pman44 said:
Tiger Woods was kind of big news Friday.
Linelli isn't on The Fan.
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- Thread starter pghfmradiosucks
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Tiger Woods was kind of big news Friday.
Linelli isn't on The Fan.
My two cents. The morning show stinks, but better than Mike and Mike. Can't beat Stan & Guy unless you are 7 miles out of town. Cullen Cowherd, drop him to give Stan and Guy another hour. Like Cookie and his partner. Starkey and Seibel, pretty damn good.
I say the fan will be around for awhile.
I say the fan will be around for awhile.
You're right, I do have his name wrong, I'm referring to the 6pm host. And, yes, Tiger Woods was big news but that was all they wanted to to talk about and there were other, more local stories that got short shrift . But essentialy all callers were forced to talk about Tiger Woods.Boss Radio said:
Ah, I must have dreamed the discussion of Pitt basketball that I heard between 2 and 6 p.m.
pman44 said:
It's the talk equivalent of playing the hits... if you turned on a sports station yesterday, what would expect them to be talking about, and what would you think if they weren't talking about it? (I've heard it said that this is the biggest problem KD-AM's talk hosts have, that they are frequently not on "Topic A" for the day...).
That's because the hosts were skillful enough to weave in other topics. I loved Starkey's bit apologizing a la Tiger for jumping all over the listener who suggested Pitt play zone. The 6 pm guy was not.Boss Radio said:
Contrast that with the 6pm guy who received a crank call from someone who talked liked Andy Sipowicz, claimed to be "african american" and wanted to know why black athletes like Tiger were unfairly scrutinized compared to white politicians like Bill Clinton. And he took it seriously, discussing the matter for 10-15 minutes. Yikes!
To my mind, "Topic A" is whatever the callers want to talk about. The Tiger Woods horse was beaten to death about 30 minutes after he finished his "press conference". There was lots and lots of hockey to talk about, Pitt Basketball, steeler coaching moves, even the great interview with Ton Sanchez of the Pirates.
I have been impressed with the Seibel and Starkey show. A nice blend of a professional, no nonsense national voice with a professional, no nonsense local voice. How did "The Fan" land John Seibel? I understand that money is the answer to everything, but what prompted him to leave a national gig with ESPN to come to Pittsburgh? Had ESPN fired him? Was he relegated to part time work? Does he have any Pittsburgh connections which would have brought him here? Was it simply a matter of "The Fan" offering him more money or is there more to it than that?
pman44 said:
A show that does that will die a not-so-slow and painful death. Hosts have to define the show.
Tiger was not just the biggest sports story of the day, he may have been the biggest news story.
Who's the most successful talk host in America? Rush Limbaugh, maybe? Does he let the caller define the topics? (and by the way, what did Rush lead his show with yesterday? TIGER WOODS)
Let's use a long-running sports show that takes callers as another example... does Jim Rome let the callers define the topics? Rome puts it really well, that the hosts who say "calls calls calls, no one takes more calls than me" are the guys who don't prepare. Callers generally stink. It's the good hosts who take the calls and turn them into an entertaining show, and that means defining and controlling the topics.
pghfmradiosucks said:
His national show was displaced a while back when Doug Gottlieb was moved into the 4PM slot. I'm not sure he was even still working at ESPN.
He has also mentioned that at the very least he's got friends here, and I think I heard him mention some connection to his wife's family.
pman44 said:
The Tiger topic was beaten to death?
So are "Do you think the Pens will make a trade?" "What do you think the Steelers will do with their free agents?" and "I wish someone else owned the Pirates."
Tiger's story was a welcome one-day respite from those.
Frankly, I turned the dial when the Tiger subject came up. Who cares how many broads he banged? The only person he should talk to is his wife. I'm just amazed it took so long for the story to hit the press. That guy should teach a class on time management, imagine, being the best golfer in the world and running around like he did. My hero.
And did you notice the silence from most of his golfing brethren? They do they same thing, only more discreet.
And did you notice the silence from most of his golfing brethren? They do they same thing, only more discreet.
COPANUT said:
Derek Thomas, Wade Boggs, Evander Holyfield, Travis Henry, Dan Quinn/Mario Lemieux, Santonio Holmes....the only reason this is news with Tiger is that none of the above group tried to sell razors, or copiers or buicks. But since there was no "news" in this news conference that directly relates to sports (ie, when is he coming back?), this story was over-killed and forced down out throats on the Fan.
One of the reasons we can have 3 1/2 (I'm counting the X as the 1/2) sports stations in the market is the fact that there are a lot of people here who would rather talk about the Pens' second power play unit than whatever the big story of the day is.
That difference will determine which ones do better in the long run, especially in the battle between the highly local Fan and the more national ESPN. I've lived a lot of places and traveled a lot, so I lean towards national shows personally (I listen to ESPN on Sirius a good portion of the day). But I realize I might be in the minority here.
However, the Fan will also get an advantage from being on FM, so the local-vs-national issue will not be the only factor in who wins. In fact, in most markets, the FM advantage is almost impossible to overcome.
That difference will determine which ones do better in the long run, especially in the battle between the highly local Fan and the more national ESPN. I've lived a lot of places and traveled a lot, so I lean towards national shows personally (I listen to ESPN on Sirius a good portion of the day). But I realize I might be in the minority here.
However, the Fan will also get an advantage from being on FM, so the local-vs-national issue will not be the only factor in who wins. In fact, in most markets, the FM advantage is almost impossible to overcome.
Are sports talk shows in the "news" business? Sure, as much as any other talk show is in the news business versus the entertainment business. Anyone looking to get news from a talk show is going to be disappointed, they are going to get opinion from the host du jour.
The questions regarding a whether a topic should be covered are basically are they timely and are they relevant. I would argue that the most recognizable athlete on the planet calling a press conference is relevant and given it happened on Friday is also timely. Even news networks opted to cover the story, so it isn't as if The Fan was alone in its coverage and subsequent chatter about what took place. Outfits from Fox News to Charlie Rose either covered and/or discussed the Tiger Woods press conference. And it isn't that The Fan has been ignoring other sports, they spent the better part of Thursday discussing whether or not the Pens should try to resign Jagr after his KHL contract expires and there has been plenty of Pirates talk the last week as well.
Do I personally care who Tiger Woods gets his freak on with and when? No, but I didn't call the press conference, Woods did. Had something of as much note happened in the other sports in town I would say they would have deserved equal coverage, but nothing did. Hockey is on hiatus, save for the Olympic variety where the USA and Canadian teams wouldn't be playing for two more days, nothing of note happened with the Steelers, Pitt basketball is also off until Sunday and how many stories beyond the "Can the Pirates get to .500 this year?" can be made out of pitchers and catchers reporting.
What I got out of the first week of broadcasting on The Fan? Most of the pairings work okay together some better than others (though they all seem to have some potential) but nothing downright awful. Kalena Bell has to go, her updates are downright abysmal. If I hear her say "(Insert player name) makes a goal" one more time I think I will scream. The Sunday morning guy, whose name escapes me right now, was probably the worst I heard. Coming on the air saying that he doesn't watch hockey, doesn't like fantasy sports, thinks John Elway was the best quarterback of all time, doesn't know much about Pittsburgh sports, was just a recipe for disaster for a first show. Maybe it will improve but right now that looks like the programming weakest link (next to Bell's updates).
The questions regarding a whether a topic should be covered are basically are they timely and are they relevant. I would argue that the most recognizable athlete on the planet calling a press conference is relevant and given it happened on Friday is also timely. Even news networks opted to cover the story, so it isn't as if The Fan was alone in its coverage and subsequent chatter about what took place. Outfits from Fox News to Charlie Rose either covered and/or discussed the Tiger Woods press conference. And it isn't that The Fan has been ignoring other sports, they spent the better part of Thursday discussing whether or not the Pens should try to resign Jagr after his KHL contract expires and there has been plenty of Pirates talk the last week as well.
Do I personally care who Tiger Woods gets his freak on with and when? No, but I didn't call the press conference, Woods did. Had something of as much note happened in the other sports in town I would say they would have deserved equal coverage, but nothing did. Hockey is on hiatus, save for the Olympic variety where the USA and Canadian teams wouldn't be playing for two more days, nothing of note happened with the Steelers, Pitt basketball is also off until Sunday and how many stories beyond the "Can the Pirates get to .500 this year?" can be made out of pitchers and catchers reporting.
What I got out of the first week of broadcasting on The Fan? Most of the pairings work okay together some better than others (though they all seem to have some potential) but nothing downright awful. Kalena Bell has to go, her updates are downright abysmal. If I hear her say "(Insert player name) makes a goal" one more time I think I will scream. The Sunday morning guy, whose name escapes me right now, was probably the worst I heard. Coming on the air saying that he doesn't watch hockey, doesn't like fantasy sports, thinks John Elway was the best quarterback of all time, doesn't know much about Pittsburgh sports, was just a recipe for disaster for a first show. Maybe it will improve but right now that looks like the programming weakest link (next to Bell's updates).
I thought ABC from 6-10am weekdays was OK; I could do with more Burton and less Alexander. At least this week, JColony has the 10am-2pm Sunday slot. I wonder if those shifts will rotate from week to week, or what.
Seibel and Starkey were probably the best, this first week. I could get to like Vinnie; Pittsburgh needs a recognizable voice (albeit with a NY accent) now that Myron's gone.
Haven't listened much in the evenings, so I won't comment past 6pm.
Seibel and Starkey were probably the best, this first week. I could get to like Vinnie; Pittsburgh needs a recognizable voice (albeit with a NY accent) now that Myron's gone.
Haven't listened much in the evenings, so I won't comment past 6pm.
With all due respect dB, Vinnie is not nor will he ever be close to being in the same league as Myron. Yes Vinnie has and Myron had a distinctive voice. This is the only thing Vinnie has in common with Myron.
fromtheinsideout said:
Glad to know someone agrees with me...
The other thing you need to remember as far as callers driving a station is that only 10% of the listeners ever call the station. They rarely reflect what the majority of the listeners are thinking. If you cater exclusively to what that 10% wants ventually they will be your only listeners.
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