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How Many Radio Ads Should Advertising Clients Run?

Jeff Caves
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How Many Radio Ads Should Advertising Clients Run?

How many radio ads should advertising clients run for their business? What’s your goal? Once you know what you want to accomplish, identifying your radio campaign’s ideal frequency and intensity can significantly impact your results. Here are some practical steps and strategies to help you make a more informed decision alongside your radio sales representative. You do have a radio sales rep, right? 

What is your goal?

Cumulus Media and Westwood One, in collaboration with the Radio Advertising Bureau, has developed guidelines based on four campaign goals, ranging from reaching 34% to 78% of a station’s audience. These guidelines categorize campaigns and the number of commercials to run each week into four tiers: very light, light, medium, and heavy. Your radio rep will have local research to further customize these goals/schedules. The following is based on an average of at least 11 radio formats broadcast in diary and ppm-rated markets across the USA.

– Very light and light schedules: These are ideal for advertisers seeking a maintenance campaign between sales events. With modest reach and frequency levels, they’re suitable for sustaining brand visibility and engagement, not creating new impressions or generating “Grand Opening” type attention. Very light reaching 1/3 of the station’s weekly audience 1.4x each, and light reaching ½ of the audience 2x each. The average number of spots per week is 12x for very light and 25x for light.

  – Medium schedule: This is suited for general sales events or promotional campaigns where many listeners are reached frequently. It’s effective for driving short-term sales spikes and increasing brand awareness. The average weekly run is 49x.

  -Heavy schedule: Reserved for significant sales events or product launches, heavy schedules ensure that a large portion of the audience is reached frequently. This is how you generate heavy buzz and drive substantial sales growth. On average, 83 commercials are run over seven days.

What Advertising Clients Should Expect

Start by setting realistic expectations for your campaigns. Understand that lighter schedules may not produce immediate, grand opening results. Your campaign will only be as effective as the number of listeners you reach and the frequency of exposure.

Reviewing Your Annual Plan

Evaluate your annual marketing plan to ensure your schedule intensity aligns with the desired results. Make sure your regular or “special” sales events have enough reach and frequency on radio stations to drive impact. Remember, the number of weekly ads needed for medium and heavy schedules might be higher than you anticipated. Maintain a continuous level of advertising, very light or light, between sales events to keep your brand top-of-mind.

How to Go Heavy and Not Break the Bank

Are you concerned about the cost of running medium or heavy schedules? Consider these cost-efficient strategies:

– Run shorter ads: Fifteen-second ads typically cost half as much as sixty-second ads. You can increase frequency without significantly raising costs. Buy sponsorships of news, weather, traffic, and sports. Those features offer shorter ad options to enhance the reach and frequency-ask your local rep. You can buy this type of inventory at most radio stations nationwide.

– Work nights and weekends: Explore running ads during all days and time periods, including nights and weekends. Radio :30 and :60 ad costs M-F 7 pm-12 midnight, and Saturday-Sunday 6 am-12 midnight can be up to 75% lower than during prime time.

Bottom Line

By ensuring your radio ad strategy aligns with your goals and where you are with your business, you can leverage a cost-efficient strategy and maximize your radio advertising results. Make sure your message and timing are spot on, but you won’t hit the mark if it doesn’t reach enough people enough times. But you may just “lightly” touch it.

How WBEN Plans to Turn a 4-Minute Eclipse Into All-Day Event

Krystina Alarcon Carroll
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How WBEN Plans to Turn a 4-Minute Eclipse Into All-Day Event

As millions prepare for the solar eclipse on Monday, Buffalo news/talk station WBEN has been planning coverage of the event for the last three months. Going commercial-free isn’t an easy task but the team is ready.

WBEN Brand Manager Lisa Polizzi sat down with Barrett News Media for a conversation about what they have planned.

Krystina Alarcon Carroll: Tell me about your coverage plans for the solar eclipse on Monday.

Lisa Polizzi: So as soon as I walked in the door here about three months ago, I started planning. We started planning this big event. It’s historic. Once in a lifetime. Extraordinary coverage.

We’re really excited about it. Normally, we go live and local all day long, but on Monday, we’re going to take a step further and during the actual eclipse, the total time of the eclipse from 2 PM to 4:30, we’re going to go commercial-free. With that, we’re going to have reporters all over Western New York and Niagara Falls at the harbor. Our hosts are going to be out and we’re going to have experts talking about the events leading up to the eclipse, why this is so important, and why this is so special.

We’re going to have weather, because this is Buffalo and chances are it’s not going to be sunny. So we’ll be talking weather. We’ll be talking traffic. There’s supposed to be an unprecedented million additional tourists in our area because we are in the path of totality and that requires a lot of planning on our part when it comes to traffic. So they’re expecting traffic could be backed up or it could be impacted between 5 and 12 hours that day, which is a big deal. Schools are off.

They’re really telling people to stay home and watch the eclipse from home if you can. We’re kind of giving everybody everything that they need in one place.

KAC: Eclipse coverage sounds like a very visual thing. How do you translate the visual world into your radio format?

LP: That’s a great question. So we’ve partnered with the Buffalo Museum of Science, and we have scientists that are going to be coming on, breaking down kind of what you’re seeing when you’re going to see it and how long you’re going to see it for. [They will also be talking about] the phases of an eclipse and things like that.

So we’re going to give you a tour of what’s happening, through scientists and through crowd reaction, because we’re going to be in the spots that are going to be the most, populated in western New York for that time period.

KAC: Where are you planting reporters?

LP: So right now we have, one of our reporters going to be Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls is expecting about a million tourists. So we’ll be there. That will be a really cool spot. Then we’re going to be on Buffalo Harbor. That’s kind of in the path right along the path of totality on the on the lake.

We’re going to be on a military ship that’s downtown. That’ll be really neat. One of our hosts who is a Medal of Honor recipient, he’ll be on the USS Little Rock. We have somebody at our local ballpark. So the ballpark is selling tickets, and they’re going to have people come in and watch because it’s a really good vantage point.

And then we have a reporter in our suburbs. So we’ll have a reporter in East Aurora, one of our local suburbs. There’s a big viewing party. Then we’ll have people kind of like where you can see the traffic and things like that.

So it’s going to be we’re going to be able to go kind of round robin and check out what everybody is seeing and check out the crowd reaction as the eclipse unfolds throughout the day.

KAC: Have you or your station ever covered an event as large as this before?

LP: I was thinking about that before we talked. I’ve been doing news for about 22 years. I don’t think I’ve had the opportunity to really plan a big event like this. It’s nice to kind of have a long time to plan this. We’ve done a lot of work behind the scenes when it comes to, ‘Okay. We’re hearing that all traffic is going to be jammed up. And there could be situations with that.’ So we’ve done a lot of behind-the-scenes work on how are we going to get our people that are out in the field on the air without any disruptions. So there’s a lot of that in the background. So having the time to plan that was really nice.

Usually, we don’t have that kind of planning time for, for big events. But, an event of this magnitude, I don’t think it was actually maybe something about a quarter of the size was when Nik Wallenda walked over Niagara Falls. Maybe that’s a smaller, much smaller scale. I think, to me, that is the only thing I could really compare it to. So yeah, we’re we’re very, very excited.

KAC: What’s the advice you have for young people who are looking to follow in your footsteps and do big events like this?

LP: You can’t just walk in and expect to cover a major event or walk in and expect to plan a major event. I think with your local events, you want to start with reporting on local events that make sense and matter to people, and then eventually build up to the big events, the eclipses or other things that are happening.

KAC: Is there anything you’d like to add? Anything you think I missed when it comes to your coverage on Monday?

LP: This is a once-in-a-lifetime event. It’s going to be really special and we’re very excited. We’ve really done a lot of planning and I’m really excited to see how it unfolds. And you know what? We’re prepared for anything. When it comes to a million tourists and traffic and, you know, the crowds. So we’ve really we’ve done a lot of work to make sure that, our coverage is the best it can be.

Talk Radio Talent Coaching Tips From A Master

BNM Staff
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David G. Hall achieved legendary programming status in 1991 when he reinvented news and talk radio at KFI, Los Angeles. Now he’s an international programming consultant for radio stations and talent on four continents, in five languages, in both music and spoken word formats across all platforms: on-air, online, and on demand.

“A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life.” – John Wooden, the Wizard of Westwood

I met David in 1985. He was a cub news reporter at KFBK, Sacramento, when I had just been hired to do the morning show and soon became program director. I liked him immensely and gave him the wisdom of my experience. Eighteen years later DGH was the PD who hired me to do mornings at KNX, Los Angeles. The student had become the master and our friendship has flourished with age.

We talked recently about coaching talent. Everybody who’s worked for him will tell you the same thing: he’s insightful and inspiring. He doesn’t big-time you. He talks like he’s your best friend or brother and notices things most radio people don’t. Those insights came to him naturally from the beginning:

DGH: I was an avid, I mean, like obsessive, listener to radio before I started working in radio. In my case, mostly Top 40 and some AOR, KFRC in San Francisco, and KZAP in Sacramento, which were two pretty diverse radio stations, but that’s what I listened to growing up. And so when I started to actually work in radio, even in my earliest jobs, I was fascinated by the difference between the experience when you’re in the studio and when you’re listening in the car and I’ve never forgotten that.

I think one of the most important points for me when I’m coaching people is to always consider the experience of the person in the car. I can’t tell you how many times I’m in a meeting with somebody, even just yesterday, I remind the people on the radio that the people in the car, in the case of the example yesterday, a woman in her mid-30s, in the car, in traffic, maybe a screaming kid in the backseat, an idiot for a husband that she’s on her way home to, you know… She just wants to escape, man.

And she just wants to smile. And I think if you start with that and then kind of think about everything you’re gonna say and how you’re gonna say it, thinking of her is super important. I think a lot of people in radio forget that because it’s a very different experience when you’re in a small studio.

BNM: It’s not all about you, the on-air talent.

DGH: That’s right. It’s not about you at all. It’s about the listener. Another thing that’s really important to me, and this goes back to my being on the radio myself, is catching people doing something right. A lot of people in radio have experiences with program directors or managers who only ever talk about what’s wrong. ‘Why didn’t you do this?’ and, ‘I heard you do that. What were you thinking?’ And worst of all, ‘My buddy at the country club said that he heard you saying, blah, blah, blah, don’t do that’.

Like the buddy at the country club or the wife of the market manager is now programming the radio station. So I try really hard to catch people doing stuff right. I’m a big believer in if you did it once, even if there’s a glimpse, I know you can do it again, and I know you’ve got the talent, or you wouldn’t have even done it the first time.

And so when I’m listening, and I listen to hours and hours of shows, all these people that I work with all over the world these days, I listen for that glimpse. I listen for where they nailed it. And then I play that audio and say, okay, how do we get here again?

And how do we get here more consistently? I find in that process I end up helping reinforce the positive. So it’s not like I’m talking about things that they can’t do or haven’t done. I have audio examples where they actually nailed it. They actually hit it out of the park and I can start with that. And then the other side of that is not focusing on the negative, I think of it as I help people not shoot themselves in the foot, because we all shoot ourselves in the foot all the time. I did when I was on the radio, you know, you have, everybody has.”

BNM: Do you have a coach’s list of five or ten commandments?

DGH: No. I’ve worked with consultants who do two things. One, they’re cookie-cutter. So, ‘Hey, this worked at X market, so we’re going to do it here.’ I never do that. Never do that. ‘Hey, I did this at KFI, so we’re going to do it here.’ Never.

I try really hard not to be cookie-cutter. It’s all about that person’s talent and strengths and matching that with the audience expectations and where the audience is, where the listener is, as I talked about a minute ago. So I don’t really have a list, but things like that do come up all the time. Like, I find myself saying, you wanna say something that’s so engaging that people actually look at the radio or stay in their car.

They get to work, they park, they’re gonna be late for work, but you’re so engaging and this is so funny or so interesting or so informative or whatever, that they sit there for a few minutes and they make the investment because that’s the kind of behavior that makes people come back often and drives that horizontal TSL, that across time TSL.

BNM: On-air people have sensitive egos. How do you deal with different people by
pushing different buttons?

DGH: I try to work with everybody on their own basis. For example, when I was programming
KFI, there was one show that I met with in the office every day after the show, every single day.
That’s just what he needed. There was another show where it was never in the office, it was
always a hamburger somewhere to kind of take the desk and the office and the corporate feel
out of the conversation completely.

There was another show I worked with where it could only be positive, only ever be positive. And so I was always looking for positive examples to be able to say, ‘more of this’. And I didn’t have the other side to be able to say, hey, you’re kind of shooting yourself in the foot here.

Because when I would do that, they would just, they would obsess with that. And it’s kind of like that even today. You know, there’s a big guy, a big show I work with in Spain, for example, where our meeting is a meal at his house that he prepares. He cooks a paella, we talk in the kitchen, and he’s like a laser. So we’ll be talking about, you know, whatever things going on in culture and things going on in Spain or whatever. And then he’ll like lock in on, ‘Okay, this thing I’m doing at 7:30, it doesn’t feel like it’s working for me, I need you to help me with that.’

And then we’re like in the zone and then we go pour some more wine, have some more paella. So it’s all, it’s all different, you know.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

NEXT FRIDAY, PART TWO: DGH talks about coaching producers and shows with
multiple hosts.

Sometimes in News/Talk Radio, It’s Better To Be Lucky Than Good

Pete Mundo
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Sometimes in News/Talk Radio, It’s Better To Be Lucky Than Good

Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good. Then again, I will respond to that cliche with another: Success is where preparation and opportunity meet. And what happened on KCMO Talk Radio this week is proof of that.

As I’ve written about in recent columns, Kansas City received national attention in recent weeks for its vote this past Tuesday to continue a ⅜-cent sales tax for the Chiefs and the Royals to upgrade Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Super Bowl Champs, and help the baseball team move to a new stadium downtown.

The vote failed miserably on Tuesday, but I won’t bore you in those local details.

However, our KCMO morning show was quoted on TMZ, ESPN, NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, and other national outlets. 

And it had nothing to do with the sales tax vote. 

I was scheduled to have Chiefs Team President Mark Donovan on the show on Monday morning to discuss the upcoming sales tax. But by Sunday morning, media reports began circulating that Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice was potentially involved in a multi-car accident in Dallas involving a rented car under his name. Those involved in the crash fled the scene.

It was Easter Sunday, but it was the biggest off-field sports story of the day. Naturally, all parties involved were not speaking publicly on Sunday.

With Donovan set to join me on Monday, I had an obligation to the audience to ask him about Rashee Rice, even though that’s different from what he was on the show to discuss. Credit goes to the Chiefs PR team, who did not reach out on Sunday or Monday morning, asking me to avoid discussing the Rice situation.

I had never had Donovan on my show. We aren’t a sports show and don’t have the rights to the team, so it was our first time talking.

After talking it through with my producers, we decided to ask him about the Rice situation at the end of the interview after we had gotten through all the sales tax information. Our thought process was that if we put the controversy at the beginning, we might end up getting a crappy interview the rest of the way on the thing we were having him on the show to discuss, the sales tax vote. So we got through about 7-8 minutes of tax talk and ended with an, “I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you…” 

His answer was, “In all these situations you have to wait until you have all the facts and frankly, we don’t have all the facts at this point. The one comforting fact that we do have is that there was a multicar crash in Texas, in Dallas, and fortunately, it doesn’t appear that anyone was hurt, and we should be grateful for that. We’ll get to the bottom of it, we’ll gather the facts and we’ll react accordingly.”

It wasn’t much, but I knew it was all I needed because the team had not discussed it anywhere else.

The aforementioned national media outlets then used the comment. 

Now, the recognition is nice, but we wanted to make sure we used that exposure to re-target our own audience and make sure they knew that this national exposure was there. The main purpose of these promos and imaging items was to make sure they realized that the show was “the place” for information in Kansas City, and if you miss out, you just might miss out on the national breaking news.

We also had some fun tweaking the sports stations, since they also had to reference us in their credit for the Donovan quote. We basically beat them at their own game, which is how we branded those elements.

Then, we were able to sprinkle in some of the national coverage we received into our show the following day, including making fun of my own name for how a Good Morning America anchor pronounced it. It was not targeted at her but simply a way to organically create content with the coverage we received, have fun, and make fun of myself in the process.

Everything can be content. And doing it in a way that’s natural, not braggadocious, relatable, and fun for the audience is a fine line to walk, but an important one to try and achieve when/if these opportunities, even with local media, pop up.

There’s no doubt that this story fell into our lap, and we did nothing but get lucky in having this interview lined up before the breaking news on Sunday. But it took weeks of working back channels to land the interview, and I had all but given up before it finally clicked last Friday.

So, while it’s sometimes better to be lucky than good, success is where preparation and opportunity meet.

Elle Duncan, Andraya Carter and Chiney Ogwumike Starring on the Big Stage for ESPN

John Molori
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Elle Duncan, Andraya Carter and Chiney Ogwumike Starring on the Big Stage for ESPN

April 1, 2024, is now being looked upon as a watershed evening for women’s college basketball and sports in general. The two NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Elite 8 games in Albany, NY and carried by ESPN, featured four of the best programs, and some of the most electrifying players, in the country. LSU vs. Iowa and UConn vs. USC did not disappoint.

The most ballyhooed star of that night was Caitlin Clark, the superstar guard for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Earlier this year, Clark became the all-time leading scorer in all of college basketball history. Her attitude and power on the court is unquestionable.

Angel Reese, a beyond belief player for LSU, has also become an unabashed and fearless icon. USC and UConn featured their own meteoric talents in JuJu Watkins and Paige Bueckers. But it was the LSU-Iowa matchup that truly took center stage.

Still, Clark and Reese were not the only amazing talents plying their crafts on April 1. The ESPN studio team of Elle Duncan, Andraya Carter, and Chiney Ogwumike were absolutely superb.

An estimated 12.3 million viewers had eyeballs on the LSU vs. Iowa game that night, and yes, Clark, Reese, and their teammates delivered with an excellent game showcasing great coaching and talent.

But these viewers were also party to some of the best pregame analysis I’ve seen this basketball season at any level and in any league. Duncan, Carter, and Ogwumike brought their collective A-games. They recognized what this night meant, not only to women’s sports, but to basketball in general.

ESPN had the right people in the right place at the right time. The film Field of Dreams asked if Iowa was heaven. Well, this game involved Iowa, but thanks to the ESPN studio triumvirate, basketball heaven was squarely in Albany, NY.

Elle Duncan opened the LSU-Iowa pregame show talking about the significance of these Elite 8 games. She stressed the high level of the teams involved and the depth of the personalities playing.

She continued to speak as the ESPN production team showed a graphic with Tweets from the star-studded likes of Breanna Stewart, Magic Johnson, Alex Morgan, Lisa Leslie, Dwyane Wade, and more. Each of these luminaries gave their two cents on the impact and excitement hovering over the games.

To say that this was one of the biggest nights in women’s sports history is not an understatement. Duncan perfectly captured the essence of the evening. “They’ve got now. They’ve got next, and you’ve got us,” Duncan said as she opened the show and introduced Carter and Ogwumike. Both of these analysts bring standout resumes.

At Stanford, Ogwumike was a three-time First Team All-American, two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year, three-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, four-time All-Pac 12 First Team, and finalist for multiple national Player of the Year awards. She led Stanford to three Final Fours.

Carter is a 2023 Dawn Staley Excellence in Broadcasting recipient, a 2022 University of Tennessee Alumni Promise Award winner, the University of Tennessee 2023 40 under 40, and NSMA’s Best Young Reporter for 2022.

She was named to The Athletic’s 40 Under 40: Rising Stars in Women’s Basketball and College Sports and The Athletic’s 20 for 20: Who’s Shaping the Future of Women’s Basketball. Carter was also a 2023 Sports Emmy nominee. She is a double graduate of The University of Tennessee and was a three-year letterwinner for the Lady Vols.

Both Ogwumike and Carter have broken down walls in broadcasting as well. Ogwumike joined ESPN in 2017 to co-anchor SportsCenter across Africa and serve as a part-time WNBA and NBA in-studio analyst. In 2018, while playing for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, she became one of the only full-time professional athletes to hold a full-time national sports media position.

Carter joined ESPN in 2018. She is currently the only analyst who covers the NBA, WNBA, NCAA Women’s, and NCAA Men’s basketball. In 2024, she became the first woman desk analyst ever on men’s College GameDay. 

Just as Clark and Reese have taken center stage as the predominant players on their respective teams, Carter is an exciting talent who has stepped to the forefront for ESPN in its coverage of this year’s Women’s Tournament. Her call of game highlights while isolating impact players and sequences is a cut above for sure.

While Reese deservedly gets a lot of the headlines for LSU, Carter also focused on teammate Flau’jae Johnson. She remarked that her speed and skill set her apart from other players. Of all the plaudits that Caitlin Clark has received, Ogwumike made perhaps the most perceptive comment about the Iowa guard saying that she is so good that she makes opposing teams forget their defensive principles.

Both Carter and Ogwumike ably used ESPN’s graphics and technology by pausing highlight action and isolating key plays. This ability to go beyond the stats and actually display why players like Clark, Reese, and Johnson are so great is outstanding. In short, they don’t just tell us, they show us.

The interaction between Duncan, Carter, and Ogwumike was exceptional. You could tell that they really enjoyed being on set with each other. Duncan astutely talked about Iowa’s Kate Martin and her ability to rebound. As a graphic showed that the tough as nails guard averaged a double-double in her first three NCAA Tournament games. Hitting home the rebounding theme, Ogwumike added that LSU can actually afford to miss shots because they lead the nation in offensive rebounding.

Honestly, Ogwumike and Carter are as solid a pair of basketball analysts as there is in the business right now. Similarly, Duncan’s work in studio during this tournament further cements her as an absolute juggernaut of talent. No one in sports television is more versatile in her discourse. She can make you laugh, learn, think, and rethink – TV game at the utmost level.

Perhaps the most entertaining and enlightening segment of the LSU-Iowa pregame show had Carter and Ogwumike leaving the desk and heading to the studio big screen. Harkening back to their playing days, they started the segment with a hearty handshake and proceeded to break down the star players of the night.

Carter brought the audience into the discussion by frequently looking back toward the camera and using effective hand gestures.  When they returned to the desk, Duncan adeptly set up Carter talking about the effectiveness of Clark’s inside game and passing when her three-point shot is not falling.

Before ending the pregame show, Duncan gave a heartfelt and powerful message thanking all of the past female athletes who made the incredible night possible. It showed once again how significant events are not lost on Duncan, how she consistently sees the big picture impact of a given moment.

Watching Duncan’s hosting skill and Carter and Ogwumike’s points and counterpoints was a total treat. This trio needs their own show yesterday. Their chemistry, collaboration, and collective competence is clear. I’ll listen to them talk about the NCAA, NBA, WNBA, NIT, or any other basketball abbreviation on the planet.

SB Nation Podcast Network Being Shut Down

BSM Staff
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SB Nation Podcast Network Being Shut Down

Several podcasters who were part of the SB Nation Podcast Network took to X to say they were informed the network was being shut down. Vox Media, the parent company of SB Nation, had a few rounds of layoffs in 2023, totaling more than 10% of its staff and now it has continued into 2024.

“We’re both confused and absolutely heartbroken over SB Nation’s decision to cut their podcast program immediately,” wrote the Pride of Detroit X account. “When we have more answers about the future of the podcast, we’ll let you know. But for now, thank you all for almost 9 years.”

Scott Coleman, an Atlanta Braves writer and podcaster for Battery Power, which was part of the SB Nation MLB Network, posted, “Some sad news to share: Effective immediately, the SB Nation podcast network is being shut down. That includes the Talking Chop/Battery Power podcast. I want to sincerely thank each and every one of you who supported the show over the years. It was an incredible run.

“The podcast launched during some of the roughest days of the Braves’ rebuild. We had a handful of listeners each week and kept going. And as the Braves grew and won, so did the podcast. I am not sure what’s next, but we fully intend to continue the podcast elsewhere.”

Pete Sweeney of Arrowhead Pride, an SB Nation site covering the Kansas City Chiefs wrote, in part, “SB Nation opted to end its support for our Arrowhead Pride podcasts today. I encouraged our great shows, such as Out of Structure, Great British Chiefs Show, Coast 2 Coast and Show and BK to continue talking Chiefs on their own feeds or as part of another network. I’ll RT them on this feed when they start to appear.”

SB Nation was launched by Tyler Bleszinski, Markos Moulitsas and Jerome Armstrong in 2003.

CBS Sports Radio to Become the Infinity Sports Network

BSM Staff
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CBS Sports Radio to Become the Infinity Sports Network

CBS Sports Radio is receiving a new identity. Affiliates were notified Thursday that the network will be rebranded as the Infinity Sports Network starting Monday April 15th.

In a memo obtained by BSM, Westwood One officials confirmed the name change. However, they also said that no changes will be made to the network’s distribution, talent, content or programming clocks.

Stations were informed they must cease using the CBS Sports Radio name/brand on-air, online, on social media, and in any sales materials no later than Monday April 15, 2024.    Whether affiliates knew of forthcoming changes or not is unclear.

An updated logo and network website address are expected soon. In doing a quick online search, an Infinity Sports Network does exist. So does the Infinity Sports and Entertainment group. Whether the new network name involved discussions with either of those outlets is unknown.

 CBS Sports Radio currently features Maggie & Perloff, Jim Rome, and a number of additional weekday programs.

As more information comes in, BSM will keep you updated.

Melissa Stark, Will Selva, James Palmer Speak After NFL Network Departures

BSM Staff
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Melissa Stark, Will Selva, James Palmer Speak After NFL Network Departures

NFL Network made a round of cuts to on-air staffers Thursday, cutting ties with Melissa Stark, Will Selva, James Palmer, and Andrew Siciliano. Three of the four have now commented publicly about their exits.

On social media, longtime NFL Network employee Melissa Stark shared her appreciation for her run with the cable outlet.

“Great 12 year run at (NFL Network) – will miss working with so many incredible people,” Stark wrote. “I’ll see you on Sunday Nights this fall (NBC Sports).”

Stark will continue to serve as the sideline reporter for Sunday Night Football on NBC.

Additionally, Selva shared gratitude for his tenure with the league-owned outlet. He joined in 2013 and said he’ll miss his time with the network.

“My incredible run at NFL Network has ended after more than a decade. I’ve had the honor to be part of Good Morning Football since day one, working with the most talented crew in the biz to deliver the news while hopefully giving the viewers a laugh,” wrote Selva.

“I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for the memories & will miss these days tremendously. Good things to come, but for now I want to give thanks to my colleagues & viewers for an amazing 11 years.”

Palmer was the first to address the situation on X. After the initial report dropped, he confirmed the news of his departure. He shared similar sentiments to his colleague.

“It was a dream job and I loved every minute of it. And that’s mostly because of the people that I got to work with and the friendships that will last well beyond any “job”. I’m excited for what’s to come,” wrote Palmer. “Not sure what that is exactly, I’ve learned a lot in the last decade at NFL Network and I’m better for it.”

Mike Francesa: Christmas Day Doubleheader Proves ‘The NFL Owns Television’

BSM Staff
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Mike Francesa: Christmas Day Doubleheader Proves ‘The NFL Owns Television’

The NFL is taking any opportunity it can find to place additional regular season games on national TV. At least that’s what Mike Francesa believes.

During The Mike Francesa Podcast, the former WFAN host read an email from a listener asking for his thoughts on the NFL moving games to Christmas Day. While he admits it’s quite the change from its previous policy, Francesa wasn’t surprised by the move.

“Listen, the NFL has made it completely clear. They take no prisoners now with the TV schedule, they don’t care about anybody else, and they don’t care about any other league,” Francesa shared. “(The NFL) don’t care about anything. They are now going to occupy every holiday. They even went to Black Friday with a game.”

Francesa shared there was a longstanding belief that the league should avoid games on the holiday, but now the business has become too big to avoid that day.

He added that with the current legislation keeping the league from broadcasting games on Fridays and Saturdays until mid-December, it won’t infringe on any other dates.

“Have they made an aggressive scheduling change? They have,” he said. “Do they care about anybody else? They’re the NFL. They could care less, they don’t take any prisoners, and they just scorched the earth when it comes to television. They own television. They are television.”

Jimmy Traina: “Sports Illustrated is Not Dead – By a Long Shot”

BSM Staff
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Sports Illustrated media columnist Jimmy Traina posted his Traina Thoughts column for the first time in two weeks and it sounds like things are in much better shape than they have been of late for his employer.

“You may have read reports in recent weeks about some turmoil regarding Sports Illustrated,” he wrote. “To make a very long and convoluted story short, SI now has a new operator, Minute Media, which is a GREAT thing. The transition from the old operator to the new operator was rough, but not because of the new operator.

“I will spare you the details and just tell you that Sports Illustrated is not dead—by a long shot. The magazine is alive. The website is alive. Our social channels are alive. My column is alive, and my podcast is alive. Any reports of SI‘s demise are 100% wrong.”

Back on January 19th, Sports Illustrated‘s owner, Authentic Brands Group terminated its licensing deal with The Arena Group, the company that published SI for the past 4+ years. The Arena Group then informed the Sports Illustrated team that it was laying off the publication’s entire staff, throwing the former stalwart of sports reporting’s existence into uncertainty.

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