Meanwhile - in the undisputed leader's rear-view mirror - ESPN is widening the gap and strengthening its hold over The Fan as the Metroplex's No. 2 all-sports talk radio station.
While Randy Galloway winds down his legendary career and the rumors and uncertainty swirl in the wake of Cumulus taking business and operational control of Disney-owned 103.3 FM, ESPN keeps plugging along with a not-too-shabby station that is gaining audience and traction.
In the August local radio ratings The Ticket remains as dominant as ever, with each of its dayparts easily winning the sports-talk battle and finishing No. 1 or 2 overall in the coveted demographic of Men 25-54. ESPN is comfortably No. 2 ahead of The Fan in every daypart: Mornings, Mid-Mornings, Middays and Afternoons.
But it's in a 12-month overview that ESPN's progress can be easily tracked.
Since August 2012 Mike & Mike is up 18%, Colin Cowherd 40%, Fitzsimmons & Durrett 75% and Galloway and Co. 47%. And that, of course, is bad news for The Fan, whose only show to touch a 2.0 rating at any part of the day is Elf & Slater.
In their four months on the air since taking over for a certain someone's show, Ben and Skin have yet to do better than a 1.8 rating or rank above 22nd in the market among sweet-spot male listeners.
The breakdown:
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Wow what a surprise The Fan had better ratings in the afternoon with R.A.G.E. than boring monotone Ben and Skin...
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the ratings the Fan gets. It's not great, but it's not as bad as the ratings show. Richie, what are the ratings for g bag nation like?
ReplyDeleteIf you want to listen to real sports talk, it's ESPN. If you want to listen to endless potty humor and/or an audio version of TMZ, then it's The Ticket (except for Hitzges obviously) and The Fan (except for the occasional appearance of Brian Broaddus who knows more about football/Cowboys than anyone on D/FW radio).
ReplyDeleteMust say I really like listening to Fitzsimmons & Durrett and I've always wanted Chuck Cooperstein to have a regular timeslot, though I'm sure his duties with the Mavericks take precedence.
-JC
I bet you really like to listen to callers offer their take.
DeleteNot really, Moron. Just prefer actual sports talk from someone who knows at least something as opposed to hearing about the host's toilet habits, a la The Ticket.
Delete-JC
Not sure about that. Lets see when Ted in Greenville thinks about it.
DeleteTed in Greenville....and probably even his wife, mother, gay brother and two sisters.....has forgotten more about sports than anyone currently on staff at The Ticket except for Hitzges.
Delete-JC
Fitzsimmons and Durrett is the worst radio show in the market. Neither one of them seems to have a personality. I'd like to see specific demographical ratings...do you know where that can be found Richie?
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested to see what the ratings will be once the Cowboys start playing and whether people will listen to the FAN more to hear more about the Cowboys specific content.
ReplyDeleteI've been liking the high school coverage on the new ESPN affiliate 1460am here on the Westside of DFW. Also carrying Baylor football and Ranger games.
ReplyDeleteThe Fan might get higher ratings if they actually talked about relevant sports-related news more. Whether it's on the morning or afternoon drive, sports tends to take a backseat to entertainment and other non-sports news. I would say only 30% of their air-time is actually dedicated to actual, relevant sports talk.
ReplyDeleteAnd now that I live in the north-northeast part of the metroplex where I can hear The Ticket on a solid FM signal, they have been picking up more and more of my attention.
ESPN talks sports more than The Fan, but they spend wayy too much time talking about Johnny Manziel. It's been practically non-stop for practically two months, especially on GAC. Hopefully with the NFL season upon us, more consistent, relevant sports talk will be upon us too.
How did the Ticket lose nearly a point in a year during drive time and ESPN gain 1.7? Is it strictly Rangers influenced? I know when I have to decide between THL and Rangers, it's Rangers everytime.
ReplyDeleteDamm RW that 4 months flew by..
ReplyDeleteGood to see Uncle Norm at the top of the ratings pile.
Ben and Skin and where to start? They have went through 7 or 8 of their 9 radio lives. They only use sports as a backdrop for their own silliness. I kinda like Skin but Ben might be the most obnoxious guy on radio. I guess they will take over Sybil's gig next?
I guess east coast transplants are behind the ratings of ESPN. I sometimes catch Mike and Mike on ESPN2 and every other reference is to the Jets, since Greenberg is a Jets fan.
Collin Cowturd is just another over the top east coast asshole.
Hell the whole network is one after the other asshole.
The problem is these are all cumulative ratings which is why ESPN has gained. It's based on the Rangers. The only thing that matters at stations is the target demographic. Anyone can post cumulative ratings, but I guess insiders have the demographical ratings. I'm guessing Richie could get access to that.
ReplyDeleteIf your take is based on the Rangers being on ESPN, I ask only one thing......weren't they (the Rangers) on ESPN last August?
DeleteThe breakdown might provide something, but this is an apples to apples comparison as far as ratings from one year to the next. I suspect some Fan listeners are moving to ESPN.
Hey Anon, these aren't cume. They're Men 25-54. Thanks for reading.
DeleteThanks for the info, Richie. Good radio stuff, as always. I must admit that The Hardline's ever escalating numbers boggle my mind. They are the most unprepared, laziest, "this show is for us, not you," show on the entire station. It only shows how poor its competition is (sorry, Richie, that includes RAGE; as RAGE fared only slightly better than B&S--but you did have a better showing). I find myself listening to ESPN more an more of late.
ReplyDeleteand Galloway is just a staged train wreck. His anti-everything bit is wearing thin. He hates everyone most people hate, and he always has some spare he champions.. See Jake Delhome
DeleteThe FAN had a chance to be something relevant, back when it was New School, Josh and Elf, RAGE, GBAG and Arnie Spanier. I think I used to listen to every show except New School bc I was stuck in class. The FAN is nowhere near that. New School has been getting annoying bc all the Manziel crap. Shan's probably the only good host on that show. Elf and Slater? Don't get me started. That woman does not know shit about sports unless she reads it off the internet or gets it off SportsCenter. Ben and Skin.. I remember some one saying this previously and I agree w them, they're like those 2 jackasses in class who think they're funny and laugh at every single thing they say, but yet, no one's laughing. Only good show that The FAN has is GBAG NATION. I still listen to that whenever I get a chance. No surprise that the FAN's ratings are going down.
ReplyDeleteI quit listening to the fan ever since RAGE was gone, I recently started listening again because the NFL season is about to start and I want to listen to stuff about the Cowboys. new school and G Bag are the best ones, elf and slater I can stand but B&S SUCK! ive tried to listen to them but I just cant do it
ReplyDeleteWhy would anyone listen to the Fan for Cowboys talk? They are major Cowboys homers, since that is what Jerry wants. If you want unbiased talk, the Ticket is the way to go.
ReplyDeleteNew School are not homers. Perception is not always reality.
DeleteCowboys season ticket holder here and one that doesn't live in the Metroplex...well, if you want to count Tomball as the very, Very, VERY southern-most 'burb of DFW. Anyway...
ReplyDeleteIf you think The Fan is homerish, then you've NEVER listened to one second of Houston sports talk radio LOL! I've long listened to the DFW stations via the 'net and now, on the smartphone. My take...
* Can't stand any show on The Ticket except for Norm. I listen to him when I can daily.
* ESPN sucks totally. Don't care about M&M, Cowherd, etc. Assholes all.
* The Fan. The worst show is "Elf and Slater" and I can't believe it's still on the air. Slater ain't that hot and is absolutely clueless when it comes to sports.
"New School" also sucks, but I like Mike Fisher at 8:30 -- the other 2 are tools esp. Sean. Not a big fan of the wine cooler-sipping producer either.
I gave Ben and Skin a shot, but they totally blow.
I don't mind the "homerness" of The Fan because, trust me, it doesn't even come close to what you have here in the Houston area.
The best show on the station is G-Bag Nation by FAR. With they were either the AM or PM drive-time show.
Richie I follow you on twitter and facebook and think Greggo screwed you, but that isn't a reason to shit on Ben and Skin with a tic tac piece like this, most those numbers are from your own show, you can chop them up however ya want..
ReplyDeleteElf and Slater are horrible, worst show by far on that fan, Elf is an old clueless fool.
Shan and RJ are growing on me, better than they used to be that's for sure.
Ben and Skin are building a solid show, like it or not,
G-Bag nation is ok but built for the night time slot.
While i'm sure there's some contract reason you can't be on the FAN again the Richie and Brian Bradus + Sybil would be a great addition in the 10-2 time slot.
No way a knowledgeable and insightful sports mind like Broaddus with REAL experience in the business would team up with some dude whose main weekly feature is "white truck Wednesday."
DeleteRAGE was actually a great show when someone filled in for Greggo.
ReplyDeleteElf is terrible, Slater is better than Elf and light years more knowledgeable than Sybil.
ReplyDeleteAll three stations are pretty bad. This market should expect better.
Richie, what are the ratings for Gbag?
Mike and Mike, Cowturd and whatever other network feed they ship in from Bristol are never ever going to find my ears listening. If you are a refugee from the rustbelt, a NY transplant or anybody else from that part of the country, you might find a home there but it isn't gonna be me or apparently most of the men 25-54 residing in the area. You want sports only talk? Welcome to it. You want to call the Ticket TMZ for guys? I could not care less. I suppose you might not have been around back in the day when the Hardline mentioned these things in their opening. "Guys like gossip..." try checking it out on the UnTicket. Guess what, they still rock the ratings. Take your Jets, Bills, NYY and whatever else they are shilling on the Eternally Self Promoting Network and enjoy it. The only time I go there is to listen to an actual game, be it Rangers or Mavs. Subtract those from the equation and their ratings would reflect it.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah Bill in Tomball, Houston sports radio is awful. Horrific caller driven drivel that I detested for a solid year.
@JC. I do not give a flying fuck what Ted in Greenville thinks about anything, least of all his opinions on sports. The best part of callers to any station in town occurs Friday mornings when we do our part to draw Jub offsides. If I hear the ominous sound of "next, what you think. line them up." instant punch out commences.