"Take that Calgary Puck!" — SN960 and Calgary sports media discussion

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by CsInMyBlood

A shtick? Wow, they really make it seem like theres been not much effort put in. Day after day. They are really good at talking about what they ate or what they might eat or what they like to eat though.

Again, all part of the show.
They intentionally do not focus on hard core sports talk. And for the most part it has worked. The show has done very well for their target demos.
Ironically it takes hard work to seem that lazy.

I do think they had the ideal combo with Pinder - as he did bring more of the hard core sports element. But did so in a way that fit with the other guys. 3 men shows hinge on that type of chemistry and they had it in spades for a while with that trio. Each had their role and they filled it well.

My personal belief is if they simply try to replace Rhett with another Rhett-like individual, it will fail. I think they need to consider re-shaping the tone of the morning slot, though I think Boom should still be the guy for it. But don't try to replicate what you once had - build something new.

And I will say that Rhett showed a remarkable natural talent for the role. Comedic timing, understanding one's role in radio, and a willingness to poke fun at one's self - were all reasons that he excelled.

Again, I get that it isn't the show for all. But in a business where results matter - that team delivered results.

[CsInMyBlood]

I agree Jiri, the show worked much better w Pinder. My reasoning behind that is I just think Pinder is a better on air talent than anything else the station has. Plus you could tell he actually watched entire Flames games as opposed to the sometimes bizarre takes Warrener and Boomer would have the next day.

IMO the morning show really went downhill instantly after Pinder left and has never come close to recovering.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

I am pretty sure he has a full time gig, but I could see Krahn in Rhett's spot at least a few days a week.

[Johnhitbox]

Originally Posted by nik-

Teaching matters and has real societal value. Radio hosting doesn't.

That hurts a little, I’m a radio personality myself. I get what you are trying to say.


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[4X4]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Again, all part of the show.
They intentionally do not focus on hard core sports talk. And for the most part it has worked. The show has done very well for their target demos.
Ironically it takes hard work to seem that lazy.

Holy Christ, those boys must have been putting in some mad overtime to figure out their act, because every time I listened, they were talking about socks or apple pie or some other ridiculous thing that I really don't give a F about.

Imagine that. Working your ass off to think of things to talk about that people don't want to hear you talk about. My daughter could probably fill an hour talking about LOL Surprise dolls and kitty cats.

[memphusk]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Klein is the best talent the station has produced in probably a decade.

You know what they could really use? Less white people. There's have to be a few black guys in this city who wanna talk hockey for a few hours a day. How about Harnarayan Singh? They probably can't afford him.

I'll tell you what: when every single personality on your station since its inception comes from the exact same background (white, middle class, city dwelling, outdoorsy), it's gonna start to feel stale.

Hey Kirsch. Hire a brother. Just to say you did. I've been to SAIT's orientation night, I promise they're there.

I bet you were angry when Nash won the MVP two years in a row also.

[curves2000]

A few thoughts from a longtime listener and someone who's actively suggested in person to a number of the personalities on 960 some changes. One of them described me as the "prime target demographic they want to reach"

The morning show with Pinder, Boomer and Warrener was quite good, it took a while but they found their groove and sometimes by accident. Boomer and Pinder taking the job apparently more seriously because the salary paid their bills. Rhett and his $150k a year salary (I am guessing based on previous chatter on the station) provided some good humor, some decent insight, some good stories and some non hockey related stuff. He wasn't into this 100% full time, it showed sometimes but it shouldn't matter.

This was a gig to him that paid enough of the bills to make it worth it to roll out of bed and not go stir crazy with nothing to do.

For some who are complaining about the non hockey/sports talk when the station talks about food, travel, jokes etc. How much sports analysis do you need/want?? This isn't the 1980's anymore. The Battle of Alberta is watered down to nothing with very very few storylines to chat in depth about over the years. This isn't a situation where players are literally being beaten and hit to near death. Some of the NHL games in this era literally are games of passing and blocked shots. No big hits, low scores, no hate, no rivalry. What is there to discuss in depth 82 times + a year??

I do think 960 could benefit more from some in depth, behind the scenes look at sports. I am thinking more along radio version of "The Athletic"

Have a Gary Roberts talk about how he couldn't pass the fitness testing in the 80's and how that's evolved. He trains the best in the NHL and has a wealth of knowledge and can bring a lot to the conversation. Have him provide some fitness and nutrition tips for average Joe's. There is a market place for this type of stuff, Tom Brady is having a huge following with his TB12 Sports business for everything!

Have a regular sports agent talk about some of the business aspects of sports. TSN 1040 in Vancouver has a special hour weekly doing exactly that, teaching listeners things they didn't know. Have some Sportsnet Executive's talk about the media aspect of the business and how it translates to the sports we all love?? When you have cultural icon's on the payroll like Ron MacLean and Don Cherry, do a weekly piece on the history of HNIC, Coaches Corner and the associated conversations with that. Bloopers, travel, fan experiences etc. Broadcast it across all the Sportsnet radio properties!

What I am trying to say in a post too long is that people want a little different spice. The same old game analysis and quotes over and over and over. Sometimes that's all you will hear on a slow news day, morning show and afternoon show talking about D pairings just so a coach can mix it up 4 shifts in.

Mix it up! And PM me if you want any more ideas if anybody ever listens to their "prime target demographic"

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by memphusk

I bet you were angry when Nash won the MVP two years in a row also.

Not at all. I thought it was cool as #### - I think I still have a Nash Mavericks jersey somewhere in my parents' house.

I'm not saying there's anything insidious behind it. But the station could benefit from a little more diversity. They hired one lady twelve years ago, Jenna Holbrook. She was good. But they made her host a call in show at 9am, and that went about as awry as you would expect.

Stop hiring the same boring white guys. You can't deny they have a type.

[TheSquatch]

Agree, would love to hear a woman on the station, more particularly a woman with a nice voice (and I agree with the people who have mentioned that a few of the current hosts should NOT be on air - if you can't annunciate ordinary English, maybe radio isn't for you, given that the one single factor that might disqualify you as a radio host would be .. anunciating ordinay English). Danielle Smith is a very listenable host on 770, for example, because she speaks well, isn't ever shrill.

And..... it is white as hell. If that's the demographic that listens... okay. But jeez, yeah, it's always just 2 35 year old white guys chatting in the booth. Very vanilla (but we live in a vanilla society, one that punishes personality more often than rewarding it).

I'd like more "professional" breakdowns as well - why not get a d line coach on and explain what different formations are for - are we all sure we know what a nickel package is? Why would you line up 3 instead of 4 d linemen? That kind of technical stuff would be cool. Same for hockey - the mystery of "the system" for any given coach - break this stuff down, teach us something. We already know Patrick Kane can shoot.

[Jiri Hrdina]

I think one of the challenges with sports talk radio is that there are basically two types of audiences (over simplifying)
- The hard core sports nut who wants the deep analysis/discussion. Ideally you'd want this person listening almost all day but they want a broader range of topics and they want to go way deeper on those topics
- The causal sports fan who tunes in a couple times a day (largely during the morning and afternoon drives) and just want to hear hockey talk. Not to deep. Stay out of other sports. More surface level

There are more of the latter than the former. But the bigger problem is the two audiences do not have aligned wants or needs. So you end up, for the most part, under-delivering to the hard core sports fan.

And really all this is due to the very nature of broadcasting (broad being the key word) which by its very nature and need to attract a wide audience, limits the depth.

This is why podcasting has become such a big thing. It allows the host and audience to match each other based on the narrowness and depth of any topic. You have multi-hour pods that breakdown single games, or single movies/tv shows in incredible detail. Not appealing to a lot of people but incredibly appealing to some.

Broadcasting simply can't support that type of thing. The post above is a great example. I would love to hear that type of rich and deep content, but when they put that stuff on the air - people change the dial.

In fact whenever they aren't talking Flames - people switch the dial.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by curves2000

...Have a regular sports agent talk about some of the business aspects of sports. TSN 1040 in Vancouver has a special hour weekly doing exactly that, teaching listeners things they didn't know. Have some Sportsnet Executive's talk about the media aspect of the business and how it translates to the sports we all love??

TSN 1040 is a very good sports radio station, but “The Sports Market” is the most boring show on the airwaves, mostly because Tom Mayenknecht is unlistenable. My god, is he a terrible radio personality.

They do have considerable variety, though, between shows and hosts; the content on the whole is usually quite good.


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[stone hands]

is it really that hard to have a hit morning show when you're the only quasi sports related one in town on the only dedicated sports radio station(honest question)

[djsFlames]

Some diversity on the station would be nice.

Having a crew of white guys that stick to the script generally with only a couple that have really distinguishable personalities does get bland.

I'd love to have a European personality that can talk about more international sports on as frequently as Francis is currently, and yes a female (OR two!) would be more than welcome.

Nault, Klein, these other guys.... they're afraid to really cultivate a personality. They play it painfully safe.

I love the wildcard segment because FOR ONCE you get each of these guys actually speaking authentically and honestly from themselves and not just trying to fit a script and play along. There's teasing and bantering, and it's organic.

Ideally, on an all-sports station, as a fan you'd want to hear other fans that are well informed and in the know bantering about what's going on, with some healthy debate and controversy. Basically an on-air CP is what the fan should ultimately aim for outside of their structured broadcasts. There's a reason why thousands flock here. It's fun.

Full afternoons of reading off scripts and agreeing with each other when off the books you know it would be different, isn't much fun.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

I'd love to have a European personality that can talk about more international sports on as frequently as Francis is currently

You don't enjoy Tommy Wheeldon Jr and his (I swear daily) visits?

[SportsJunky]

Two words: Theo Fleury

Two more words: Bad idea?

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Toonage

You don't enjoy Tommy Wheeldon Jr and his (I swear daily) visits?

No. Maybe I'm not able to listen at those times.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

Two words: Theo Fleury

Two more words: Bad idea?

If he's half as entertaining on radio as he was on PPV, we'll all die of oxygen deprivation.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

and yes a female (OR two!) would be more than welcome.

Careful what you wish for, you might get Cassie Campbell.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Careful what you wish for, you might get Cassie Campbell.

I'd rather listen to Cassie Campbell than most color men in the league. I think she brought more to the table this season than Hrudey did.

She's the primary color voice of Flames TV broadcasts, she should have a regular radio hit. Loubo gets to come on for half an hour and call every athlete under the sun good people.

Why would Cassie Campbell be unable to fill twenty minutes two or three times a week talking hockey?

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Careful what you wish for, you might get Cassie Campbell.

To be fair, radio would be a pretty vastly different gig than the color commentary.

It depends on what she would be like in the position. Would she be honest, draw from her experience and make for some good debate or sit and agree and rehash points already made/known?

It's also not even unanimously agreed upon that she isn't a good color analyst. Some enjoy her. I don't mind her.