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All The King's Radio Towers
By Steve Czaban on August 26, 2008 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
All along, when my home station, Sportstalk 980, was being boarded at swordpoint bought out by our Beloved Supreme Football Leader Dan Snyder, I was puzzled by one pretty key aspect of the deal.
How was this going to fix his "signal problems?"
Answer: It hasn't. And it won't.
Actual scenario, this past Saturday night.
I get out of Tyson's Corner in the heart of Northern Virginia after a lovely anniversary dinner with my wife and flip on the radio. Luckily 980 can still be heard around 9 p.m. Whoa! I hear Al Galdi report during a studio break that the Skins are getting pummeled 34-3 in their "dress rehearsal" game against the Panthers AT THE HALF!
Now, I'm really interested in what Sonny, Sam and Larry have to say about things.
As I am driving westward, the signal on 980 fades to static somewhere around the Ashburn exit. Okay, no problem. He owns 6 stations (4 AM and 2 FM) so I'll just "flip around" to find the game.
Well, all the AM signals have gone to bed out in that part of Virginia by that time of night, so I'll try the FMs. But then I realize. I forgot what they are! I call the studio to get those coordinates, only to speak with Andy Pollin (camped in to host the post-game show) who informs me about Jason Taylor.
Egad.
Now, I am REALLY interested in hearing the radio broadcast, especially for any updates on our prized DE we spent a 2nd and a 6th to acquire.
No luck. Both FM's are so static filled, that even though I may have fought through it to listen, my wife was having none of it.
Click. I had to turn it off.
Now, let's fast forward to this year's Commanders Schedule.
The following games WILL be affected by the night-time power-down of Snyder's various radio signals, and reception will be spotty in some, or many areas of the sprawling DC market. Also note, that once October is out and the clocks move back, it will get dark around 5:30 or earlier. Thus, all 4:15 games will get clipped then too.
Thu Sept 4 - at NY Giants 7:00 PM
Sun Sept 28 - at Dallas Cowboys 8:00 PM
Sun Oct 19 - CLEVELAND BROWNS 4:15 PM
Mon Nov 3 - PITTSBURGH STEELERS 8:30 PM
Sun Nov 16 - DALLAS COWBOYS 8:15 PM
Sun Nov 23 - at Seattle Seahawks 4:15 PM
Sun Dec 28 - at San Francisco 49ers 4:15 PM
That's almost HALF the season, in which reception of the game broadcast on radio will be a challenge, if not impossible for many! Worst yet, is the fact that the BEST part of listening to an NFL game on the radio, is piping in for the post-game show, where the raw unfiltered emotions of the fans after a game provide the soundtrack to our collective fandom.
You can almost forget about that!
Some say Snyder bought my station to silence critics like me. Well, for one, I haven't been fired (yet) and have not had the "you can't say that about this team meeting" (yet) either.
Sure, those may come. But for now, I'm baffled. Did he really think the signal issue was going to be okay with a wild six-shooter of weak sticks? Last year, the best FM in the market - Big 100.3 FM - simulcast the game AND the post-game.
As of this writing, that won't happen in 2008. Which is a shame. I too would like to hear the game on radio - or at a minimum, the post-game - and yet that seems unlikely unless a last minute deal with a STRONG FM that really blankets the market happens in a week or less.
Oh by the way, for you readers outside of the DC/MD/VA area who don't know where "Ashburn" is? It's where Commanders Park is located. Which, you would think, an owner with his own sports radio station, would want the signal to adequately cover during football season.
Why does this all matter?
Because the radio package for an NFL team, is another key arm in it's marketing to fans. And in general, NFL fans LOVE their hometown announcers. Sometimes, to a fault. Here you have a faulty product (due to signal) that will frustrate many fans.
Why does Snyder not seem to care about the signal issue? Perhaps because in his helicopter, they don't listen to the radio. My theory is more simple: advertisers to the Commanders Radio Network aren't being charged for "static free hours" they are simply being sold on general "coverage", of which the team I'm sure, insists is "fine."
The fans who live in parts where you can't hear the game/post-game get screwed, but it's no urgent upgrade for the owner who just wants to cash the checks.
Sadly, the shoddy game-day experience for the fans at FedEx Field is now extending to a a shoddy experience at home or in the car while trying to listen to the product on the radio.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
While we are on the Snyder/Commanders front, here are two pieces you might have missed as Skins fans regarding Snyder.
The first is a lengthy interview with the Wall Street Jounal (way to keep it local, my man!) about his various businesses, and his Death Fued with the Washington Post. Says Snyder about the Post:
WSJ: In June you bought a radio station, WTEM, which is a very popular local sports station. There's some concern among fans that it might become a propaganda tool for the Commanders. What do you say to that?
Mr. Snyder: It's actually just the Washington Post. We have a problem in this marketplace with our local newspaper. There's a monopoly. I have no problems saying that. They have been losing circulation by the droves, losing advertising by the pound load and they are desperate to create controversy. They had a Washington Post radio business at the time -- it's since gone out of business -- that was a competitor. We did write them a letter saying obviously you're a competitor, so don't use your newspaper to affect the business. Other than them, you won't find any of that type of talk.
Then there's this piece from the Weekly Standard by Jonathan Last.
Snyder's tenure as an NFL owner has been marked by a penchant for spending scads of money on dubious prospects with little return. His adventures in radio were of a piece. He paid a whopping $33 million to acquire three weak-signal stations in the D.C. area. He then established them as a network affiliated with ESPN Radio, airing mostly ESPN's brain-dead, nationally syndicated programming.
The ratings have been dismal. According to Arbitron the three stations combined to pull between a 0.5 and 1.0 percent share. It was about the same rating they garnered before Snyder bought them--when they were Spanish-language music channels.
So Snyder doubled down. Earlier this summer he bought WTEM (and two smaller stations) for $24.5 million. WTEM had been crushing Snyder's network in the ratings. Naturally, his first move was to replace much of WTEM's popular local programming with the unpopular, syndicated ESPN product he was airing on his failing network. That's one way to beat the competition, I suppose.
http://czabe.com/the_daily_czabe/blog/all-the-kings-radio-towers/
By Steve Czaban on August 26, 2008 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
All along, when my home station, Sportstalk 980, was being boarded at swordpoint bought out by our Beloved Supreme Football Leader Dan Snyder, I was puzzled by one pretty key aspect of the deal.
How was this going to fix his "signal problems?"
Answer: It hasn't. And it won't.
Actual scenario, this past Saturday night.
I get out of Tyson's Corner in the heart of Northern Virginia after a lovely anniversary dinner with my wife and flip on the radio. Luckily 980 can still be heard around 9 p.m. Whoa! I hear Al Galdi report during a studio break that the Skins are getting pummeled 34-3 in their "dress rehearsal" game against the Panthers AT THE HALF!
Now, I'm really interested in what Sonny, Sam and Larry have to say about things.
As I am driving westward, the signal on 980 fades to static somewhere around the Ashburn exit. Okay, no problem. He owns 6 stations (4 AM and 2 FM) so I'll just "flip around" to find the game.
Well, all the AM signals have gone to bed out in that part of Virginia by that time of night, so I'll try the FMs. But then I realize. I forgot what they are! I call the studio to get those coordinates, only to speak with Andy Pollin (camped in to host the post-game show) who informs me about Jason Taylor.
Egad.
Now, I am REALLY interested in hearing the radio broadcast, especially for any updates on our prized DE we spent a 2nd and a 6th to acquire.
No luck. Both FM's are so static filled, that even though I may have fought through it to listen, my wife was having none of it.
Click. I had to turn it off.
Now, let's fast forward to this year's Commanders Schedule.
The following games WILL be affected by the night-time power-down of Snyder's various radio signals, and reception will be spotty in some, or many areas of the sprawling DC market. Also note, that once October is out and the clocks move back, it will get dark around 5:30 or earlier. Thus, all 4:15 games will get clipped then too.
Thu Sept 4 - at NY Giants 7:00 PM
Sun Sept 28 - at Dallas Cowboys 8:00 PM
Sun Oct 19 - CLEVELAND BROWNS 4:15 PM
Mon Nov 3 - PITTSBURGH STEELERS 8:30 PM
Sun Nov 16 - DALLAS COWBOYS 8:15 PM
Sun Nov 23 - at Seattle Seahawks 4:15 PM
Sun Dec 28 - at San Francisco 49ers 4:15 PM
That's almost HALF the season, in which reception of the game broadcast on radio will be a challenge, if not impossible for many! Worst yet, is the fact that the BEST part of listening to an NFL game on the radio, is piping in for the post-game show, where the raw unfiltered emotions of the fans after a game provide the soundtrack to our collective fandom.
You can almost forget about that!
Some say Snyder bought my station to silence critics like me. Well, for one, I haven't been fired (yet) and have not had the "you can't say that about this team meeting" (yet) either.
Sure, those may come. But for now, I'm baffled. Did he really think the signal issue was going to be okay with a wild six-shooter of weak sticks? Last year, the best FM in the market - Big 100.3 FM - simulcast the game AND the post-game.
As of this writing, that won't happen in 2008. Which is a shame. I too would like to hear the game on radio - or at a minimum, the post-game - and yet that seems unlikely unless a last minute deal with a STRONG FM that really blankets the market happens in a week or less.
Oh by the way, for you readers outside of the DC/MD/VA area who don't know where "Ashburn" is? It's where Commanders Park is located. Which, you would think, an owner with his own sports radio station, would want the signal to adequately cover during football season.
Why does this all matter?
Because the radio package for an NFL team, is another key arm in it's marketing to fans. And in general, NFL fans LOVE their hometown announcers. Sometimes, to a fault. Here you have a faulty product (due to signal) that will frustrate many fans.
Why does Snyder not seem to care about the signal issue? Perhaps because in his helicopter, they don't listen to the radio. My theory is more simple: advertisers to the Commanders Radio Network aren't being charged for "static free hours" they are simply being sold on general "coverage", of which the team I'm sure, insists is "fine."
The fans who live in parts where you can't hear the game/post-game get screwed, but it's no urgent upgrade for the owner who just wants to cash the checks.
Sadly, the shoddy game-day experience for the fans at FedEx Field is now extending to a a shoddy experience at home or in the car while trying to listen to the product on the radio.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
While we are on the Snyder/Commanders front, here are two pieces you might have missed as Skins fans regarding Snyder.
The first is a lengthy interview with the Wall Street Jounal (way to keep it local, my man!) about his various businesses, and his Death Fued with the Washington Post. Says Snyder about the Post:
WSJ: In June you bought a radio station, WTEM, which is a very popular local sports station. There's some concern among fans that it might become a propaganda tool for the Commanders. What do you say to that?
Mr. Snyder: It's actually just the Washington Post. We have a problem in this marketplace with our local newspaper. There's a monopoly. I have no problems saying that. They have been losing circulation by the droves, losing advertising by the pound load and they are desperate to create controversy. They had a Washington Post radio business at the time -- it's since gone out of business -- that was a competitor. We did write them a letter saying obviously you're a competitor, so don't use your newspaper to affect the business. Other than them, you won't find any of that type of talk.
Then there's this piece from the Weekly Standard by Jonathan Last.
Snyder's tenure as an NFL owner has been marked by a penchant for spending scads of money on dubious prospects with little return. His adventures in radio were of a piece. He paid a whopping $33 million to acquire three weak-signal stations in the D.C. area. He then established them as a network affiliated with ESPN Radio, airing mostly ESPN's brain-dead, nationally syndicated programming.
The ratings have been dismal. According to Arbitron the three stations combined to pull between a 0.5 and 1.0 percent share. It was about the same rating they garnered before Snyder bought them--when they were Spanish-language music channels.
So Snyder doubled down. Earlier this summer he bought WTEM (and two smaller stations) for $24.5 million. WTEM had been crushing Snyder's network in the ratings. Naturally, his first move was to replace much of WTEM's popular local programming with the unpopular, syndicated ESPN product he was airing on his failing network. That's one way to beat the competition, I suppose.
http://czabe.com/the_daily_czabe/blog/all-the-kings-radio-towers/
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