Sports Radio in LA

[ChannelFlipper]

I guess nobody cares that Andrew Siciliano got blown out at KSPN to be replaced by Max Kellerman. ;D

Kellerman is a smart guy and would be much further along in his career if he hadn't overplayed his hand several years back in his contract negotiations with ESPN. Note to all bit players at the mothership in Bristol - and you are ALL bit players: overplaying your hand with The Big Company will kill you. That guy who used to be on the college football shows tried the same thing. He got booted, hasn't been heard from since, and the show got better with the addition of his replacement Lou Holtz. Nice knowing you.

Max made the same mistake. After he got booted from ESPN, he tried a lame "Around the Horn" knock-off show on the Fox Sports Cable outlets that was even more pitiful than the original and garnered an audience of dozens. Since then with the exception of some boxing work on HBO, he has been largely out of sight, out of mind. He does have a tremendous knowledge of boxing and if he plays his cards right, he could inherit the mantle of the number one blow-by-blow announcer in the sport once Jim Lampley decides to give it up. Had he stayed in his shoes at ESPN, he would have had his own show (ATH) for about 10 years now, and would probably be the leading boxing analyst on the network at a minimum. In short his national profile would be much more significant. But since that isn't how it turned out, this announcement is not surprisingly reacted to with a large amount of yawns and indifference. I like Siciliano, but I doubt that he moves the needle one way or the other. I am sure that is why they feel the need to pair him with a higher profile name, if not talent.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

channel flipper - thank you for you great post.

Thank you for the nice compliment!

 

[michael hagerty]

The worst thing to happen to sports radio was the two (or more) host format. T

The best sports show hosts are invariably solo acts. Rome and Colin Cowherd are the best in the business right now. In the past, the best shows on the old KMPC were Jim Lampley's morning show and of course the late great Jim Healy. Hacksaw's show is very good as long as he not looking for Charger fans from Lemon Grove and Chula Vista to show him their lightning bolts.

What they all have in common is they run solo. When it is just you and the mic and a listening audience of thousands, you have to come prepared with your A game. These guys came prepared with content and nearly all could carry a call with virtually no callers if they need to. Rome often does.

To carry the concept a step further, who is the best play-by-play guy? Vin Scully, of course. He has always run his own booth save for network appearances. Even at his advanced age he still calls the best game in baseball. Why? Because he talks to you. More accurately, it's almost as if he is talking with you. The fact that one can feel like they are having a real conversation with him when of course the conversation is only going one way is the mark of his genius. And the sad thing, he is and will be the last of his kind. Every other booth in baseball (and I believe the other major sports as well) are at least two-man booths, and very few of these announcers are anywhere near as good as the ones that came before them.

Going back to sports talk radio, as soon as you involve another person in the booth, it ceases to become a show and morphs into a bar conversation argument. If I want that, I'll actually go down to the local watering hole. At least there I can get a cold beer. Petros and Money are the best(worst) example. Each of them on their own are very interesting and knowledgeable. But together they are unlistenable as they try to outscream each other in their daily diatribe duel. But the rest are no good either. Hartman and whoever he is paired with this week - terrible. Mychael and Andrew - boring conversations every day. I don't care what Mychael's opinions are on the rest of life just because he used to be a Laker. The East cost guys are even worse. And the fact that Vic the Brick even has an on-air job represents all of the problems of sports talk radio personified.

The next worse thing is the concept of guy-talk has completely overridden the concept of sports talk. For those who miss KLSX, they're doing nearly the same thing all day over on KLAC. Once you take the lack of show prep for sports content and combine it with instructions from management to more like Leykis, it becomes a complete train-wreck. I am sure this is because studies have shown that this type of talk gets ratings and the old style doesn't. Plus I'm sure it appeals to the younger demo. They want the 25 year-old who doesn't know much about sports but does know what the current action flick or MTV show is all about to tune in. The 55-year old who wants to hear intelligent talk or sports play-by-play? Fuhgetaboutit. They have no interest in him as a listener. If you're not in the demo, you don't exist to these guys. So don't expect anything to change.

BTW, For those who dislike Petros, check him out on the Fox Sports PAC-10 game of the week. He is a very capable and insightful color guy and handles that assignment very professionally. That is why he has had the gig for a number of years now. Fortunately this "new" style of sports broadcasting for the most part has not morphed to TV sports yet. The key word of course, is yet. Just last week I read about a lame-brained idea by Fox Sports to put a music bed underneath the broadcast while the action is going on. For me that will be the last straw. I love football, but not so much that I am willing to be irritated by purposeful distractions during the game.

Amen.

And the disadvantages of the two-or-more approach apply in other formats as well.

 

[snelson]

The worst thing to happen to sports radio was the two (or more) host format. T

The best sports show hosts are invariably solo acts. Rome and Colin Cowherd are the best in the business right now. In the past, the best shows on the old KMPC were Jim Lampley's morning show and of course the late great Jim Healy. Hacksaw's show is very good as long as he not looking for Charger fans from Lemon Grove and Chula Vista to show him their lightning bolts.

What they all have in common is they run solo. When it is just you and the mic and a listening audience of thousands, you have to come prepared with your A game. These guys came prepared with content and nearly all could carry a call with virtually no callers if they need to. Rome often does.

To carry the concept a step further, who is the best play-by-play guy? Vin Scully, of course. He has always run his own booth save for network appearances. Even at his advanced age he still calls the best game in baseball. Why? Because he talks to you. More accurately, it's almost as if he is talking with you. The fact that one can feel like they are having a real conversation with him when of course the conversation is only going one way is the mark of his genius. And the sad thing, he is and will be the last of his kind. Every other booth in baseball (and I believe the other major sports as well) are at least two-man booths, and very few of these announcers are anywhere near as good as the ones that came before them.

Going back to sports talk radio, as soon as you involve another person in the booth, it ceases to become a show and morphs into a bar conversation argument. If I want that, I'll actually go down to the local watering hole. At least there I can get a cold beer. Petros and Money are the best(worst) example. Each of them on their own are very interesting and knowledgeable. But together they are unlistenable as they try to outscream each other in their daily diatribe duel. But the rest are no good either. Hartman and whoever he is paired with this week - terrible. Mychael and Andrew - boring conversations every day. I don't care what Mychael's opinions are on the rest of life just because he used to be a Laker. The East cost guys are even worse. And the fact that Vic the Brick even has an on-air job represents all of the problems of sports talk radio personified.

The next worse thing is the concept of guy-talk has completely overridden the concept of sports talk. For those who miss KLSX, they're doing nearly the same thing all day over on KLAC. Once you take the lack of show prep for sports content and combine it with instructions from management to more like Leykis, it becomes a complete train-wreck. I am sure this is because studies have shown that this type of talk gets ratings and the old style doesn't. Plus I'm sure it appeals to the younger demo. They want the 25 year-old who doesn't know much about sports but does know what the current action flick or MTV show is all about to tune in. The 55-year old who wants to hear intelligent talk or sports play-by-play? Fuhgetaboutit. They have no interest in him as a listener. If you're not in the demo, you don't exist to these guys. So don't expect anything to change.

BTW, For those who dislike Petros, check him out on the Fox Sports PAC-10 game of the week. He is a very capable and insightful color guy and handles that assignment very professionally. That is why he has had the gig for a number of years now. Fortunately this "new" style of sports broadcasting for the most part has not morphed to TV sports yet. The key word of course, is yet. Just last week I read about a lame-brained idea by Fox Sports to put a music bed underneath the broadcast while the action is going on. For me that will be the last straw. I love football, but not so much that I am willing to be irritated by purposeful distractions during the game.

Amen.

And the disadvantages of the two-or-more approach apply in other formats as well.

I agree with all of that except for the Petros part. He's a walking "morning zoo" act everywhere but his Pac 10 broadcasts. Petros contributes heavily daily to everything you are complaining about. He constantly boasts about NOT talking about sports on KLAC (not to mention his stunts on kroq & fred rogan's show). One day he'll be forced to pick between Pac 10-guy or the guy in a snoopy tee-shirt on nbc trying to kiss fred rogan after a pats game...

 

[e-dawg]

Sports radio will do well in LA if they have a major or 2 NFL Teams back in Los Angeles.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Sports radio will do well in LA if they have a major or 2 NFL Teams back in Los Angeles.

Don't think so. We've already had two NFL teams here at the same time in the past and that didn't help KMPC or XTRA. LA is not NY, Pittsburgh, or Philly and our lives do not revolve around our NFL Teams. Even most hard-core NFL fans in SoCal are not bothered in the least that we don't have a home team. If they can't be bothered to show up to the games, they won't be parked near their radios to hear about them either.

The in 1993 the NFL said LA couldn't live without a team and we would come back begging on our knees for a franchise. LA residents (taxpayers) collectively said "we'll see about that". I think we all now know who was right.

 

[Rusty Muck]

I agree with all of that except for the Petros part. He's a walking "morning zoo" act everywhere but his Pac 10 broadcasts. Petros contributes heavily daily to everything you are complaining about. He constantly boasts about NOT talking about sports on KLAC (not to mention his stunts on kroq & fred rogan's show). One day he'll be forced to pick between Pac 10-guy or the guy in a snoopy tee-shirt on nbc trying to kiss fred rogan after a pats game...

And that insipid goofiness is what shows up nationwide on SuperStation KLAC, otherwise known as Fox Sports Radio. "PMS" is one of the worst sports shows in the entire nation, with the "Loose Cannons" being a strong #2 (especially when Petros happily intrudes onto THAT show).

If Mr. Papadakis decided to take his career path seriously, the guy would have a promising future. Instead, he's a no-talent schlep that lucked into a network gig because Clear Channel did a round of budget cuts.

 

[BMedina]

L.A. sports-talk is at it's lowest point ever! KLAC is horrible and I agree Petros is a hack! KSPN under new PD Mike Thompson (same guy who fired Joe McDonnell outside a sandwich shop at 1150 in the late 90's) is running KSPN into the ground. Look at the lack of talent when you have people like Max Kellerman,Petros on the air. It's a disgrace! You have some cholo sounding guy doing Laker updates on KSPN. Miss the days of Jim Healy and McDonnell-Douglas.

 

[pjc1961]

From the News page here at radio-info.com:

THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 2011
New General Manager at L.A.'s "710 ESPN" radio is Scott McCarthy
McCarthy comes back to Disney, where he worked until 2004 as Executive VP of ABC Radio Networks (2001-2004) and where he helped launch Radio Disney as its first general manager. Scott McCarthy is the replacement for Chris Berry, who abruptly left in mid-September. McCarthy's post-Disney history includes being president of the Game Group of Ziff Davis (2004-2007) and managing partner of Alacon Ventures (2007-2010). At KSPN radio, he will "oversee all aspects of the station as well as its valued relationships with key partners including the Los Angeles Lakers, USC (the radio home of football and men's basketball) and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim", says ESPN.

 

[the_wanderer]

L.A. sports-talk is at it's lowest point ever! KLAC is horrible and I agree Petros is a hack!

Petros is just a loud mouth, he must be doing crack or something. No one talks like that in real life. He was on with Handle sub-ing for Rich (he sucks as well), he was calm, collected, spoke well. Handle must have laid down the law.

 

[BMedina]

Lately I've been noticing more and more on-air personalities especially in Sports using social media such as twitter. Last night the Laker reporter for KSPN Beto Duran who I think is terrible on the air tweeted " DuranLA: Lakers - Cavs hijo de su chingada madre" which is a very offensive term in Spanish. I hope management at KSPN take action because isn't the responsibility of any station employee to act in a professional manner whenever representing his or her station?

 

[BMedina]

Stephen A. Smith returning to ESPN and will be on 710 from 6-8pm from New York.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Hasn't he proven to be a ratings disaster in the past?

 

[mandella]

Not to be to critical, but how do guys like Beto Duran even get hired in a market this size? As for Petros, he's an overbearing, unfunny, joke. He's so annoying with Fred Rogan, that I turn it off right away. No kidding. He's a credible football analyst, but his schick just doesn't work otherwise. Plus he dresses like a big dork on tv. Does manybody actually like the guy?

 

[pjc1961]

Stephen A. Smith returning to ESPN and will be on 710 from 6-8pm from New York.

Original 1/26/11 article from N.Y. Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/b...e_to_new_deal_to_return_to_espn.html?r=sports

http://benmaller.com/2011/01/update-stephen-a-smith-returns-to-espn/#more-28791

www.BenMaller.com on Mon. 1/31/11 with a few more details: looks like it's set to start on Monday 2/7/11. Weeknights from 6-8pm PT (as mentioned above) to be simulcast on WEPN-AM-1050 N.Y. & KSPN-AM-710 L.A. and co-hosted with A. Martinez based in L.A.

A. Martinez currently hosts the 6-9pm PT slot on KSPN L.A.: http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/radio/show?showId=zone

Bill Daughtry (occasionally Jon Rothstein) currently hosts the 9pm-Midnight ET slot on WEPN N.Y.

 

[BMedina]

Not to be to critical, but how do guys like Beto Duran even get hired in a market this size? As for Petros, he's an overbearing, unfunny, joke. He's so annoying with Fred Rogan, that I turn it off right away. No kidding. He's a credible football analyst, but his schick just doesn't work otherwise. Plus he dresses like a big dork on tv. Does manybody actually like the guy?

Ill be critical, Beto Duran is horrible. The guy does not belong on the air in the 2nd Largest Media Market. I've read on other boards of people asking the same question. These PD's seem to think you put ANY latino on the air and that will draw hispanics to the station. He also goes on his twitter account which has more followers than the station account and curses in Spanish. Mike Thompson and Scott McCarthy need to make some serious changes at 710.

 

[pjc1961]

Further clarification from the news page of www.radio-info.com:
http://www.radio-info.com/news/stephen-a-smith-will-return-to-ny-la-radio-with-espn

Apparently it's two separate 2-hour shows specifically tailored to each market (no simulcast). 7-9pm ET for WEPN NY followed by 6-8pm PT for KSPN L.A.
The focus will be on NBA basketball. Stephen A. will also be a columnist on ESPN's NY & LA websites.

 

[GenXRadio]

The problem is that you don't have management who thinks that there are hardcore sports fans in L.A. for anything except Lakers & Dodgers.
You have to embrace all the teams in the local area but know how much time to dedicate to each one and you have to talk about.
You also need good local hosts who provide engaging content and who aren't just the same old boring sports talk type of guys.
The reason stations put national sports talk on during the middays and nightimes is because they figure only crazy diehards will listen then but they fail to understand that there are PLENTY of them out there and you just have to give them a reason to listen!
Sure you're going to have a certain amount of entertainment & "guy talk" on the morning show and that's because they want the diehards AND the casual sports fans to be listening at that time then the mid day host should be energetic,engaging, fun and truth be told an LA sports diehard, hit all the teams, dodgers, angels, Trojans, Bruins, Lakers, Clippers heck even every so often when there's a big enough story talk about the Kings but you MUST be just as much a diehard as your listeners because that is who listens at that time.
Afternoon drive should be a balance of die hard with a little, the smallest most minute bit of guy talk here and there and serve as a lead in to any PXP you may be having that night if it at all.
Bottom line is programmers have gotten lazy, ownership doesn't want to pay for talent because it's cheaper and easier to have national programming on save for a couple of time slots.
There HAS to be an owner & programmer who wants to TRULY have a powerhouse sports station in LA...right?

Sports talk in LA is alive if you want to talk about the Lakers or Dodgers, otherwise you get guy talk...........The injustice is that the main LA guys is no longer on the air.....Joe McDonnell is probably the only guy I miss listening to....Pair him with Doug Kirkioian and you had the best sports talk show in the day.....

 

[ki6bkj]

...And please, save it. I know they are "No. 1 in their demographic" just like every other station in town...

,,,And this is the best they can do? I have a novel idea. Instead of talking about headaches or celebrities or the 3rd string bench warmer for the Northwest Central Southeastern Middle State LaCrosse team, why don't they put SPORTS on their SPORTS station. WOW! What a concept...

Uncle Rob, Uncle Rob...haven't you heard? Sports radio isn't supposed to be about sports - it's "guy talk." Oh, at one time, a "sports" station was devoted to actual sports (mostly talk, sometimes play by play) but now that's not enough. It needs to be about celebrity and lifestyle and fashion and general testosterone related stuff because let's face it, if you're tuning in to a sports station today, you really don't want to hear about just sports, do you? Why that's just plain silly.

...and THAT'S why the noon-7pm block on KLAC (FSR) is the worst sports talk that's currently syndicated. And in my informal listing of worst sports hosts in the nation, Petros is #1 with Victor Jacobs at a strong #2.

Why don't sports stations specialize in sports anymore? Because 1) as you pointed out, the prime demo for this crap apparently listens enough to justify ad buys and after that, it's game over.

Bear in mind I'm from Cleveland, where the lone all-sports outlet here is run by rank amateurs and interns and features the same dreadful "guy talk," but mixed in with girlie bubble gum pop music as bumpers (Lady Gaga, Kei$ha... you get the picture) and talk about one of the "star" producers' $100+ designer jeans (that kid is best friends with the station's owner), mixed in with worn-out cliches and endless advertising embedded into show segments. Oh, and phony contrarian voices that are cheap, irritating
It's a station so bad, the PD can't stand the "talent," but has no power to do anything. And yet... there's no competition on the terrestrial side of the dial, so people tune in by default.

"You don't like our garbage? Well, people who write checks to us do, so go peddle your papers elsewhere, sonny." 2) geniuses like Don "how do I still have a job" Martin at KLAC/Fox decided that sports wasn't good enough and people like you, Uncle Rob, better wake up and smell the non-local, non-sports drek because that's what we're cookin' today. Makes you proud to be a radio listener, don't it?

That or you it drives you to listen to KTLK or KFI, which benefits CC anyway.

Where is Lee Klein when we need him!!?

 

[radio1015a]

And why does Don Martin foist the likes of Petros and Vic on L.A. listeners? - witness his logic in a recent O.C. Register interview...

Don Martin, vice president and general manager for Fox Sports Radio and KLAC/570 AM, said, "A good personality will generate complaint calls to your office, fans will call for him to be fired, he/she will make you nervous or uncomfortable from time to time, and you will have to protect them. He/she also will increase your station's ratings and revenue."

To quote Jon Lovitz..."Genius!"