Juice's Lecture Notes wrote:
Saw a spmack post in the McNeil & Parkins section about not listening to much sports talk radio anymore, and I realized that I'm in the same boat, I went from being able to listen straight through the lineup whenever I could and trying to make time daily to listen to as much of The Score as I could, to now driving with the radio off more often than not and listening to podcasts while I'm on the range. And given how often the shows get posted about here nowadays, I'm guessing MANY are as well.
So my question is a simple one: Why?
Starting with me...I guess I just don't find it (in general, not just specifically any show) compelling enough to sit through 5-minute commercial breaks while I'm at the gym when I could be listening to Carolla crack wise. Maybe some of that loss of interest is due to being pushed away by the late political turn of B&B and later B&G literally telling me not to listen, but I can't honestly say that's all of it, because while they put on a better show than the previous afternoon drive show, I don't find McNeil & Parkins to be all that compelling, either.
It could also be the management-friendly tone taken up by MANY. If every time I tune in I hear a host telling me "everything is going to be fine" with a second-place Cubs team that was supposed to be a perennial World Series contender, I'm either going to call bullshit an not listen, or think "hey, everything is going to be fine, guess there's no reason to listen any more until the postseason" and turn off.
1) I never listen to any live shows, just podcasts. When the podcasts are 35 minutes of content, that means the commercials are 25 minutes of the hour. That's ridiculous. Each hour should be 45 minutes of content.
2) SJW - I don't care about any of their political/social views. I care even less because everyone has the same exact same positions (at least on the radio). I don't listen to sports radio for SJW or political stuff. I don't care what they think.
3) Building off the previous point, many of these hosts don't even know the sports/teams they cover. Mac is a great host, but he can't talk NBA. I enjoy NBA talk. Various hosts are known for certain sports, fine. Many state opinions as facts.
4) Local sports coverage is unchanging day to day. When asked during transition what the afternoon show will be talking about, it's shocking to hear that everyday, it'll be about the Cubs, Cubs and more Cubs. Not to say they shouldn't talk local sports or teams, but things don't change much day to day. It's repetitive.