Why is Sports for affiliates such a tough sell?

[CapeFish]

I can understand the flagship in a team's home city possibly balking, but most sports rights for regional teams are barter. I cannot believe that some small AM station can make more with ESPN Radio or Fox Sports Radio talking about games while they could air the actual game.

The argument of flagships being too powerful is no longer valid, the automation for sports is there, and is it really more difficult to get listeners for a game rather than sportstalk?

Time for local radio stations to serve the locals and air sports as they happen, not SportsCenters every 20 minutes. Summertime is for listening to baseball on the radio out and about, not for some piped in talk show about how the Mets or Yankees are spending too much.

Also, why are big FM sticks so afraid to commit to sports? College football won't wreck you folks.

 

[chuckydoll]

Good time you brought this up

It's not just small AM stations, it's 50,000-watt flamethrowers too.

WTIC-1080 in Hartford has been carrying the Boston Red Sox since 1961. A few weeks ago the Hartford Courant said WTIC might replace the Red Sox with the Yankees. There's a thread about that on the Connecticut board.

I cannot believe that some small AM station can make more with ESPN Radio or Fox Sports Radio talking about games while they could air the actual game.

ESPN-1230/1320 in the Lehigh Valley carries the Yankees and the football Giants. ESPN-920 in Trenton NJ had the Phillies last year -- don't know if it'll keep the Phils as flagship WPHT-1210 comes in like a local in Trenton.

Also, why are big FM sticks so afraid to commit to sports? College football won't wreck you folks.

You haven't been in Pittsburgh lately. The Steelers are on 102.5; the Penguins are on 105.9; Pitt football and men's basketball are on 94.5. Next year the Pirates will be on 104.7 -- a major story because 104.7 took the Pirates away from AM giant KDKA.

 

[CapeFish]

Re: Good time you brought this up

It's not just small AM stations, it's 50,000-watt flamethrowers too.

WTIC-1080 in Hartford has been carrying the Boston Red Sox since 1961. A few weeks ago the Hartford Courant said WTIC might replace the Red Sox with the Yankees. There's a thread about that on the Connecticut board.

But at least WTIC is going to carry some sports regionally. WCBS is co-owned by Infinity and they are the flagship, so it is reasonable. Plus WEEI/WRKO could always buy into that market like they have done in others or the previous Yankees affiliate could join the Red Sox network.

I have that situation with my team, the Florida Marlins, at home in Fort Myers. The flagship in Miami, 560 WQAM, is owned by Naples-based Beasley Broadcasting which also owns 770 WWCN, the Marlins affiliate in Fort Myers. WWCN gets the games for free as long as they air the network ads. [WWCN also carries the Devil Rays (using the same equipment and ad sales as for the Marlins) on a similar barter arrangement.] They then sell the local spots (good amount of them on the Fish Network) and make that cash. I know WQAM has the same arrangement with other stations around the state that are not owned by Beasley. Why can't more stations serve their areas by carrying the "home team" games? I hate driving through North and Central Florida and having to rely on XM for the home team broadcasts of the teams that own that territory. Same goes for the Braves in South Georgia.

ESPN-1230/1320 in the Lehigh Valley carries the Yankees and the football Giants. ESPN-920 in Trenton NJ had the Phillies last year -- don't know if it'll keep the Phils as flagship WPHT-1210 comes in like a local in Trenton.

920 has had the Phils for a while now, plus Trenton is sold seperately from Philly. The Marlins have WEFL in Palm Beach even though WQAM booms into that area and rates, but the Palm Beach ads sell on the Palm Beach station.

You haven't been in Pittsburgh lately. The Steelers are on 102.5; the Penguins are on 105.9; Pitt football and men's basketball are on 94.5. Next year the Pirates will be on 104.7 -- a major story because 104.7 took the Pirates away from AM giant KDKA.

I heard about this and applaud Clear Channel Pittsburgh for making that move. KDKA had really made the Pirates a drag to listen to. The FM signals may not be a 50kw clear channel AM, but they serve the market well enough. Plus all those teams have affiliates joining their networks.

I just get annoyed when I hear an ESPN Radio or Fox Sports Radio affiliate airing sportstalk on a Summer evening when they could be airing the Marlins/D-Rays in Florida, Braves in the South, Cards in the Mid-West, etc.

Summer, Baseball, AM Radio, and Road Trips all go together. This is a service only a local station can render. XM can only do so much. Having all 162 games (or most of them) with your guys calling them is a must-have for baseball nuts. Very few teams have all 162 on TV and most have 15-30 games that are radio-only.

 

[ARK AFL]

ESPN Radio requires a station to carry 16 hours a day of programming. That's one reason.

But I do agree: local sports may require a board op, but what about national games? Why not carry Sunday Night Baseball or the NBA national feed? There's no reason for me to have to scan the AM dial listening to stations in Kansas City and Gulf Shores to find the World Series. The World Series?

 

[CapeFish]

I know the Florida Marlins, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers (in Spanish only), Oakland A's, Philadelphia Phillies, and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim all use Skyview which is entirely automated so a local board op is not needed. I know because when this first launched, WWCN missed games when lightning killed power to their system several times. I think they got a good battery backup now for it.

http://www.skyviewsatellite.com/NetworkAutomation/

 

[Geb]

Teams pay flagships to carry the games. Affiliates carry games because local sponsors will buy adverts during the games.
Sports networks do not pay stations to carry their programs. Sports networks are an easy and inexpensive way to fill time.

 

[CapeFish]

Teams pay flagships to carry the games. Affiliates carry games because local sponsors will buy adverts during the games.
Sports networks do not pay stations to carry their programs. Sports networks are an easy and inexpensive way to fill time.

Most teams may have broadcast networks in-house, but not all pay their flagships. The D-Rays pay WHNZ, but WQAM pays the Marlins. I know WGST pays the Braves a ton, so does WCBS to the Yanks and WRKO/WEEI to the Red Sox.

I know local sponsors buy spots on the games and the stations airs it, but why is it so many "sports" radio stations, particularly small AMs not in the home city, decide to carry sportstalk instead of the games? Is it they can't sell the ads, they don't want to pay for the board op (if the network isn't automated) or is it just something else?

 

[ixnay]

CapeFish, who gets priority when there's a Fish/Rays conflict on WWCN? I imagine that happens pretty darn close to 162 times a year. And does WWCN carry the Dolphins and/or Buccaneers? Who gets priority there?

ixnay

 

[ixnay]

WWTX "1290 The Ticket" carries MiLB's Wilmington Blue Rocks and, I believe, U. of DE women's basketball and Penn State and Baltimore Ravens football. But you wouldn't know any of this from WWTX's website.

 

[CapeFish]

CapeFish, who gets priority when there's a Fish/Rays conflict on WWCN? I imagine that happens pretty darn close to 162 times a year. And does WWCN carry the Dolphins and/or Buccaneers? Who gets priority there?

ixnay

When the Fish and Rays conflict on WWCN, it depends on the game. The better matchup will air....meaning the Marlins mostly. WQAM comes in the area like a local during the day, so day Marlins games do not air on WWCN most of the time. I would say the Marlins air 3 days a week (4 games if a double-header is one day) and the Rays air the other 2 days. The weekend games are usually day games which means WQAM has it covered.

WWCN doesn't carry the Dolphins, they moved them to their sister FM station 96.1 K-Rock. The Bucs flagships of 620 wDAE/103.5 WFUS get in the area well but they have affiliates in Naples and Punta Gorda to supplement. WWCN just airs the NFL package form Westwood One (or if the Fins are on, from Sports USA Radio) on Sundays when they don't have NASCAR.

 

[little1]

I know local sponsors buy spots on the games and the stations airs it, but why is it so many "sports" radio stations, particularly small AMs not in the home city, decide to carry sportstalk instead of the games? Is it they can't sell the ads, they don't want to pay for the board op (if the network isn't automated) or is it just something else?

From a programming standpoint, if you carry pxp, you risk alienating non-fans of that sport. And the further you are removed from the home city, the less hardcore fans you're likely to find. So why carry a sport that may not have that many fans in your town, versus generic talk. Especially if you're not making any money from it.

An importantthing to remember is how much inventory a typical 'network' feed commands. It's entirely possible that an affiliate for a big market team to get only a handful of minutes per broadcast. So if you have an effective sales staff, do you carry the network 9ESPN, SRN,etc) where you can clear 6-8-10 minutes an hour maybe, or do you carry the not-so-local team where you get maybe 2 or 3 minutes an hour...

 

[XTalker]

The PD that is afraid Saturday play by play will drive away his audience has his head in the sand. Since your Saturday ratings mean very little to the sales effort, the actualy numbers don't hurt you.

If your station is really any good, your regular audience will come back after the game and be there on Monday morning when it really counts.

And what about the opportunity to introduce the station to some new cume. With few marketing dollars flowing in the business these days, you can attract a whole new cume to the Saturday or Sunday football game and if you have a creative staff, have a good chance at getting them to come back Monday!

Certainly your competitive situation enters the discussion, and how much fan support there is for the team. I don't thing anyone is suggesting you just take football for the sake of football - but if you have a strong following of a college or pro team in your area, it is cume worth looking at. College teams can easily provide you with the number of active alum in your market!

 

[radioman1380]

I believe that some of the networks (Fox, ESPN, SNR) have some negotiating room when it comes to the amount of hours a station is required to carry. I know that a local station went with Sporting News Radio for the main reason that they only required that the station carry the top of the hour sports update and the following 3 minutes of network spots. The station later switched to ESPN and was only required to carry Cowherd and Patrick's shows (9a to 3p) Monday thru Friday. Fox was considered, but their requirements were unrealistic.

 

[XTalker]

ESPN likes you to carry 100%, but will settle for commercial avails when all is said and done. Problem with cherry picking their day is they constantly promote each other as if all shows are on all stations. Same with Fox and SNR.

 

[ARK AFL]

I thought ESPN required 16 hours/day. Of course, you could carry The Herd and Patrick, but you couldn't call yourself an ESPN station.

What were Fox's requirements. 103.7 The Buzz in Arkansas carries FSR on overnights/weekends, but airs 13 hours (plus Jim Rome) of local programming and sporting events.