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98.5 The Sports Hub Dominates, WEEI Enjoys Growth in Boston Spring Ratings Book

BSM Staff
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Boston is one of the most competitive sports radio markets in the country. With the spring ratings book in hand, both Audacy and Beasley have reason to feel good.

Market dominance continued for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Beasley’s sports talker remains number one with Men 25-54 in every daypart as well as for the full week.

In morning drive, Toucher & Rich nearly tripled the ratings of the number 2 show in the demo. The duo pulled a 21.4 share during what turned out to be something of a tumultuous time for the tandem. In middays, Zolak & Bertrand grabbed a 20.3 share with the target demo, while it was a 21.1 share for Felder & Mazz in afternoons.

For Audacy, the story was about strong growth for WEEI. The Greg Hill Show is that aforementioned number two show in morning drive. It had an 8.6 share, which represented nearly 51% growth from the winter book. 

WEEI’s midday show Gresh & Fauria showed the biggest growth for the station. Ratings were up 60% from the winter. The duo pulled a 4.6 share, putting the show in 6th place in its times lot.

Jones & Mego saw growth too. The show was tied for 8th in the market with a 4.1 share. That is up over 16% from the winter.

For the full week (M-Su 6A-Midnight), the two stations both finished in the top 5. 98.5 The Sports Hub was first with an 18.9. WEEI was fifth with a 5.4.

The Hub is playing on a different field from most in the sports format, and they maintained that standard this book. For WEEI it’s about taking steps forward to make the battle more competitive in the future. Both did their part for the quarter.

Gavin Dawson Welcomes The Gravity of Afternoon Drive

Peter Schwartz
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Gavin Dawson Welcomes The Gravity of Afternoon Drive

When Gavin Dawson first arrived at 105.3 The Fan in Dallas 13 years ago, he jumped straight into the deep waters of radio in afternoon drive. Things did not go very well.

“I was out of it in seven months,” recalled Dawson.

It was, sort of, a Conan O’Brien moment for Dawson, not getting a lot of time to build something special, but he would move to evenings with Chris Arnold and that turned out to be the start of something big for him at The Fan.

The evenings proved to be real estate where Dawson could grow in the market and have some fun at the same time.

“There’s sort of a freedom that comes along with that,” said Dawson. 

Like sneaking out of the studio to pick up a 12-pack and breaking a few radio rules during the hours when one could get away with that. 

From there, Dawson moved to middays and three years ago made a return to afternoon drive as host of GBAG Nation weekdays from 2pm to 7pm on The Fan. 

What does “GBAG” stand for? 

“Good Broadcasting About Games”.

For Dawson, good broadcasting means great ratings so things are great in GBAG Nation.

“It’s so much of a results-based business with what the ratings are determining your attitude,” said Dawson who relocated to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex 13 years ago from Portland. “That’s your only scorecard that you really have outside of some other indicators you can look at. I would say it’s the most rewarding because of the added gravity of being in afternoon drive and the added expectations and pressure that comes along with that.” 

In the North Texas market, the overwhelming subject that drives ratings would be the Dallas Cowboys. During most of his time in town, Dawson has had to focus on “America’s Team” while also mixing in some pop culture with banter talk and comedy. He’s also a huge video game player and has the Xbox Live handle of “Radiochamp”. 

Being a gamer and mixing that into the discussion helped him attract some new listeners at night and in the middays, but in afternoon drive, it’s been Cowboys-Cowboys-Cowboys…That is, until recently with the success of the Dallas Mavericks, Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars.

“Since I’ve been in the North Texas market, this is the most successful that all the teams have been at the same time,” said Dawson. “It’s unbelievable when you actually have multiple teams going that can drive ratings. If the Mavs, Rangers and Stars aren’t good and you talk about them on the radio, it’s not productive. The Cowboys are always interesting here but if these (other) teams aren’t good, nobody cares about them and that’s a tough way to do radio sometimes when you go through a drought like that.”

For many people, the sports radio business is like climbing up a ladder. You move around within a radio station from a behind the scenes role to getting a shot on air to being a full-time host. Or, you move around from market to market looking for that “forever home” or maybe that final landing spot is coming back home to where it all started.

For Dawson, going home to Portland, going to a national network or moving to another market is, at least for the time being, very much off the table.

“I never dreamed of doing anything national,” said Dawson. “I don’t think there’s a next step for me. I don’t want to go to New York, I don’t want to go to Chicago and I don’t want to go to Los Angeles or San Francisco. I really feel like, for my career, I’ve found home in North Texas. The community accepted me and I just feel like it would be foolish or greedy to think that I could easily go somewhere else and replicate this again.”

Why Is the Biggest Barstool Audience on TikTok?

Demetri Ravanos
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Why Is the Biggest Barstool Audience on TikTok?

Barstool content is not for everyone. It’s usually goofy. It can be offensive. If you are not in the target audience or a fully-bought-in Stoolie, you may never give the brand much thought. 

From a content standpoint, how much attention you pay to Barstool depends on what they do for you. From a business standpoint though, the brand keeps getting it right and if you are in the business of making digital content, you should look at Barstool with the same undivided attention that Thanos gave Red Skull on Vormir. 

Understanding that the Barstool distribution model works is one thing. Understanding why it works, copying what you can and cutting through the clutter of what won’t work for you is more important and requires more effort. 

In an age when so many radio professionals are trying to stand out in a digital world, one of the best things we can do is to pay attention to where the brand’s content is. Using social media to build an audience for digital and audio is a good strategy, but where do you focus your efforts to achieve the biggest payoff? 

While its content is everywhere it should be, and its audience is robust compared to the average local station or host(s) gone solo, Barstool’s biggest impact is on TikTok. Look at their audience sizes on all the other major social platforms.

  • Twitter – 5.2 million
  • Instagram – 13.7 million
  • Facebook – 5.9 million
  • YouTube – 1.58 million

Combined, that is slightly under 26.4 million people that have bought into the content so much that they have decided they never want to miss a post from the brand. It is also less than the subscriber base on TikTok, which last week, hit 30 million. Embracing TikTok is so important if you are trying to make a media/content career exclusively in the digital space. 

Finding an audience online can be confusing for those of us that came up in legacy media. If your background in radio, your first thought when it comes to digital content is probably a podcast, right? We know audio. It feels comfortable.

Podcasting doesn’t cast a particularly wide net though. You have to rely on the audience choosing you and then spreading the word. You can promote through other social platforms, but there is no guarantee that the audience will consume anything more than the clip you are putting out on that platform.

Giving up terrestrial for digital used to mean we had to give up easy access. In radio, you can turn people that may not have even known about you into loyal listeners because they liked what they heard as they were scanning the dial. Social video algorithms have changed that reality though and no where is better to take advantage of that than on TikTok.

Think about all of the times you have clicked on one video and just started scrolling. Maybe that first video was a short comedy clip. Then you swipe and there is an attractive woman doing some provocative dance. Swipe again and there is a highlight of Barry Sanders juking some poor fool out of his shoes.

Barstool built its subscriber base by finding ways to end up in a variety of algorithms. The content is varied and tagged on the backend in a way that makes it fit with a variety of interests. 

Unlike Instagram Reels, whether you see them on their original platform or on Facebook, there is nothing else to do on TikTok. There is no other form of posting that users can be distracted by. Barstool can make their entire strategy for the platform about appealing to a wide variety of algorithms. 

Pop up enough in someone’s feed, and they are likely to simply click follow. It is how I ended up following a number of comedians. I’d bet it is how plenty of Barstool’s followers ended up following them. It can be hard to imagine with media business tunnel vision, but there is likely a significant chunk of those 30 million people that follow Barstool on TikTok that have no idea who Dave Portnoy, Big Cat, PFT or KFC are. They just know that the content on that feed is reliably entertaining. 

The world is made up almost entirely of non-P1 consumers. When it comes to digital media, TikTok may be the very best way to reach them and show them that it is worth coming back over and over. Barstool gets that it is important to be everywhere, but it is just as important to master the platforms with the most potential.

Small Market Sports Radio is Having a Big Moment

Garrett Searight
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Small Market Sports Radio is Having a Big Moment

There has been some uncertainty surrounding major sports radio brands, both nationally and in major markets.

ESPN Radio has been in the news for obvious reasons. 97.5 The Fanatic saw a round of cuts in a bigger downsizing at Beasley Media Group. WFAN saw a complete reshuffle of its daily lineup after Craig Carton announced his exit to work solely for FS1. And 1310/96.7 The Ticket in Dallas is still on the search for Norm Hitzges’ replacement in middays after the legendary host announced his retirement late last month.

And yet, local sports stations are seeing a slight resurgence in recent weeks. In recent weeks, new stations have been launched in Peoria; State College; and Augusta, Georgia. Additionally, Fox Sports 980 WONE announced the debut of a new show featuring longtime Ohio sports personality Marty Bannister for what appears to be the first local show on the station since 2011.

It’s encouraging to see a reinvestment in local sports stations — no matter how big or small.

To say I was slightly worried about the future of small-market local sports radio stations would be an understatement. Especially with the expansive growth of sports betting. It wasn’t inconceivable, at least to me, to think small market stations would switch from lineups consisting mostly of network shows to sports betting shows, in search of dollars from casinos, sportsbooks, and FanDuel/Draft Kings.

But with a resurgence of small market sports stations, maybe the future is still brighter than my slightly-too-cynical viewpoint.

And I hope the reasoning is because of a reminder of what we’ve seen so many station owners and executives in recent months about the role of local radio in the fight to save AM Radio.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard about the vital role AM stations play in keeping their communities informed during disasters, and other various statements that I’ve rarely seen put into practice. But maybe those same executives and owners have taken their words to heart, and realized that they might not have been doing as good of a job as they originally thought in those areas, and are taking the resources — limited as they may be — and investing in local, which benefits us all.

I also wonder how prevalent small market sports stations will become as more and more personalized music options grow. Spoken word radio — both news and sports — will, in my opinion, have a place in the radio landscape, and are the most bulletproof formats from being eaten up by on-demand digital audio.

Hopefully, we don’t have to worry about those days for a long time. But, nonetheless, to see small market sports stations grow, rather than contract, is always going to be a positive to see the format grow, which in turn, leads to (in theory) more positions, more listeners, more revenue, and a healthier industry for us all.

Kayla Blakeslee Had to Talk Herself Into Following a Legend

BNM Staff
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Kayla Blakeslee Had to Talk Herself Into Following a Legend

Fort Wayne’s Morning News host Kayla Blakeslee was tasked with finding the replacement for the show five years ago following the sudden death of the longtime WOWO legend Charlie Butcher due to a massive heart attack.

As the station’s program director, Blakeslee conducted a rigorous nationwide search and narrowed it down to a few qualified out-of-state candidates. However, her high standards left her unconvinced that any of the candidates were suitable. After discussing her concerns with her husband, Blakeslee realized that the most obvious candidate was herself. With her strong rapport with some of Indiana’s most prominent community members, including Congressmen and local politicians, she was well-equipped to promote herself as the station’s morning show host.  

Blakeslee, although not originally from Indiana, has found a home there. Her passion for delivering local news resonates with the average listener/viewer. Despite being hired at age 30 and not fitting the typical audience for WOWO’s format, which is usually dominated by older, white male personalities, Blakeslee remains undaunted. Her love for her community and her dedication to presenting news and information has brought her great success.  

In today’s era, where “fake news” is a common topic of discussion, Kayla Blakeslee takes her responsibilities seriously. She strives to be a thought-provoking on-air personality, challenging mainstream talking points and encouraging her audience to think for themselves. She prides herself on her ability to engage with her audience through various social media platforms, responding not only to direct messages but also to phone calls and emails from listeners. Ultimately, the people of Fort Wayne trust Kayla Blakeslee.  

Blakeslee hosts two podcasts, Unholstered and News Mom, for parents. News Mom connects moms sharing successes and struggles, while Unholstered shares untold stories about law enforcement heroes.   

During our discussion, Blakeslee shares her experience interviewing people for WOWO’s morning show role, how she tailors national stories for the local audience, and the impact of simulcasting Fort Wayne’s Morning News on News/Talk WOWO 92.3 FM 1190 AM.   

Ryan Hedrick: Can you discuss when you replaced Charlie Butcher as the morning show host?  

Kayla Blakeslee: This has been the biggest challenge of my career thus far. Charlie Butcher hosted the morning show for more than 16 years. He worked at Federated Media for over 30 years. He was formerly of Those Two Guys on WMEE. He transitioned from being a music jock to hosting our news/talk program on WOWO.

I was our program director at the time [of Butcher’s death] in August of 2018. I got the phone call from his son; I had just left work, I had just gotten home, and I learned that he had just suffered a heart attack that killed him instantly. It was awful. He was very much a father figure to me, one of my mentors. He taught me a lot of what I know now.   

RH: In the period after his passing, what was the process for filling his role, and how did you decide on yourself?  

KB: I think we had more than 100 applicants that applied for the job, and I really struggled filling it because I didn’t feel like anybody was going to be able to do it justice and do it like he did it. Nobody was going to care about it and care about the listeners [the way Charlie did]. There I was sitting one morning, and we’re getting into October at this point, and I was having coffee with my husband and sharing with him the struggles. I told him that I needed to relinquish myself from the search because my standards were too high.   

My husband said to me, ‘What about you?’ I said ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘Isn’t Charlie’s job your dream job?’ I said, ‘Yeah, someday.’ At the time, I was 30 [years old], I’m a female, and I wasn’t exactly our demographic. I figured I would have to move away, get some experience somewhere, live some life, maybe have a kid or two, and then maybe come back or do a morning show somewhere else. I never dreamed [this would happen] at 30.   

My husband asked me to think about it, pray about it, and so that’s what I did. Long story short, I walked into the general manager at the time — his name was Jim Allgeier — I had written a letter and handed it to him in silence. I wasn’t going to be able to find the words. In this letter, I was essentially ‘applying for the job.’ He sat there and read it in front of me, which was awkward, and in it, I did relinquish myself from the hiring process since I was throwing my name in the hat. After reading the letter, he looks at me and says, ‘It’s about time.’   

He said, ‘Kayla, we (upper management), thought all along that you were the right person for the job. We just needed you to come to that conclusion. What I didn’t know is that they (WOWO) had received letters from some of our politicians, some congressmen, senators, local politicians, and prominent members of the community, all suggesting my name for the role as well. He showed me some of those letters, and I was so moved. Fast forward to October 2018, and I took over the role of the morning show.   

RH: As a hiring manager, what challenges did you face with the talent pool in the labor market when receiving applications for the morning show?  

KB: The biggest challenge for me was the number of individuals applying for the job that were from out of state. That was hard for me to digest that, having someone who would understand the Indiana landscape, the media landscape here. However, there were some incredibly talented people from out of state that I had narrowed it down to.   

I was really surprised by the number of individuals that don’t know how to write a resume or a cover letter. When you call them to ask them some follow-up questions like, ‘Why news/talk? In Fort Wayne, Indiana? Why radio?’ When they can’t answer their why, that was the biggest struggle that I had. People were not able to identify why they wanted the job. That’s why I was struggling so greatly in the midst of it to find someone to replace Charlie.   

RH: What is it about Fort Wayne, Indiana, that makes it stand out as an exceptional and distinctive location to work in?  

KB: We are a diverse community, and it’s beautiful. I’m not originally from here, I’m from a small town in Pennsylvania called Union City (population 2,934). I grew up in a predominantly white community. I went to college at Penn State, which was a culture shock in its own way, then I moved to Fort Wayne. Sometimes you think it might be your quintessential Midwest town, and to some degree, it is. However, it is so diverse here, it’s so eclectic. The culture, the art, the music. Just the entertainment scene here. We get so much exposure here because we are so close to Indianapolis, Columbus, Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland.   

When I moved here, I was surprised, and I just loved it. I wanted to soak up as much as I could. That’s why I’ve never left. I moved here in 2011. Yes, I took a detour when I got married in 2015, but I came back to Fort Wayne, and my husband and I don’t plan on leaving. We truly love it that much; the people here are amazing. I feel like a true Hoosier, even though I wasn’t born here.   

RH: Have you recently joined the social media app Threads since its launch? 

KB: No, I’m not on Threads! (laughs). For me, it’s too new. Any new tech that comes out, whether it’s an app, an iPhone, a computer, a watch, or any kind of new tech, I’m never the kind of gal that has to have it.

Simply because usually, with new upgrades, and new apps, we always don’t know everything about them, and all the bugs and glitches haven’t been worked out. Threads comes out, and the first week, one hundred million people nationwide download this new app, and then we learn all the data collection that this app is doing that I’m sure all apps do. When it comes to the tech world, I cautiously wade into it.   

RH: With so many important issues in the news cycle, it’s a great time to be on news/talk radio. How will you localize national issues for WOWO listeners, especially regarding the 2024 presidential election?   

KB: The challenge with national news, in general, is the localization of it. Here in Indiana, we have the Mike Pence angle (former vice president and Indiana governor running for president). What I try to do with all national news, whether it’s a presidential race or some bill coming out of Congress, I always try to bring it back to how it will impact you. Immigration is a great topic.

For example, we all know where Donald Trump is on that. I took a trip to the border a couple of years ago, so I feel like I can bring that immigration conversation back here locally, how it impacts our schools, our community, and our transportation system.

I encourage people to think about the issues on a local level and, yes, to consider the people but the policies more, if that makes sense. I really try to break down those policies from a local perspective.   

RH: How did Fort Wayne’s Morning News become syndicated on local TV for two hours? Does the radio show’s appearance on TV increase engagement?  

KB: The engagement doesn’t change. I used to try and acknowledge the cameras when I first started in this role. The simulcast launched in 2016 or 2017. So, for a hand full of years, we’ve been doing it in collaboration with our TV partner, ABC 21, in Fort Wayne.

We broadcast on a sub-channel of theirs. I used to try and play it to the camera, ham it up a little bit, but then I thought my content was suffering doing that. First and foremost, what has to matter most is my radio content. So, do I look up and acknowledge the cameras now and then? Absolutely. But I don’t the way I used to, let’s put it that way.   

It’s just another layer; it’s like diversifying that portfolio of how we share the show. It’s an exciting great element. We are going through construction right now of a new studio, and I am advocating for four more cameras. I want it to be larger than life. The sports talk guys are great at this [simulcasted radio shows].

It allows you this glimpse into this world of theirs and makes them more human and more relatable, and that’s what I love about it so much. I want them to see that I have tired days, just like they do. I want them to see that I am reaching for that third cup of coffee or I’m living my best life because I’m feeling fabulous today. Ultimately, I want them (listeners) to feel like they are a part of the show because they are, and the TV simulcast allows us to do that.   

RH: Would you like to transition from radio to doing TV full-time?  

KB: I went to school for broadcast journalism, wanted to work in sports, and thought I would do it as a sideline reporter for college sports. For a short period of time, I worked for the Big Ten Network while I was in college and realized really fast that TV was not where I wanted to be. I knew I wanted to share and tell people’s stories, that was always the dream, and I happened to find radio; I happened to find WOWO right at this moment.   

Then, I got into radio, and I loved it! I loved that nobody was formulating a script for me, it’s very different than TV, and I didn’t have to look perfect every single day. With TV and how unauthentic I thought it was, I came to the radio and thought, ‘This is real,’ I can be who I am. I’ve had numerous TV offers since I’ve been here [at WOWO], I flirted with a couple of them, but I go back to those college days and realize how great I have it here.   

Reasons to Love the PPM Analysis Tool

Dr. Ed Cohen
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Reasons to Love the PPM Analysis Tool

It may be Portugal’s second-best export because it’s hard to beat really good Port wine (I’m partial to Taylor Fladgate 20 year old). What is it? The PPM Analysis Tool (AT), of course, which was developed by Markdata, a Portuguese IT company. It’s not the easiest piece of software to use, but when it comes to tearing apart PPM data, nothing beats it.

Until the Control Panel Report (CPR) came along, AT was the only way to really dig into how the sample played out and where your station was getting the best part of its audience. Even with the CPR and PD Advantage (if you have it), AT is usually the best way to find out what really happened.

What can you do with AT?  Some examples:

  • Exact ages (you can look at any specific age from 6 to 99)
  • Individual days of the measurement month
  • Individual counties and discrete zip codes
  • Individual quarter hours
  • The number of meters listening to your station in any quarter hour during the month
  • In some cases, you can find specific meters in specific zip codes with the amount of AQH they generated

The downside is that it’s not always easy and can involve jumping through some hoops to get to the information. 

When I used to use AT at Cumulus to determine specific zip codes for marketing, I could find the best zip codes for our stations and direct competitors, but swapping zip codes to get at the information could take quite a while. There are a lot of zip codes in the New York and Los Angeles metros.

Let me relate a fun story from my Cumulus time. Much as many of you who use PPM hate this, Nielsen releases the December monthly during the last week of the year when just about everyone is on vacation or would like to be on vacation. The reason for this timetable goes back to the Arbitron days and as with many things, it relates to money. Arbitron could not recognize revenue until data was delivered (I assume Nielsen’s finances operate the same way). In order to make the year look better, PPM data was released before the end of the calendar year as Arbitron used the calendar year for financials. That’s why you get December monthlies between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

In 2018, I happened to spend time with the first December release the day it came out. I worked from home, so it wasn’t a big deal to review it. Looking at the day-by-day data, something fishy showed up. There was one day where radio listening in New York was down to almost nothing. Can you imagine WLTW with no AQH for a day? The only way that happens is if New York is obliterated and because that hadn’t been in the news, it had to be an issue with Nielsen. Checked Los Angeles. Same problem on the same day of the month. 

I got on the phone and started calling lots of people at Nielsen, almost all of whom were on vacation as well. I finally found one old friend, Danny Monistere, who I have known for years from when we worked together at Birch/Scarborough. Danny was working that day because he was planning to take vacation in January. When the issue was investigated, it turned out that every PPM market was missing the same day and all of the PPM markets had to be rerun. Not all were reissued as some were not out yet and could be fixed before release, but the result was 24 reissues. 

If I hadn’t run day-by-day, I wouldn’t have known. Gary Heller from Audacy also found the issue a few hours after I did (perhaps a time zone thing as Gary lives in the Los Angeles area).  If you’re wondering, you don’t get a bounty for finding something like that, but other research people may be envious. I know, it’s a strange business.

How do you run day-by-day in AT? Go to the Trend option in Analysis Tool and when you choose the survey, click on the dropdown box next to the survey month and select “day”. 

You’ll get each individual day for the month or week that you’re running. Keep in mind that if you run a daypart that doesn’t include the whole week, the days that are not part of the daypart will show zeros (for example, Saturdays and Sundays will show zeros if you pick a Monday-Friday daypart).

One other angle to this run is to look at the PUR for each day. PUR is Persons Using Radio. In PPM, it’s referred to as PUMM or Persons Using Measured Media. I don’t use the term PUMM because of the grammatical error. 

The word “media” is plural. The singular is “medium”. Last I knew, Nielsen Audio measured just one medium: radio. By the way, the diary service still calls it PUR. Nonetheless, you can look at each day’s radio usage or run averages and find out where there is more audience available. Save your good stuff for when there are more listeners.

There’s a lot more to AT. Try it and you’ll find out more about your ratings than you ever expected.

Let’s meet again next week.

John Ourand: Most Likely ‘Strategic Partner’ for ESPN is Private Equity Firm

BSM Staff
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John Ourand: Most Likely ‘Strategic Partner’ for ESPN is Private Equity Firm

Disney is looking to sell a stake in ESPN, and in John Ourand’s eyes, private equity appears to be the direction CEO Bob Iger wants to go.

Ourand, in his sports media column for Sports Business Journal on Friday, wrote that selling a stake to a private equity firm amounted to a five-year loan from Disney that it would have an opportunity to buy back down the road if the company wanted to.

“Iger could find this move attractive because private equity does not represent a long-term play,” Ourand wrote. “Five years from now, when ESPN has diversified its business and is growing through streaming and gaming, Disney could buy back that stake.”

Ourand said companies like KKR, Apollo or Candle Media were brought up by the sources he talked to. Candle Media is run by former Disney executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs.

“By going the private equity route, Iger would have cover to manage the business more aggressively and move more quickly into sports gaming and streaming,” Ourand wrote.

Ourand added that his sources were not big on companies like Fanatics and EA being players in ESPN, though Fanatics could be utilized as a suitable gaming partner. Sources didn’t see other gaming competitors like DraftKings, FanDuel, Flutter and MGM being willing to partner either.

Apple, Amazon, Google and Netflix were also thought to be vying for a share of some kind, but Ourand’s sources didn’t see Disney wanting to partner with companies that compete with Disney+ in the streaming space.

Fox Sports Radio Launches in State College on 98.7 FM

BSM Staff
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Fox Sports Radio Launches in State College on 98.7 FM

Happy Valley has sports talk radio back on its airwaves. Sports Radio 98.7 The Fox has officially launched in State College, Pennsylvania.

SkyWave Broadcasting is airing FOX Sports Radio under a local marketing agreement from Covenant Communications until its $325,000 purchase of the station is completed.

98.7 formerly operated as a classic country station until earlier this year. Former owner Seven Mountains Media acquired several stations in a $17.375 million purchase of 34 Pennsylvania stations. 98.7 was one of four Seven Mountains stations transferred to Covenant Communications as a merging of similarly formatted stations.

ESPN 1450 was retired as a result of the shuffling, leaving the area without a sports talk station for the last six months.

Rich Eisen: Aaron Rodgers Knows He Can Control What Hard Knocks Shows

BSM Staff
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The world will soon get its behind the scenes taste of New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers preparing for his first season away from Green Bay on HBO’s Hard Knocks. Though the decision to profile Rodgers and the Jets didn’t come without some pushback from the team.

New York was among several other teams across the NFL that were actively trying to avoid having NFL Films cameras around their training camp. The Jets were ultimately voluntold they would be the team for the training camp portion of the series.

In an interview with KPIX at the American Century Championship at Lake Tahoe last week, Rodgers said aside from actor Liev Schreiber narrating the series, there’s not much else about the show that he’s a fan of. He added that he will just embrace it considering the choice wasn’t his to make.

“They force it down our throats, and we gotta deal with it,” Rodgers said.

On The Rich Eisen Show on Friday, Eisen said it’s clear that Rodgers is the only reason the Jets were chosen over the Bears or Commanders.

“He understands why the Jets are on Hard Knocks,” Eisen said. “It’s cause of him. If it’s Zach Wilson, then they’re like, ‘Let’s see what Sam Howell’s up to in Washington, D.C.'”

Rich also acknowledged that Rodgers will have some pull in terms of access, and that’s totally fair.

“Rodgers knows everybody is trying to poke around him, and he knows the Jets will have his back,” he said. “Literally they are bending over backwards and appropriately so. Every egg has been placed in the number eight basket, and if he wants to take the us against them approach, us against the world mentality, win the games and you could take whatever mentality you want.”

“And I am sure if Rodgers doesn’t want the camera here, or camera there, they don’t need the Jets to tell them not to do it,” Eisen added. “NFL Films will just back off. They want Rodgers mic’d up for games, they want Rodgers as happy as anybody else in the Jets organization. And HBO knows what type of show they’re buying, and they may push back. But at the end of the day, they wanted I’m sure years ago Antonio Brown behind the scenes of him going absolutely nutty when things started to completely unravel with the Raiders. And that never made air.”

But while there may be some forced compliance with things from Rodgers, Eisen knows that if Aaron says don’t film or don’t show this, NFL Films will listen.

“I am sure there may be one moment or two, right, where Rodgers is like, ‘I’m uncomfortable with this,'” “Do you think NFL Films is gonna be like, ‘Tough noogies, Aaron, we’re rolling,’ of course not.”

Tiki & Tierney Bid Farewell to Each Other on WFAN

BSM Staff
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Tiki & Tierney Bid Farewell to Each Other on WFAN

As the clock moved closer to 2 p.m. EST on Friday, Brandon Tierney and Tiki Barber’s time hosting a sports talk show together was coming to an end. While their time on WFAN may have been ephemeral when comparing it to the run on CBS Sports Radio, it contained some of their best work and gave them a bonafide audience with whom to connect. Both Tierney and Barber wish that their show had made the move to New York radio far earlier in their 12-year hosting run, but cherish the memories they made together during that time.

Entering the final segment of Tiki & Tierney playing “TNT” by AC/DC, a song that has come to be identified with their show, Barber and Tierney engaged with final callers and then said their farewells. Show producer Pete Hoffman received several calls from listeners who wanted to thank him for his work behind the scenes. The contribution he made was not remiss to Tierney and Barber, both of whom took the time to show their appreciation for everything he did.

“You helped streamline us here,” Barber said. “On the national show, we literally did what we wanted to do…. You came and you helped us become more focused as a local show.”

After thanking executive producer Dov Kramer, a WFAN mainstay who has been with the station since its first year in 1987, the midday duo ensured they gave each other best wishes as a new chapter unfolds at the station. Tierney will be remaining in middays and pairing with Sal Licata, while Barber will move to afternoons and join Evan Roberts, sitting in the chair formerly occupied by Craig Carton.

“BT, I’ll be listening to you obviously,” Barber said to Tierney. “I’m going to miss you for sure. I’m going to still seek out advice from you because there’s some still things I don’t know locally, but this has been real dude – it really has.”

When Tierney spoke about how weird it was to be saying goodbye because no one was leaving the station but merely being reassigned, Barber expressed how it did not feel like an end. Tierney then shared that when he left his home this morning, his wife asked him if he was sad to which he, a sentimental person, surprisingly replied that he was not.

“Maybe it hasn’t hit me; maybe I’m really just at a stage in my life where I focus on the good and happy rather than maybe lament a few things or fixate on things that I used to,” Tierney said. “It’s been an honor, man. It’s been an honor riding next to you for a long time.”

Tierney’s father, Charles, was a former detective in the New York Police Department (NYPD) and was selective in giving out praise to his partners. That is why when Tierney heard his father talk about someone who was a really good partner, he knew it was genuine.

“This is going to sound corny – you’ve enriched my life,” Tierney said to Barber. “I think you’ve made me a better person; a better human [and] a little more grounded. I’m going to miss you buddy.”

Tierney and Licata are natives of the area and will bring their contrasting team allegiances to create fireworks in the midday slot. Barber grew up in Virginia, but is one of the best-known players in New York Giants history, and he is pairing with a virtual sports encyclopedia in Evan Roberts, who is a diehard New York Mets fan. The pairings, on paper, evinced excitement from WFAN’s legion of dedicated listeners; however, it will truly be up to the audience come July 24 to accept the new pairings. It is something listeners have done before, for which Tierney is effusively grateful.

“It was up to you guys to decide whether or not you embraced us and whether or not you trusted us, and you guys did,” Tierney said to the audience. “The Tiki & Tierney almost two-year run at WFAN – it was imperative; there was no way I was coming here and failing. There was no freaking way that that was happening, and we did it together.”

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