an "in-house" NBA and NHL team, KIRO-AM and KJR can easily sustain everything just fine.
 
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