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savran fsn show axed

C

california

Guest
not again! has anyone more likable and with as much talent as stan savran been fired as many times as he has? JUST SAW WHERE HIS SAVRAN ON SPORTSBEAT SHOW HAS GOTTEN THE AXE! this is no way to treat the nicest person i know from cleveland. is it a money crunch? anyone know anything? cal.
 
Part of the business is getting fired. At least in Stan's case so many times it wasn't really is fault. For instance, I believe he was axed from WTAE in the early '90s due to the fact he gave honest commentary of a Golden Panthers scandal.

I was rather surprised he didn't run for Congress a few years back when he was asked. I think he would have been a sucessful candidate.

He could have been our J.D. Hayworth- except instead he'd have been a better sportscaster and a liberal instead of a conservative.

And trust me. I saw J.D. Hayworth as a sportscaster. He wasn't bad, in fact I remember he used to do some cool things like use music in his sportscasts.

He just wasn't Stan.
 
Very sad news. Stan is one of the real class acts in the history of Pittsburgh broadcasting.
Guess it all comes down to the fact that he won't work for minimum wage. No wonder sports
stations are resorting to staging Ted Mack Amateur Hour at Buffalo Wild Wings in order to
staff their air slots.
 
It was not clear from the story whether he had been fired from the station or just that the show had been cancelled. It's a little hard to believe that with the mania surrounding the steelers and penguins this year, that the ratings weren't good, but with this economy and, I believe, the sale of the station, I guess it is possible that there is major cost cutting going on. I guess it's also possible that there could be another show coming on that he is part of.

I am rarely if ever home at that time, so I almost never see the show. I have had several co-workers who have interacted with him on various contests (kids day;broadcast from your porch, etc) and they all say how very personable and respectful he was.
 
freddye...great line about the "ted mack amateur hour at buffalo wild wings"......funny, but loaded with truth.
let's hope stush is part of another show at fsn. can't imagine what it could be. "stush's polka hour?"
 
This is truly a disgusting decision. Here is the e-mail address of the morons who decided to pull the plug on the most knowledgeable sports personality in Pittsburgh. I would encourage all to bombard this e-mail address with their objection to this move. I know it won't change anything but it does feel good to vent. The address is: [email protected]. Thank you.
 
ok, help me out here. i'm a small business owner and am not as familiar with how radio/tv programming decisions are made. it appears that dart boards or tea leaves are used. do local managers make decisions just to look like they are taking action in order to please higher ups? THAT'S THE ONLY EXPLANATION FOR THE FSN DECISION. it's either that or they are totally broke.
 
Fox national might be dictating something else for the time slot once football season arrives.... just have to wait and see.
 
Savran is staying to host the Pirates and Pens pre-game shows and Mike Tomlin's weekly press conference. They probably put him on a freelance rate and got his salary and benefits off the books. They also eliminated the people who operated cameras and screened calls on Sportsbeat. They wiped about four people off the payroll, which is what this is about.
 
Let me pull the "What's right/wrong" about Pgh sports radio" topic over here for a minute.

You can talk about cutting costs, but I also agree with the premise that at this time it isn't a good time to kill sports talk shows in Pittsburgh.

However, how much of the demise of "Savran on Sportsbeat" can be attributed to the fact it isn't the only game in town anymore?

Remember, when the show debuted there was not another daily radio sports talk show- Myron Cope and Bruce Keidan were splitting the week on WTAE and that was it Monday-Friday save for small outlying AMs.

Now, there's lots of competion. Among this competion- the Nightly Sports Call. Faster paced, numerous knowledgable voices, better promotion, and often harder hitting.


And with Stan & Guy reunited on the radio, Savran alone seems a bit empty.

Looking back- IF Guy had never been let go-

A- Would ESPN 1250 have them on the air? Or would they have another show on in the morning?

B- Would 104.7 be as successful as it is? Remember, Guy was there for a short period of time and helped launch Rocco's career and gave the station a local presence it otherwise wouldn't have. Granted, people are going to listen to Rush, Hannity, etc. one way or another. But having a respected veteran in the lineup at the beginning couldn't have hurt matters, especially when trying to establish a sports lineup to the station.

C- Would FSN be making this move of canceling Sportsbeat? One gets the feeling the show would be something of the last word in Pittsburgh sports commentary with a 20-year legacy behind it.

My guess is if Junker hadn't been let go five years ago, there would have been a few more jobs in several other media outlets- even in this economy.
 
Pratte4Life said:
Let me pull the "What's right/wrong" about Pgh sports radio" topic over here for a minute.

You can talk about cutting costs, but I also agree with the premise that at this time it isn't a good time to kill sports talk shows in Pittsburgh.

However, how much of the demise of "Savran on Sportsbeat" can be attributed to the fact it isn't the only game in town anymore?

Remember, when the show debuted there was not another daily radio sports talk show- Myron Cope and Bruce Keidan were splitting the week on WTAE and that was it Monday-Friday save for small outlying AMs.
Click to expand...

It only got a foothold because it WAS the only game in town, let's face it, it was a radio show on TV. 90% of the video was Stan & Guy staring blankly into the camera while a caller talked.

Pratte4Life said:
C- Would FSN be making this move of canceling Sportsbeat? One gets the feeling the show would be something of the last word in Pittsburgh sports commentary with a 20-year legacy behind it.
Click to expand...

Probably, just because it costs money. Stan's show on 970 died because it cost money. 970 to my knowledge has not shown in the ratings since, but probably comes closer to breaking even with no ratings and low cost, than with Stan's marginal ratings and higher cost.

He's a class act, but the game is changing.
 
Part- You speak of Savran's show costing more money than its successors.

If I'm missing something, let me know, but Savran was replaced by Tim Benz and Joe Bendel originally.

While I realize CC had Benz on in the mornings on The X, how would this have cost less money? While I doubt Benz was working for an hourly wage, I would think his additional duties as an afternoon sports talk show host would have enabled him to command more money than if he hosted the morning show alone.

Furthermore, they lured Joe Bendel away, and while I realize the Tribune-Review doesn't pay much, neither does radio. You still have to pay him a full time wage for him to leave the Trib and I would imagine significantly so since Bendel would have had some seniority there and was consistently getting promoted.

How would two men coming in cold, presumably not with any sponsors, be more cost-effective than one, especially when the one had some long time sponsors.

I have to tell you, those ads for Littles Shoes have completely changed my image of the place!!!!!!!
 
Pratte4Life said:
Part- You speak of Savran's show costing more money than its successors.

If I'm missing something, let me know, but Savran was replaced by Tim Benz and Joe Bendel originally.

While I realize CC had Benz on in the mornings on The X, how would this have cost less money?
Click to expand...

But his entire salary would be budgeted to the X, essentially making his afternoon show pure profit for whatever revenue it generated as far as 970's P&L was concerned.

For the record, Paulsen's salary for his original show on 970 was on DVE's books.
 
Don't forget that when they took Savran's salary off of the books and replaced him with Benz, they also took Alan Cox's salary off of the books on the FM side as well. Benz at the time replaced two salaries, not just Savran.
 
Boss Radio said:
970 is paying Bendel very little. I don't know what his issues were with leaving the Tribune, but he ain't making squat at 970.
Click to expand...

I can tell you from personal experience the Trib does not pay squat either
 
This came down from Liberty Media's HQ. They wanted the production costs out and wanted it now. Stan's contract also expired around the same time but am told that was just coincidence. Somehow I doubt that.

FSN has a couple of programming options and all of them are bad (gee lousy programming from FSN national. Go figure). Liberty is hamstrung by a couple of deals it made earlier in the year and needs to get itself a financial cushion, especially with ad revenues continuing their nosedive.
 
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