Since 98.9 went rock, I've been thinking about this, and am wondering if 98.9 could have made sports work with the smaller franchizes in the market. For instance, where's the womens soccer on radio? How about the Storm? Husky football and mens basketball are on KOMO, but where's baseball, softball, or womens basketball? Last I heard, the Thunderbirds were on 104.9, but I think that went away when KFNK The Monkey was dropped for KSGX. Most likely they're on 850, but that signal doesn't reach the north end of the market well if at all. I feel like I'm missing a few teams that 98.9 could pick up, but thoughts?
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Could 98.9 have gone sports?
- Thread starter bobdavcav
- Start date
A
AQH
Guest
Since 98.9 went rock, I've been thinking about this, and am wondering if 98.9 could have made sports work with the smaller franchizes in the market. For instance, where's the womens soccer on radio? How about the Storm? Husky football and mens basketball are on KOMO, but where's baseball, softball, or womens basketball? Last I heard, the Thunderbirds were on 104.9, but I think that went away when KFNK The Monkey was dropped for KSGX. Most likely they're on 850, but that signal doesn't reach the north end of the market well if at all. I feel like I'm missing a few teams that 98.9 could pick up, but thoughts?
Look at it from two perspectives, from the radio business standpoint and the appetite for some of the sports mentioned.
From the radio perspective, sure it could have gone sports. But at what cost? What would be 98.9's unique offering? CBS Radio Sports? Sure, they would love to have a large market FM clearing their spots. But in order to make that attractive, you need something to convince people to surrender listening to two well established sports stations in town. One has been around for about 25 years and the other is named after and is an affiliate of probably the biggest sports broadcasting brand in the world. Both with pretty good local talent. So, just airing a national feed of CBS Sports Radio Network (assuming that's what would be picked up) won't cut it, because local matters even more with sports.
How do you counter? Well, you have to bring in some pretty good talent from another market and hire (steal) someone locally. Wanna hire Mitch Levy? Brock and Salk? Dave Mahler? Mike Gastineau? John Clayton? Dave Grosby or any other show from one of the two stations? They're not just going to come over for free. Not only that, you would need to pay a premium, significantly more than they're already making now for starters. And if you get their ear, convince them you have a compelling product that will compete with two other established stations and the additional baggage of a frequency which has changed music formats several times in the past several years.
Remember you're going to need, at a minimum, four live and local hosts. One or two of which you're probably going to have to overpay for to get them out of their current job, then add at least six more full-time salaries in the forms of producers and other people behind the scenes (those athletes and columnists don't just call the radio station at random ya know).
Then add something well into the six figures to market and promote this brand new radio station nobody has heard of. Then train the sales staff on how to sell sports (it's not just ratings in sports). Then go out and convince advertisers why you are the better product over two well known and established Seattle sports brands and how you're going to be different.
You're also going to need to build out new studios and office space, because the need for something bigger than a voice booth for the talent. Plus you need space for the producers to do their thing before and after the shows (and a job lounge won't cut it). Not to mentioned additional mini production rooms to produce audio clips and other pre-production items.
Licking your chops yet? Wait, there's more.
That second station mentioned earlier has the play by play rights to both the Seattle Mariners and Seattle Seahawks. And if they wanted to twist the knife, they probably arrange the Sounders to move from 97.3 and onto 710.
But what about the other sports mentioned? How would the Seattle Thunderbirds compare to Seahawks play by play? Would the women's soccer or basketball be a compelling choice over Seattle Mariners play by play?
Look at attendance figures alone: Seahawks get about 70,000 a game while the Seattle Thunderbirds draw about 4,000 per game. The Mariners about 25,000 per game, the Storm gets about 6,000 per game. With the exception of the Seahawks, those attendance figures are probably misleading since sports nowadays count ticket sales (think corporate season ticket sales) over actual bodies in the building.
So, if you think you can overcome those hurdles (and by the way, you also need a new program director), sports would have been a terrific option.
Simple!
Or you could have about one-tenth the talent payroll, pay some ASCAP and BMI fees and play Metallica, Guns & Roses and Nirvana until you puke.
AQH, I never thought I'd actually completely agree with what you said, but I do. I never thought it would be easy, and I don't think CBS would have been an option since that's already on 1090. Maybe Thunderbirds are what's been keeping 1090 at the bottom of the ratings for the past year or so, as opposed to not showing up. It would certainly be an uphill battle for 98.9 if they had gone sports, and I probably would have made the same decision they did a year ago. Does anyone know where the other sports I mentioned are on the radio if they are at all?
Bobcavdav, the other sports you mentioned are covered in local print media -- the Seattle Times. I'm not aware of much coverage on radio. Basing a sports radio station on the sports franchises you mentioned just sounds like a money loser -- although that's just a lay opinion. I know very few guys who are into sports that are nuts about the latest Seattle Storm or Reign statistics.
There is a problem with some sports: they just don't draw as much interest in certain media as others do. Maybe it's based on the target audience. Sports radio listeners are mostly men, and for some reason they don't seem to be as interested in the Seattle Storm as Seattle Times readers are.
The Seattle Times (at least up until a year ago when I quit my subscription) never covered the T-birds, for example, but women's sports (Storm, Reign, UW Women's basketball, etc.) got all sorts of coverage even though the T-birds had more draw per game than some of those other teams.
There is a problem with some sports: they just don't draw as much interest in certain media as others do. Maybe it's based on the target audience. Sports radio listeners are mostly men, and for some reason they don't seem to be as interested in the Seattle Storm as Seattle Times readers are.
The Seattle Times (at least up until a year ago when I quit my subscription) never covered the T-birds, for example, but women's sports (Storm, Reign, UW Women's basketball, etc.) got all sorts of coverage even though the T-birds had more draw per game than some of those other teams.
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AQH
Guest
AQH, I never thought I'd actually completely agree with what you said, but I do. I never thought it would be easy, and I don't think CBS would have been an option since that's already on 1090. Maybe Thunderbirds are what's been keeping 1090 at the bottom of the ratings for the past year or so, as opposed to not showing up. It would certainly be an uphill battle for 98.9 if they had gone sports, and I probably would have made the same decision they did a year ago. Does anyone know where the other sports I mentioned are on the radio if they are at all?
Since CBS owns the substandard 1090 signal, if Hubbard called and said they want to put the CBS Sports Radio Network on FM, I'm pretty sure New York would make it work.
Rob Piotrowski
Star Participant
Since CBS owns the substandard 1090 signal, if Hubbard called and said they want to put the CBS Sports Radio Network on FM, I'm pretty sure New York would make it work.
That's a nice thought, but since Cumulus distributes CBSSRN I don't think New York would give two you-know-whats.
Robert Biltmore Jennings
Regular Participant
Just wait another 6-8 months and 98.9 will flip again. One has to seriously wonder if they suffer from rectal cranium disorder over there in the Pink Palace of the T-Mobile building. 98.9 is lost frequency and about as popular as a pig roast at a bar mitzvah.
Just wait another 6-8 months and 98.9 will flip again. One has to seriously wonder if they suffer from rectal cranium disorder over there in the Pink Palace of the T-Mobile building. 98.9 is lost frequency and about as popular as a pig roast at a bar mitzvah.
The last couple times I've popped into Seattle, I've thought the music selection was, uhm, not good.
A
AQH
Guest
That's a nice thought, but since Cumulus distributes CBSSRN I don't think New York would give two you-know-whats.
The Cumulus distribution thing is correct, the New York reference was about calling CBS HQ since 1090 is an O&O.
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