M’s radio deal up for renewal
DMZ · February 29, 2008 at 7:36 am · Filed Under Mariners
Mike Snow pointed out this article in the PI on the M’s radio deal, MLBAM, and the interesting complications of the current situation. Particularly, it’s interesting to think that for many teams flush with MLBAM cash, they might see a decline (or at least an end to the huge increases) in local media revenue as online technologies take away ears and eyeballs from traditional broadcasters
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32 Responses to “M’s radio deal up for renewal”
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Is it possible to hear Mariner games, way out in the Mid-West. I probably doubt it, but if you can does anyone know how?? Can i listen to ’em on the radio or would i need to get a satelite radio?
speaking of the infusion of other media, Joe Sheehan & Will Carroll are on KJR, for goodness sakes.
#1– fyi
1- either XM or MLB.tv or Gameday Audio.
MSB, I’m listening to it online at work, and Mitch just does not at all get how Adam Jones could be good. I’ll be honest, I’ve warmed to the idea of Bedard and the intangible aspects (I know, I know) of what a pitcher of his potential caliber can do.
However, it is so frustrating to see someone (Mitch) that obviously does not understand the at all the approach the statistical community has, yet he is willing to completely dismiss their argument because it counters what he has known. I don’t mind disagreement on the points, in fact I often disagree, but it irks me to see someone just NOT GET IT and not really try.
Open eyes and open minds are so important in making informed decisions regardless of the side you choose. The irony is we tend to be more willing to approve of those that disagree with us if they bring that perspective, even if they disagree.
speaking of the infusion of other media, Joe Sheehan & Will Carroll are on KJR, for goodness sakes.
Someone should call in and tell Will Carroll the M’s don’t play in a Dome anymore.
If anyone read his recent M’s primer article in BP you’ll know what I’m talking about. Focus on his first Kenji statement.
I will heartily endorse XM radio. You can only hear the M’s broadcast half the time, but you also get Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio hour with XM. Try getting that with MLB.tv.
Someone should call in and tell Will Carroll the M’s don’t play in a Dome anymore.
Apparently people did, or at least they emailed. For more hilarity, watch him try to defend his statement on the BP blog.
That explanation is awful. I guess he and Mitch are a good match.
I listened to Mitch on KJR with Joe Sheehan and Will Carroll for about ten minutes of my twelve minute drive to work this AM. Once again I realized why I almost never listen to KJR.
1) Mitch lets nothing inform his exiting opinions.
2) Joe Sheehan & Will Carroll did not distinguish
themselves in their knowledge of the M’s by
stating 10 times that Adam Jones would have
displaced Raul Ibanez in the M’s outfield.
3) After 10 minutes of this, I wanted to jam
chopsticks into my eardrums.
God save us from Mitch and KJR. And Joe & Will, get your act together.
I sent him a 4 paragraph explanation of Seattle weather in response to that blog post. He thinks all “domes” make the field cooler, but in Seattle that’s never the reason the roof gets closed. It’s never warm enough at game time in Seattle to make that a worthwhile thing to do.
That dome explanation is pretty funny. He should’ve just said “I meant to write ‘dome-like conditions of the Pacific Northwest (low peak heat, low humidity)'” — which of course would still miss the point, since I’ve been colder and damper (?) at many a Safeco night game in July and August than I’ve ever been in any dome anywhere.
msb listens to KJR so the rest of us don’t have to. Those ears have died for our sins, over and over.
I wonder how much the very real possibility that Niehaus will assume a reduced workload (if not outright retirement) during the next contract will affect the radio deal’s bottom line. Next to the inventory itself, he is by far the biggest asset on the broadcasting side of the business.
Will Carroll failed to fact check? I’m shocked, absolutely shocked.
Just don’t make the same mistake as the Sonics and end up on right wing talk radio. 🙂
Will Carroll failed to fact check? I’m shocked, absolutely shocked.
His blog post would suggest that he did factcheck somewhat, at least after the fact, but I’d say that he had a poor idea of what really needed to be checked and gave up before getting the information that might actually be useful in his factchecking (whether the roof was open or closed).
The impact of alternative broadcast sources on the value of the local contract should be small for at least the next several years. XM is barely staying in business. The audience is tiny without any reason or hope for any big growth in the near future. They are most valuable to Seattle Ex-pats who want to still follow the team and that’s an audience that KOMO hardly serves and can’t really sell since no audience data of any substance is collected on long distance, out of market listening. Sitting in the parking lot after a Mariner visit to Dodger Stadium last summer, I pulled in KOMO and enjoyed the post game show on my car radio. I can pick up KOMO pretty well in southern California after dark.
He thinks all “domes†make the field cooler,
Maybe in Texas or Florida or Arizona or some other over-heated place civilized people were never meant to live, but up here, it’s the opposite. Closing to roof at SafeCo makes the interior warmer. Much warmer.
I was lucky enough to be at the 2001 All-Star game, and they had a big “let’s open the roof on Seattle baseball” or some such hoopla for the TV crowd to start the game. It meant that for a couple of hours before the game the roof was closed even though it was a nice day. The result was it was incredibly stuffy and warm inside (48k people generating heat that had no where to go). When they finally opened the roof at the start of the game, it immediately cooled off at least 10 degrees. A welcome relief.
As far as web radio, my nephew plays for a Division III school in the midwest, and I can get their games on the Internet. Our MBA business geniuses are behind the curve here. Engineers can use techology to solve problems for customers. Can some biz-dev folks start doing the same with their tools? Maybe we need an MIT MBA degree.
Just don’t make the same mistake as the Sonics and end up on right wing talk radio.
I have to agree with that. That stands as yet another example of the disastrous decisions under Howard Schultz which undermined that franchise’s relationship with the fans and the community (that’s a topic for a different blog, though). Going back to KIRO would be fine, if it makes more sense to work with Bonneville, but KTTH would be unacceptable.
It’s not the viewpoint that matters anyway, whether it’s right-wing or left-wing. That kind of programming just doesn’t mesh, and I think the fit is fairly important considering how big of a footprint Mariners games have on a station’s time slots during the season. There was a time once when 1090 AM, when it was KING, could have been a player for stuff like this. Now as KPTK on the other side of the talk radio aisle, I’m sure they aren’t even thinking about it, but even if they could pull it off it would just be wrong.
Just don’t make the same mistake as the Sonics and end up on right wing talk radio.
Isn’t that just them welcoming their new insect overlords?
I can pick up KOMO pretty well in southern California after dark.
And I bet Jorve Roofing and Brown Bear Car Washes are really pleased to be advertising to you 😉
oh, the technology is there. it is just the whole advertising revenues crap that mucks things up. And MLB.
I rot my brain, so you don’t have to.
His blog post would suggest that he did factcheck somewhat, at least after the fact, but I’d say that he had a poor idea of what really needed to be checked and gave up before getting the information that might actually be useful in his factchecking (whether the roof was open or closed).
Until after he posted the blog item, Carroll mistakenly assumed that the Safeco roof enclosed the entire ballpark, thereby allowing the games to be played in an air conditioned environment (like the parks in Arizona, Houston, and elsewhere). His response to my email was something like “It’s a big umbrella, I get it.”
Maybe we need an MIT MBA degree.
They’ve had one since before the Yankees had a “Murder’s Row” (and since the year the Wasington Senators lost to the Pirates in the World Series).
So Mitch isn’t much of a baseball freak, what’s the big deal? It certainly beats listening to politics.
Mitch probably knows less about baseball than Softy (who’s I’ve bitched about before). I’m always shocked at how little KJR DJs know about baseball in such a baseball town. Anyways, I’ll turn it on when Dave is on, but I avoid it like the plague otherwise.
A note on KPTK (1090AM), they do all the Washington State games.
#17- A friend of mine at work (he’s 63) grew up in Glendive, MT. He and his dad used to drive outside of town to the top of this rise and listen to the Cardinal games in the 50’s. AM wave length is cool.
A note on KPTK (1090AM), they do all the Washington State games.
Okay, but in the Seattle market, that’s not quite the same as doing one of the big pro sports franchises.
19 & 26: Granted, KPTK does have the Cougs on…but generally speaking, it seems major league franchises usually tend to go with stations which have a little more powerful of a signal (such as KOMO or KIRO).
Mike – Agreed on your point that sports and heavy politics on the same station are a dicey mix at best.
Galaxieboi – Not surprising at all that your friend was able to pull in KMOX out of St. Louis from eastern MT, since they’re another one of those “big stick” AM signals. I grew up in Michigan, and remember pulling that station in at night on occasion when all the 1000-watt stations signed off at dusk.
[Niehaus, Sims]
I sure hope KOMO is able to keep the M’s. Their signal is really good. I picked them up from as far away as Denio, Nevada and Kettleman City, California before. The only thing I could do without is the reminder that “we are coming to you from Safeco Field in Seattle!”
I’ve always wondered if the Sonics’ move to KTTH was part of the evil plan of Bennett & pals to dissociate the team from Seattle as much as possible. Although the Sonics were the ones that made the move, it happened about six months before the sale, so it looks like a simple blunder by Howard Schultz. (How did Starbucks ever get off the ground?)
I personally think that running your games exclusively on a political-talk format station of any kind is a mistake. Like putting a political sticker on the front door of your store, you alienate about half your potential customers. Hopefully the M’s will stick with the more neutral, news-oriented “big stick” stations in town.
there have a been a few times i have picked up radio feeds from far away as well. i live in ellensburg, wa and have picked up sports radio feeds from san francisco and salt lake city, while getting a news station from albuquerque. its kind of cool actually to get feeds pretty far away.