The one problem is - New York and Philadelphia aren't part of that group, to a large extent. Turns out Boomer & Carton wouldn't fit in at 98.7 WEPN because they couldn't broadcast B&C "with the moms driving the kids in the backseat to school. We get feedback on that, and it matters."
Bam. Talking loyalty oaths right there?
How many listeners does ESPN Audio have per week?
We are just over 20 million a week.
What is the male-female breakdown?
It is a pretty heavy male to female skew: 80-20 male.
How many stations is ESPN Audio affiliated with today?
More than 500 affiliates and there are three owned-and-operated stations.
Let me ask you about some specific ESPN Audio personalities. In New York City, the nation’s biggest media market, the WFAN's morning team of Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton averaged a 7.9 share in for the last ratings period, nearly doubling the 4.0 for your national show featuring Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg.
In Philadelphia, Angelo Cataldi and his Morning Show have nearly double the local listeners of Mike and Mike among men 25-54. In Chicago, ESPN Radio gets beat in the morning. This is not to be pejorative about Greenberg and Golic who obviously have a national following, but why have you not been able to get traction in certain major cities with your morning programming?
Let’s take a step back. Sixty percent of the people who listen to sports radio in aggregate across the country listen to us. So we look at it in total. We also look at it in terms of our brand. We think Mike and Mike does a good job extending the brand of ESPN. We are not going to do what Boomer and Carton do on their show. It is just a different show.
Are you talking about doing local content or being more provocative?
Being more provocative. We can’t do that. I will tell you that a litmus test of mine for Mike and Mike and how it fits in with the brand is I want Mike and Mike to be able to be on with the moms driving the kids in the backseat to school. We get feedback on that, and it matters. It matters to our brand. Do we want to have the sports show of record where commissioners want to come to get their point of view across? Yes. All that stuff matters. It actually allows us to deliver an audience that advertisers feel very comfortable in and more and more today advertisers are trying to stay away from controversial talk.
We feel good about the brand we are putting forth. Now ratings are absolutely important. We added Cris Carter in the fall [to Mike and Mike] and it absolutely helped move the ratings. We’ve brought in [His and Hers co-hosts] Jemele Hill and Michael Smith from time to time and that has helped. We are doing things to constantly tweak the ratings. I’m not ceding it but I am telling you there is a larger picture.
(Jemele Hill ... battery throw inciting Jemele Hill helps ratings?)
How would you counter the perception that Mike and Mike is too vanilla for morning talk?
I think you can have that perception and in some ways we have had that perception. The changes you have seen in the fall are a reflection of that.
Mike and Mike’s content can sometimes come off as auxiliary PR or marketing for ESPN and a safe landing spot for guests as opposed to other sports shows where the hosts are more challenging of subjects. Fair or unfair statement?
I don’t agree with that. I think if you go back and listen to interviews, both Mike and Mike go about questioning differently, which is good, and you will see Golic get right in there. I would counter that tough questions are asked. Is it Outside The Lines? No. Is it meant to be an entertaining morning sports show? Yes. But I would say these guys are good questioners and astute there.
Come on, no they're not. They're constantly pushing the wwl agenda.
SI.com...An in-depth look at ESPN Audio and the future of sports talk radio
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