Connect with us
Jim Cutler Demos

Sports Radio News

Making Sense of The Latest Houston Ratings

Jason Barrett

Published

on

The Houston sports radio ratings were published this week in the Houston Chronicle, and I usually refrain from interjecting my opinion on other ratings pieces, but given what I just read, I felt it necessary to do so.

One of the major challenges radio faces as an industry is having their story told by the print media. Most writers don’t understand the complexities of the ratings game or the way radio stations evaluate short-term and long-term success. They simply look at a number for one demographic (Men 25-54) and compare it to the one the station generated the month before. They then use that gain or decrease as the evidence to support their position on defining whether the station was a success or failure for the current month.

First, it’s clear that the intent of this particular article was to stir up controversy by using Josh Innes’ name as the centerpiece. I’m sure Josh won’t mind the exposure, and the publication is probably satisfied with the traffic they’ve generated from it, but unless you understand the way new shows are measured, this is simply an attempt to create buzz around manufactured drama.

Let me be clear, Innes is off to a slow start. That part of the story deserves to be told. But, most new shows take time to develop and capture an audience, which is why most programmers provide a 1-2 year cushion when evaluating the growth of a show. iHeartmedia in Houston didn’t hire Innes with the false belief that he’d lead them to the top of the ratings in 3 months. If it were that simple they’d have hired him sooner.

There are certain situations when shows on highly rated brands win faster, or certain shows are a mess and need to have the plug pulled sooner, but Innes inherited a small audience, and provides a stark contrast in style to his predecessor Charlie Pallilo. That means he has to build an entirely new audience because Pallilo’s listener’s are less likely to stick around for Innes, at least in the short-term. To expect Josh to reverse the station’s ratings woes in afternoons in 90 days is unrealistic.

I understand the local press’ affinity towards Pallilo, but he was given a long leash by the iHeartmedia brass in Houston. I’m sure local executives wrestled with making a change for a while before deciding it was time to change direction.

Every host understands when they accept an opportunity to host a show in this business that they’re a prisoner to the ratings. Unfortunately for Charlie his numbers weren’t there. That doesn’t mean he’s not talented, a good guy, or someone capable of helping another station make money and enjoy success. It simply means he didn’t generate enough ratings to satisfy 790’s business objectives.

The even bigger part of the story that was missing was the credit that Sports Radio 610 deserved for winning the month. There are some very talented people on the airwaves at 790 and 97.5, and to win the head to head competition against them and remain in control as 610 has done for the majority of 2016 is a feat worth highlighting. The station literally received one line of recognition in the first 8 paragraphs of the story.

Since the local outlet didn’t provide it, let me be the first to extend a congrats to Ryan McCredden and the 610 staff on their latest performance.

If the goal was to generate buzz off of negativity, one could’ve pointed to the fact that the ratings were down for all three stations during the past three months. It’s football season, and the Texans were playing for a chance to make the playoffs, and there was a lot of drama surrounding the team’s starting Quarterback Brock Osweiler. The Rockets were also one month into the season, and playing great basketball. You’d think those things would help generate a spike in listening, but for whatever reason, the shares were slightly lower.

Was that due to Nielsen losing 8% of their sample? Maybe. But even if the 8% was located, I don’t believe the numbers would’ve matched what each brand produced in October.

I realize the Innes-Pallilo story provides drama. That then leads to clicks, and given Josh’s track record in Houston and Philadelphia, he’s a newspaper media writer’s dream. But I don’t think it’s too much to ask for the whole story to be told.

I have no horse in this race, I just like seeing the performance of sports radio brands reflected in a fair and honest way. For Houston listeners, I see it as a positive that they have three good options to choose from when they’re in the mood to consume Houston sports radio. Regardless of the ratings, if the brands are generating revenue and showing a profit, then all will be fine inside the walls of each operation.

When you add it all up, here’s what you have.

Sports Radio 610 is in the driver’s seat, and has consistently led the market.

790 is in building mode and counting on Innes to provide a ratings boost in the future, but they need time to take that next step.

ESPN 97.5 remains in the conversation in second place, and is currently giving 610 their strongest ratings competition. Their best performance though is coming from Mike and Mike, which could be problematic down the line if changes occur with ESPN Radio’s morning show.

Here are the numbers the Chronicle published which show how each station and it’s key weekday shows performed in the latest December book.

STATIONTIMESLOT/LOCAL SHOWS16-Dec16-Nov16-Oct
M-F 6A-7P
Sports Radio 6103.23.63.7
ESPN 97.51.61.72.2
SportsTalk 7900.81.11.7
Mornings
Sports Radio 610Mad Radio – 6a-10a3.43.94
ESPN 97.5Mike & Mike – 5a-9aN/AN/AN/A
SportsTalk 790Proper Gentlemen – 6a-10a0.81.31.8
Middays
Sports Radio 610John Lopez & Cody Stoots – 10a-2p2.63.53
ESPN 97.5Granato & Ramzanali – 9a-11a1.51.82.4
ESPN 97.5Granato & Salisbury – 11a-1p2.222.5
ESPN 97.5Joel Blank – 1p-4p1.61.32
SportsTalk 790Koch & Kalu – 10a-12p10.81.3
SportsTalk 790Jones & Clanton – 12p-3p1.11.51.8
Afternoons
Sports Radio 610The Triple Threat – 2p-6p3.84.44.5
ESPN 97.5The Blitz – 4p-7p1.72.72.7
SportsTalk 790Josh Innes – 3p-7p0.91.4N/A
SportsTalk 790Charlie Pallilo2.3

*** Mike and Mike’s ratings were not provided but the show delivers the three strongest rated hours of the entire broadcast day on ESPN 97.5. From 5a-6a M&M produce a 5.8. During the 7a-8a hour they record a 3.0, and from 8a-9a they generate a 2.6.

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Sports Radio News

Jason Puckett Launches PuckSports.com

“I am super motivated right now and I can’t wait. I have probably been busier now than I’ve ever been in the last 48 hours.”

Published

on

Logo for PuckSports.com

Jason Puckett, who decided to walk away from a contract offer from iHeartMedia’s KJR in Seattle after finding out his partner Jim Moore had been laid off, has launched a new venture – PuckSports.com. ‘Puck’ has a baseball opening day show posted on the Puck Sports YouTube page and also posted an introductory message about his new venture and what led to creating it.

“I wanted to talk to you guys, the listeners out there, the viewers out there, sorry for all of this,” an emotional Puckett said. “Sorry for what has happened and what has taken place. Thank you for all of the comments and the well-wishes and what you have said about myself and Jim.

“It has been a whirlwind of a last few days, for sure and I do want to say that I feel for the people that we used to work with. “I know it’s not easy to go through that, I have been on that side of it many, many times in this industry when someone is let go and you have to sit there and answer all the questions about them and for them…It’s unfortunate and it shouldn’t be that way, but the reality of this business is it’s like that.”

Puckett then told his fans that PuckSports.com and YouTube are where you will be finding his content along with Moore. “I am going to take what I have learned over the years and apply it to a new age of media,” he said and noted this was a direction he had been thinking about for a while.

As for what took place that led to his decision to not sign his contract and talk away, he said, “I just want to take you briefly back to last week. I don’t want to get too much in the weeds, I’m not here to lay any blame or point any fingers at anybody…there’s too many good people that I have worked with that I don’t want to drag into this. It was a process that was at times handled fine, handled perfectly, and at other times it got to a point where it just went on too long. But that’s corporate media and that’s what happens.”

Continuing on Puckett said, “…I had been without a contract since about January…when I was away from the station that was something that we and the station agreed upon…to see if we could get something done and we were all hopeful that we would…I was only supposed to be gone a couple of days…unfortunately as these things sometimes happen, it just went a little bit longer…We received the deal and it was what we wanted, but unfortunately with that news a few hours later came the news from corporate that Jim had lost his job. Obviously there was a mix of emotions with that from me.

“I wrestled with that and the decision and what I would do. It was hard for me to move forward…I couldn’t fight the perception more than anything that I had received a new deal while at the same time, my partner and good friend, guy I love to death, who I grew up reading…it was a hard reality…The loyalty I have, I couldn’t live with myself even though Jim knew what the truth was.”

Puckett said he was aware Moore was planning to step away from the radio show at the end of the year and was looking forward to the nine months they would have left to work with one another. Then, when iHeartMedia made the decision to make Moore a casualty of their latest round of layoffs, Puckett knew he needed to revisit the idea of starting his own venture.

He said, “It has kind of changed my timeline as far as what I wanted to do and where I felt I was at…I am super motivated right now and I can’t wait. I have probably been busier now than I’ve ever been in the last 48 hours.”

Puckett said several of the show’s regular guests would stay with the show and he thanked several sponsors who he said would remain supporters of the show with the new venture. ‘Puck’ noted that starting next week, “…We get underway in full force…I’m going to continue to try and make people laugh and entertain you and talk about sports…and all of the other things you have become accustomed to with this show.”

As he started to wrap up, Puckett said, “I’m jumping into the deep end of the pool and I am going to see if I can swim or sink.”

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Continue Reading

Sports Radio News

Kirk Minihane: WEEI is “Going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in Afternoons”

“It’s going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in the afternoons, which is going to be so awful.”

Published

on

Photos of Kirk Minihane and Rich Shertenlieb

As the speculation continues on where Boston sports talker Rich Shertenlieb will end up, one former WEEI host said he has the scoop on what is going to happen. Kirk Minihane, now with Barstool Sports, said, “What I heard was, initially, was they were moving Rich Keefe from nights to middays, moving Adam Jones from afternoons to middays and keeping Fauria there, and moving Andy Gresh to afternoons…But now it appears Rich Shertenlieb is going to do afternoons with Andy Gresh.”

On Wednesday, Boston Globe sports and sports media columnist Chad Finn put out a post on X, saying, “Didn’t think Rich Shertenlieb would end up at WEEI after leaving Sports Hub. I do now, most likely in afternoon drive. Audacy management has been telling people to expect changes.”

Minihane continued commenting on the matter, saying, “It’s going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in the afternoons, which is going to be so awful. Maybe the two most sensitive c***s in the history of radio. That’s a show we are going to ruin…we haven’t done that in a while, we are going to take that show down…Once that show starts, we are just going to blitz them with phone calls because Gresh can’t handle that.

“What they don’t understand, because they are so dumb, is that…Rich Shertenlieb has no fan base…no fan of [Toucher and Hardy] in the morning is going to be like ‘I’m not going to listen to Felger in the afternoons, I’ll now listen to Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb.’ It’s going to be dreadful.”

Recapping what he has heard the rest of the WEEI lineup will be, Minihane said, “…And then in middays you have Adam Jones, failed afternoons. Rich Keefe who has now failed middays, drivetime, nights and is now going to fail again in middays… and Christian Fauria who has never drawn a rating in his life.”

WEEI has not commented on any of the speculation. BSM will have more as the story unfolds.

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Continue Reading

Sports Radio News

Former 670 The Score Host Tommy Williams Has Died

Published

on

Photo of Tommy Williams
Courtesy: Lakeshore Public Media

Tommy Williams, who was heard for a decade on 670 The Score, died on Wednesday at the age of 66.

Williams began his broadcasting career in his hometown of Gary, Indiana in 1982 at WLTH before moving on to The Score. In 2003, Williams became the PA Announcer for the Gary Southshore RailCats of the American Association where he had his signature call to get the attention of the fans, “People, People, People.”

A story in The Times of Northwest Indiana said, “The longtime RailCats public address announcer and Lakeshore Public Media sports journalist was known for broadcasting countless games, interviewing countless athletes and covering Region sports at all levels. The Gary native and co-host of “Prep Sports Report,” “Prep Football Report,” and “Lakeshore PBS Scoreboard” often signed off shows saying, “Gary, Indiana, you know I love you.”

“The cadence he had in his voice echoed across the Region in a way we may never see again. He was widely known and widely loved,” Tom Maloney, vice president of radio operations at Lakeshore Public Media told the paper.

“He’d want to be remembered as the voice of Lakeshore sports,” his Regionally Speaking co-host and producer Dee Dotson told The Times. “Most people will remember him for covering prep sports all the way up to semi-pros. He’ll be remembered for treating each of his subjects like they were world champions. His depth of knowledge of sports at all levels is commendable. He was a walking encyclopedia of stats.” 

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Advertisement

Upcoming Events

Barrett Media Writers

Copyright © 2024 Barrett Media.