Sports Radio running thread

I mentioned to a fellow Northern Californian online last night, if it weren't for KNBR and KCBS, AM would be dead to me. Not much else there but religious or ethnic programming.

 

Fixed, although FM is headed down the same road thanks to iHeart, etc.

 

Radio was my dream gig until I talked with a local Pittsburgh host when I was in college and he warned me there’s no such thing as general talk anymore, it’s just sports and political talk. Listening to the advice was probably the best thing I ever did.

 

I don't know if any of the AM stations I worked for between 1978-1992 have any actual full-time employees, other than perhaps WPTF in Raleigh and KFBK in Sacramento. The others are shuttered, used as repeaters for FM or in the case of WMEL, owned by the Catholic church and syndicated.

And as wicked said, FM is conglomerate homogenization.

It was fun until it wasn't. Glad I wasn't the last rat on the sinking ship.

 

I wanted to do pbp, even though I sound like I have a mouth filled with marbles. I leaned into print journalism in high school because it appeared to be more stable. I wouldn't have to work for free *as much*. I could cover a game and actually get some cash, even if it worked out to $3 after taxes and traveling. I probably should've just started at the post office at 18 instead.

 

I was going to be the next Ernie Harwell but college didn't really explain that I should have majored in advertising.

I went to the 1980 Winter Meetings in Fort Lauderdale with my resume and air check in hand and there were a couple of announcer openings posted in Podunk. When I inquired, the team's general manager said, "OK, I like your voice. So we'll sell you the rights to the broadcasts. You then need to find a radio station willing to sell you the air time. And you get to pocket whatever sponsorship you get to pay your salary (and cover your overhead)."

What? I thought I just had to talk! I actually have to pay to do this?

That's when I decided doing the agate for the Sun-Sentinel for $5/hour was the better option.

 

I bought airtime in high school (using those hard-earned newspaper pennies) because I was convinced I'd be the next Al Michaels. I sounded like a Smurf who mumbled — not exactly hire-worthy. Again, would've been better getting a job at the post office or UPS.

 

I’d have been better off starting in a straight job too. But I’d always have that unscratched itch wondering if I could have been a sports writer.

 

I have a similar story. I was going to be the next Vin Scully. My school didn't do play-by-play of sports, so I would tape games and air edited versions on my weekly sports show. I was probably the only one who listened to them.

After graduation in 1983, I interviewed at an all-news station in Thousand Palms, CA that paid, IIRC, $6/hour. I would have taken it if it was offered. Had a friend who edited some weeklies who needed help with sports and that led to a 33-year career in print.

 

Been tuning in KGO on and off today while running errands. Just about everything coming from the MGMXL network (radio people, apologies for getting the name wrong), save for Jim Rome 9-noon (simulcast with KNBR 1050) and CBS Sports Radio overnight.

Not being a sports bettor, wondering what happens after football season, especially if the two sports betting propositions on the November ballot go down in flames as expected. But Cumulus will love it no matter what - no local hosts to pay!

 

What a waste of a prime dial position and strong signal.