Just how ugly was 610 Sports slaughtering of longtime sports radio rival WHB?
Really, really ugly – beyond imagination bad – so ugly and so bad that practically out of nowhere, without warning, it well may have turned the sports talk radio tables in the Cowtown for years into the future.
“There’s only a few markets in the country – even during baseball season – where a sports station has made it to No. 1,” says an industry source. “This is very unusual for a sports station, especially a station that’s never been in the top five. And especially in the overall demos. Sure, it happens in the men’s demos in sports, but very seldom in the overall demos.
“And they hammered WHB – even in prime time – they more than doubled WHB’s audience Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. In other words, during non Royals time. And not only did 610 Sports do well at night during Royals games, but in the most important prime time slots they were either No. 1 or No. 2”
It’s no secret that KC Confidential cuts a pretty wide swath – appealing to both older and younger readers. And one thing you can count on is that whenever the younger air personalities on 610 Sports do well or garner any compliments, there’s always a handful of older listeners who weigh in with comments that sound like teenagers talking about sex and vaginas.
Bullshit.
“You’re got to do that in sports talk radio today,” says the expert. “You’ve got to be edgy. The top sports talk radio stations in the country are edgy. You’re talking male leaning radio stations and men like edge. Look, the most listened to radio show in Kansas City over the past 20 years was Johnny Dare – and he’s edgy.”
Shades of Don Fortune: Petro, twice as big as the last time I saw him in person, complete with receding hairline and double chin.
The other reason for the slide by WHB’s prime time players may be that Kevin Kietzman, Soren Petro and Steven St. John are getting long in the tooth.
In 1994 when WHB predecessor KCTE AM first signed on as KC’s first all sports station, much was made of how old and predictable former KMBZ host Don Fortune had become. Fortune was an old man who’s time had come for him make way for young bucks like Petro.
Today, it’s WHB’s roster that’s far closer to pushing 50 and 60 than 610’s.
Kietzman’s schtick has become fairly predictable and Petro’s penchant for spouting stats has grown stale.
“I think that could have a lot to do with it,” the expert says. “Growing old happens to everybody – the young buck becomes the old buck – you can’t stop age. And unless they reinvent themselves…”
Some WHB listeners have noted in the comments section that WHB’s personalities appear bitter about no longer having Royals broadcasts and 610 Sports cashing in on the team’s successes. And that WHB’s air talent appear bitter and have searched for reasons to criticize the Royals.
“That’s not going to work,” the expert says. Because if you’re not a Royals fan, you’re not going to be popular in Kansas City right now.If you criticize the Royals you’re criticizing Kansas City.”
Frank White’s weekly call-ins with Kevin amount to the latter trying repeatedly to get the former to speak negatively about the Royals. Most common bait tossed out . . .
– Ned did it, but it didn’t seem like that was a good idea to me. What do you think, Frank?
– My mom and I watch the games on television, but just cannot stand Hudler. What do you think, Frank?
– My mom and I don’t think the Royals are handling the Ventura situation very well at all. What do you think, Frank?
– I just don’t think this team stacks up well against the great Royals teams of the 70’s and 80’s. My mom agrees. What do you think, Frank?
I’ve commented on this before, so bear with me if you have read this in the past, but 810 is so freaking stale, not only do they have the same shows with the same people running in the same order, they do some of the same segments, and have the same guests and run the same freaking bump music that they have done for the last 7 or 8 years at least. Do SOMETHING to change things up 810! I do prefer 610, but it would be nice to have a second alternative that is at least listenable and not a clone of something that I have heard over and over and over again for the last 10 years. I would at least deep six Petro and his most boring man on earth act and get SOMEONE else in there.
I wrote about 610 a year ago. They are young, have the Royals and now are in the catbird seat…no surprise. 810 is for the older audiences, they have no Royals, no Chiefs and they do have K State. Petro and KK do a nice job, but the young guys eventually the young guys caught them and now the Royals are hot so…that’s that for now…
facts even glaze doesn’t know and is too dumb to realize.
1. sports is growing. It can’t be dvr’d….it’s live…and it provides
the excitement that people are looking for. Eventually…the majority
of revenues and viewers/listeners will be coming from sports. Its
a fact.
2. wih the addition of millions of female viewers/listeners sports
will grow. Just go to royals stadium and see how many females
are there at the game. same with the chiefs. What once was a
huge male audience is spreading to females. Their interest in sports
and their activities (see womens soccer) will more than compensate for
any lost interest.
What whb needs to do is freshen up their sound and teir
output. Its no longer just a male station. Sports is taking over
all other programming. The top 20 programs on tv in 2014 were
sports programs.
go to the sec games…watch the change in audences…an what once
was a 90 per cent male audience is changing. Why have the
networks added female anouncers?
WHB is the strongest signal for a sports station in the nation. They
need to realize this…and possibly get new blood in there that
can capitalize on that.
610 after October will have to carry a large load….can they?
or will whb resurgence for the nxt 6 months bring them back?
the royals are hot. They draw from a 4 state area….but Harley sees
a 2 year window for the royals which 610 must capitalize on.
WHY?
Gordon is gone in 2016.
Hosmer is gone in 2017.
the contracts were built around a window of opportunity for the royals
to take advantage of these players. Remember…hos was a third round
draft choice.
Many of the stars of the ryals today wll not be with them in 2017…..glass
can’t pay the 100 million dollar contracts many of these stars will command
when their contracts are up. check the contracts.
so enjoy this team while we can….they all will head for better contracts
and money which glass will not pay….I will be reporting about these
contracts and the situation they present to the organization in future years.
but right now….KC IS ON FIRE~!
Hoser wss the 3rd OVERALL pick, not a 3rd round pick.
Even I know that and I only follow hockey.
It’s been very interesting – and an eye opener – to hear what some of the listeners are saying about WHB…
And the critiques have a ring of truth to them.
But here’s the deal. Those guys are like siamese twins in some ways. They are joined at the hip and they all – not all but KK, CB and others own a piece of the action, so it’s virtually impossible to effect change.
Unless miraculously they self decide that they do.
So it’s going to be an uphill battle togged them to evolve.
And frankly, if they did, who’s waiting in the wings?
They’d be just like 610 Sports was with a bunch of new names nobody ever heard of that were younger than their aging audience.
There is no easy solution for WHB.
They were in the right place at the right time and damn lucky when they sprang to life in 1994.
A boring former K-State cheerleader left Channel 4 weekend sports and became a superstar. An ex college kid with zero experience who used to sleep on the floor in their crappy AM studio in bumfuck. They managed to schmooze a rich former car dealer into making a questionable investment that turned out to be a good one.
Until their lack of experience caused them to borrow a ton of dough they didn’t have buy that FM signal, bid too much for the Royals, then screw up the deal on their FM signal which drove them into deep debt.
The car dealer sugar daddy died.
They screwed up their relationships with both the Royals and the Chiefs
But wait!
When Entercom came after them, a serious of boneheaded moves at KMBZ and 610 resulted in Dave Stewart, Bulldog and Bukaty and Soren Petro getting away and going WHB.
So instead of getting clobbered by Whitlock and Maas and company, WHB was able to stock up with veteran sports talk players that Entercom had put on the local sports talk map and live to fight again.
That doesn’t appear to be the case now.
Look, nobody is going to clean house at WHB because the inmates are running the asylum. But even were they to, there’s no readily available roster of name talent they could snatch up like last time.
Even Steve St. John was a total accident.
he was a caller named MU Dawg who Greg hall hired for Indian beads to sidekcik with him on that crummyAM signal. And when Hall took a bullet after a handful of weeks, St. John got the call.And later as watery for Jason Whitlock and until he imploded for the zillionth time.
The sports talk landscape in KC is in a state of rapid evolution.
Nobody knows exactly what’s going to happen, but for now WHB appears to have five more months of taking it up the you-know-what.
And they know it.
And if Entercom rescued Nick Wright from Houston – where reportedlynhe’s not doing that well – Wright could get a hero’s welcome and the Bulldog could go pound sand.
Anything is possible, but this much is know:
610’S GAME IS AFOOT
It is amazing KC has two sports stations. The amount of canned product, especially the weekends, shows how tough it is to talk about KC sports 24/7.
WHB is stuck where it is as long as owners are on the air. They will always be Machiavellian in their hiring practices.
610’s on-air talent tries to move forward but with the radio audience tending to be older they can’t find that medium ground.
I’ll wear my 610 cap but it is WIP Philadelphia.
810 just stopped trying. They got full of themselves and put it on auto-pilot. I’m middle-aged and they’ve so bored me to tears, I can’t remember the last time I tuned in. Endless talk about their freakin’ golf games convinces me that most of them are thinking more about retirement than how to get the mojo back. I don’t know if 610 will sustain this or not, but frankly, I’ve moved on to websites, internet blogs and twitter as being my main sources of sports information/entertainment.
610 wont sustain these numbers outside of baseball…..but what they need to do is hold on to enough to beat WHB outside of baseball season. KCFX is able to hold on to a majority of thier football listeners in the nfl off season. The reason is because of good content (Classic Rock music).
If the majority of Sports radio listeners feels the same way as the people on this blog….WHB as Hearne suggests is in for a changing of the lead dog.
WHB had been doing well in revenue….. up till now. However, revenue always follows ratings by about six months. If Union Broadcasting was a pyblicly held company I would tell my clients to unload thier stock.
stockboy….you’re wrong…whb will continue to do well in
revenue but cut expenses just like every other company
in America.
in fact they’re expanding…into Louisville and other markets.
they’ve got licensing rights….but probably need to work a
little harder at selling the stations …hence they’re going
aft4r accounts with ratings books.
Never count out anyone/anything in a horserace….who
thought pharaoh would win the triple crown.
Its a long winding road and even stations at the bottom of the
heap can make money.
consult Harley for further information.
thanks.
I would also tell my clients to never listen to Harley.
prove me wrong stockboy with facts and figures.
Sound advice…
sir…so has every other sports fan….what tv and radio ca’t provide….
the internet will…..
eventually that little smartphone you carry will replace every
electronic piece of equipment you now hav.e.
Radio is like a mountain…hills n valleys.
2 years ago no one listened to 610…they make a decision to carry they
royals and they boom.
Life is a mountain….
personally,i dont like any of the morning guys.your background on st john explains a lot but can kc really not find any better?soren has been around kk too long.hes gotten more and more boorish and boring. but come 2pm,danny and c dot are going strong. i dont think age is the reason at 8.10.kk has always been a pompous ass.but,you cant miss jack harry and him once a week. it is Comedy.for the listeners,that is. But jack is as good as gone,so thats over. but please never,never,never,that idiot nick wright.he and kk are two peas in a pod.If you think not,just ask them how smart they are.or disagree with them.for the 2 seconds it takes to cut you off
Geez, this is just the royals popularity pushing the ratings, not anything else. It seems so fake to try and act like the tables are turning.
I wish I knew the real reason you are reporting this like it is some major shift in radio preferences.
You try to make it sound like there is some “right” way to get ratings. And that good ratings only count if they are achieved using some magic “right” way. Ratings are ratings. Making money has a high correlation to making ratings. And we all know the point of doing business is to make money.
I find this strange. In my office are a bunch of guys aged from 25-57. None of us listen to 610 for the same reason. We find it unlistenable. When I flip it on they are never talking about sports, especially in the afternoon. I know it’s my own small sample size but I don’t know anybody who listens to 610. I only do during Royals games.
I hear the same thing, most of my friends are from late 20’s to 35ish and most find 610 a joke, besides Royals broadcasts. I have stopped listening to sports radio completely and most of my friends have started streaming content for sports. There are a ton of options out there now with cars dam near being a internet cafe on wheels. They need to just disband one of the stations and cherry pick the best line up for one station.
I can’t believe the comments are this long without a mention of satellite radio. Since I got XM, I haven’t listened to 1 minute of local sports talk.
I must be one of the old guys. I listen to Petro on the podcasts and very much enjoy Rany, Grunhard, Teicher, Kerkhoff, Stark, Gottlieb, etc.
I listen to all the segments when he has these guys on the air with him. While Petro occasionally tries to take over the conversation, I enjoy the back and forth. I do like stat based opinions as opposed to opinions that spring from nowhere or have an agenda.
I don’t listen to KK at all. I find his schtick boring and repetitive. I also do not listen to the young guys as they talk about their weekend or their dates or other bits of pop culture. I tune in to listen about sports.
I don’t have a dog in this race but I would like to see Petro continue.
If 610 would fire that assclown Fescoe and replace him with 810s only decent on-air guy, St John, they’d be golden.
Petro & Keitzman are getting old & crotchety. If you disagree Kevin he tries to talk over you and then drops the call, Petro (who has been on a diet for 6 years) spouts off with sports stats that you could not verify, so you don’t know if it’s bullshit or not. Stump the Chumps is not what I call good sports talk, more of a Friday time filler.
Chris Dimino & Nick Cellini at 680 The Fan in Atlanta have a great sports talk show. They know how to mix it up with sports / comedy / women / food. Yahtzee……
The WHB guys are getting really, really old now. Like Hilary/Ronald Reagan OLD. I don’t think there’s much K-Douche or Mr. Old Northeast can do to reverse the agin’ process, but Petro might have an alternative: Like lose about 100-200 pounds, dude, and try to channel your close likeness, Gilfoyle, from HBO’s hit comedy, Silicon Valley. ‘Course, it’s an uphill climb, since Gilfoyle actually makes me laugh every few episodes, as opposed to, ya know, NEVER, when it comes to Petro. The only thing continuing to prop up the 810 Oldsters these days is the fact that 610 ain’t exactly runnin’ any great shakes out there either when it comes to their so-called “talent.” If only it would be possible to run a couple of boring sports talk radio stations to the vet. I’d have ’em both put to sleep. That’s the only humane thing to do.