WGR's Ratings Juggernaut Continues

[SirRoxalot]

GR-55 should be sending a fruit basket to the Sabres for extending their ratings run. I wonder if they're petitioning Versus to carry more games so people will be forced to listen to 'GR in order to hear Rick Jeanneret and Jim Lorentz?

I wonder if other cities experience the same dramatic drop-off in quality when the broadcast shifts from the play-by-play to the post-game show?

 

[Radknowski]

WGR is sending the $abres a lot more than fruit baskets and getting a helluva return on the investment.

Think about this: For every game the Sabres play (and win) and the deeper the team goes into the playoffs, the more Time Spent Listening they receive. In many cases, that TSL comes at the expense of other male oriented stations and when a city goes Cup Crazy, even the female based stations get dinged on TSL.

WGR went through the roof last Spring. The increase occured primarily in Men, but even the WGR's Women ratings were better, although not as strong as WJYE or WTSS. When those Men are combined with Women, the Persons go through the roof.

It's very likely PD's, GM's and SM's at competing stations grit their teeth every time the Sabres win, knowing full well it's costing them shares of listeners and advertising dollars. Sure, they want the Sabres to win the Cup... but not at the expense of their ratings and potentially, their jobs.

Catch 22.

 

[Steven21]

It's very likely PD's, GM's and SM's at competing stations grit their teeth every time the Sabres win, knowing full well it's costing them shares of listeners and advertising dollars. Sure, they want the Sabres to win the Cup... but not at the expense of their ratings and potentially, their jobs.

Catch 22.

Not really a Catch 22.

One is a game, the other is business. In the long run, it's no contest which is more important.

 

[Philip_Airtime]

If WGR wants us to turn down the TV sound and bring up Rick and Jim, they need to sync their broadcast with the video. The Sunday, April 29th game on NBC was synced, at least on my TV, so we were able to listen to the radio play-by-play. But Tuesday's game on Versus was horribly out of sync. I had to turn the radio off. My question is whether the delivery of video is the same for all cable subscribers -- both suburban and city. Perhaps the Sabres radio broadcast was synced for some but not others. Maybe someone with more knowledge of cable delivery can address this. But it seems to be more difficult to sync radio broadcasts with TV video in this day and age.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Out of Sync

Say thank you to the HD analog-digital-analog conversion of massive amounts of information for the delay in both TV and HD radio. It is a fact of life that will become more prevalent as technology moves forward.

Now, with that little bit of technology out of the way, you don't think that Time-Warner might intentionally vary the delay on different parts of their cable system to make it harder for viewers to ignore their commercials, do you?

Nah, I'm sure that it's just variables in the servers & transmission equipment on different parts of the piecemeal network that they inherited from Adelphia.

 

[Bob1370]

As to turning down the TV audio to hear Rick and Jim, great idea when NBC carries the game on broadcast TV (which tends to be picked up off-air at the head end and not significantly buffered) and, of course, unnecessary during regular season and early round games aired on MSG, where WGR provides the PBP audio.

As to Versus, the signal goes through all manner of satellite feeds and refeeds, and buffers at either end, that can throw the video and audio up to 10 seconds out of synch if you're trying to watch the game on TV and listen to either WGR (Buffalo) or Buzz 98.9 (Rochester). Time Warner doesn't have fuill control over this, since some of the delay in a satellite network feed enters the system before it even gets to their head-ends in Buffalo and Rochester. Don't blame TW for it, it's inherent in the way satellite programming gets fed and distributed and it's rarely an issue for most viewers except at times like this.

 

[SirRoxalot]

In Sync

My understanding is that WGR syncs the radio to the cable feed that they get at Commerce Park. If you're on a different cable system, or on a different branch of Time-Warner - even in a Buffalo suburb - the sync may be far enough out to make it unlistenable.

Wait until WGR goes HD, and they have to try to sync the analog with the HD with the cable... ;D

 

[TVJunkie12]

Re: In Sync

.

Wait until WGR goes HD, and they have to try to sync the analog with the HD with the cable... ;D

I wouldn't hold my breath for HD on WGR. The transmission towers are too short.

 

[Element9]

Quote from: Radknowski on Yesterday at 07:22:08 pm

It's very likely PD's, GM's and SM's at competing stations grit their teeth every time the Sabres win, knowing full well it's costing them shares of listeners and advertising dollars. Sure, they want the Sabres to win the Cup... but not at the expense of their ratings and potentially, their jobs.

Catch 22.

Not really a Catch 22.

One is a game, the other is business. In the long run, it's no contest which is more important.

Surprisingly, I understand where the house painter is coming from. Seems everybody WANTS the Sabres to win the Stanley Cup, even GM's and PD's of competing radio stations. But IF the Sabres do actually win the Cup, it will be WGR's gain and come at the expense of the other radio stations.

So the question becomes do we want what's good for the community as a whole (i.e., Buffalo wins the Cup and becomes validated as a city of champions) or do we want what's good only for ourselves (meaning the competing radio stations, clusters and GM's, PD's and jocks who compete with WGR.) In this sense, I understand the reference to Catch 22.

I'm looking forward to watching and hearing the "Hockey Night In Canada" coverage of the Sabres-Senators series. Nobody broadcasts hockey better... NOBODY.

As to Time-Warner... feh! Two weekends ago, they screwed half of Buffalo when they transferred Adelphia Internet service to new servers. Call for a rebate and they'll offer you $2.50 off your bill. T-W buy scads of radio and TV time hawking the advantages of Roadrunner. They should have used the advertising to tell ther customers they were transferring service and there could be interruption of service.

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[SirRoxalot]

Hokey Night in Canada

I'm looking forward to watching and hearing the "Hockey Night In Canada" coverage of the Sabres-Senators series. Nobody broadcasts hockey better... NOBODY.

I do hope that you're excluding the rantings of Don "The Neanderthal" Cherry. On second thought, the Geico Cavemen would take offense to being compared to Grapes.

As for me, I'll take RJ & Batman anytime. And don't tell me they're "homers". So am I.

As far as the rest of the stations in town are concerned, I'm surprised that they aren't using 'GR's own methodology and lining up Sabres, former Sabres, and Buffalo hockey afficionados past & present as guests. 'GR has done that for years in trying to co-opt the Bills coverage on 97-Rock. I'm surprised that The Edge and/or 97-Rock aren't at least trying to grab the party side of the Big Event.

 

[ThePickleReport]

I'm looking forward to watching and hearing the "Hockey Night In Canada" coverage of the Sabres-Senators series. Nobody broadcasts hockey better... NOBODY.
[/quote]

Agreed. Too bad the CBC couldn't syndicate their coverage to one of the U.S. networks.

 

[Element9]

It's not that I'm a fan of Don Cherry's brand of clutch-grab 'n mug hockey philosophy as much as I'm a fan of CBC's superb coverage of hockey. From technical production to knowledgeable and is Cherry's case, opinionated commentators, CBC and Hockey Night in Canada sets the standard for hockey coverage. If only NBC had a clue, eh?

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