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Thoughts on 92.3 the Fan

ClevelandRadioFan

ClevelandRadioFan

It's been nearly four months since they've been on the air.

I've been pretty disappointed with the station in that it is too Browns-heavy, if you will. I'm not sure how many more bedates about Colt McCoy's future I can take. Do fans really eat this stuff up like that? I mean the Browns take up a good 98% of airtime.

Baskin and Phelps is a very weak show. Super dry. One would think that Joe Lull would get a chance at some point in that slot, right?

Can a station survive in Cleveland if they are instantly dismissive of the Tribe? The topic of baseball rarely comes up, but when it does, it is generally as a joke.

Bull and the Fox for five hours, yikes. Three hours, great. Ken Carman loves to hear himself talk...

But 92.3 by far gets the best interviews. That's why I keep listening for the most part.

So, thoughts? Is this a really disappointing start? Is it better than you expected? Is Baskin and Phelps a long term show?

And, do people really find Chuck Booms funny?

And is WKNR in trouble, or will they win out once the newness of 92.3 wears off?

Cheers!
 
Agreed with a lot of what the person who started this topic said. And, I'm sorry to have to say so, as I'd assumed CBS would come roaring into Cleveland and kick butt.

I too go to 923 several times a day, but literally the instant I hear the word "Browns" or the coach or GM or a player's name...I'm gone. Unfortunately, football seems to be 90% of the discussion.

If this team was even just in the playoffs, or regardless of their record...if it were September or October, OK...I get it: this is a football town/area.

But, we have THREE major league sports in Cleveland...not 1.

Also, I don't buy that 923 (and WKNR) has to talk that much about football because "that's what the callers want". Everything I've ever heard about listeners calling radio stations is: the overwhelming majority of the population (over 90%) NEVER call into a station.

So, by following only the fringe, ultra-active call-in geeks, you're letting a few hundred people determine what tens of thousands, potentially hundreds of thousands of listeners hear.

Weren't there 15,000 or so at a recent Cavs home game? The Tribe even in recent seasons draws over a million people a year...and about 14,000-18,000 per game. The ratings of the stations who carry the Tribe & Cavs reach minimum 50,000 weekly cumeduring those games(WTAM). So, there has to be SOME people who want to hear at least some Tribe & Cavs talk mixed in, doesn't there?

Hey, the folks at 923TheFan & WKNR are only doing what they believe their audience wants to hear. I believe their intentions are good. But, this 90%+ Browns content, and kinda ho-hum level of energy is a killer for sports fans. Love it or hate it, radio is show biz...at least from an enthusiasm point of view.

Oh, and to the on-air folks who read these posts and talk about them on their shows, ridiculing the posters.....you'd be surprised how many people read & comment here who have decades and decades of broadcast experience. Everybody's not a radio hobbyist or geek.
 
They have got to start seriously marketing 92.3. Bus boards, ads in the sports section of the PD....something.

Radio geeks and some folks know about them, but how about the average Joe Lunchbucket in the bar. You really think he's scanning his FM dial looking for new stations, much less a sports station on FM?
 
During Browns season it will be 95%-100% Browns intensive. That is just the way it is. As I told Tim before check out a sports talk station during Browns season talking Indians or Cavs and the phone lines will be all empty. Mention something about the Browns and they are full immediately. When it gets closer to Spring training there will be plenty of Indians discussion. Yes callers determine what hosts talk about because callers make the show go. The other 80% that don't call in do not get to determine what hosts talk about cause they don't interact with hosts. Want them to talk more Indians or Cavs? Call up and discuss it with the hosts.
 
WHAT?!?!?!

They talked about the Browns during football season when the CAVS were locked out, and the Indians were done?

Change the format now. It's over.


:)
 
John Baylor said:
WHAT?!?!?!

They talked about the Browns during football season when the CAVS were locked out, and the Indians were done?

Change the format now. It's over.


:)
Click to expand...

Yeah, really.

Seriously though, from September-mid December, all that was going on in these parts major sports-wise was Browns and Buckeyes. And this is football country.

Yes, there's the Monsters, the MAC, and high school football...but come on...how long would you listen to minor leauge hockey, mid level college football, or high school football talk? Especially when the Browns and OSU are going full blast?

For about the next 6 weeks or so, the Cavs, the Buckeyes hoopsters, CSU, the Monsters, and the MAC roundballers will have the stage to themselves.

Then about the first of March (thereabouts) the Tribe will get rolling for Spring training.
 
John Baylor said:
WHAT?!?!?!

They talked about the Browns during football season when the CAVS were locked out, and the Indians were done?

Change the format now. It's over.


:)
Click to expand...

Amazing isn't it? Some people will never understand that. "Its all about me" you know. If 100 people want to talk Browns then 92.3 should discuss Lake Erie Monsters like I want them too! ;D
 
But the station started during baseball season.

And the Browns have been done for a little while now. Yet 90% of the time is spent on the Browns and the draft.

Hopefully the FAN will ad someone to the roster that is able to talk about baseball and basketball -- no one on the current roster can talk basketball except for Phelps, and he works for the damn team!

Les Levine and Dennis Maniloff have always been good with baseball and basketball.

I don't know...
 
All the hosts can talk baseball and basketball. Just relax once the playoffs are over the baseball and basketball talk will dominate. Some of you in here are like little kids in elementary school wanting their lunch 2 hours before its lunch time ;D
 
ClevelandRadioFan said:
But the station started during baseball season.
Click to expand...

It started on August 28, when the Indians were falling apart, Browns training camp was wrapping up, and the Buckeyes were a couple of days from starting.

Here is a fact that you just have to deal with...when the Indians aren't in contention, Cleveland is football, football, and nothing but football from Labor Day until New Year's, and past if the Buckeyes are in a major bowl game or (Lord willing) the Browns make the playoffs.
 
I think the arrival of the Fan will be a good thing long term for the listeners of both stations. So, far, I am with the majority that Baskin Phelphs is a boring show. It is, no question about that.

The more I listen to talk radio, them more I could care less about phone calls. i rather hear more interview with the players/coaches and journalists who cover these games.

I get more from an interview with a TV analyst (Herbstriet), beat reporter (Brian Windhorst) or an insider.
 
HHH said:
They have got to start seriously marketing 92.3. Bus boards, ads in the sports section of the PD....something.

Radio geeks and some folks know about them, but how about the average Joe Lunchbucket in the bar. You really think he's scanning his FM dial looking for new stations, much less a sports station on FM?
Click to expand...

That is my major issue with 92.3.

Yeah, I get that WNCX, Q104 and (until last week) WDOK don't need much marketing... they can sell themselves by pure legacy and literally owning the specific formats in town. I honestly can't remember the last time I've seen a major marketing push by either station ever since CBS took them over.

The Fan is a whole different animal. It's a start-up format on a marginal signal with no real prior call letter heritage (the WKRK calls were parked from Detroit and have no real value in this town; plus, they sound awfully too much like WKNR to really be used in the first place), no local team play-by-play as of now (presuming CBS wants to still bid for the Indians, Browns and tOSU), and because CBS doesn't own the market's CBS or CW affiliate, there's no real internal synergy (that's the major difference between 92.3 and their "Fan" in Pittsburgh; KDKA/93.7 at least has KDKA/1020, KDKA/2 and WPCW/19 to cross-promote and collaborate with... 92.3 doesn't have that). Andy Baskin rarely (if EVER) mentions the fact that he's on The Fan while on TV-5, while Chuck Booms does when he shows up on Action 19.

But the other major issue with 92.3's overall performance is: the lack of willingness to even mention the competition, WTAM and WKNR. We could split hairs as to whether rivalries are even needed (I personally don't care for Rover-style antics) but they normally have not even seemed to bother talking about the competition in overall imaging and promos, or even on show content.

I don't think The Fan's slow start should surprise anyone. But CBS could have helped the station's cause by letting people know it exists.
 
Just to point out for Tim who had to have his baseball and basketball fix that Adam the Bull and Dustin Fox discussed both today for quite a long period of time. Lets hope that Tim is satisfied :D
 
Cleveland Radio Insider...I'm getting in the habit of checking into 923TheFan and WKNR much less than I ever have because of Browns' fatigue.

The domination of Browns talk on local sportstalk radio seems to me to be worse than ever, for some insane reason. Might be different if the Browns were an even average NFL organization. This team is 5 years from being respectable and in marginal playoff contention.

All or nearly all-Browns talk to me is incredibly: boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, borning.
 
Certainly the off-season Browns talk is quite deliberate. The Fan is even running promos about it now, something like "we talk about the Browns more in the off season than the Browns flagship stations do!" or the like.

Like others, I get it...this is a Browns town. But maybe it seems like overkill when you're live and local 6 AM to midnight, and there may only be so many ways to discuss if the Browns should pick "RG3" in April...months from now. ;)

They'll ramp up on the Indians stuff as Spring Training gets going. They are now in a ticket package giveaway with the Tribe, and they will certainly make an effort to get the contract.

And there has been some more Cavs talk...most notably about Kyrie Irving and his future potential (and that's frankly hard to avoid with your midday co-host traveling with the team for his other job).
 
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