This year, the Sabres were expected to win the Stanley Cup and WGR was riding the wave. With the Sabres eliminated Saturday by the Ottawa Senators, the season is over and so it appears, the momentum the games brought to WGR. There's likely is some lost revenue as well. How many weeks remain in the ongoing Spring book?
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WGR Can't Be Happy
- Thread starter SpareChange
- Start date
SpareChange said:This year, the Sabres were expected to win the Stanley Cup and WGR was riding the wave. With the Sabres eliminated Saturday by the Ottawa Senators, the season is over and so it appears, the momentum the games brought to WGR. There's likely is some lost revenue as well. How many weeks remain in the ongoing Spring book?
Approx. 1 month left in Spring book.
For WGR, it's been a nice 2-season ride. Unfortunately, fans are coming out of this season with a lot less enthusiasm than last. No matter how well the team does next year (or not), I don't see 'GR having such a significant impact on ratings for Q1-Q2 in '08. Fans have certainly now learned that no matter how well the Sabres do in the regular season, it is no indication of any post-season success or satisfaction.
This will likely leave many fans unwilling to make as early an emotional investment in the team as they did this past year.
Long, Not-So-Hot Summer
One other factor that may depress WGR's ratings is that the games were on TV, and the radio sound didn't sync with the TV video in many areas. This may hurt WGR's cume numbers (total listeners), but won't affect their shares (how much of the listening audience tuned WGR). The Sabres will still give them a huge bonus for the Spring book.
WGR faces the prospect of trying to maintain a listening audience without the Sabres. They even passed on Yankee baseball, which means that they'll rely on their normal line-up of "talent". Expect them to be back to a 2-share by August.
One other factor that may depress WGR's ratings is that the games were on TV, and the radio sound didn't sync with the TV video in many areas. This may hurt WGR's cume numbers (total listeners), but won't affect their shares (how much of the listening audience tuned WGR). The Sabres will still give them a huge bonus for the Spring book.
WGR faces the prospect of trying to maintain a listening audience without the Sabres. They even passed on Yankee baseball, which means that they'll rely on their normal line-up of "talent". Expect them to be back to a 2-share by August.
Considering how poorly the Yankees have played lately, maybe WGR made the right decision to pass on the Bronx Bombers. WGR will have a strong Spring, perhaps not as strong as last year, but two months of Sabres certainly won't hurt them. Now their talk show hosts will have to spend the next month digging up theories as to why the Sabres lost. Theories don't draw as many listeners as the actual games. Could it be as simple as the Sabres lost to a better team?
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Yikr
Guest
I'm very much proud of the Sabres, and I honestly think they gave it their best.
It took overtime to lose to Ottawa, and they'll be back Next year to shake things up again.
The true ruination is in the Toronto market.
WGR should be thankful they're not in AM 64O's shoes.
Those Leafs are an engraved mischance, unfortunantly.
It took overtime to lose to Ottawa, and they'll be back Next year to shake things up again.
The true ruination is in the Toronto market.
WGR should be thankful they're not in AM 64O's shoes.
Those Leafs are an engraved mischance, unfortunantly.
June and July are always a difficult time of the year for WGR. The Sabres season is over and Bills training camp doesn't begin until late July. So, their hosts have to work harder at attracting and maintaining an audience. Still, I would think the Sabres going to the Eastern Conference Finals will provide a sufficient boost to make the Spring book a good one for the station. I don't think the decision to drop the Yankees will affect WGR one way or the other. The games are played at night and weekends. WGR's success rests largely on the performance of its 6am to 7pm lineup.
Re: Long, Not-So-Hot Summer
You could be right. I'm guessing from where they are now I'd say the free-fall stops around a 3.1-3.5 share.
SirRoxalot said:Expect them to be back to a 2-share by August.
You could be right. I'm guessing from where they are now I'd say the free-fall stops around a 3.1-3.5 share.
Since all their eggs were in one big Sabres basket, WGR came up short as a result of the Sabres stunted playoff run. Additionally, Shredd & Ragan and The Edge are killing two birds with one stone. Doing their "Daily Show" type of news-sports-talk afternoon drive show, S&R are beating WGR and WBEN. S&R aren't without their own shortcomings, but they make "Sandy Beach" and his approach to talk radio sound old. (Imagine, a serious talk show host with the name "Sandy Beach." Why not "Rocky Brooks?") Yes, Beach gets the 50+ males, and bluehair women, but S&R get the 25-54's. Same thing with Schopp and Bulldog on WGR; S&R talk sports in a different vein, using the "they can't be serious" approach to sports. Of course, this approach tends to soften when Bills season rolls around and S&R become a bit more "tactful." Can't sneeze into the company punchbowl, if you know what I mean. Still, S&R are taking WGR & WBEN to task.
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Bob1370
Guest
Can't say whether or not the Edge or other stations will pull away audience GR would have had with a deeper Sabres run into the playoffs. Apples and oranges, really. But GR's playoff audience will probably disperse, some to other stations all over the dial, but in large measure away from radio completely as people simply find other things to do with their time. Having said that, however, GR probably could have done something to give them a fighting chance to maintain somewhat more audience through the summer months before hockey season starts again. As it is now, it'll be a rough summer for WGR, partly for reasons beyond their control but partly of their own making.
The Yankees are heading into a temporary down cycle before their next quality pitching staff emerges (it'll probably come with the maturation of Phil Hughes and Tyler Clippard a year or two down the road). That is probably why 'GR didn't re-up, although it may not have been a wise move. The Blue Jays are the closest major league club but have no cross-border fan base to speak of, largely because they've never tried to build one and AFAIK haven't signed any US affiliates on their network. But if the GR brain trust was down on the Yankees and had no interest in the Jays, why not hook up with CBS and WFAN, and join the Mets network for selected games? That's a team that DOES have a fan base statewide, DOES have legitimate hopes for a World Series this year, and is seen regularly on cable all over the upstate region so its players are almost as familiar to listeners as the current Yankees. Or why not follow the ex-Bisons down the road and air select Cleveland Indians games on otherwise down nights? That's another contending team in a strong division (some say the strongest division in baseball) this year. So GR missed some chances to do some audience maintenance at low cost.
There are a couple of other reasons why GR may have seen its best rating days for a while. One, is that no one can be sure how good the Sabres' roster will look going into next year. Sure, they usually spend close to the cap maximum, but will they in 2007-08? And even if they do, will the expected 6 to 7 percent increase in the cap be enough to allow them to resign both their captains and all their key people? Or will the team be going into the coming season looking, at least initially, a lot weaker than they did last fall? That'll affect both ticket sales and early season ratings this fall, and won't change until/unless they go into December atop their division.
The second, is how strong the Bills will be and how much buzz they'll generate. The station actually carrying the games isn't formatically geared to take maximum advantage of any buzz that happens. But GR won't either, unless the team looks good enough in training camp and preseason games to get people thinking playoffs again for the first time since 1999. We won't have a sense of that until the eve of the regular season, and maybe not even until the end of September and the start of the fall book. So however good the Bills might look down the road, it won't help WGR much until at least week 4 or 5 of the regular season.
The Yankees are heading into a temporary down cycle before their next quality pitching staff emerges (it'll probably come with the maturation of Phil Hughes and Tyler Clippard a year or two down the road). That is probably why 'GR didn't re-up, although it may not have been a wise move. The Blue Jays are the closest major league club but have no cross-border fan base to speak of, largely because they've never tried to build one and AFAIK haven't signed any US affiliates on their network. But if the GR brain trust was down on the Yankees and had no interest in the Jays, why not hook up with CBS and WFAN, and join the Mets network for selected games? That's a team that DOES have a fan base statewide, DOES have legitimate hopes for a World Series this year, and is seen regularly on cable all over the upstate region so its players are almost as familiar to listeners as the current Yankees. Or why not follow the ex-Bisons down the road and air select Cleveland Indians games on otherwise down nights? That's another contending team in a strong division (some say the strongest division in baseball) this year. So GR missed some chances to do some audience maintenance at low cost.
There are a couple of other reasons why GR may have seen its best rating days for a while. One, is that no one can be sure how good the Sabres' roster will look going into next year. Sure, they usually spend close to the cap maximum, but will they in 2007-08? And even if they do, will the expected 6 to 7 percent increase in the cap be enough to allow them to resign both their captains and all their key people? Or will the team be going into the coming season looking, at least initially, a lot weaker than they did last fall? That'll affect both ticket sales and early season ratings this fall, and won't change until/unless they go into December atop their division.
The second, is how strong the Bills will be and how much buzz they'll generate. The station actually carrying the games isn't formatically geared to take maximum advantage of any buzz that happens. But GR won't either, unless the team looks good enough in training camp and preseason games to get people thinking playoffs again for the first time since 1999. We won't have a sense of that until the eve of the regular season, and maybe not even until the end of September and the start of the fall book. So however good the Bills might look down the road, it won't help WGR much until at least week 4 or 5 of the regular season.
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gomper
Guest
Interesting post Bob. I doubt that GR management would have the foresight to do anything like that though.
I think the biggest reason for the coming ratings slide besides the Sabres is the fact the the quality of the station is downright horrible. I can't count how many people have tuned into GR for playoff coverage only to hear them comment on how bad GR is. Let's face it: GR had an amazing opportunity to have a huge number of people sample their product and instead of elevating its content with some compelling sports talk and winning new listeners, it was more of the same banal idiocy. From morning to night that "sophomoric" feel exudes from the station.
Since many have sampled GR, I think the time may be right for another sports talk station (w/ a Bills rights connection) to surface this summer and have a real shot at grabbing some listeners out of the gate. Just a thought.
I think the biggest reason for the coming ratings slide besides the Sabres is the fact the the quality of the station is downright horrible. I can't count how many people have tuned into GR for playoff coverage only to hear them comment on how bad GR is. Let's face it: GR had an amazing opportunity to have a huge number of people sample their product and instead of elevating its content with some compelling sports talk and winning new listeners, it was more of the same banal idiocy. From morning to night that "sophomoric" feel exudes from the station.
Since many have sampled GR, I think the time may be right for another sports talk station (w/ a Bills rights connection) to surface this summer and have a real shot at grabbing some listeners out of the gate. Just a thought.
Let's face it: GR had an amazing opportunity to have a huge number of people sample their product and instead of elevating its content with some compelling sports talk and winning new listeners, it was more of the same banal idiocy. From morning to night that "sophomoric" feel exudes from the station.
WGR is what it is. The station doesn't do "sports talk for intelligent fans" because that brand of sports talk doesn't generate ratings. Far be it for me to defend WGR as a sports station, but the reality is, sports talk is guy talk, and most guys who talk sports aren't in Frank DeFord's league, nor are they part of the superb "Only A Game" discourse usually found on NPR.
Since many have sampled GR, I think the time may be right for another sports talk station (w/ a Bills rights connection) to surface this summer and have a real shot at grabbing some listeners out of the gate. Just a thought.
Word is Citadel and the Bills agreed to extend their radio agreement for a few more years, so the likelihood of this scenario happening is slim to none. Sports talk is expensive and labor intensive. There's not a competing cluster in the market that wants to invest in live, local sports talk at this juncture. So it's WGR or nothing.
Pick your poison.
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gomper
Guest
I respectfully disagree 9. Citadel wanted to keep NSA sports when Entercom won the bidding. I think if a company can find a way to keep the overhead to a managable figure, then I think a new station could cut into GR. If Citadel gives it a whirl then having the Bills could level the playing field somewhat.
Nothing surprises me at this point.
Nothing surprises me at this point.
Citadel Sports?
Well, I can't see Citadel pulling the plug on 97-Rock, WHTT, or The Edge to run sports talk. That leaves them with WHLD and WBBF. Since WBBF is a daytimer, and WHLD might as well be east of Buffalo, I don't see Citadel putting much money into an attempt to unseat the meager audience that WGR gets when the Sabres aren't playing.
I do agree that the current crop of "talent" on WGR leaves rational people wanting something better. Maybe if they let Howard Simon, Bulldog, and Mensa Mike all work solo, and got rid of Jeremy White & Brad Riter...
Well, I can't see Citadel pulling the plug on 97-Rock, WHTT, or The Edge to run sports talk. That leaves them with WHLD and WBBF. Since WBBF is a daytimer, and WHLD might as well be east of Buffalo, I don't see Citadel putting much money into an attempt to unseat the meager audience that WGR gets when the Sabres aren't playing.
I do agree that the current crop of "talent" on WGR leaves rational people wanting something better. Maybe if they let Howard Simon, Bulldog, and Mensa Mike all work solo, and got rid of Jeremy White & Brad Riter...
gomper said:...Citadel wanted to keep NSA sports when Entercom won the bidding...
With all due respect, the "no changes" line was a ruse, exactly what potential buyers tell every staff. It was a smokescreen. Sales reps at Citadel, which owns the "Cat Country" brand, said the format would have been aimed directly at WYRK, to skim a few shares away from the market leading country station and allow 97 Rock to move up a place or two in rank. Addition by subtraction.
Of course, this little discussion of ours is moot because Entercom outbid (overbid?) Citadel for 107.7 and the rest is history. The bidding war between the two companies had undercurrents. Some say Farid bid up the price, knowing David Field desperately wanted the station. These boys and their egos, they just love to play high stakes poker and mine's bigger than yours.
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Bob1370
Guest
One other small point...people who speculate that a second sports station, with or without play by play of one of the major franchises, would be viable in Western NY forget a couple things. First, when the region did have two such stations, each of them struggled to get very far north of a 2 share. That's not enough to be economically viable in a market the size of Buffalo or Rochester. 'GR nowadays tracks in the high 4s to low 5s, which is where it needs to be to make money, and that truly represents the size audience any heavily staffed commercial station needs these days.
Second, there's no market in all of North America, not even New York City. Chicago, or Toronto, that has more than one really healthy sports station plus maybe one or two marginal players. It's a niche format. Adminittedly it's a desirable niche (25-54 men)--but the 25-54 male audience gets fragmented enough between sports, issue talk, straight news, rock, urban and country that no more than one dominant station in each of those format segments is going to make a whole lot of money from the 25-54 men in its ranks.
Second, there's no market in all of North America, not even New York City. Chicago, or Toronto, that has more than one really healthy sports station plus maybe one or two marginal players. It's a niche format. Adminittedly it's a desirable niche (25-54 men)--but the 25-54 male audience gets fragmented enough between sports, issue talk, straight news, rock, urban and country that no more than one dominant station in each of those format segments is going to make a whole lot of money from the 25-54 men in its ranks.
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JFH
Guest
Even Howard Simon has lowered himself from what was a quality broadcast on WNSA to a unlistenable show with his sophomoric sidekick. If you listen to his show you will note that within the first few minutes he manages to bring his son into the mix - he must get points @ home for mentionng the kids name. After the first five minutes or so I do the XM where ESPN + FOX Sports have their shows. The only one on GR that I like to listen to is Jerry Sullivan.
Dropping the Yankees, even in a down year was a mistake. I go to XM for them - trying to listen to GR is probably the best advertisement to get XM which has a full complement of sport shows.
Dropping the Yankees, even in a down year was a mistake. I go to XM for them - trying to listen to GR is probably the best advertisement to get XM which has a full complement of sport shows.
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