Forget about the "Score" picking up Sox radio

[Medford Bobby]

Sports Contracts Could Be Dropped By Infinity

Infinity Chairman/CEO Joel Hollander also noted yesterday at the Bear Stearns Conference that rights to air Major League Baseball and National Football League games on its radio stations have become "diluted" thanks to TV, the Internet, satellite radio and now iPods. He told the crowd, "For my dime, it's not as exclusive at it was 10 years ago. So I'm not going to pay that amount of money for the rights." Hollander admits that lots of contracts are coming up for renewal, and he says, "We will absolutely renegotiate those deals. And if we don't we will walk from many of those deals." Hollander also says that much of the cash Infinity would have spent on sports contracts would instead go to reinforcing its talent pool. Among the other things Hollander said: Infinity did an "unbelievable job" of managing expenses in Q4, considering the marketing costs for Infinity's stations, paying an FCC fine and paying syndicated morning talent Howard Stern's salary.

Would this keep the Sox on ESPN 1000 or would they find if WTAQ La Grange is still available??

[Viva Medias B's]

Originally Posted by Medford Bobby

Sports Contracts Could Be Dropped By Infinity

Infinity Chairman/CEO Joel Hollander also noted yesterday at the Bear Stearns Conference that rights to air Major League Baseball and National Football League games on its radio stations have become "diluted" thanks to TV, the Internet, satellite radio and now iPods. He told the crowd, "For my dime, it's not as exclusive at it was 10 years ago. So I'm not going to pay that amount of money for the rights." Hollander admits that lots of contracts are coming up for renewal, and he says, "We will absolutely renegotiate those deals. And if we don't we will walk from many of those deals." Hollander also says that much of the cash Infinity would have spent on sports contracts would instead go to reinforcing its talent pool. Among the other things Hollander said: Infinity did an "unbelievable job" of managing expenses in Q4, considering the marketing costs for Infinity's stations, paying an FCC fine and paying syndicated morning talent Howard Stern's salary.

Would this keep the Sox on ESPN 1000 or would they find if WTAQ La Grange is still available??

Hollander is an idiot, like much of our CEO's today.

[mcfish]

Is he serious when he says that "rights to air MLB and NFL games on its radio stations have become "diluted" thanks to TV?" Did he just read a memo from 1970 or something?

[tebman]

Originally Posted by Medford Bobby

Would this keep the Sox on ESPN 1000 or would they find if WTAQ La Grange is still available??

Either way, it doesn't look good. The corporate masters who own the radio stations see them only as electronic billboards, and if they can make more money doing something other than baseball, then that's what they'll do.

I hope it continues to work out for WMVP. Even though WSCR has a better signal, it's pretty clear that its owners are not interested in carrying the Sox. The alternative is pretty bleak -- WTAQ has since become Radio Disney WRDZ

- tebman

[mcfish]

Originally Posted by tebman

The alternative is pretty bleak -- WTAQ has since become Radio Disney WRDZ

- tebman

That would be fun. I would love to hear an edition of Ask Farmio on Radio Disney.

[tebman]

Originally Posted by mcfish

That would be fun. I would love to hear an edition of Ask Farmio on Radio Disney.

That would be great! Donald Duck asks Farmio, "Wakwak wakwak wakkk?" Farmio replies, "Now Wak has been known to be an issue in the game, which does remind me of the time I pitched to a catcher in the Pacific Coast League who had a speech impediment much like yours..."

- tebman

[Fenway]

I warned you about this 4 months ago

http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/v...ad.php?t=41767


Now according to WEEI, MLB is telling it's member clubs that it would like to see a shift to the flagship stations to FM in short order. This would eliminate the clear channel broadcasts at night and thus make XM or computer paid broadcasts the only option outside the home market.

This could cause a major headache for one team as the Tribune Company for whatever reason years ago failed to invest in FM radio.

[tebman]

Originally Posted by fenway

I warned you about this 4 months ago

http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/v...ad.php?t=41767


Now according to WEEI, MLB is telling it's member clubs that it would like to see a shift to the flagship stations to FM in short order. This would eliminate the clear channel broadcasts at night and thus make XM or computer paid broadcasts the only option outside the home market.

This could cause a major headache for one team as the Tribune Company for whatever reason years ago failed to invest in FM radio.

You're right, Fenway. While it would be fun to watch the Tribune squirm about taking away WGN's reason for being, it's all part of a gradual slide in technology.

I love radio, but I don't know how much longer it can continue in the way we know it. Between XM, Sirius, the new IBOC/HD digital-broadcast scheme that's gradually being installed, "podcasting" via wi-fi nodes, and God knows what else, the waters are rising around that industry. Baseball geeks like us are going to be spending a lot of time at Radio Shack or Circuit City trying to find a receiving appliance to listen to ballgames.

However it shakes out, the only certainty is that it'll cost more.

- tebman

[Fenway]

WEEI is at least covered as they own 2 FM licenses in the Boston market along with one in Providence.

What really set Infinity into a rage was that they have to provide the feed to XM but the commercials they sell will not be heard on XM. (XM will sell the time themselves )

I don't know this for sure but since XM will be doing this for every game I would "suspect" you may see the commercials on the computer feed get snipped starting this year as well.

ExtraInnings until now has been running the local commercials with the cable provider/satellite company allowed to sell the spots that would be for local insertion.

Originally Posted by tebman

You're right, Fenway. While it would be fun to watch the Tribune squirm about taking away WGN's reason for being, it's all part of a gradual slide in technology.

I love radio, but I don't know how much longer it can continue in the way we know it. Between XM, Sirius, the new IBOC/HD digital-broadcast scheme that's gradually being installed, "podcasting" via wi-fi nodes, and God knows what else, the waters are rising around that industry. Baseball geeks like us are going to be spending a lot of time at Radio Shack or Circuit City trying to find a receiving appliance to listen to ballgames.

However it shakes out, the only certainty is that it'll cost more.

- tebman

[Medford Bobby]

OK, refresh my memory but was there a plan out there that the Blackhawks would "pay" a radio station to broadcast the games??????...........sort of a 3 hour advertising block or brokeraged programming???


Could baseball be that way soon.....Well you already see it on TV .
Baseball has frowned on "Superstations" for many years of giving away games to other markets. TBS is slowly weening itself from Braves baseball...and soon down the road it will very rare to see Cups or Sox games on WGN as MLB will demand "Network prices" if these games go national. And thus the superstations have to pass that price to the cable and dish systems.....then many just simply drop WGN as is the case out here in Washington..Almost no systems carry WGN........

[Lip Man 1]

Bobby:

Yes the Hawks did it that way last year. They bought the time and then sold advertising rights themselves and kept the revenue.

There are some universities who do the same thing, like Idaho State.

And remember in 1994 'The Baseball Network?' that was the exact same thing. MLB paid NBC for broadcast time then sold the advertising themselves. It was an Eddie Einhorn idea for MLB.

Lip

[Fenway]

Yankees have been doing it for years on Viacom owned WCBS and before that WABC

Radio is a 6 AM to 6 PM biz stations make squat on ad revenue in non prime hours

[Medford Bobby]

Could the future MLB Channel (I guess like the NFL Network, NBA TV) be a source for out of market games to be shown like a "Baseball Superstation"..live games, classic games, interview talk, etc.??


OK, so actually we may see the Sox do the same thing like the Blackhawks, and keep all the revenue generated from the broadcasts..........

[Fenway]

Originally Posted by Lip Man 1

Bobby:


And remember in 1994 'The Baseball Network?' that was the exact same thing. MLB paid NBC for broadcast time then sold the advertising themselves. It was an Eddie Einhorn idea for MLB.

Lip

Which at the time was a horrible failure.

Einhorn always seems to be a decade ahead. The Baseball Channel was doomed when they decided to have playoffs game air at the same time and there was no alternate channel.

OWNERS GET THE MESSAGE THAT THEY WERE OFF-BASE LONG NIGHTS A GIANT LETDOWN (Boston Globe, October 8, 1995)

Even Eddie Einhorn, minority owner of the White Sox and leading defender of the TV schedule, confessed that he was frustrated. Chicago got the Reds- Dodgers series. Which LCS will be seen in the Windy City was still undecided as of Friday. With a team in each league, the city could get either one. The only certainty is that there will be complaints

But there is another likely reason for the blunder. Some owners claim to be fans, but very few think like fans. They are different from us, and they just didn't get it. Until last week. Never again, they promise.

[Medford Bobby]

That's right, remember when some of the playoffs were on the Family Channel, Animal Planet, Food Channel...you had to search for the games and alot of cable systems did not have FX Channel...



Baseball likes to complicate things......god bless the NFL and their control of product distribution...