Are Ads Ruining Baseball On Radio?

8-25-13

That's the question author Bob Greene asks in a piece written at CNN.com and it's one radio stations have to ponder. How many ads are too many before listeners and fans decide the game they love to listen to on radio has become nothing more than three hours worth of advertiser drop-ins. As play-by-play broadcast rights to professional sports teams skyrocket, stations are now selling everything from the umpires reviewing lineup cards, to the first pitch of the game, to the first relief pitcher coming in from the bullpen (think Rolaids). Entercom's Weezie Kramer sounds like she understands there's a line that cannot be crossed. ?Our philosophy is to run a cleaner broadcast and produce the best listener experience.? WEEI in Boston carries the Boston Red Sox. Kramer was quoted in THIS New York Times story on the subject.

Phillies announce Scott Frankle said in the Times piece, ?You realize that they?re there to pay for the broadcast. So I?m certainly not begrudging that. But you still want some integrity in the broadcast.? The Times did some research and discovered that on July 4, WCBS had 61 drop-ins during a Yankees-Twins game and a Mets-Pirates game had 21. Former CBS GM in New York Joel Hollander said, "The quantity of WCBS?s in-game advertising on Yankee games was directly related to the rights fee it paid. The bottom line is WCBS writes the check and, like the rest of sports, it?s a huge money grab. They?re paying $13 million or $14 million a year for the Yankees. It?s hard to recoup that.?

Greene says baseball on radio creates a special bond with the locals. "Baseball on the radio remains free. Unlike viewers of cable TV or subscribers to satellite radio, fans of home-team games on their hometown radio stations don't have to pay a cent to listen. The sound of it all is very much what the sound has been forever. Because the pace of the game is leisurely, local play-by-play announcers, over a 162-game season, develop a relationship with their listeners unique in sports. They have to talk a lot, even when there's not much going on down on the field, and the audience grows accustomed to, and comfortable with, their relaxed voices and their heard-but-not-seen personalities. And that's just during routine games. At certain moments, radio broadcasts of ballgames can become part of the very fabric of a town -- the authentication of how sports can help define the meaning of community."

Greene writes about the relationship a baseball radio announcer can have with a fan. "I remember talking once with a woman in her 80s. She was residing in an assisted-living facility; her husband had died the year before, and the end of their lifetime of long conversations in the evenings had left a void. She told me that, even though she had never been much of a baseball fan, she found herself tuning in, each evening, to the strong-signal of WLW Radio out of Cincinnati. For three hours, she said, she would listen to Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall broadcast the Reds' games. Their voices -- reliable, unhurried -- became her companions. A part of life she could count on."

Much like how many spots is too many spots during an hour of music, another unknown is how many drop-in sponsor ads is too many before the listener hits the snooze button. "That foul ball was sponsored by Purdue chicken."

(8/25/2013 8:12:02 PM)
When a poorly disguised gnad-scratch is sponsored - it's too much.
(8/25/2013 7:07:43 PM)
I think this musical satire heard on NPR captures the moment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sczpnXUDsmE

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(SALES) Moneyball – It's Not Just for Baseball

7-15-2013

Of the millions of people who flocked to see the award-winning movie "Moneyball," many surely earn a living working in sales. But what percentage of these sales-oriented moviegoers was struck by the epiphany ?Wow, those sabermetrics could help me perform better, too?? It?s really not a guess to suggest the percentage is probably close to zero.

I know this because, as a DOS, I watched my sellers try to become invisible anytime I attempted to support a training lesson with the use of numbers. With seemingly choreographed synchronization, my sales representatives would slide down in their chairs, often accompanied by a collective roll of the eyes at the very suggestion of a math problem. (The only other exercise that elicited such a negative response was role playing.)

I can?t help it! I?ve always regarded the failure of sellers to embrace the lessons available from simple mathematics as silliness bordering on ? dare I say it ? ignorance! Consider these simple truths:
1. I?m not talking about calculus or trigonometry. Enjoying the performance benefits from studying the numbers only requires mastering the grade-school basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
2. At its core, sales is, and always will be, a game of numbers.

And yet, these truisms notwithstanding, I am guaranteed to get that ?deer in the headlights? response when I ask sales representatives to tell me their respective closing ratios. The math is simple but the question itself causes a brain cramp. That said, if I can convince only a few sellers to join me in the treacherous numerical waters, my work will have been worthwhile. To that end, my best chance of teaching success requires me to demonstrate both the simplicity and power of ?doing the math.? So, let?s give it a try.

By reviewing her calendar for the previous month, a hypothetical sales representative can easily determine that she made 60 client presentations and successfully closed 15 contracts. Using simple math (and a small leap of faith), this seller will divide 15 orders by 60 attempts to realize that her closing ratio is 25 percent (1 in 4). By adding the dollar value of her 15 contracts, she learns that her orders totaled $75,000 last month and, when she divides $75,000 by her 15 orders, she can see that her average contract equals $5,000. Now, suppose this seller?s manager has established her monthly budget (quota) as $150,000. Because she did the math, the sales representative can easily determine that she must write 30 orders to reach her budget and she can be fairly confident that she will do so by making 120 client presentations each month. By just letting the numbers dictate her activity, our seller is guaranteed to be successful. Now that?s power!

Superior sellers recognize there are actually two impressive benefits that result when they embrace the numbers:
1. Because sales is a numbers game, aggressive use of math WILL improve revenue production; and,
2. By following the numbers, sales representatives are actually managing themselves and, as a result, they will suffer less scrutiny from the boss.

Jon E. Horton is the author of The 22 Unbreakable Laws of Selling available in both paperback and Kindle versions from Amazon.com. For more on this topic, please read Chapter 4, The Law of Numbers. Contact Jon@JonEHorton.com.

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TuneIn To Stream Minor League Baseball

7-9-13

TuneIn says it has reached a multi-year agreement with Minor League Baseball?s Baseball Interactive Rights Company (BIRCO) to bring live radio broadcasts of Minor League Baseball games to sports fans everywhere. TuneIn CEO John Donham said, "Listening to baseball on the radio is a great American pastime, and by partnering with Minor League Baseball, we are bringing fans a way to enjoy baseball in ways they?ve never been able to do before. Opening up the world of Minor League Baseball to TuneIn listeners brings us one step closer to our goal of offering all the world?s audio to people wherever they are.?

The agreement with BIRCO, which manages the digital media rights of its member Minor League Baseball clubs and leagues, and MLB Advanced Media, the exclusive provider of interactive services for BIRCO, ensures baseball fans can listen to many of the 10,000 games played each season, whether they?re following their hometown teams, or listening to baseball?s top prospects. TuneIn will feature regular season, play-off, and championship action from every level of Minor League Baseball, including the Appalachian, California, Carolina, Eastern, Florida State, International, Midwest, New York-Penn, Northwest, Pacific Coast, Pioneer, South Atlantic, Southern, and Texas leagues.

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(TALENT) 5 Lessons From Little League Baseball

5/14/2012

Say you're seven and up at bat for your first baseball game of the year. You're wearing your still-white baseball pants, a fresh red jersey, new cleats, and a Cardinals cap. Your first at-bat against the provincial champions, you hit a single. The next boy up swings and sends the ball to right field. As you reach second base, Dadcoach voices shout at you from all directions: "Go to third!!!" "Stay at second!!!" "Keep going!!!" "STOP!"

You stay on second and get tagged out at third on the next play. The third base Dadcoach doesn't hesitate to lecture you about how you should have run. You leave the field -- head low, shoulders drooped. Charlie Brown.

Have you ever felt that way?

I watched this happen in real time the other night and talked to my son about it afterwards. Really what I wanted to talk about was the unforgivable temper of the third-base Dadcoach who seriously needs an anger management class. But instead what I got was a management lesson.

Me: "So I heard Nick's dad yelling at you when you didn't run to third base."

Jackson: "Yeah, it was so confusing. Everyone was shouting different things. I didn't know what I was supposed to do."

A lightbulb went off and I realized there were five lessons from Little League for any manager:

1.   Keep feedback to one "voice." Players, and employees, need one coherent directive, or "voice," to guide them. When multiple managers are involved, everyone needs to be on the same page. Minor disagreements are okay but 180-degree differences are, at best, confusing. At worst, paralyzing.

2.   Coaching in the moment. Coaching is for before and after play, not during. When someone is trying to perform, coaching them in the moment, "hotlining" the studio, etc. is rarely effective. The person will get in their "head" rather than staying fully present in the moment. Our rule of thumb: Only hotline the studio if the facts are wrong or the license is in jeopardy.

3.   Control your emotions. When you have to talk to someone about their performance, first take stock of your personal emotional state (another reason why coaching "in the moment" can be a bad idea -- your emotions have most likely been triggered). Calm, unemotional feedback is easier to take in. It's trite but I wouldn't quote it if it didn't hold true: "Never let 'em see you sweat."

4.    Never start a sentence that can be finished with "...you idiot."  "You should have run to third..." sounds a lot like "You should have run to third...you idiot." [This by the way is a great rule of thumb for marriages too.]

5.   Future-based feedback keeps a person's ego intact and give them something actionable to focus on, rather than dwelling on a mistake they can't fix. "Next time, try it this way?" or "What do you think you can do differently?" is better than "What were you thinking?" any day.

Thankfully, another coach approached Jackson at the bench afterwards, smiled and said: "Hey Jackson, next time you're coming around second, make sure you know where the ball is so you can make the best play, cool? Good job, buddy." Jackson sat up a little taller.

Angela Perelli is a SVP at the The Randy Lane Company (www.randylane.net).
She can be reached at angela@randylane.net
www.facebook.com/TheRandyLaneCompany
www.twitter.com/TheRandyLaneCo

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Play Ball! 10 Badass Baseball Songs

Major League Baseball's 2011 regular season ended in stirring fashion on Wednesday (Sept. 28), and with the playoffs kicking off on Friday (Sept. 30), there's plenty of drama still to come. Before Sabathia faces off against Verlander, the Rangers begin their trek back to the World Series and the Phillies' rotation of aces is unleashed upon the postseason, check out these 10 songs that nod to America's Pastime and add to its lore. Whether it's Kanye West racking up the hits, Bob Dylan penning a tribute to a big league hero or William Hung coming on in comic relief, these tracks will get even Red Sox and Braves fans pumped for October.

John Fogerty, "Centerfield" (1985)

Creedence Clearwater Revival rocker John Fogerty took in a 1984 game from the centerfield bleachers in San Francisco's Candlestick Park and wrote this slice of Americana. Decades later, it's become a ballpark staple, from its opening handclaps to its infectious chorus.

Choice Lyric: "Well, beat the drum and hold the phone - the sun came out today/We're born again, there's new grass on the field"

Wiz Khalifa's "Black & Yellow" And Four Other Hot Football Fight Songs

St. Lunatics, "Batter Up" (2001)

St. Lunatics, Nelly's St. Louis collective, saluted the sport with a solid Dirty South jam off their 2001 album "Free City." Let's forget about the song for a second and focus on its music video, which features the following highlights: a pitbull in the batter's box; a bunt home run; a scoreboard that reads 420-0; and Nelly driving from home to first base in a red convertible. If real baseball was like the "Batter Up" video, football would be a footnote in American culture!

Choice Lyric: "Well you should see me now, I'm eaten' Wheaties now/I'm stealing second and third and looking home, peeping greedy now"

The Mountain Goats, "Cubs in Five" (1995)

The lead track of the Mountain Goats' "Nine Black Poppies" EP, "Cubs in Five" combines John Darnielle's lo-fi aesthetic with a romantic declaration as hopeless as the Chicago Cubs' playoff history. The Cubbies may never "beat every team in the league" (they certainly didn't this year), but at least the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made it "all the way to January" seven years after the song was written.

Choice Lyric: "And the Chicago Cubs will beat every team in the league… and I will love you again/I will love you, like I used to"

Dropkick Murphys, "Tessie" (2004)

In 2004, the Boston-based Murphys decided to record a cover of "Tessie," an old ballpark rallying cry Red Sox nation hadn't used since 1918 - the last time the club won the World Series. The Red Sox won the championship that year behind the Murphys' re-worked version, and it became a Fenway Park staple - though it's not likely to receive much airplay this October.

Choice Lyric: "The Rooters gave the other team a dreadful fright/Boston's tenth man could not be wrong/Up from "Third Base" to Huntington, they'd sing another victory song"

Bob Dylan, "Catfish" (1976)

 

This bluesy folk song tells the story of Jim "Catfish" Hunter, the country-bred Hall of Fame pitcher who left Oakland for a big payday with George Steinbrenner's Yankees. Though far from a Dylan standard (it took 13 years to be released before making a 1989 rarities compilation), "Catfish" is a likely favorite of baseball geeks and New York Yankee buffs.

Choice Lyric: "Come up where the Yankees are, dress up in a pinstripe suit/Smoke a custom-made cigar, wear an alligator boot"

Due Up: Kanye West, Bruce Springsteen, Ozzy Osbourne

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