Connect with us
Jim Cutler Demos

Sports Radio News

92.9 ESPN In Memphis, 105.7 The Fan In Baltimore Deliver Big Summer Numbers

“92.9 ESPN remained dominant for the quarter in Memphis, finishing 1st in both weekday prime (13.2) and the full week (10.7).”

Jason Barrett

Published

on

The summer ratings books in Baltimore and Memphis gave each market’s leading sports radio station a reason to celebrate. Audacy’s owned and operated brands 92.9 ESPN in Memphis, and 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore both enjoyed stellar growth. Congratulations goes out to the on-air and management teams in both cities.

We’ll start in Memphis, where 92.9 ESPN remained dominant for the quarter. The station came in 1st in weekday prime (M-F 6a-7p) with a 13.2 share. Another 1st place finish was earned for the full week (M-SU 6a-Mid) thanks to a 10.7 share. All numbers in this article are with Men 25-54 unless noted otherwise.

Turning to the individual shows, the top performance this quarter came from the Geoff Calkins Show. Geoff produced a 17.8 during his mid-morning timeslot to finish 1st overall. Calkins performance over the past year has him ranked 1st overall with a 14.9 share. Outstanding.

Next up was the Gary Parrish Show. Parrish crushed once again in afternoons, finishing 1st with a 17.6 share, just two tenths behind Calkins for the station’s best performance. Parrish does gain bragging rights over Calkins when sizing up the full year. He has a station best 15.0 share, also making him 1st overall.

Coming in third was the mid-afternoon team of Giannotto and Jeffrey. Mark Giannotto and Jeffrey Wright finished 1st in their timeslot with a 13.7 share for the quarter. They’re also 1st overall for the year with an 11.8 share.

The fourth best show finish came from Jason and John. John Martin and Jason Smith delivered an 8.8 share to secure 1st place during their midday slot. For the full year they’re sitting in 3rd with a 7.8 share.

Not to be forgotten, ‘The Six’, the station’s hourly recap program from 6p-7p which is part of the overall weekday prime schedule came in 2nd with a 12.6. ESPN Radio’s Keyshawn, JWill and Max, which airs 5a-9a on the station, generated a 2nd place 10. share during the prime hours of 6a-9a. For the full year, the ESPN Radio trio are 3rd with a 7.7 share.

Moving northeast to Baltimore, the news was once again positive for 105.7 The Fan. The market’s leading sports radio station turned in a strong summer book, pulling in an 8.2 share in weekday prime (M-F 6a-7p) to finish 3rd.

The station enjoyed a big performance at night from Baltimore Orioles baseball and Sports with Coleman. The Fan’s 11.1 share placed the brand 1st overall in the category.

Moving to mornings, the ‘Big Bad Morning Show’ with Rob Long, Ed Norris and Jeremy Conn took 1st overall with a massive 12.5 share. The show was strong in other demos too, popping a 16.1 with Men 18-34, and a massive 20.5 with Men 25-34.

In middays, ‘Vinny and Haynie’, which features Bob Haynie and Vinny Cerrato, secured a 4th place finish with a 4.9 share. Fourth place was also where the afternoon show ‘Inside Access with Jason LaCanfora and Ken Weinman’ finish. They produced a 6.0 share during the hours of 2p-6p.

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Sports Radio News

KNBR’s Brian Murphy Speaks for First Time After Paul McCaffrey Laid Off

“Paulie Mac is my guy, will forever be my guy. The best thing I could ever wish anyone is that you get to work with someone as loyal, energetic, funny, consistent as the guy his Jersey buddies call ‘Smack’.”

Published

on

A photo of Paul McCaffrey and Brian Murphy
(Photo: KNBR)

Earlier this week, KNBR underwent a round of layoffs, affecting a pair of programs on the Bay Area sports station, including the departure of longtime morning host Paul McCaffrey. His longtime partner — Brian Murphy — has taken to X to share his thoughts.

In a thread to X, Murphy shared his admiration for McCaffrey, whom he hosted Murph and Mac with for 18 years.

“Paulie Mac is my guy, will forever be my guy. The best thing I could ever wish anyone is that you get to work with someone as loyal, energetic, funny, consistent as the guy his Jersey buddies call ‘Smack’,” wrote Murphy. “So much love.”

He then shared that everything listeners and fans of the program have shared on social media has been read by the duo, and thanked them for the outpouring of love and support.

Finally, Murphy addressed his future. Fill-in host Dieter Kurtenbach shared on Thursday he did not have a definitive answer about Murphy’s future with the Cumulus-owned station.

However, Brian Murphy has shared he will return to the airwaves on Monday morning.

“I’ll be back Monday morning on KNBR with our guy Markus (Waterboy) Boucher,” Murphy wrote. “Come on. It’s Niners-Eagles. Wouldn’t miss it. As Paulie Mac’s board itself would say: The show goes on.”

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Continue Reading

Sports Radio News

Mike Mulligan: Sports Radio is More Difficult Than Other Formats Think

He shared that he has worked with people on morning shows that he has seen come to a station fully hungover who play music and proceed to sit on the couch.

Published

on

Mike Mulligan
Courtesy: Illinois Entertainer

On Friday morning’s edition of Mully & Haugh on 670 The Score in Chicago, co-host Mike Mulligan outlined the difference with music radio that hosts are not continuously talking to the audience, instead taking mic breaks and then interspersing commentary with different songs.

Filling in for David Haugh on Friday’s edition of the program was Gabe Ramirez, who used to work in the format with B96 as the host of its morning show. Mulligan’s assertion about the differences between the two formats resulted in a conversation about the differences between the grenres, with Ramirez explaining the difficulties that music radio hosts face on the air.

“The music station’s still creating content,” Ramirez said. “You get to have a guest – since I am going to defend my music stations – you get to have a guest and toss them a softball question and listen to them rant for five minutes.”

Mulligan disagreed with this perspective, conveying that he does not feel their program provides guests with easy questions. Additionally, he shared that he has worked with people on morning shows that he has seen come to a station fully hungover who play music and proceed to sit on the couch.

“As a former sportswriter, we sit around and we talk about sports,” Mulligan said. “We talk about the sports we cover and we talk about other sports.”

“You have to talk about Justin Fields seven days in a row,” Ramirez replied. “As a morning show for music, you have to come up with new content every day.”

Rather than taking umbrage towards the response, Mike Mulligan explained that the key to effectively performing his job is being able to discuss important stories of the day even when they are not the headlines. Furthermore, he expounded on the commitment that it takes to watch the amount of sporting events and to be properly informed on the action so he is able to take the air.

“That I will agree with,” Ramirez said. “I’ve told people this – they ask me, ‘What’s the biggest difference?’ The prep, without question, is way more difficult in sports radio because everyone that’s listening to you already knows the answers and you have to be equally if not more informed in all of those things.”

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Continue Reading

Sports Radio News

Minnesota Twins Set to Tab Cory Provus as New TV Voice, Kris Atteberry as Lead Radio Announcer

Provus has been the radio voice of the Minnesota Twins since 2012.

Published

on

Minnesota Twins

After Dick Bremer exited the Minnesota Twins TV booth in October, the search began for his replacement. The MLB franchise didn’t have to look far, though.

Twins radio voice Cory Provus is reportedly set to become the new TV play-by-play broadcaster for the club, according to a report from Dan Hayes of The Athletic.

Provus has been the radio voice of the Minnesota Twins since 2012. Many immediately tabbed him as the club’s replacement for Bremer, who retired after 40 seasons as the lead television voice of the American League club. Before joining the team in 2012, Provus worked for the Milwaukee Brewers as the number two broadcaster after spending two seasons as the radio pregame host for the Chicago Cubs.

Meanwhile, Kris Atteberry has been signaled as the person set to replace Provus inside the franchise’s radio booth. He has served as the pregame and postgame host for the Minnesota Twins Radio Network since 2007. Atteberry joined the club after spending five years calling games for the then-Independent St. Paul Saints from 2002-2006.

While the television and radio broadcast crews appear set, questions remain about where the team will televise its games in 2024. The club’s contract with Bally Sports North has reportedly expired, and it has yet to sign an agreement with the bankruptcy-laden RSN, or with a local over-the-air television station.

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Advertisement

Barrett Media Writers

Copyright © 2023 Barrett Media.