Evilbob wrote:
Remember when they started the North morning show? They thought mikey would attract new listeners via the new format he was adopting. After a year plus a few things are quite apparent about the mike north morning show. Time to admit that the effort to attract new listeners via the new format has failed. The score and mvp were are and will always be ratings slaves to the success of local sports teams. The ratings were up during the sox run, stayed ok during Bears seasons and tumbled during the winter sports abyss that is Bulls and Hawks season. This has not changed since the introduction of the sports talk format. In fact, the show would be better served to jettison the annie experiment and begin targeting the male sports talk audience and drop the news infotainment angle. The problem is it may be too late. It is not a destination spot on the dial, just a place to stop in for a sports update every now and then.
Pretty good point, Evilbob. When will these guys learn? They pay these hosts hundreds of thousands (or millions, in the case of our favorite high-school dropout), they tinker with formats, they shuffle lineups, and it's been proven over a period of years now: A local team or two get hot--your sports-radio ratings jump; the teams lose--ratings drop. But, I don't think the "creative" minds and high-priced "talent" that program these stations and host the shows would ever admit that they are simply, as you put it, "ratings slaves to the success of local teams." Their egos wouldn't allow it.