http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl? http://www.eblah.com en http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1369155628/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1369155628/#num1 ESPN to Lay Off Hundreds of Employees

Sports cabler is cutting nearly 400 staffers

by Todd Spangler
Variety.com

                              

ESPN is laying off nearly 400 employees as it seeks to improve profitability, the company confirmed.

In a statement, ESPN said, “We are implementing changes across the company to enhance our continued growth while smartly managing costs. While difficult, we are confident that it will make us more competitive, innovative and productive.” A rep declined to comment further.

News of the layoffs was reported Tuesday by sports blog Deadspin.

In the U.S., ESPN has about 4,000 employees, with another 3,000 overseas. The company’s ESPN Plaza headquarters in Bristol, Conn., includes nearly 1 million square feet of office and studio space in 16 buildings on 123 acres, plus an additional 400,000 square feet rented nearby.

Walt Disney Co.’s ABC owns an 80% stake in ESPN, with Hearst holding the remaining 20% interest. The company does not disclose financials but its annual revenue is estimated to exceed $8 billion.

http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/espn-layoffs-disney-to-cut-hundreds-of-employees-1200484819/]]> Tue, 21 May 2013 10:00:28 mikedup http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1368710349/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1368710349/#num1 Expect to See 1,000 Sports Stations



    May 16, 2013

Just over 25 years ago WFAN in New York was the only Sports Talk radio station in the United States. Today there over 700 carrying the format, five national sports networks and many other regional sports networks. Cumulus has 73 stations carrying sports. Working together Cumulus and CBS now have 280 affiliates taking programming from the CBS Radio Sports Network that launched less than six months ago. Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey says "I wish I had a sports station in every market." He says we're going to see more and more stations going sports. "It would not surprise me to see 1,000 stations programming sports and we're going to see more sports stations moving to the FM.

Everyone agrees because of the sound quality, and because they were born listening to FM not AM, the younger demos are on the FM dial. And, moving sports to FM is expanding the listening base. Dickey says it's not a zero sum game. KDKA Program Director Ryan Maguire told the Radio Ink Sports Conference crowd yesterday that "music formats on FM were in trouble," because personalities no longer play the role they used to on music stations. And sports is the one place you get those personalities in Boston, Pittsburgh, Dallas, San Francisco and other cities. "We're being asked to be on FM."

"We've got a real story to tell here. The story is the format, engagement and the hosts." Another theme at the conference was the ability to make more money in the sports format, partly due to the blurred wall between "church and state." Live reads and in-game sponsorships can be woven more into the content than in any other format. And hosts endorsing products has become big business.

CBS Radio Senior Vice President of Programming Chris Oliviero said, talent is the secret sauce that helps you make money. "Talent is foreground. There is an aura of celebrity that you can monetize. To the advantage of sports radio, the talent on music radio has been pushed aside. "It's the sports host and the callers. "It's entertainment. It's emotion."


http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=2653326&spid=24698

.]]> Thu, 16 May 2013 06:19:09 Grand Slammer http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1368636883/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1368636883/#num1 Why Sports Talk Is Popular
and Lucrative

      Mark Hanon



    May 15, 2013

At the Radio Ink Sports Conference in Miami, Tuesday, CBS Radio Boston Market Manager Mark Hannon (pictured) detailed exactly why the Sports format is so popular with listeners, and why it's a booming business for radio.

In 2009, CBS launched "The Sports Hub" in Boston, despite the existence of the legendary WEEI in the market. Understanding how the city of Boston salivates over every major sports team, CBS knew that not only was there room for another Sports Talker, but it could grow the existing listener base.

So what does it take to make a Sports Talk radio station successful with listeners and, more importantly, the advertisers? Hannon gave us some insight.

Latching on to a major sports franchise is key because, according to Hannon, one of the most important elements of a successful Sports station is play-by-play. "Without play-by-play," he said, "it's not even worth launching. You need that to draw listeners in and help develop your own brand." WBZ is now the flagship radio station for the Boston Bruins, who won the Stanley Cup two years ago, and the New England Patriots, a team that has been a consistent NFL winner for what seems like decades.

In addition, the Sports format is not passive listening, especially when it comes to play-by-play or popular personalities like Toucher and Rich on The Hub or Dennis and Callahan on WEEI-FM/Boston, or Mike Francesa on WFAN in New York. Hannon noted that Sports radio is salable: "Revenue chases content."

And sellers of Sports Talk and play-by-play have to understand that the format is not a cost-per-point sell, and it's not very PPM-friendly. But listeners are passionate. As Charlie Sislen of Research Director Inc. said, "The love and passion that Americans have for sports cannot be matched. Selling that emotion is critical."

Hannon described what it takes to manage a sales operation like the Sports Hub, saying there are a GSM and LSM who oversee the sales structure, and also a play-by-play sales manager who is responsible only for managing the selling of Bruins and Patriots games. There are also a digital sales manager and three or four sellers specifically for play-by-play sports; Hannon said they have a budget dedicated to play-by-play.

The final tier is made up of the other four stations in the cluster. Based on relationships those sellers have with clients, salespeople from the other stations are allowed to sell sports -- and Hannon said salespeople from those four stations alone bring in seven figures worth of sports revenue.


http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=2652677&spid=30800


.


]]> Wed, 15 May 2013 09:54:43 Grand Slammer http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1368500607/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1368500607/#num1
I am looking for some info on background music to some intermission feature clips from vintage HNIC.

Here is a YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQGDzYG4MDk

Many Thanks!

RetroLarry

Ed Note: This post was moved into our SportZone section

.]]> Mon, 13 May 2013 20:03:27 RetroLarry http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1367379270/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1367379270/#num1 BUSINESS

CRTC approves Rogers’ deal to buy The Score



The CRTC approved Rogers Communications Inc.'s $170-million deal to buy Score Media on Tuesday. This file photo shows the filming of an episode of The Basketball Jones, a web-only program that The Score Inc. maintained as part of its digital media business while the tv properties went to Rogers.
Photograph by: Aaron Lynett , National Post files


By Christine Dobby
LEADER-POST
April 30, 2013


Canada’s broadcast regulator said Tuesday it approved Rogers Communications Inc.’s acquisition of Score Media Inc.

The companies had been waiting for the go-ahead from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission since the deal closed in October.

Although it now has regulator approval for the transaction itself, which the CRTC valued at $172-million, Rogers will have to take another crack at the so-called tangible benefits associated with the deal.

When companies transfer ownership of broadcasting businesses, the CRTC requires the purchaser to make contributions – generally worth 10% of the value of the transaction – to communities served by the broadcaster and the broadcasting system as a whole.

Rogers proposed to direct the benefits in this case (worth about $17-million) to digital media production scholarships (15%), a fund for the development of independent production of amateur sports programming (27%) and its own Sportsnet Winter Games, an annual amateur action sports event (58%).

The commission said in a release Tuesday it had concerns around the Sportsnet Winter Games, specifically that “a high proportion of the benefit funds would be devoted to non-programming expenses, that the programming resulting from the initiative would be short-lived and that it would exclusively benefit and be useable by Rogers.”

It gave Rogers until May 30 to submit an alternate proposal for the tangible benefits package.

The CRTC also renewed The Score’s licence until August 2014 (when other Rogers-owned TV services will next be up for renewal) and approved two amendments to its licence.

The Score can now bump up the amount of analysis and interpretation to 15% up from 10% and is no longer required to break into live sports events every 15 minutes to show video highlights and sports results (it will instead do so once every hour).

Rogers Media, the company’s media arm, first announced plans to buy Toronto-based Score Media’s sports television network and related TV assets last August.

The Score is Canada’s third largest sports channel (after BCE Inc.-owned TSN and Rogers’ own Sportsnet) and reaches 6.6 million television subscribers.

Keith Pelley, president of Rogers Media, said in a statement Tuesday the acquisition would complement the company’s existing sports offerings and “significant investment in sports content and experiences.”

Rogers hopes its strategy of investing in sports programming, which is best viewed live, can help combat the small but growing trend of cancellation of cable subscriptions in favour of online content.

The Score, which will continue to operate out of its King Street-studio in Toronto, will be rebranded under the Sportsnet banner with a big reveal set for Canada Day, according to the statement.

The acquisition did not include ownership of theScore.com or the Score’s popular mobile applications, although Rogers picked up an 11.8% equity interest in the digital media business (which announced a further $16-million in venture capital financing last week).

When the transaction received shareholder and court approval in October, shares of Score Media were transferred to a trust and Rogers said final CRTC approval was expected in early 2013.

Rogers said when it first announced the deal that it was worth a total consideration of $167-million.

© Copyright (c) National Post



Read more: http://www.leaderpost.com/busi.....y.html#ixzz2S0YXz2ND



.]]> Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:34:30 Grand Slammer