Yes, I tend to agree. Male based sports shows perhaps are coming to an end. espn has been a leader with this and just now it is going local.
I assume you mean Mitch Levy getting dropped in 2017 after being caught in a prostitution sting? It's worth noting a couple of things:While I also think there is great programming on KJR as well, their image was tarnished with the scandal that broke a few years ago. While that particular scenario shouldn't define an entire radio station, it might shed a little bit of light on the culture of sports radio as a whole.
I'm not sure what you're saying here, because nobody is suggesting the Storm or Reign should get the same coverage as the Seahawks--nobody even mentioned these teams. Heck even a wildly popular men's team like the Sounders barely gets any coverage on KIRO. KJR does broadcast Sounders games and air the podcast, but the regular hosts almost never talk about them.In our current media environment things have changed in the past few years. Male based sports stations are under scrutiny. Not sure how this ends, but sports stations should reflect the popularity of the teams, not based on the sex of participants. In other words, if the
male team draws more interest then that of a female team then that answers the question.
There hasn't been a call here, but when my mom was subscribing to the Seattle Times, I'd look over the sports section and see lots of coverage of the Reign and Storm and UW women's teams and no coverage of the T-birds hockey team or the Everett and Tacoma baseball teams, which draw larger crowds, so there is obviously a call somewhere for that sort of 'equality'.I'm not sure what you're saying here, because nobody is suggesting the Storm or Reign should get the same coverage as the Seahawks--nobody even mentioned these teams. Heck even a wildly popular men's team like the Sounders barely gets any coverage on KIRO. KJR does broadcast Sounders games and air the podcast, but the regular hosts almost never talk about them.
There's a difference. The Thunderbirds and the minor league baseball games are glorified nights out of the house, the players are literally minor leaguers who want to be anywhere else, and no fan is truly interested in the score or in playoff races. The Reign and Storm and UW women's hoops, in contrast, are competing at the top level of the leagues they are playing in. I don't think the Times sports department has an agenda to prop up the women's teams; the newsworthiness is legitimate.There hasn't been a call here, but when my mom was subscribing to the Seattle Times, I'd look over the sports section and see lots of coverage of the Reign and Storm and UW women's teams and no coverage of the T-birds hockey team or the Everett and Tacoma baseball teams, which draw larger crowds, so there is obviously a call somewhere for that sort of 'equality'.
Points well taken, but the audience draw of the minor league baseball teams, as well of the T-birds, are greater than the Reign, and sometimes greater than that of the other women's teams -- Storm included. So one would think that the region's largest newspaper would give the teams I mentioned a little more coverage than just a graph on the stats page. Hence my conclusion that some editorial choices had been made.There's a difference. The Thunderbirds and the minor league baseball games are glorified nights out of the house, the players are literally minor leaguers who want to be anywhere else, and no fan is truly interested in the score or in playoff races. The Reign and Storm and UW women's hoops, in contrast, are competing at the top level of the leagues they are playing in. I don't think the Times sports department has an agenda to prop up the women's teams; the newsworthiness is legitimate.
From a radio POV, obviously none of those teams are popular enough to earn rights fees themselves. Ask AM 1150, who's been cashing checks from the Thunderbirds and UW over the years to air games.
I think what Seatown is saying: That traditional pro-sports; NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, have a larger male audience than female, at least for radio and TV. Attendance for Sounder's games are great, because parents take their pee wee soccer-playing kids to games. I doubt you'll find as large numbers by percentage, listening to Sounders games over the radio.Points well taken, but the audience draw of the minor league baseball teams, as well of the T-birds, are greater than the Reign, and sometimes greater than that of the other women's teams -- Storm included. So one would think that the region's largest newspaper would give the teams I mentioned a little more coverage than just a graph on the stats page. Hence my conclusion that some editorial choices had been made.