ANOTHER SHUFFLE ON THE AIRWAVES
Lance Zierlein’s exit will shake up Houston sports talk once again.
Some people trace the origins of man or the dawning of the cosmos. I keep lists of Texans game broadcasters and Houston sports radio talk show host combinations.
The latter requires periodic updates, as with this week’s announcement that Lance Zierlein will be leaving KBME (790 AM) later this year to focus on his side job as an NFL draft prospects analyst.
Station officials have yet to comment on Zierlein’s impending departure as of midweek but apparently are poised to move Josh Innes to morning drive, retaining Greg Koch and N.D. Kalu in late morning, returning Matt Thomas to his solo early afternoon show and pairing Adam Clanton and Sean Jones with Jayson Braddock in afternoon drive.
So it’s time to update the list. When I compiled it in 2007 on the eve of KGOW’s (1560 AM) debut with an all-sports format, I came up with 28 combinations dating back to 1997, when I began writing about radio and television topics for the Chronicle.
Ten years later, not including the new combinations that have yet to be announced, I’m up to 88 weekday shows involving 78 individuals. Granted, this takes into account minor tweaks, such as Dante Hall’s short-lived stint on KILT (610 AM), but it’s still a lot of movement.
Of the dozen local shows now airing during weekdays, the show with the most tenure is Fred Faour and A.J. Hoffman, who have been on KFNC (97.5 FM) since 2010. Also on the medals stand are Greg Koch and N.D. Kalu on KBME (2012) and Mike Meltser and Seth Payne on KILT (2013).
Other start dates for current shows in their current configurations:
• John Granato and Sean Salisbury on KGOW/KFNC (2014); Rich Lord, Sean Pendergast and Ted Johnson on KILT (2014); Granato-Raheel Ramzanali on KFNC (2015); Adam Clanton-Sean Jones on KBME (2016) and Lance Zierlein-Matt Thomas on KBME (2016).
• Also, Paul Gallant on KILT (2016), Nate Griffin-Patrick Creighton on KGOW (2016), John LopezCody Stoots on KILT (2016), Barry Warner on KGOW (2017) and Joel Blank-Barry Laminack on KFNC (2017).
Zierlein looks to future
Lance Zierlein says he will leave KBME on good terms but admits that sports talk radio isn’t what it used to be — nor, for that matter, is any sports media platform.
“When the (portable people meters) came in for ratings, they started watering down the product to focus on the most basic topics,” he said. “A lot of the nuances have been lost. It’s not what it was even 10 years ago. You tend to play to the low-hanging fruit on whatever topic.”
Zierlein said he will spend the summer learning about football through visits with the likes of Tom Herman at Texas and Kevin Sumlin at Texas A&M and with Colts executive
and family friend Chris Ballard.
His proudest accomplishment of 20 years in Houston radio, he said, is being a part of top-ranked shows among sports radio stations on KILT, KGOW and KBME.
“It’s hard to start at a new place and get people to find you, so I’m proud of that,” he said.
Ogwumike joins ESPN
Former Cy-Fair basketball player Chiney Ogwumike, who is sidelined for this WNBA season while recovering from surgery to repair an injured Achilles’ tendon, has joined ESPN as co-host of a daily “SportsCenter” program that will be distributed to viewers in sub-Saharan Africa.
Ogwumike, whose parents emigrated from Nigeria to the Houston area, where she and her three sisters were born, will appear twice weekly on a 12-minute U.S. sports roundup that will air on Econet Media’s Kwese television platform and other media platforms in 19 African nations.
A member of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun who played at Stanford after leaving Houston, Ogwumike said this will be her first concentrated dive into broadcasting after several appearances in recent years on ESPN studio shows.
The significance of the opportunity, she said, stems not only from her African heritage but from the fact she will be a rare female face in a media market dominated by male anchors and viewers.
“I’m stepping out of my comfort zone because it’s important to represent females and show that girls can pursue sports with the same passion I have,” she said. “It’s more of a calling, not just doing a job, providing proper representation for a rising generation.”
Ogwumike and older sister Nneka both played at Stanford after starring for Cy-Fair and were first-round WNBA draft choices. Her two younger sisters Erica and Oliva play basketball at Rice. She has traveled to Africa since childhood and while attending Stanford served an internship with a Nigerian government agency.
The Sun placed Ogwumike on the suspended list for this season because of roster restrictions but also signed her to an extended contract to rejoin the team next season.
Radio ratings race still tight
Astros games on KBME (790 AM) continue to make for a close race in the monthly Nielsen Audio ratings for Houston radio stations.
KILT (610 AM) had the narrowest of leads, a tenth of a share point, over KBME for the May ratings book in the weeklong average ratings for men 25-54, the key advertising demo for sports radio. The two stations were tied for the week in men 25-54 in April, and KBME retained from April a narrow lead in 12-plus audience.
Once again, however, the sports stations continue to lag the Englishand Spanish-language music stations to a considerable degree. The three stations that drew ratings in May (KGOW, 1560 AM, has no measurable audiences) combined for a 4.4 percent share of men 25-54, up from 3.9 in April but still less than what six stations each had in the weeklong numbers.
By comparison, KTCK in DallasFort Worth, that market’s top-rated sports station, had a 3.3 weeklong rating in the comparable persons 6-plus demo. KRLD-FM, the Rangers’ flagship station, was at 2.0 and KESN was at 1.7. That’s a three-station total of 7.0, considerably more than their
Houston counterparts.
KBME was 21st, KILT was 2nd and KFNC (97.5 FM) was 24th among all stations in average weekly share for the key demo. KILT led the three stations in morning drive, middays and afternoon drive; the difference was 7 p.m. to midnight, when KBME nearly outrated KILT and KFNC combined.
Among persons 12-plus, for which Nielsen Audio allows the use of specific numbers, KBME had a 1.2 weekly rating to 1.1 for KILT and 0.5 for KFNC for the week. KILT leads in morning drive, 1.2 to 0.9 (0.7 for KBME); middays, 1.1 to 0.9 (0.5 for KFNC) and afternoon drive, 1.4 to 1.2 (0.5 for KFNC).
After 7 p.m., KBME with a 2.5 share leads KILT (1.1) and KFNC (0.5) combined with room to spare, which reflects the Astros’ impact.
Four DVRs, no waiting
ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” makes its first visit this season to Houston for Red Sox-Astros. Dan Shulman will call the game with Jessica Mendoza and Aaron Boone and reporter Buster Olney. Adnan Virk, David Ross and Tim Kurkjian man the pregame show at 6 p.m. … Root Sports Southwest will be rebranded next month as AT&T SportsNet. This is no huge shocker, since the AT&T logo has been featured on screen for Rockets and Astros games for several months. Oddly enough, the Seattle regional sports network will be the only one of the four (Pittsburgh and Denver are the others) to retain the Root name. … The five-game NBA Finals averaged 20.8 million viewers on ABC, which was the highest number since the Michael Jordan finale of 1998 but still considerably short of that year’s 29 million average. The total included 20.4 million over the air and 434,000 streaming viewers per minute. In Houston, the series averaged a 12.6 rating (308,800 of 2.45 million TV households) on KTRK (Channel 13), which tied for 22nd among the 56 major markets. That’s considerably better than Houston ranks for most sports events, which indicates the strength of the NBA fan base here. … Turning to asterisks, NBC says the Penguins-Predators series was the highest-rated Stanley Cup Final ever *for a series not including an Original Six team. Television and streaming viewership averaged 4.76 million for the six-game series. Houston was ranked 53rd among the 56 markets. … Two-time Olympic medalist and former national all-around champion gymnast Jonathan Horton says he will be featured on Monday’s episode of “America Ninja Warrior.” The NBC show airs at 7 p.m. on KPRC (Ch. 2). … In light of the sky-is-falling rhetoric regarding the NFL, the Financial Times reports that Sky TV’s numbers for the English Premier League were down 14 percent this year. … Pithy tweet from Fox Sports ratings analyst Mike Mulvihill (adjusted for punctuation): “NBA regular season on RSNs: 5-year low. Total NBA viewing on national networks: 5-year low. Finals average viewership: 19-year high.” … New in paperback from author Kirk McKnight is “The Voices of Baseball: The Game’s Greatest Broadcasters Reflect on America’s Pastime,” which includes interviews with 365 broadcasters. … Ted Turner’s adventures in sailing are the topic of “Courageous,” which airs at 1:30 p.m. Saturday on NBC. The program depicts Turner’s quest for the 1977 America’s Cup as captain of the yacht Courageous.