{"id":5392,"date":"2012-06-21T15:47:02","date_gmt":"2012-06-21T20:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/?p=5392"},"modified":"2012-06-21T16:47:46","modified_gmt":"2012-06-21T21:47:46","slug":"america-wants-more-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/?p=5392","title":{"rendered":"America wants more sports!"},"content":{"rendered":"

A huge story broke this afternoon if you like sports on radio (yeah, yeah).<\/p>\n

First, the current situation in radio sports.<\/p>\n

Who runs sports talk stations?<\/p>\n

+---------------+-------------------------+\r\n| station_count | Parent Company\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n+---------------+-------------------------+\r\n|\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 294 | Small Owners\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n|\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 73 | Clear Channel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n|\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 66 | Cumulus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n|\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 18 | Entercom\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n|\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 16 | CBS\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n|\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 10 | Townsquare Media\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n|\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 5 | Galaxy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n|\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 4 | Nassau\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n|\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 4 | Lincoln Financial Media |\r\n|\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 4 | Alt\/Confer Trusts\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n+---------------+-------------------------+\r\n\r\nand focusing on the big 3 radio owners left:\r\n\r\n+---------------+---------------------+------------+\r\n| parent    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | Name\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | synd_count |\r\n+---------------+---------------------+------------+\r\n| Clear Channel | Fox Sports\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 45 |\r\n| Clear Channel | Mix\/Unknown\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 16 |\r\n| Clear Channel | ESPN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 10 |\r\n| Clear Channel | Yahoo! Sports Radio |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2 |\r\n\r\n| Cumulus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | ESPN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 38 |\r\n| Cumulus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | Fox Sports\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 15 |\r\n| Cumulus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | Mix\/unknown\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 10 |\r\n| Cumulus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | Yahoo! Sports Radio |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3 |\r\n\r\n| CBS\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | None\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 12 |\r\n| CBS\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | Fox Sports\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2 |\r\n| CBS\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | ESPN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2 |\r\n+---------------+---------------------+------------+<\/pre>\n
ESPN (still owned by Disney) is the big guy on the block.\u00a0\u00a0 They have the Cable TV franchise and many of the big ticket sports contracts, which gives them access to audio, access to players and coaches, reporters at the games, and a solid reputation.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you start a syndicated sports station, you probably want ESPN as your first round draft choice.<\/p>\n
Fox Sports is pretending to be a sports network.\u00a0 They are (or were) fairly closely tied to Clear Channel and a few years ago, Clear Channel decided to cut back on their participation – they have gone through one host after another and mostly do shows from KLAC out in Los Angeles.\u00a0\u00a0 They don’t have the access or money that ESPN has, so they mostly sit around and just talk about how fun sports is.<\/p>\n
Yahoo!\u00a0 sports was named Sporting News until maybe 6 months ago – targeted at hard core gamblers – more focused on point spreads and betting on fantasy football leagues than the actual sports (other than how it would affect the point spread)<\/p>\n
CBS has gone down a very different path – in all their major market sports stations, they are 24\/7 local sports, and have done extremely well at that – drawing very high ratings and making money.<\/p>\n
+------------+------------+-------------------+--------+\r\n|Station     | Syndicator | City Name\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | State  |\r\n+------------+------------+-------------------+--------+\r\n| WFAN AM\/HD | None\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | NEW YORK\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | NY\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n| WSCR AM\/HD | None\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | CHICAGO\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | IL\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n| KRLD FM\/HD | Fox Sports | DALLAS\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | TX\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n| WIP AM\/HD\u00a0 | None\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | PHILADELPHIA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | PA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n| KILT AM\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | None\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | HOUSTON\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | TX\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n| WJFK FM\/HD | None\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | MANASSAS\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | VA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n| WXYT FM\/HD | None\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | DETROIT\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | MI\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n| WBZ FM\/HD\u00a0 | None\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | BOSTON\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | MA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n| WJZ FM\/HD\u00a0 | None\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | CATONSVILLE\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | MD\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n| WJZ AM\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | ESPN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | BALTIMORE\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | MD\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n| KDKA FM\/HD | None\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | PITTSBURGH\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | PA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n| WKRK FM\/HD | None\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | CLEVELAND HEIGHTS | OH\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n| KHTK AM\/HD | Fox Sports | SACRAMENTO\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | CA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n| WFNZ AM\/HD | None\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | CHARLOTTE\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | NC\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n| KRAK AM\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | ESPN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | HESPERIA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | CA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n| WQYK AM\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | None\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | SEFFNER\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | FL\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 |\r\n+------------+------------+-------------------+--------+<\/pre>\n
People in Pittsburgh want to talk about the Pirates and the Steelers, not hear some guy in Los Angeles talk about some thing that happened with an assistant coach in New York City.\u00a0\u00a0 CBS has a few sports stations that do carry non-CBS sports, a legacy of the still unhealed Infinity Radio days. \u00a0\u00a0 CBS is the one big radio operator with direct ties to their TV network – NBC left the radio business when GE bought them, and ABC Radio is now part of Cumulus and only indirectly connected to ABC.<\/p>\n
So the big news is:\u00a0 CBS and Cumulus are forming a new Sports Radio Network<\/strong> starting in January 2013.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The hosts that are currently working for CBS will be the content for the network.\u00a0 Cumulus Media will be handling the syndication with CBS producing the content.\u00a0\u00a0 The 64 Cumulus sports stations currently carrying syndicated sports will switch to the new network.\u00a0\u00a0 That likely means that as the existing syndication agreements end, ESPN and Fox Sports will be picked up by other independent station owners.<\/p>\n
There are a couple rumors floating around that may well be related – one is that CBS might be looking to sell some or all of its radio stations.\u00a0\u00a0 Could the Big 3 of radio become the Big 2 soon?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A huge story broke this afternoon if you like sports on radio (yeah, yeah). First, the current situation in radio sports. Who runs sports talk stations? +—————+————————-+ | station_count | Parent Company\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | +—————+————————-+ |\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 294 | Small Owners\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 | … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,112],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-radio-biz","category-radio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5392"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5397,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5392\/revisions\/5397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}