GONNA BE ‘ME’ TIME
With no sports to yak over, hosts can now turn inward
What can sports talk radio Gasbags do when there are no sports to talk about? Should they fold up shop and take an extended vacation? Would you shed a tear if they joined your favorite players on hiatus?
The spread of coronavirus has shut down all sports — except UFC — leaving the Valley of the Stupid high and dry when it comes to discussing legitimate sports topics. The only sports “news” to chew on is speculating when the games will return. Discussing that every day will get boring fast.
When it comes to keeping the ratings from tanking, talkies are now left to their own devices. That means finding ways to keep listeners engaged without turning a show into a daily medical update on the spread of coronavirus.
This may not be as challenging as it appears. Sports talk has already gravitated to “me” talk a long time ago. While listening to a show, you are as likely to hear a Gasbag telling a personal story about themselves as them yakking about sports. Now, they have little choice but to go the self-absorbed route.
So, they can do stuff like comment (as ESPN-98.7’s Michael Kay/Pete Rosenberg often do) on their wardrobe selection of the day. There’s also always the ability to concoct a plot or gimmick. Like WFAN’s Gregg Giannotti and Norman Esiason interviewing potential dates for Giannotti’s mother-in-law. That’s scintillating radio.
Yet, under these circumstances, when the sports content is sparse, will “me” talk become tedious when it dominates a show?
How many added minutes will now be devoted to discussions about Dave Rothenberg’s (ESPN-98.7) successful diet?
Will FAN’s Richard Neer decide to fill time with a longer discussion of his latest novel?
Will Marc Malusis give lengthier soliloquies about the grimy condition of FAN’s men’s room?
Will Joe Benigno spend even more time discussing how he’d rather be on the golf course?
Will Bart Scott be claiming “I was right” during every segment of his ESPN-98.7 show with Alan Hahn?
This all is really fascinating stuff. And under these circumstances, when personal chatter could dominate these shows, the ratings will provide evidence of how popular it might be. Still, if the ratings go down it will provide evidence how important pure, hardcore sports talk still is.
And how much fans are missing it.
THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS
Many businesses associated with sports are going to take financial hits from this blackout, including the two local all-sports radio outlets.
Both WFAN and ESPN-98.7 have enjoyed hefty advertising revenue from gambling companies. Now there are no games to gamble on and no reason for these companies to run a full schedule of ads.
Entercom, owners of FAN, has to be concerned how the baseball season shakes out. Entercom owns radio rights to several teams, including the Yankees. Entercom is paying the Bombers a hefty $15-$20 million per year in a 10-year deal, which the company is losing money on.
If the season is cut short because of coronavirus, that limits the advertising revenue FAN can generate for Yankee radiocasts making the contract more odious than it already is.
YES TO GOOD HEALTH
Like those in his position at other regional sports networks, John J. Filippelli, president/ production & programming for the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network, faces uncertainty, specifically because the Nets, as all NBA teams, have been shutdown indefinitely because of the coronavirus. He also has no idea when, and where, the Yankees will open the 2020 season.
There are logistic and financial considerations, which are concerning.
Nonetheless, there is only one consideration for Filippelli. “For me it’s only about the health of the people who work at YES,” he said.
“Some have been with me for 20 years. I’m not fearful. We’re all going to get through this.”
Filippelli gave his Nets crew the option of not working in games leading up to the NBA suspending play Wednesday night. “They all wanted to work,” he said. “Whether it be (Ryan) Ruocco or Sarah (Kustok), they wanted to cover the games.”
He said what’s going on now is bigger than any game.
“It’s your life, it’s your family, it’s your friends,” Filippelli said. “All we can do is safeguard them.”
BIG 3 DUNKS DOLAN
James (Guitar Jimmy) Dolan has inspired certain moments, like those “sell the team” chants.
Now he is the inspiration for a full-page advertisement for the Big 3 basketball event in late June. Normally where there would be testimonials for the event, two quotes are prominently displayed. 1) “IT’S A PLANTATION OVER THERE” — CHARLES OAKLEY 2) “IF YOU WANT TO ARREST ME LIKE OAKLEY, GO AHEAD”— SPIKE LEE. Then, the main headline reads: “BIG 3 PLAYERS ARE NOT PROPERTY. THE FANS ARE OUR GUESTS.”
Pictured together in the ad are Lee and Oakley. While Oakley’s animus for Dolan continues, Lee’s participation in the ad shows he’s a long way from mending fences with the Guitar Man. In case you had not figured it out, the Big 3 event is not being held at the Garden. It will be held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
AROUND THE DIAL
FAN mid-day mouths, Marc Malusis and Maggie Gray often argue different points. We are now detecting some frustration leaking through Malusis’ roll-with-the-punches demeanor. During a debate on whether the conference tournaments should be played (they had yet to be cancelled) Gray cut Malusis off in mid-sentence. Instead of letting it go and moving on, Malusis said: “I’ll explain it if you give me a chance to finish my thought.” Awkward moment over a small thing. Yet it was the little things that generated many of the Mike Francesa, Chris (Mad Dog) Russo controversies. … What makes us think the NFL will do everything in its power to keep its Draft in Vegas. … Hope the cancellation of the XFL season does not lead to the league’s demise. The product, for the most part, has been entertaining. … Keith Hernandez’s cat has returned to Twitter. Keith must be selling something. … Chris Carlin actually had a couple of full shows on ESPN-98.7 last week. Hallelujah!