Sports Media (local and national)

[FountainOfUte]

The one thing that 1320 did that might keep them around for a while was scooping up Jim Rome when he switched to CBS and dropping their affiliation with yahoo sports radio, which has no big names. Otherwise, I dont think they have much of a future (for the reasons you mentioned and hte fact that Gunther and Graham is a niche show; its never going to be #1 because of the hosts.)

I actually like Gunther and Graham. Let me rephrase that: I actually like Gunther.

Graham's not as bad as he was with Monson. If 1320 sticks around, I think it will be because of these two. When Reilly is stuck talking kicky-ball, G&G are a good alternative. If I want to get depressed, I'll flip over to Monsen.

[Crimsonute]

I actually like Gunther and Graham. Let me rephrase that: I actually like Gunther.

Graham's not as bad as he was with Monson. If 1320 sticks around, I think it will be because of these two. When Reilly is stuck talking kicky-ball, G&G are a good alternative. If I want to get depressed, I'll flip over to Monsen.

Learn to embrace the "Kicky Ball", or as we like to say, Embrace the TiTS (Team is the Star). My opinion, is the more local radio the better. It used to be nice to have options in the morning for local radio. Now if one wants to listen to local sports, one has to listen to how wonderful BYU and the Jazz are, to hear the occasional Utah talk.

[UtahsMrSports]

Learn to embrace the "Kicky Ball", or as we like to say, Embrace the TiTS (Team is the Star). My opinion, is the more local radio the better. It used to be nice to have options in the morning for local radio. Now if one wants to listen to local sports, one has to listen to how wonderful BYU and the Jazz are, to hear the occasional Utah talk.

I was a big fan of the "john and hans" show back in the day. lost interest in "hans and oc" (nothing against OC, just takes the right personality to team up with Hans). Since my only local option is DJ and PK, I completely ignore it. I listen to Dan Patrick in the morning, and thats it.

[UtahsMrSports]

Here are my suggestions for the three local radio stations:

1280 the zone: WAY too much local talk. Yeah, its cool to claim that you are local all day, but there in a market of SLC size, there is only so much you can say. They end up rehashing the same things all day and quite frankly often end up trolling just to break up the monotony. If it was me, I'd put a national show from 1-3 instead of that Scotty G and whoever show. Orrrrrr they could keep it like it was when they originally started this venture in the summer: putting different things on 1280 and 97.5; some local, some national so that folks can choose.

1320 KFAN: I dont know quite frankly. Im just not a gunther type guy. He is a great listen for some folks, but not to me. Graham is just a negative troll. But at least he is an equal opportunity troll. He rides the waves of emotions. He is either out to get a reaction out of people by being too negative or he tries to be the good guy by throwing a tantrum about a team when things dont go right. I dont know what to say. To me, the programming sucks, the signal strength sucks, the website sucks. I don't see KFAN ever making it big and eventually fading away. So I lied, there is no suggestion here.

ESPN700 The middays are dreadfully boring on ESPN 700. Colin Cowherd is a buffoon and SVP and Russillo are boring to me. I like their morning and drive time stuff though. Bill and Hans and Dan Patrick are my favorite shows. If they could find a local show from 10-2, Id love it.

[UtahsMrSports]

Bump!

Well, since this thread, there has been some shakeup in the local radio scene.

-Kevin Graham has left the market for the third time. Hopefully this time for good. His replacement is Tim Montemayor, who came to us from the Bay Area. I can honestly say that I gave this show a try. I came in open minded, to see if they would be interesting. To me, it was nice to bring in an outsider as other stations through the years have more or less recycled the same people. As open minded as I could be, I lasted 15 minutes with this show and had to change the channel. This is a less-clever, less-interesting, more juvenile version of "DJ and PK". It is the exact same shtick. They go for reaction more than quality analysis. I followed them both on twitter and that first fifteen minutes of the show was no fluke, they are out to troll.

As I said earlier in this thread, I really don't see them making it in the long term. As long as 1280 is affiliated with the Jazz and 700 is affiliated with the Utes and RSL, there really is no big team to affiliate with. The signal strength is about as weak as can be. I don't even think Jim Rome can save them as his ratings drop more each year.

-700 has dropped the dull as can be "SVP and Russilo" and now broadcasts Mike and Mike from 4-8, Dan Patrick from 8-11 (on a 1 hour delay) and then Colin Cowherd from 11-2. I asked them why they don't have any more local programming and was told that they have to air a certain number of ESPN programming each day. Basically, they have to choose between Dan Patrick and a local morning show and have stuck with Dan. Can't say I blame them.

-1280 has stayed consistent (more or less) since the merger almost two years ago. DJ and PK is what it is. I like Jake and Tony at times, although there are times when both of them are clueless. Scotty G is absolutely un-listenable to me as he rolls through cliche after cliche. Spence and Gordon have grown on me, but there producer, austin horton, constantly interjects some of the dumbest comments and it really takes away from their show.

I still do not see any compelling reason to switch the dial away from ESPN 700, unless it is a trolling day for Colin.

Thoughts?

[Sullyute]

-Kevin Graham has left the market for the third time. Hopefully this time for good. His replacement is Tim Montemayor, who came to us from the Bay Area. I can honestly say that I gave this show a try. I came in open minded, to see if they would be interesting. To me, it was nice to bring in an outsider as other stations through the years have more or less recycled the same people. As open minded as I could be, I lasted 15 minutes with this show and had to change the channel. This is a less-clever, less-interesting, more juvenile version of "DJ and PK". It is the exact same shtick. They go for reaction more than quality analysis. I followed them both on twitter and that first fifteen minutes of the show was no fluke, they are out to troll.

As I said earlier in this thread, I really don't see them making it in the long term. As long as 1280 is affiliated with the Jazz and 700 is affiliated with the Utes and RSL, there really is no big team to affiliate with. The signal strength is about as weak as can be. I don't even think Jim Rome can save them as his ratings drop more each year.

They claim themselves as the number 1 afternoon sports station in the market. Not sure what the criteria is, but that is what they claim. I really like how much football talk they have as I don't care for basketball. Not a huge Monty fan, but I could listen to Gunther all day. When he is not goofying off he really has some good insight on football.

-700 has dropped the dull as can be "SVP and Russilo" and now broadcasts Mike and Mike from 4-8, Dan Patrick from 8-11 (on a 1 hour delay) and then Colin Cowherd from 11-2. I asked them why they don't have any more local programming and was told that they have to air a certain number of ESPN programming each day. Basically, they have to choose between Dan Patrick and a local morning show and have stuck with Dan. Can't say I blame them.

Definitely the most professional sports station. I like Bill and Hans. Bill is the constant professional, while Hans brings the sports insider prospective. I enjoy listening during football season.

-1280 has stayed consistent (more or less) since the merger almost two years ago. DJ and PK is what it is. I like Jake and Tony at times, although there are times when both of them are clueless. Scotty G is absolutely un-listenable to me as he rolls through cliche after cliche. Spence and Gordon have grown on me, but there producer, austin horton, constantly interjects some of the dumbest comments and it really takes away from their show.

Haven't listen to the morning or afternoon clowns in quite some time. I don't mind Jake and Tony but I generally don't listen to sports radio at that time of day.

Also, I just checked the Nielson numbers and both 700 and 1280 have a .9 share, while 1320 had a .5 share of the market. All three are pretty far down the line in market share from the other news and music stations.

[SoCalPat]

Bump!

Well, since this thread, there has been some shakeup in the local radio scene.

-Kevin Graham has left the market for the third time. Hopefully this time for good. His replacement is Tim Montemayor, who came to us from the Bay Area. I can honestly say that I gave this show a try. I came in open minded, to see if they would be interesting. To me, it was nice to bring in an outsider as other stations through the years have more or less recycled the same people. As open minded as I could be, I lasted 15 minutes with this show and had to change the channel. This is a less-clever, less-interesting, more juvenile version of "DJ and PK". It is the exact same shtick. They go for reaction more than quality analysis. I followed them both on twitter and that first fifteen minutes of the show was no fluke, they are out to troll.

As I said earlier in this thread, I really don't see them making it in the long term. As long as 1280 is affiliated with the Jazz and 700 is affiliated with the Utes and RSL, there really is no big team to affiliate with. The signal strength is about as weak as can be. I don't even think Jim Rome can save them as his ratings drop more each year.

-700 has dropped the dull as can be "SVP and Russilo" and now broadcasts Mike and Mike from 4-8, Dan Patrick from 8-11 (on a 1 hour delay) and then Colin Cowherd from 11-2. I asked them why they don't have any more local programming and was told that they have to air a certain number of ESPN programming each day. Basically, they have to choose between Dan Patrick and a local morning show and have stuck with Dan. Can't say I blame them.

-1280 has stayed consistent (more or less) since the merger almost two years ago. DJ and PK is what it is. I like Jake and Tony at times, although there are times when both of them are clueless. Scotty G is absolutely un-listenable to me as he rolls through cliche after cliche. Spence and Gordon have grown on me, but there producer, austin horton, constantly interjects some of the dumbest comments and it really takes away from their show.

I still do not see any compelling reason to switch the dial away from ESPN 700, unless it is a trolling day for Colin.

Thoughts?

Dan Patrick, as part of the Premiere Radio Networks, isn't mandated programming for any ESPN Radio affiliate, but Mike and Mike is. And I'm not sure you want to go local from 8-11. Also, Colin Cowherd is on a three-hour delay in SLC, as I get Colin right after Mike and Mike at 8 here in Twin Falls.

SLC is a very interesting dynamic for STR. It's really too small of a market for three such stations, and one of the big players in town (BYU) is unaffiliated with STR. Additionally, KSL ad rates on BYU sports are what you'd expect -- pretty doggone expensive and cost-prohibitive for a lot of small businesses. But stations like 1280 and 1320 can tap into that void, create BYU-friendly segments and pull enough advertisers to remain viable. Many here will not like what I'm saying here, but as long as there are three STR stations in SLC (and BYU athletics remain on a non-STR station), the driving force behind all of them will be to capture the BYU fan. Even 700 -- HOTRU -- knows this and has BYU figures on periodically, not to mention hiring a former BYU player to co-host their one local show.

[crazyute]

I can't stand DJ and PK to me they seem to be flirting with each other the whole time.

[Utah]

Dan Patrick, as part of the Premiere Radio Networks, isn't mandated programming for any ESPN Radio affiliate, but Mike and Mike is. And I'm not sure you want to go local from 8-11. Also, Colin Cowherd is on a three-hour delay in SLC, as I get Colin right after Mike and Mike at 8 here in Twin Falls.

SLC is a very interesting dynamic for STR. It's really too small of a market for three such stations, and one of the big players in town (BYU) is unaffiliated with STR. Additionally, KSL ad rates on BYU sports are what you'd expect -- pretty doggone expensive and cost-prohibitive for a lot of small businesses. But stations like 1280 and 1320 can tap into that void, create BYU-friendly segments and pull enough advertisers to remain viable. Many here will not like what I'm saying here, but as long as there are three STR stations in SLC (and BYU athletics remain on a non-STR station), the driving force behind all of them will be to capture the BYU fan. Even 700 -- HOTRU -- knows this and has BYU figures on periodically, not to mention hiring a former BYU player to co-host their one local show.

I haven't listened to much talk radio the last couple of months, but it really feels like Guther and Monty are going hard after the BYU fan.