North to launch new sports station on the Net
Posted by Ed Sherman at 3/10/2009 6:00 AM CDT
Courtesy of ChicagoBusiness.com


There's going to be a new sports talk station in town, but you won't find it on your radio dial.

Crain's has learned Mike North's Chicagosportswebio.com is putting the finishing touches on a 6 a.m.-6 p.m. sports talk outlet. It will include boxer Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, Chet Coppock, Jonathan Hood, Teddy Greenstein and Tim Doyle. Twelve-hour programming is expected to begin in April.

The Internet site has been hiring producers and other staffers from WSCR-AM 670 and WMVP-AM 1000. Jesse Rogers, formerly of SCR, will be the program director. The station will operate out of studios in Morton Grove.

Chicagosportswebio.com is promoting "a major announcement" on its site. However, when contacted, Mr North declined comment.

"Not talking is a new one for me," he said. "I guess I'm learning."

Mr. North, though, will have plenty to say soon. The site will be co-owned by David Hernandez, the CEO of Next Step Medical Staffing. Mr. Hernandez's company also is the title sponsor of Mr. North's "Monsters in the Morning" on Comcast SportsNet.

Mr. North did a daily Internet show on chicagosportswebio.com after he left SCR last summer. The site now simulcasts his television show, something that will continue under the new format.

This is a bold move for Mr. North and Mr. Hernandez. They now have to condition sports talk listeners to listen on their computers.

Many people already do, listening to live streams of broadcasts from WSCR and WMVP. So Chicagosportswebio.com faces plenty of competition on the Internet too.

At the end of the day, Webio's success will be determined by what it delivers, according the Bob Snyder, the former general manager of WMVP who now operates a radio consulting company, Beason Broadcast Partners.

"These are some good, talented people so I imagine the programming will be pretty good," Mr. Snyder said. "If it is of good quality, the streams will have a chance. It all comes down to good content and marketing. Just like every other product."

The owners also are looking to the future when new technology will allow people to access Internet streams in their cars.

"Believe it or not, it will happen, but it's a long way away," Mr. Snyder said.

Mr. North and Mr. Hernandez appear to be in for the long haul, according to people familiar with the operation.

Here is the tentative lineup:

6-9 a.m.: Simulcast of "Monsters in the Morning."

9-11: Teddy Greenstein, the college football and golf writer for the Tribune, and Matt Weber, a young upstart from WSCR.

11-3 p.m.: Jonathan Hood, a host at WMVP, and Tim Doyle, a former Northwestern basketball player who now works for the Big Ten Network.

3-6: Chet Coppock, the one and only, and Boom Boom Mancini, the successful lightweight boxer during the 1980s. That should be an interesting pairing.

Link: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/ ... siness.com

No, Mac?

Interesting.

Once they get rid of Coppock and Boom Boom Mancini, they might have something.

Does North have pictures of this Hernandez guy? He's ears-deep into the Mike North Production Experience.

Do you think it's really Teddy Greenstein or just some guy that emailed North's website and said he was TG and wanted a morning show?

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You know me like that.

That is an odd one - considering their past.

I think they are about 10 years before their time. It is not a bad idea.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Why? The only difference between this and any other sports talk show lineup is that you just can't hear this over the airwaves.

Sure, their costs are much lower by doing internet only, but I don't consider this novel at all.

Good Dolphin has been on the North bandwagon for a while now.

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I may tune in for J. Hood occasionally. Would be better if he were given a real show on a real station, though.

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This is my signature...

So is Webby leaving the Score to do this?

I'm assuming he can't do both. That could potentially be a good show but I'd have a hard time switching from Silvaddle.

I'd probably give Hood's show a listen though. I don't know much about Doyle other than I already know it's MUD's favorite show and it hasn't even aired yet.

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You know me like that.

It's not 10 years ahead of its time. It might be 1-2 years ahead. One, I'd say, but the economy is retarding things like this back (although now is actually a good time for talent acquisition on the cheap.)

I was sort of thinking, whilst extolling what I thought the future hold, this would be something Mark Cuban would've wanted to do.

Interesting range of talent he has lined up. I'm interested in seeing how this works out.

As for Jesse, looks like he's back on the production side of things.

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Middle Aged Crazy, like Uncle Terry

boom boom mancini?? WTF is that about?

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

If I cannot effortlessly hear it in my car, in my backyard, or when I am falling to sleep, I don't have much hope of listening. I assume the listening habits of others are similar to mine.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I agree. I misunderstood you. I thought you were saying they were progressive.

Does the stable of talent really matter with a web show. I would think the shows are fairly independent and compartmentalized with this technology.

In fact, if one were creating an internet "radio station", wouldn't it be smarter to provide a range of shows to meet desired demographic tastes? 12 hours of sports radio seems redundant.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I agree. I misunderstood you. I thought you were saying they were progressive.[/quote]

The technology is progressive, as it will not be available for maximum consumption for a while.

The programming is contemporary at best, if not regressive.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

True. But most of those shows are by people nobody has ever heard of. I agree this is no revolution but he has grabbed some known guys with talent and put his name on it which, like it or not, still has enough juice to get some print articles and publicity. Worth a shot.

I don't know enough about the industry but couldn't he then offer up a show to simulcast on some radio stations that are looking for programming?

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You know me like that.

Neither Duk Koo Kim nor Warren Zevon will be caught dead on that show...

Too soon???

"Mr. North did a daily Internet show on chicagosportswebio.com after he left SCR last summer. The site now simulcasts his television show, something that will continue under the new format."


did anyone even know or care that this was going on already?

The technology is progressive, as it will not be available for maximum consumption for a while.
[/quote]

The internet will be in cars soon enough, you can get online with an iPhone and buy separate speakers for it. I don't know how Pappy is gonna pay these people, will they all sell advertising? I know Frankie Rodriguez and a another Chicago radio guy are doing something similar and making a living. The lineup seems awful but I'll give it a listen. Good for Pappy, for a guy who always seemed like he was living in the past, he's trying to adapt to the technology of tomorrow, it's a good long tern investment.

If J-Hood is there, I'll be there.

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

1. This will fail. How can they get advertisors? You have to have people listening in their cars for a broadcast operation to make money. Especially for mornings and afternoons. If you don't have that you can't make money.

2. The line up sucks. Nobody would want to listen to any of these people if they were on regular radio.

3. I'm curious as to what these hosts are making. Jesse probably got a good enough deal to quit the Score. I really can't see any of these hosts making more than 40k. These shows won't make that money back. Look at these hosts. They are never-beens or guys who see their careers slipping away. So it's worth a shot for them.

4. Most listeners will go to the Score and ESPN 1000 if they do want to listen to something over the internet.

5. Is this webio thing gonna have reporters covering the Sox, Cubs and Bears daily? The Score and ESPN have that. They have to have reporters if they want credibility.

6. Regular radio is struggling. Now you're gonna put a 3rd sports talker out there in this struggling economy. Can't work.

7. North will file for Chapter 11 with this in a year.

I think the idea is very interesting, but have to wonder how they will get substained advertising for this.

Seriously, look at the line up. Who is gonna go out of their way to punch up these guys?

Webber & Greenstein
Hood & Doyle
Chet & A Hit Man

Chet is the only guy that has had some success in radio but he's past his time.

When this is launched it will make the papers. People might check it out initially. Then everybody will forget it's there cuz they don't have the money to advertise and remind people it's there.

Where's Rosenbloom?

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

Oh, he will talk about it everyday until Comcast pulls the plug on the morning show.

Like George, Zach and Bruce?

They're bad but at least they're at the games getting sound bites. People want to hear from Lou and Ozzie. I'll bet Jesse will go out to the parks, as the PD, just to get some sound.

you just know north is going to crow about how HE is revolutionizing sports on the internet. this coming from the dipshit who ripped the internet, saying nobody cares or reads dem chatboards, when everyone in the business looks at this site for feedback. This coming from the dipshit who said it was always his dream to scam people out of their money for his football knowledge. i'll give him this, he is extending his fleeting fame longer than i thought he would, proving that he can still hustle people. "hey davey, how much money you make from that medical company? you and me will be partners 50/50. you put up the cash and I'LL run it. you will get to meet all my sports friends and hang out at gibson's with me and jen" just remember tree tings. 1) i'ze is in charge 2) bebe gets some of yer money for adopt a pet 3) you pay fer jen's downtown condo, i can't anymore "

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Please die in a fire.

I remember North criticizing Howard Stern when he went to satelite radio. And Stern got 100 million a year to do it. North said, "He's gonna regret it. Regular radio is da only ting dat people listen too."