Programming a sports radio station like 97.1 The Fan is a delicate balance of building for now while planning for the future. The current sports radio landscape barely allows programmers to listen to their stations anymore, let alone have any plan for now or later.
That’s why I found the news of what The Fan in Columbus is undergoing very fascinating. A real time experiment testing it’s proven product of success with a focus on the future.
It’s ignoring the saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” while embracing the saying, “evolve or die.” I love sports radio stations being bold, but I have questions.
For those not in the know, 97.1 The Fan is a ratings and revenue juggernaut from the Columbus, OH market. It’s the home of Ohio State and Columbus Blue Jackets hockey, while also serving as the local affiliate for the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Reds. The radio station has a live and local lineup every weekday from sunup to sundown, with the most dynamic sports personalities in the market. 97.1 The Fan, and nearly every show on the weekday lineup, are annually recognized and ranked at the top of the BSM rankings every February.
Ch-Ch-Changes Coming to Columbus
Last week the station announced, despite the success story they have, changes are coming to 97.1 The Fan.
Here is the simple version.
The Morning Juice, hosted by Bobby Carpenter and Brandon Beam, announced their final show together will be May 9. Following suit, Common Man & T-Bone, hosted by Mike Ricordati and Jonathan “T-Bone” Smith, also announced their final show after 12 years on air together as April 30.
The two most important dayparts at any radio station are being disrupted, but why?
Brandon Beam said the morning of their announcement, “For whatever reason, they don’t see us as maybe or maybe not a good fit together. This morning show, as you currently know, is going away.”
Judging by the ratings success of the show in the daypart, that can’t be true.
Mike Ricordati said of the changes in afternoons, “We both felt like this was a good time to try other things.”
After 12 years together in afternoons and a lot of success, I could see how a talent could desire a change in the culture.
Bobby Carpenter was not shy about sharing his displeasure for the changes to Morning Juice. The former Buckeye linebacker said, “There are forces here that are behind it, are trying to do some different things, and that’s what they want to do.”
Carpenter also hasn’t been shy about sharing ratings information with his social following, saying Morning Juice finished first in men, and second in adults for the daypart.
Jonathan “T-Bone” Smith, who will be moving to morning drive, stated, “They don’t ask you a lot of time to go to mornings on the number one station in the country.”
Hosting mornings in any market has always been considered a challenge that many desire.
Dissecting what has been said and shared online, these moves seemingly were received differently by the different programs. Why was afternoons so positive and professional about the moves, yet mornings seemed somewhat the opposite?
Further proof that changes are never easy.
Ch-Ch-Choices in Morning Drive
What was fascinating to me was the announcement of how 97.1 The Fan will program their weekday morning drive daypart both on air and online.
Morning Juice with Carpenter and Beam would be split up, with Beam moving to evenings and Carpenter moving off the 97.1 FM radio station signal completely. Morning Juice would now be a two-hour program streamed on the station’s YouTube page and the station’s HD3 channel.
Morning drive on the radio station signal would be Smith, who moved from afternoon drive, paired up with rising star Tyvis Powell on T-Bone and Tyvis.
Yes, you read that correctly.
97.1 The Fan will have two separate morning shows airing at the same time on different signals and different YouTube streams. This is essentially competing against one another for the attention of the listener that both programs are trying to win. The new digital Morning Juice program will then air on the local 10TV+ app, which is the television partner of the radio station.
Matt Fishman, who programs 97.1 The Fan, stated via a release, “We would be crazy not to grow our talented hosts on digital platforms. Having multiple shows across various platforms helps us grow our audience in new and exciting ways.”
Asking More From The Fan Listener
I value Fishman’s thought process here and understand that radio stations need to continue to play where the audience is going. However, by placing two shows against each other, that’s asking The Fan listener to make a choice in mornings.
Specifically, does the listener go with whatever the station is willing to put on the air, or what they put on YouTube in the morning? With so many options out there for content both live and on demand, it’s a tall task to ask creatures of habit to try something new that you need a device to watch.
Furthermore, streaming programs on digital only is nothing new to the model of a radio station’s digital strategy. Several radio stations across the country stream separate programming on YouTube during their live shows on traditional radio, but never in the form of something that is marketed as one and the same. Consequently, it’s a bold move to take a morning drive talent that has built a relationship with the listener in that daypart off the air and place him in the same daypart as your new morning show, just streaming on YouTube instead.
As the saying goes, fortune favors the brave, and 97.1 The Fan is looking to get rich.
Meanwhile, what is lost in the news of these changes is the request being asked of the listener, who every radio station covets to the highest regard. After all, radio stations already ask a lot of their listeners, more than ever before.
They are constantly bombarding them with 20–30% of each programming hour filled with advertisements, promos asking listeners to follow the station on all social media, as well as marketing for local and national podcasts to download and subscribe to.
Moreover, the radio listener is short on time and shorter on attention span.
While not every talent may be over-the-moon with the changes, and listeners may be a little confused to start, I look forward to seeing how this experiment produces results. Ultimately, 97.1 The Fan could continue to build upon the strong foundation it stands on and plot the path for a bright future, or more changes could be on the horizon.
In conclusion, the opportunity to try is something any programmer should appreciate.
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John Mamola is the sports editor and columnist for Barrett Media. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. Honored to be a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Media and honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL). Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
