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WPOP - Rock Cats Radio Broadcast Train Wreck

J

jdrinboston

I live in Boston, but I grew up in central Connecticut and still have a soft spot for the hometown minor league ball club and every once in a while, I try to catch their radio broadcast for both posterity sake and because I think Jeff Dooley is tremendously talented. I confess I haven't heard any of their games on radio since they left the TIC-HD2 arrangement a couple of years ago, but listening on the IHeartRadio app, the production was an absolute nightmare. Mics cutting in and out, commercial breaks played at low volume while the crowd mic and accompany stadium music/obnoxious contests playing in the background, missed timing cues, and perhaps worst of all, the automated local commercial breaks for syndicated programming cutting in mid-inning....not just once or twice at the beginning of the game....but the entire broadcast.

From my perspective it didn't seem like anyone was noticing there were problems. If I didn't know better, it seemed like all of the engineering was being done onsite and there was nobody back in the studio running the board. Dooley did mention two assistants at the end of the broadcast.

Out of curiosity, I started listening to this morning's broadcast and things aren't any better.

Is the Internet broadcast on the IHeartRadio app sending out a different air chain than what goes over AM or is this just how local sports broadcasts on WPOP sound? Are the Hartford Wolfpack games this bad?
 
I heard some of the same things you mentioned with WPOP-AM 1410 itself. I live in New Britain and checked the rest of the game on the radio once I left at the 7th inning stretch. Audio during the commercials seemed about half of what it should've been, plus much of the ball park audio very obvious on the air. :(

WMRD-AM 1150 of Middletown is not airing today's game. They've aired a few in the past.

As for the between-innings stuff? Boy did you get that right! The new pAAAt guy is awful! (His jersey is sponsored by AAA, hence the spelling.) I liked Kat last year much more! Bring her back!

On a side note, the staff kisses a LOT of Boston backside wherever they can...considering they're a MINNESOTA TWINS affiliate. They also forget that Boston is the same club which nearly screwed New Britain out of a team 20 years ago. :mad:
 
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I was listening in my car for about half an hour yesterday. I heard nothing but open-mic ballpark audio during the three between-innings breaks I was tuned in for, in the second and third innings. Were there really ads being played underneath the noise?

I wonder if WMRD will still be carrying games. Dooley is no longer referring to the "Rock Cats Radio Network" at the end of innings, just "Fox Sports Radio 1410."
 
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My guess is that WPOP-AM/Clear Channel would produce the games for the webstream and these stations. The FOX SPORTS RADIO 1410 ad on the outfield wall clearly says "ALL HOME GAMES...". :rolleyes:
 
Can anyone hear POP anymore than 2 miles from the transmitter? Get outside of Hartford and the station is unlistenable. When they used to carry the Yankee games it was a chore just to get a signal.
 
I get them just fine in New Britain's south end. In fact, they're sometimes too strong during the daytime.
 
KML-224 said:
I get them just fine in New Britain's south end. In fact, they're sometimes too strong during the daytime.
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Up near Manchester there is no signal. Once you get over the hills it is gone. Unless they changed things recently it was always bad. Good luck getting near the shore. Hit Middletown and it was gone.
 
I wonder if Clear Channel will still have the contract to cover this Lame Duck team in the 2015 season? I see spots on that outfield wall next season, when some advertisers pull their sponsorship and don't come back. You see plenty of open spots on the wall at any Bridgeport Bluefish game these days.
 
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