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What's the best sports station in the country?

There are many great localized network affiliates that you can name.. I would like to add to the WSCR kuddos of Badgerfan, WMVP in Chi.. Though you can only get them west of Chicago in the day, their monster directional AM three tower beams east, and further in that direction than 'SCR that has the heart of it's non-directional AM night signal into Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota and the Plains states to the southern central states...
 
I listen to the Chi sports stations a lot at night where their signal easily penetrates into the Carolinas and VA. They come in like locals about half the time here in Central Mass even with adj NYC stations. And it's fun to hear a distant station doing local sports.
 
Hey Vibe! Think about this... You're getting AM-1000/ESPN better than anyone more than 30 miles west of Chicago! 670/The Score is non-directional and shows up in alot of metro books (ratings) west of Chicago, as AM-1000 does east of the Wind-Die-Cit-Tie....
 
Being right next to a 50kw "blowtorch" at night may be too close. For example I get WBAL 1090 Balt perfectly (300mi) much better than WTIC Hart at 60 mi. Even in Central Mass the 4 major 50kw Chi stations come in quite well at least half the time.
About 2 weeks ago I listened to ESPN 1000 Chi when I was driving about 50-60 mi out of NYC and ESPN 1000 was stronger than the and ESPN 1050 NYC whose local signal is iffy at night. Go figure.
 
GOOD NIGHT!!!

You cannot mention WIP, EEI or FAN without also throwing in KTCK in Dallas.

Awards? Nominated for Marconi several times.
Props? Athletes reach out to them many times a day.
Schtick? They founded (yeah, I said it) "guy talk". Ask anyone in the biz.

I know we are geographically-centered, but let's be honest about what is real in this business. You know?
 
The sports station here in Buffalo, WGR-AM 550, had a 4.9 12+ in Fall 2006. The second trend of the winter book shows a 5.2 12+ thanks to hockey coverage.

They're local 6-10a, Cowherd 10-12, Rome 10-3, local 3-10pm, then ESPN Radio late and overnight.
 
Good coverage from "The Pickle Report" of the great balance of network and local sports talk and local hockey coverage that is making 550 a succesful sports outlet in a larger market..... :)
 
I'm certainly not a sports fan. I don't even know the first thing about most sports, but I enjoy WFAN.
It's got a lot to do with the hosts' personalities.

And for someone who's not into sports to listen to a sports-talk station? That says a lot. Or maybe I'm just strange. 8)
 
I dont know the best---ESPN 1000 out of Chicago always seems to catch my interest when flipping around---but I know the worst--1460 The Fan out of Columbus Ohio--Chris Speilman fills two hours (12 - 2pm) and you can feel your IQ lessen a point each segment. They also air the Mike Tirico show for two hours on an hour delay...nothing like hearing the sports scores and news from an hour earlier....good job!
 
WKNR in Cleveland has been rehabbed tremendously over the past nine months. Having Mel Karmazin's son, Craig, buy the station from Salem Communications will do that. It's had a decent upgrade in programming, presentation, play-by-play and air sound - all of which was left to rot under the ownership of a predominantly religious and conservatalk broadcaster.

However, WKNR's main weaknesses are 1> the lack of a major-league flagship (Indians, Cavs and Browns radio rights are all locked up with Clear Channel) and 2> a sucky nighttime signal (it was once at 1220, but Salem squandered it for their religious WHKW). Like Detroit's WXYT, it will need an FM simulcast in order to remain viable (and if they want to try to steal, say, the Browns radio rights?)...

- nate81
 
I think you're going to see a progression very quickly from "sports" talk to more generally entertaining talk with a sports focus. With the syndication of so many political talk shows, local radio is losing it's identity. The sports stations can fill in that gap if they act quick and start dropping the syndies in favor of local programming. However, these new hosts will have to attract more than just the die hard sports fans. Listen to "The Ticket" in Dallas. I think you'll start to see less ex players on the air and more "entertainers" who like sports. Sports radio gives talented hosts the platform they need to entertain. No music to worry about, no info wheels etc. Here's the canvas, now get to work. That's just my humble opinion.
 
I've grown up on WEEI but I am getting sick of their schtick. The morning crew's politics and current events-first approach (read: If it isn't right wing, it isn't right) while hanging up and insulting callers is quickly tiring.

The mid-day show, the best IMO, is often repetitive, especially during baseball season.

The afternoon drive is just a bunch of overweight guys yelling over each other, though a lot of their stuff is pretty funny.

At night, the host is a one trick pony. When he isn't citing random 1960's Red Sox trivia, he is trying to run Manny Ramirez out of town. This is even during the Celtics and Patriots seasons...

The weekend guys are just horrible.
 
Bruce Gilbert did a tremendous job the Tickert in Dallas. He understands the importance of having guys on that people enjoyed listening too. Now he's over at ESPN running the radio programming and has brought his talent there. But programming for a national audience is much tougher thing to do. Much easier to figure out what specific fans want than fans around the whole nation. That said, it is not to hard to figure out that the best stations in the country superserve the local fans. KTCK, WFAN, and WEEI are all doing that and are finanially very successful right now because of it. The ESPN, Sporting News, and Fox Sports specific statons in those markets will never be able to compete ratings wise with the local stations. Although, I do believe you can make a great station combining the two.
 
Just a heads up, I'm pretty sure Bruce Gilbert left ESPN to run Daniel Snyders regional/Redskins sports network sometime last year.
 
560 WQAM IN MIAMI HOME OF THE HURRICANES! AND DOLPHINS!
 
IRISHBLAZE said:
560 WQAM IN MIAMI HOME OF THE HURRICANES! AND DOLPHINS!
Click to expand...

Buddy, I've worked in the business and lived in Miami for more than a decade. QAM may be one of the worst run stations ever. The new GM at least is trying to be fiscally responsible, his predecessor was a joke throwing money at anyone and everyone to try to fix problems he created. Also, up until the last book they were beaten 3 straight books in M 25-54 by an upstart station that's only been around 3 years.
 
How long ago were you at QAM? and yes i know they were beaten 3 in a row but hey gotta start soMewhere and the MiaMi ticket quite honestly sucks and are gonna slowly disappear off the air if beasley doesnt buy theM
 
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