Sports Radio News
Schlereth & Evans Fuel 104.3 The Fan’s Summer Book Success
“Schlereth & Evans produced nearly 5 points above the station’s overall number.”
Published
3 years agoon
By
BSM Staff
The Denver sports radio ratings for the summer book produced a mixture of highs and lows, but one constant was the performance of Mark Schlereth and Mike Evans. The 104.3 The Fan morning team led the market for the quarter with an impressive 11.3 share, placing them 1st among Men 25-54. The show did lose a point year over year, but a 1st place performance delivering double digit shares is one that The Fan had to feel great about.
Turning to middays, The Fan led its competition with ‘Sandy & Orlando’ delivering a 3.6 to place them 10th, and ‘Stokley & Zach’ finishing 6th with a 4.1. The bigger areas of concern were a 1.7 year over year drop by Sandy and Orlando, and a 2.3 year over year drop by Stokley and Zach. The lack of sports as a result of the pandemic certainly provide a valid reason for a decline. The tougher conversation is the nearly 8 point drop between mornings and the early midday show.
104.3 The Fan had to feel good about the afternoon performance it received from Darren ‘DMac’ McKee and Tyler Polumbus. ‘The Drive‘ came in 2nd for the book with a 6.7 share. That led the local competition and News/Talk station KOA where DMac’s former partner Alfred Williams hosts head to head against his former employer. The Drive did lose 1.6 in share year over year, the result of the pandemic impacting sports radio brands.
Overall, The Fan was the top sports radio brand in the market for the quarter in weekday prime (M-F 6a-7p), finishing 2nd with a 6.5. Last year at this time they were just above an 8 share. However, with its morning show producing nearly 5 points above the station’s number, The Fan is in good shape. The challenge now is getting the rest of the lineup to elevate to a similar position.
In terms of local competition, Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 is still relatively new to the marketplace and has a long way to go, but there were a few positives to recognize.
Starting in mornings, the team of Vic Lombardi, Marc Moser, and Brett Kane doubled their share year over year. They sit further back at a 1.3 but improving during a pandemic minus sports while most in the market decline is something the station likely feels good about.
In afternoons, Nate Kreckman and Andy Lindahl saw similar improvement, raising their overall share year over year by 33%. The show is now up to a 2.1 and in 12th place during the summer book, a climb of 8 spots. That’s a strong gain in just 12 months.
Middays is where Altitude stumbled in the summer book. Josh Dover, Ryan Harris and Scott Hastings suffered the same fate as some of The Fan’s shows, dropping seven tenths of a point year over year. The midday trio did a 1.3, falling to 20th.
For the quarter, Altitude was the lone sports radio brand in the market to grow year over year. Though the progress was light, one tenth of a point improvement in M-F 6a-6p, it beats the alternative.
With the Nuggets and Avalanche advancing to the playoffs and Broncos football creating more interest in the market during the fall, the next quarter should offer more content opportunities for shows and stations to take advantage of.
Sports Radio News
Brendan Tobin: I Love Mark Jackson Admitting Heat Gave Him Goosebumps
“I always like it when a person admits goosies.”
Published
4 hours agoon
June 5, 2023By
BSM Staff Who could have guessed that the moment that made the hair on the back of Heat fans’ arms stand up would be a pass that was never made? Maybe that isn’t true for everyone, but Mark Jackson said that the way Kevin Love reacted to realizing he missed the chance to hit Gabe Vincent in the corner for a wide open three pointer gave him goosebumps.
“I always like it when a person admits goosies and Mark Jackson yesterday, in front of millions on national television, admitted that when Kevin Love went over to hug Gabe Vincent for missing him wide open in the corner, he got the goosies,” Brendan Tobin said Monday afternoon on WQAM.
Jackson said that it stood out that Vincent didn’t pout and that Love did not get defensive. The pair hugged after the play. Jackson called it an example of the Miami Heat’s “winning mentality and outstanding culture”.
Jeff Van Gundy asked Jackson if he thought the Heat were overdoing it with the hug and if Jackson may have been being a little hyperbolic in his praise.
“No, it gave me goosebumps,” Jackson answered. “What is wrong with you?”
Brendan Tobin enjoyed seeing a member of the national media recognize that Heat Culture is about more than just winning games and series the team isn’t supposed to. It is built on recognizing how players up and down the roster can contribute all over the floor.
“You know what? I love it!” He said. “Gave me the goosies is too. Kevin Love – great locker room guy. Always there for support. I love Love.”
Sports Radio News
Sean Baligian Gets New Night Show at WJR
“The new show will be a revival of Sportswrap. It is one of many changes coming to the WJR lineup.”
Published
9 hours agoon
June 5, 2023By
BSM Staff Changes at WJR means good news for sports fans in Detroit. Sean Baligian is back on the air in the Motor City. He will be hosting a one hour show weekday evenings at 6pm.
Baligian most recently was part of the station’s morning show with Paul W. Smith. He is a staple of Detroit sports talk though. He was heard on WDFN multiple times in his career. He also hosted the afternoon show at the short-lived Detroit Sports 105.1 and a digital show for the Woodward Sports Network
The new show will be a revival of Sportswrap. It is one of many changes coming to the WJR lineup.
On Facebook, Baligian expressed his excitement. He also revealed that the start date for the new show is June 20.
In addition to hosting shows, Sean Baligian can also regularly be heard calling college football games. He has been the play-by-play voice of the Wayne State for more than a decade.
Sports Radio News
Ken Carman: You Don’t Have to Watch NBA Finals if You Aren’t Doing National Show
“I can go to bed; no big deal.”
Published
10 hours agoon
June 5, 2023By
BSM Staff The NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets were not expected to attract particularly high ratings. According to preliminary overnight figures from Nielsen Media Research, Game 1 of the NBA Finals averaged 7.62 million viewers and had a 2.21 rating in the age 18-49 demographic. This number is significantly down from the 11.4 million viewers in the Celtics’ matchup against the Golden State Warriors last year.
Sunday night’s Game 2 ratings have yet to be released, but based on the conversation between Ken Carman and Anthony Lima on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, basketball fans and media pundits should expect another report of low numbers.
“We all knew that there weren’t going to be as good ratings,” show co-host Ken Carman said. “The Heat do not generate the sense of outrage, [and] Denver does not generate the same type of passion as what LA and Boston do, clearly.”
Carman watched parts of the first two NBA Finals games, but opted to watch the morning recaps on YouTube instead of the game in its entirety. He surmises many basketball fans from around the country are doing similarly because of the ostensible lack of appeal – despite superstars Jimmy Butler and Nikola Jokić participating in the action.
If the Cleveland Cavaliers were in the NBA Finals, Carman acknowledged that he would be watching; however, his wife gave him a reason to turn it off when she asked him to watch an episode of Succession. Neglecting to watch the entirety of a professional sports league’s final championship round is a practice show co-host Anthony Lima regarded as something new to modern media consumption.
“There used to be a time where you couldn’t even really do a show if you didn’t watch the NBA Finals or the World Series,” Lima told Carman. “That was not an indictment of you because there have been World Series games I haven’t watched…The ratings of the NBA had all been up until we got to the NBA Finals and they have crashed.”
The Walt Disney Company recently reported its most-watched playoffs on ESPN platforms in the last 11 years, averaging nearly 5.8 million viewers on broadcasts. Year-over-year, viewership of the Western Conference Finals was up 17% from last year’s presentation, which was on TNT, and 44% higher than the last time ESPN televised the proceedings in 2021.
Despite the intriguing NBA Finals matchup and storylines associated with the action, the ratings indicate that many basketball fans are choosing not to watch the action because of the lack of tradition involved in the matchup. The Denver Nuggets have never won a championship in franchise history, let alone qualify for the NBA Finals, while the Miami Heat have not taken home the Larry O’Brien Trophy since 2013. The team, at that time, was led by the ‘Big Three’ of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, all of whom are expected to be named members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
“You’re basically saying there’s nothing that game could have done that would have made you stick with it?,” Lima asked Carman. “Jokić had a run in the third quarter where he made every play on offense and then was coming up with fast breaks, dribbling coast to coast; then he made a couple of defensive plays. You look up at the box score [and it is], ‘Holy crap, he’s going to score 40 easily.’”
Nonetheless, Carman recognized that his radio show is a local program, and in turn needs to appeal to its audience. As a result, he felt like it was safe to watch Succession and then fall asleep, recognizing just how fundamental topic selection is in terms of captivating and retaining listeners.
“If it’s not one of the three teams in Cleveland – if the Cavs were still there, fine, that’s the job,” Carman expressed. “If it’s this, even though it’s the Finals and I have no national show to do tomorrow, I can go to bed, no big deal.”