sowny.net | The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum


You are not logged in. Would you like to login or register?

March 27, 2021 9:01 am  #1


Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

Whoever had the idea that Rogers could replace radio baseball "play-by-play" with a TV crew is one sandwich short of a picnic.  When the regular season begins April 1, radio ratings will plummet once fans realize what is missing.  So far during the reduced spring training game broadcasts, batter counts, description of on field plays made, fan activities are either missing or so late are irrelevant to the game.  If Rogers think that Martinez, Tabler et al are radio competent are sadly mistaken. Their TV skill calling a ball game is questionable let alone on radio.  Many fans mute the TV audio and listen to the radio play-by-play but this season is going to be a disaster listening to Jays radio if no TV set is close by.  Where is Ben Wagner and Mike Wilner when you need them.

 

March 27, 2021 12:49 pm  #2


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

Rogers has made many mistakes, including this.  Remember George Strombo?  Can the return of baseball on radio be compared to the return of Ron Mclean?

 

March 27, 2021 6:44 pm  #3


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

I don't think this would have a major effect on ratings.

With virtually every game on TV, the remaining radio audience is made up almost exclusively of those who can't watch for whatever reason.

It's hard to measure the ratings anyway as the games aren't on at a consistent day/time, and daily ratings are unreliable. Ratings haven't traditionally been the main way to sell sports play-by-play anyway.

I don't think this move results *in* the downfall of the radio broadcasts of the game, I think it's the result *of* their growing irrelevance.
 

 

March 28, 2021 11:49 am  #4


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

No other "Major League" market has resorted to this which makes you wonder why a multi-billion dollar conglomerate like Rogers would. Baseball has always translated so well to radio and even though Dan Shulman is one of the best in the business ..even he will have his work cut out for him with this juggling act.  Again, why except to save a buck?  I mean Rogers owns the team, the stadium , the concessions , the radio station that carries the games...and with a young up and coming team isn't this the time to promote it on all fronts ?...
 

Last edited by fyshtalk (March 28, 2021 11:53 am)

 

March 28, 2021 11:57 am  #5


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

fyshtalk wrote:

No other "Major League" market has resorted to this which makes you wonder why a multi-billion dollar conglomerate like Rogers would. Baseball has always translated so well to radio and even though Dan Shulman is one of the best in the business ..even he will have his work cut out for him with this juggling act.  Again, why except to save a buck?  I mean Rogers owns the team, the stadium , the concessions , the radio station that carries the games...and with a young up and coming team isn't this the time to promote it on all fronts ?...
 

Sure, it looks like they're saving a lot of money, but it's still not enough to pay for long overdue repairs to, or a replacement of the Rogers Centre. 
 


RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person. 
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.

 
 

March 28, 2021 12:46 pm  #6


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

Radiowiz wrote:

fyshtalk wrote:

No other "Major League" market has resorted to this which makes you wonder why a multi-billion dollar conglomerate like Rogers would. Baseball has always translated so well to radio and even though Dan Shulman is one of the best in the business ..even he will have his work cut out for him with this juggling act.  Again, why except to save a buck?  I mean Rogers owns the team, the stadium , the concessions , the radio station that carries the games...and with a young up and coming team isn't this the time to promote it on all fronts ?...
 

Sure, it looks like they're saving a lot of money, but it's still not enough to pay for long overdue repairs to, or a replacement of the Rogers Centre. 
 

 When and if things get back to normal, Rogers will be announcing that they will be levelling the Rogers Centre and building condos and a new stadium on site.  They said as much a few months back but are waiting for the COVID hubbub to settle down.

One big area where Rogers misses out is on the broadcast rights.  Since their own network, Sportsnet  produces and broadcasts all the Jays games, they aren't getting as much revenue from the broadcast rights local or national  to help offset production costs.  True they get the ad revenue but there is no bidding for the rights for Jays games.
 
Years ago games were split between TSN, CBC and Sportsnet when the team was owned by Labatt.  Same with radio.  Now most, if not all of  the stations in the Jay's radio network are Rogers owned.   The company likely hasn't made a cent from the NHL deal signed back in 2014.  That agreement doesn't come to an end until 2026 and all indications are so far it has been a money pit. 

 

March 29, 2021 8:52 pm  #7


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

paterson1 wrote:

Radiowiz wrote:

fyshtalk wrote:

No other "Major League" market has resorted to this which makes you wonder why a multi-billion dollar conglomerate like Rogers would. Baseball has always translated so well to radio and even though Dan Shulman is one of the best in the business ..even he will have his work cut out for him with this juggling act.  Again, why except to save a buck?  I mean Rogers owns the team, the stadium , the concessions , the radio station that carries the games...and with a young up and coming team isn't this the time to promote it on all fronts ?...
 

Sure, it looks like they're saving a lot of money, but it's still not enough to pay for long overdue repairs to, or a replacement of the Rogers Centre. 
 

 When and if things get back to normal, Rogers will be announcing that they will be levelling the Rogers Centre and building condos and a new stadium on site.  They said as much a few months back but are waiting for the COVID hubbub to settle down.

One big area where Rogers misses out is on the broadcast rights.  Since their own network, Sportsnet  produces and broadcasts all the Jays games, they aren't getting as much revenue from the broadcast rights local or national  to help offset production costs.  True they get the ad revenue but there is no bidding for the rights for Jays games.
 
Years ago games were split between TSN, CBC and Sportsnet when the team was owned by Labatt.  Same with radio.  Now most, if not all of  the stations in the Jay's radio network are Rogers owned.   The company likely hasn't made a cent from the NHL deal signed back in 2014.  That agreement doesn't come to an end until 2026 and all indications are so far it has been a money pit. 

I have to disagree on the last point.  The NHL deal made Sportsnet relevant.  Before the deal it virtually never beat TSN in the ratings and now it does regularly.  When the NHL and NBA returned last summer Sportsnet had 4 and 5 million viewers for the Leafs and Canadiens.  They would never have gotten that with the Blue Jays and World's Strongest Man reruns.
 

 

March 29, 2021 9:28 pm  #8


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

fyshtalk wrote:

No other "Major League" market has resorted to this which makes you wonder why a multi-billion dollar conglomerate like Rogers would. Baseball has always translated so well to radio and even though Dan Shulman is one of the best in the business ..even he will have his work cut out for him with this juggling act.  Again, why except to save a buck?  I mean Rogers owns the team, the stadium , the concessions , the radio station that carries the games...and with a young up and coming team isn't this the time to promote it on all fronts ?...
 

Sure, but purely pragmatically, what's the difference? Baseball on the radio, on a broadcast made for radio, is amazing. But does it matter? 

The vertical integration argument goes the other way I think. It just means Rogers was the first owner able to rip the band-aid. A single play-by-play team is the future.

 

March 29, 2021 10:08 pm  #9


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

Most odd: Broadcast on 590 is 30 sec ahead of the TV sound which is 30 sec or so ahead of the HD version of 590 on 92.5. 
(and I always believed what was on TV was real)

 

March 29, 2021 10:11 pm  #10


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

WPE9HAY wrote:

Most odd: Broadcast on 590 is 30 sec ahead of the TV sound which is 30 sec or so ahead of the HD version of 590 on 92.5. 
(and I always believed what was on TV was real)

Meaning the idea that people are turning down the TV sound and turning up the radio is pretty much dead.

 

March 30, 2021 12:17 pm  #11


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

 

March 30, 2021 11:42 pm  #12


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

Sportsnet has officially laid out its coverage plans for the season and despite everything coming from the TV side, it sounds like a huge hodgepodge on radio. One sentence in particular has me confused:

"For the dedicated radio broadcast, Rob Wong and Shoaib Ali will share hosting duties for Blue Jays games across The Sportsnet Radio Network. "

What dedicated radio broadcast are they referring to? Outside of the occasional out-of-town scoreboard, I thought everything was coming from the television end. This increasingly has disaster written all over it and I hope it's a huge flop. Not that Rogers will care if it saves them money. 


Sportsnet announces Blue Jays 2021 regular-season broadcast schedule

 

March 31, 2021 2:47 pm  #13


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

Well, now they've really gone and done it - they've upset Canadian icon Geddy Lee of Rush about the lack of local and original baseball coverage of the Jays on the radio. 

 

Rush's Geddy Lee is unhappy about lack of Blue Jays radio for 2021

 

March 31, 2021 4:23 pm  #14


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

Once you've lost Geddy Lee, you've lost the country. 


"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
 

March 31, 2021 4:25 pm  #15


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

Sort of a Rush to judgment?

 

March 31, 2021 5:26 pm  #16


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

I don't like what Rogers did with the Jays radio broadcasts, but to be honest, they were never the same after Jerry Howarth retired at the end of 2017. I still lived in Toronto in 2018 and listened to a couple radio games, but nothing ever came close to Jerry Howarth.

Blue Jays on the radio to me was always Jerry and Tom Cheek. They were the soundtrack to summer, especially at the cottage where we didn't have cable.

Last edited by MJ Vancouver (March 31, 2021 5:26 pm)

 

April 1, 2021 12:13 am  #18


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

The above article quotes Edward S. Rogers III

Does the S stand for Shit (for brains) ??

I wonder who's dumber  

Edward S. or our beloved Prime Minister  

 


  
 

April 1, 2021 12:21 am  #19


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

You know The Beaverton is a satirical site, right? Kind of a Canadian version of The Onion. I'm pretty sure Mr. Rogers was never in their neighbourhood. 

Still, the faux article makes its point and I wouldn't put anything past that company. The first game of the season airs Thursday night. I wonder how many will be listening to the new and unimproved (as well as unproven) TV-show-on-the-radio? 

As for your question about Sr. or Jr., they both think we're all dumb. And that's the problem!   

 

April 1, 2021 9:58 am  #20


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

Not everyone is abandoning radio baseball broadcasts. The Tampa Bay Rays recently announced a five year extension of their radio contract with flagship station 620 WDAE through the 2025 season. WDAE has carried Rays games since 1998.

 

April 1, 2021 1:18 pm  #21


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

RadioActive wrote:

 The first game of the season airs Thursday night. I wonder how many will be listening to the new and unimproved (as well as unproven) TV-show-on-the-radio? 

Actually.  it's on right now...afternoon game.
 

 

April 1, 2021 3:13 pm  #22


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

I tuned in for the first time in a meaningful game while out walking the dog. The very first thing I heard was, "let's take another look at that play in the outfield that saved the Jays a run." 

Buck Martinez then told me how I could "see what a great play he made." Except, of course, I couldn't. 

The other thing that stands out is all the commercial and spot breaks that are taken on the TV side that are not availabilities on the radio end. So the Fan 590 announcer (didn't catch his name) seems to be constantly coming on and filling time while whatever is happening on the tube ends. It makes for a very disjointed call of the game, at least so far. 

If you ever needed proof about what a terrible idea this dual broadcast is, just listen to the first game. And that's with a pro like Dan Shulman in charge. I'm sure the timing is not easy for those on the radio production side of things, but if it continues this way, it's going to be a very, very long season. 

 

April 1, 2021 3:47 pm  #23


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

I can't listen to the game.  I phoned 1310News yesterday and was told it would be on the radio.  During this morning's news run, they said they would carry every game.
Well, it's not on.  So I phoned again and was told they weren't carrying games that start before 6pm.  Rogers wants to keep the whole thing a secret.  There is NOTHING on their website concerning Jays broadcasts.
And they are in the communication business!!!!

 

April 1, 2021 4:40 pm  #24


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

Less service for more money equals higher profits.
 

 

April 1, 2021 4:47 pm  #25


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

RadioActive wrote:

I tuned in for the first time in a meaningful game while out walking the dog. The very first thing I heard was, "let's take another look at that play in the outfield that saved the Jays a run." 

Buck Martinez then told me how I could "see what a great play he made." Except, of course, I couldn't. 

The other thing that stands out is all the commercial and spot breaks that are taken on the TV side that are not availabilities on the radio end. So the Fan 590 announcer (didn't catch his name) seems to be constantly coming on and filling time while whatever is happening on the tube ends. It makes for a very disjointed call of the game, at least so far. 

If you ever needed proof about what a terrible idea this dual broadcast is, just listen to the first game. And that's with a pro like Dan Shulman in charge. I'm sure the timing is not easy for those on the radio production side of things, but if it continues this way, it's going to be a very, very long season. 

Objection sustained. However, the Court of Corporate Thinking rules that profits usurp quality, and nothing's going to change as we are a virtual monopoly and what we say goes. And we will have more money, lots of it, ha ha! Court dismissed.
 


"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
 

April 1, 2021 9:17 pm  #26


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

RadioActive wrote:

 The first game of the season airs Thursday night. I wonder how many will be listening to the new and unimproved (as well as unproven) TV-show-on-the-radio? 
 

Probably close to the same number that would have been otherwise. 

 

April 1, 2021 9:25 pm  #27


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

I personally found the radio broadcast very disjointed. There actually seemed to be fewer commercials on The Fan, as they appeared to be determined to keep up with what was going on in their TV broadcast and they didn't want to be caught in a spot break if Shulman and Martinez came back. 

Even Shulman himself is aware it won't be easy pleasing both sides of the dial.

Dan Shulman Explains Difficulties Of Calling TV/Radio Simulcast Of Games  

 

April 2, 2021 3:55 am  #28


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

Dan Shulman did double duty on Opening Day.  He did the Jays game in the afternoon and at night did the Astros/A/s game for ESPN.  Both remotely of course.

 

April 2, 2021 11:21 pm  #29


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

Shulman did a good job on opening day. Buck Martinez did not.
Shulman described in detail what was on the screen a few times while Martinez referred to replays without describing them. He also rambled on, preventing Shulman from updating the count. Most radio color announcers will pause so the play-by-play announcer can interject to tell the listener if a pitch was a ball or a strike when it hits the catcher’s glove before continuing the story. Buck told stories without pausing so the listener had no idea if the previous couple of pitches had been balls or strikes until Shulman could jump back in.

Last edited by Prod Guy (April 2, 2021 11:25 pm)

 

April 3, 2021 10:18 pm  #30


Re: Jays radio broadcast a disaster!

Prod Guy wrote:

Shulman did a good job on opening day. Buck Martinez did not.
Shulman described in detail what was on the screen a few times while Martinez referred to replays without describing them. He also rambled on, preventing Shulman from updating the count. Most radio color announcers will pause so the play-by-play announcer can interject to tell the listener if a pitch was a ball or a strike when it hits the catcher’s glove before continuing the story. Buck told stories without pausing so the listener had no idea if the previous couple of pitches had been balls or strikes until Shulman could jump back in.

Listened to the whole game today, and I agree with your assessment. I listen to baseball on the radio far more than I watch it on TV, so I'm not really used to him, but it seems like he's probably not that great for the TV version either? Can't help that he's doing colour alone from his house in Florida.