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The Addition of Bernie Miklasz Is Paying Off For 101 ESPN

Jason Barrett

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The Rams’ season was just about to kick off when Bernie Miklasz made his major move, leaving the Post-Dispatch after 26 years as a high-profile sports columnist to go full-time into the radio business.

And the football season is a key time — arguably the most important time — for his new employer, WXOS (101.1 FM). It has been the Rams’ flagship radio outlet since joining the local sports-talk fray in 2009 and has much programming related to the team and NFL.

Miklasz was hired to bring listeners to the station and eyeballs to its website, and adding him was a major investment for parent company Hubbard Radio. The stake was more than financial — it also involved revising the lineup by reducing the amount of time allotted to ESPN Radio’s “Mike and Mike” show and pushing existing local shows back an hour.

The Rams’ season now is over, and the bottom line reads thusly: Ratings for the time slot he occupies, 7-10 a.m. weekdays, were flat at first with comparable months last year but rose significantly in December. The station’s overall ratings have improved and its website traffic has increased.

Arbitron measures radio listenership and for the first two full months he was on in which ratings are applicable (October-November), it says he was being heard by 6.9 percent of men in the market ages 25-54. That’s the target audience of sports-talk radio. In those months in 2014, when the station filled the 7-9 a.m. slot with “Mike & Mike” and the 9-10 hour with Kevin Wheeler’s local program, the average was virtually the same.

Then in December, Miklasz’s rating was 27 percent better than what the station drew in same block a year earlier. And his market share has grown each month.

In the bigger picture, the station’s overall rating for the 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekday slot, in which it now airs its key local shows, was 9 percent higher than the October-December quarter last year.

And Compete.com, which measures web traffic, says the station’s site was drawing about 15,000 “unique” visitors in November 2014 and the number jumped to about 53,700 in November 2015 — the most recent month for which figures are available.

The trend is upward, but is it a strong enough start for the return on a huge investment for Hubbard, especially at a time when it is in danger of losing its anchor property, as the Rams have applied to the NFL to move to the Los Angeles area?

“As talented as he is, and as well-known as he is, it takes time for people to find out he’s here, and here on a full-time basis,’’ said John Kijowski, who runs Hubbard’s local business. “It actually exploded several months quicker than I thought, to a higher degree than I thought. From a ratings point of view, it actuality is exceeding where I though it would be this quickly.”

Radio stations loaded with local talk shows and high-profile and well-compensated hosts, as 101.1 has, exist in an expensive format — much more so than music stations that have much less overhead. The acquisition of Miklasz and associated costs has created talk in the industry that 101.1 is overextending itself financially, with cutbacks inevitable.

Kijowski scoffs at that notion, saying the station is “100 percent better off” than it was six months ago and that no reductions are in the works. In fact, he said there have been additions to the digital side of the operation and that an editor will be hired for the website because of its growth fueled by Miklasz’s presence.

“Those are some things we didn’t have before on the digital side that we now can sell,” Kijowski said.

 

Overall, Kijowski said he is pleased with the early returns.

 

To read more of this article visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch where it was originally published

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Charley Steiner Injured; Tim Neverett to Handle Dodgers Radio Play-by-Play

“This will be the first Opening Day that I will have missed since 1976, when I wore a younger man’s clothes.”

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photo of Charley Steiner
Courtesy: Los Angeles Dodgers

As the Los Angeles Dodgers get set to take on the St. Louis Cardinals in their first home game on Thursday, team play-by-play voice Charley Steiner has revealed he will not be doing games at the beginning of the season due to a severe back injury.

Through the Dodgers, Steiner posted a statement which said, “Over the winter, I landed on the Injured List with three compound fractures in my back. (I don’t recommend it.) With the start of the baseball season upon us, the Dodgers are ready to go – but I’m not. This will be the first Opening Day that I will have missed since 1976, when I wore a younger man’s clothes. I look forward to returning to the mic later this season. In the meantime, go Dodgers!”

TrueBlueLA.com reports Tim Neverett will handle play-by-play duties while Steiner recovers. Neverett called the first two regular season games with Rick Monday as the Dodgers started the season in South Korea. Neverett and Monday did not travel with the team, however, they called those games in a studio back home.

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Ronnie Lane and Tom Krasniqi Put a Bow on The Ronnie & TKras Show After Nearly 10 Years

“Finally, Tampa Bay can sleep easy knowing this hideous show is finally over.”

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Photo of Ronnie Lane and Tom Krasniqi
Courtesy: iHeartMedia

After nearly 10 years, The Ronnie & TKras Show with Ronnie Lane and Tom Krasniqi came to an end today as the duo broadcast their final show on remote with many listeners, friends and co-workers on hand. Earlier this month, WDAE announced changes to its programming lineup which will take place starting tomorrow. Ronnie Lane will take on a new role as host of the Tampa Bay Rays pre-game show The Inside Pitch. Tom Krasniqi will continue on in afternoon drive with producer Chris Mathis for The Drive.

Their final show kicked off with station voice Jim Cutler saying, “…Finally, Tampa Bay can sleep easy knowing this hideous show is finally over.”

And with that went three very fast hours of looking back on a nearly decade-long run for Lane and Krasniqi. “It seems kind of surreal, doesn’t it?” said Lane.

Mathis had several special guests lined up for the final show and many others left voice messages which were played coming out of breaks. Tampa Bay Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht and Chief Operating Officer Brian Ford took part in the final show. Tampa Bay Rays closer Pete Fairbanks also called in and, at first, identified himself as “Pete from St. Louis” before asking what the hosts thought of the Rays bullpen.

“I’m telling you man, when I hear all of these tributes it really brings a tear to my eye, Ronnie,” said Krasniqi. “It’s a surreal moment…It makes me feel so fortunate and blessed to be in this position sitting next to you all these years. This is one of those moments where I am almost speechless and just so incredibly overwhelmed by the support and the love that everyone has shown here today.”

Lane responded, “…Our time together is really coming to an end. I might get a little emotional before this show is over, but we have had a great time and been through many ups and downs…This business is crazy and for us to be able to do what we are doing and doing it on our terms…And for a company that believes in both of us to give us this opportunity to go in different directions with the same company is truly amazing…It doesn’t happen like this always in this business, usually it’s an ugly goodbye.”

As the show came to an end, Lane reminded everyone, “It has been a blast, but we’re not freakin’ leaving!”

“We’re not leaving folks,” ‘TKras’ said. “Thanks very much for being a part of our lives and thanks for having us as part of yours. Onward and upward. You are dismissed.”

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Tyler Murray Added to WEEI Red Sox Radio Bench

“Coming up on 13 seasons in [minor league baseball], it’s not lost on me how fortunate I am to have this opportunity.”

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Photo of Tyler Murray and logos for WEEI and the Boston Red Sox
Photo Credit: Ashley Green

The voice of the Worcester Red Sox, Tyler Murray, has been added to the Red Sox Radio play-by-play bench. WEEI made the announcement on their X account, saying, “On the heels of calling the Hockey East Tourney this weekend [and] adding to his excellent work [with the Worcester Red Sox], happy to announce that Tyler Murray will be helping to build our [Red Sox Network] bench this year! Tyler’s 1st series in the big leagues will be April 5-7 [with Will Flemming].

Murray, who has also called college hockey games on NESN plus college football and basketball games, said on X, “Coming up on 13 seasons in [minor league baseball], it’s not lost on me how fortunate I am to have this opportunity. Thank you to [WEEI brand manager Ken Laird] and [Audacy Boston Senior Vice President/Market Manager Mike Thomas], and to everyone who has reached out. Your support has honestly been overwhelming, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

Murray’s first series will be the Red Sox taking on the Los Angeles Angels on the road, April 5-7.

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