Armed Forces Radio dumping sporting events, country music, Limbaugh?

...according to a little-publicized study, Lund Media Research recently suggested that Armed Forces Radio add more rap and urban music and dump sports play-by-play -- especially baseball -- talk radio (this means you, Rush!) and country music...

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=36735&archive=true

A survey like this does not bode well for sports in the 21st Century, it seems to me; I know a lot of 18 year old boys (thanks to having a stepdaughter!) and of about a dozen of them, I know of only one who is a "traditional" sports fan.

Are team sports facing a dinosaur's future? Should AFRN drop sports?

 

If I was working for MLB, I'd offer every military person (especially those overseas) free access to MLB radio.

It would be a great PR move.

 

Tell us more about the 18 year old stepdaughter! ;D

 

that sucks... i grew up on sports play-by-play on afrts

 

Watch for spewing bitterness, but....


With the money/power/ego-grab I have found sports to be in covering them over the past several years and following them for a lifetime, I'm not sure this is a horrible thing. Maybe sports has become a disproportionately important part of too many people's lives?

 

whoa! i wouldn't equate armed forces radio's potential decision not to carry team sports with the overall demise of team sports. you're making a huge - and ridiculous - leap in connecting these two things. the NBA and NFL are as popular as ever. sure, 19-year-old kids don't listen to those sports on the radio, but they sure as heck care about their favorite teams. because the younger generation doesn't listen to play by play on the radio doesn't mean team sports are on their way out.

the other thing to remember about armed forces radio is that long gone are the days when AFRN was the only link to home. with the internet, cable and satellite, if you're not actually in a combat zone like iraq or afghanistan, troops can stay pretty well connected. the same soldiers who say they never listen to play by play on AFRN are probably watching the gamecast on espn.com while listening to their ipod.

 

I live in a military town and hang out around army guys in bars all the time. I'd be gearing my music offerings toward hard rock and rap based on what I've seen of them. that change makes sense to me.

Also, I'd think the vast majority of the available audience for afr is in the 18-30 age range. I'm just guessing here. If that's the case, I know very few people in that age range who'd be regular listeners to sports radio PxP, and almost none who'd do so when it's not "their" team playing.

 

1. I did not "equate" AFRN's potentially dropping sports w/ the overall demise of team sports; I used it as an illustration, linked with another, anecdotally based illustration, to indicate team sports COULD be in trouble.

2. In the same vein, I would hardly equate NBA and NFL being "as popular as ever" as proof that teens are into team sports; as I noted, I don't know many teens who are enamored with any team sport here in SoCal. I'd say that the success of the NFL and NBA is proof that empty-nester baby boomers are spending less time raising kids and more time spending money and time watching sports at home or in the stands after spending hundreds on tickets. Spend a few minutes on MySpace and tell me how often you run across a sports team logo or blog entries about how great the Tigers are doing this year.