Soccer over America's Got Talent???

[TroyG]

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=215108.0

Well, This Sucks.

I hope NBC will pull its affiliation from KPRC-Its Houston TV station. Now that Local2 has gone loco.

 

[onairb]

'Whine, whine, I hate sports, it's making me miss my stupid reality TV'....people who clutter 'social media' with these complaints need to get a life.

 

[mr.ric]

I hope NBC will pull its affiliation from KPRC-Its Houston TV station. Now that Local2 has gone loco.

Wasn't the Dynamo's telecast from NBC, btw?

 

[TroyG]

It was shown on NBC-5 Chicago (NBC O&O) and on NBC's Houston Station KPRC. (Local 2) NBC had to utilized Dan Barry-The voice of Chicago Fire-as Play-by-play, and Dynamo's Play-By-Play Voice Glenn Davis as the role of that game's analyst.

 

[nathannah]

Usually I'd be the first to complain about this (how NBC continues to tolerate a station which gets killed in the news ratings by a UHF-era Fox station and thinks poker is a scary mean thing that will corrupt us all is beyond me), but really...the shows were on their .2, and no one is watching Love in the Wild, while AGT's in the middle of their time-sucking half-quarterfinals that will repeat on Sunday night anyways.

I'd be happy to see soccer in primetime on a network station, especially in a market where people go wild for their team, and at least it's not being pre-empted by a godawful family TV movie from years ago like most stations which do the 'network pre-emption to get the make-goods in' treatment.

 

[BMR]

While I can understand the OPs ire, this is a very interesting thread from a European point of view. Has televised Soccer finally stormed the last great television bastion?

 

[stationless listener]

While I can understand the OPs ire, this is a very interesting thread from a European point of view. Has televised Soccer finally stormed the last great television bastion?

Depends. Today, it's not so unusual to find association football on TV here in the States, radically different from forty years ago. Of course, it's still a given to say that the traditional 4 North American sports continue to dominate, along with ample attention given to college athletics, NASCAR, golf, tennis and Olympic sports such as swimming. However, the explosion of technology has given the few million who follow soccer avenues in which to watch some matches. That's not even counting the Spanish-language channels or satellite channels catered to immigrant or ex-pat groups in parts of this country.

To give you some examples: Most MLS teams today have agreements with regional cable channels. Teams like Seattle, Salt Lake, Chicago and Houston have agreements with local network affiliates or local over-the-air stations. The terms of which vary, from just a couple of games to as many as 19 home games. Canadian teams have agreement with national cable channels like TSN. So many of their games are aired nationwide in Canada, giving them some nice exposure. There are national cable channels that are catered to the niche soccer fan, such as GolTV and Fox Soccer. Fox Soccer has been known to air friendlies involving the US Women's National Team and aired the last Gold Cup matches involving the US Men's Team. Recently, there's a new competitor that has come in: BeIn Sports TV, funded by Qatari interests. They're going to air La Liga and Serie A starting this upcoming season. Finally, the EPL has gained a following here. Their matches are usually aired on either Fox Soccer or Fox Soccer Plus, with a few appearing on ESPN2.

I don't know if I would agree with your description of "last great television bastion" but I would say that barriers are slowly falling in North America. As long as I can have a small little corner to watch and know that there are good matches that can be accessed without much difficulty I'm OK with the big American sports leagues getting most of the attention.

 

[BMR]

I don't know if I would agree with your description of "last great television bastion" but I would say that barriers are slowly falling in North America.

Firstly, thanks for a very interesting post.

I do occasionally use over-flowery language online, and maybe 'last great bastion' was over the top. My point is there are relatively few countries where soccer isn't a regular major prime-time television presence, and America is one of if not the biggest. Apparantly televised soccer is very popular in China, and we all know about its popularity in Europe, Latin America and Africa.

 

[onairb]

Besides Houston, what other MLS markets still carry the local team on an OTA channel?
Ratings for MLS national telecasts have been negligible since the league started in 1996, but the EPL routinely outdraws MLS, and there is definitely an audience for international competitions, such as World Cup, the recently-ended European championships, or the Champoons League.

 

[landtuna]

While I can understand the OPs ire, this is a very interesting thread from a European point of view. Has televised Soccer finally stormed the last great television bastion?

Most Americans living today have never played anything but childhood football, baseball and basketball and have never played hockey yet those four team sports dominate television. A huge number of young adults today did play soccer as children, most as organized club or school teams yet they are not big fans of the professional game. Why is that?

While youth soccer is perhaps the most ideal team sport given its low cost of equipment and simple rules the professional version is usually a tedious defensive contest with low scoring and only occasional bursts of excitement. Unless spectators have a vested interest in the team the game itself is boring. While both professional football and baseball could at times be described in the same way there is a background of complexity and subtlety not present in soccer. Much the same as chess is different from other board games.

One only has to look at the explosion of so-called "extreme" sports to conclude that today's youth, at least those outside the traditional Hispanic markets, are not embracing soccer as a spectator sport.

 

[stationless listener]

Besides Houston, what other MLS markets still carry the local team on an OTA channel?

Los Angeles (KDOC, KWHY)
Philadelphia (WPVI)
Kansas City (KSMO)
Portland (KPDX)
Salt Lake City (KUCW, some on KTVX)
Seattle (KONG)
Chicago (occasionally appearing on WMAQ 5.2)

I know that Washington, Boston and New York teams don't have an OTA presence. I'm not sure on San Jose.

Firstly, thanks for a very interesting post.

I do occasionally use over-flowery language online, and maybe 'last great bastion' was over the top. My point is there are relatively few countries where soccer isn't a regular major prime-time television presence, and America is one of if not the biggest. Apparantly televised soccer is very popular in China, and we all know about its popularity in Europe, Latin America and Africa.

You can't overlook the factor of culture. One of things about American culture is the belief that sporting culture should be independent of world tastes. It's a point of pride for those who believe in it and it is difficult to work against. Still, if you take what was out there forty years and then compare that to now, the changes have been lightening-quick.

 

[nomadcowatbk]

Besides Houston, what other MLS markets still carry the local team on an OTA channel?

Wizards are on KSMO, but that's MYTV, how many are on network (not netlet) affiliates

 

[quadraphonic]

Stations pick what shows they think will make them the most money.
They only have a couple of channels to put shows on at a given time. More power to them.
Sometimes people will disagree with their choices.
They have dozens of channels to watch, not including other media, at a given time. More power to them too.
None of that "sucks" that's just how it works.

 

[onairb]

Besides Houston, what other MLS markets still carry the local team on an OTA channel?

Los Angeles (KDOC, KWHY)
Philadelphia (WPVI)
Kansas City (KSMO)
Portland (KPDX)
Salt Lake City (KUCW, some on KTVX)
Seattle (KONG)
Chicago (occasionally appearing on WMAQ 5.2)

I know that Washington, Boston and New York teams don't have an OTA presence. I'm not sure on San Jose.

The Earthquakes are cable-only (Comcast Sportsnet California). The original version of the franchis, the Clash, had a handful of games on OTA TV (KICU 36) in the mid-90s.

 

[JeeperOne]

While I can understand the OPs ire, this is a very interesting thread from a European point of view. Has televised Soccer finally stormed the last great television bastion?

Not really. Just a couple of years ago, the Colorado Rapids spent some time on KWGN 2, which is the local CW affiliate

It should be noted however that the CW Network is not NEARLY as popular as the other 4 networks (Even NBC does better than the CW but that's mainly because they program all seven nights & EVERY hour of primetime - Something that not even the FOX Network does). Therefore CW affiliates have far more flexibility when it comes to programming than the others do

Having said that, I'm afraid that with Stan Kronecke being the owner, the Colorado Rapids MLS franchise will be relegated to cable only via Altitude (An ESPN affiliated RSO owned by Stan Kronecke) as well as the smattering of appearances on NBC Sports Network, FOX Soccer Channel & ESPN (If we're lucky, we might see them on occasion on KMGH 7, the local ABC affiliate via ESPN On ABC )

Just the facts from the Denver area.....

Cheers & 73

 

[KERCAlum]

Besides Houston, what other MLS markets still carry the local team on an OTA channel?

Los Angeles (KDOC, KWHY)
Philadelphia (WPVI)
Kansas City (KSMO)
Portland (KPDX)
Salt Lake City (KUCW, some on KTVX)
Seattle (KONG)
Chicago (occasionally appearing on WMAQ 5.2)

I know that Washington, Boston and New York teams don't have an OTA presence. I'm not sure on San Jose.

Firstly, thanks for a very interesting post.

I do occasionally use over-flowery language online, and maybe 'last great bastion' was over the top. My point is there are relatively few countries where soccer isn't a regular major prime-time television presence, and America is one of if not the biggest. Apparantly televised soccer is very popular in China, and we all know about its popularity in Europe, Latin America and Africa.

You can't overlook the factor of culture. One of things about American culture is the belief that sporting culture should be independent of world tastes. It's a point of pride for those who believe in it and it is difficult to work against. Still, if you take what was out there forty years and then compare that to now, the changes have been lightening-quick.

FC Dallas has an occasional OTA presence on KTXA-TV (Channel 21), but for the most part is relegated to Fox Sports Southwest...at least on those rare occasions when the Rangers don't play.