Brewster bans KFAN interviews for Players and Coaches

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If this is true, good for Brewster. I stopped listening to KFAN a long time ago. It's a waste of time.
 

Not that it's exactly the point, but sports can exist without a radio station to talk about them. A local sports radio station cannot exist without local sports to cover.
 

Will add: wanted to confirm with someone at the "U"...did do that...no exclusive interviews on KFAN is accurate, but KFAN HASN'T been banned from the Tuesday media gathering, practices (if they ever wanted to cover one), and games...so KFAN will still have plenty of access...still think the exclusivity ban is a BAD P.R. move.
 

Gold Vision said:
Anyone listening to this on KFan? Why would Brewster do this? It's one of the largest forms of media in the Twin Cities. It seems like a lot of exposure the team will miss out on. Regardless of what people think of the station, it is a huge part of Minnesota sports. Barreiro will have a field day with this.
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Wha??? You're kidding, right?

If it wasn't for Vikings games, this station would be off the air. From Arbitron today:

Ranking Outlet Format JUNE 09 JULY 09 AUG 09
1 KQRS-FM Classic Rock 10.0 9.7 9.0
2 KEEY-FM Country 9.0 8.9 8.7
3 KSTP-FM Hot Adult Contemporary 8.0 7.9 7.0
4 WCCO-AM News Talk Information 5.3 5.6 6.7
5 KDWB-FM Pop Contemporary Hit Radio 6.4 6.3 6.6
6 KXXR-FM Active Rock 5.2 5.9 5.7
7 KNOW-FM News Talk Information 5.7 5.7 5.5
8 KZJK-FM Adult Hits 5.8 5.3 5.1
9 KTCZ-FM Album Adult Alternative 4.6 4.6 4.8
10t WLTE-FM Soft Adult Contemporary 4.3 3.9 4.2
10t KQQL-FM Oldies 4.7 4.5 4.2
12 KTIS-FM Contemporary Christian 2.9 3.3 3.8
13 KTLK-FM News Talk Information 2.5 3.1 3.2
14 KTTB-FM Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio 3.4 3.4 2.9
15 KSTP-AM Talk/Personality 3.3 3.0 2.8
16 KFAN-AM All Sports 2.1 2.3 2.6

That means an average 77,000 people out of 4.5 million people listen, including Viking and Timberwoof games.

I'm scared, and so is Brew...
 

Doogie said:
That is flat-out wrong...please explain how KFAN needs local sports more than local sports needs KFAN? KFAN, and it's tough for me to opine fully on this because, even though moved on with many freelance jobs, including radio with KSTP a couple times, I am still upset/baffled by the decision they made to let me go, but local sports needs KFAN more...Why then did the Wolves have to buy airtime for their games? Why have teams in the past begged for KFAN to have on management types/players? Why has KFAN been a very profitable station for years when from 12p on it's maybe 50-percent sports...half the topics in those slots that generate the most revenue don't revolve around sports....the station works because it has the right mix of personalities.
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I've lived in Minnesota my whole life. Went to my first football game in 1965 (Vikings). This state is a bunch of bandwagon jumpers. Win and you can't beat 'em off with a stick. Lose and you have difficulty giving tickets away. KFAN has zero impact (IMO) on ticket sales. Right now, the Gophers need to win or the sellout of TCF isn't going to last very long. How does Cosgrove taking time off from preparing for one of the most important games of the season (from a PR perspective) to go on KFAN benefit the program?
 


Knowing PA (which I don't), I suspect the truth on this is somewhere in the middle. I can see Brewster taking a position that "until" the overall Gopher experience on KFAN is at least respectful to the Gophers and the Gopher players, he will not allow..... I can see PA taking this and twisting it to suit his overall disrepectful attitude towards the Gophers by saying Brewster has "banned" interviews...end of story...

I really hate KFAN anyway...

Edit with another thought: Maybe this has to do with CCO stepping up coverage and wanting exclusive interviews, etc... You never know...
 

Doogie said:
Will add: wanted to confirm with someone at the "U"...did do that...no exclusive interviews on KFAN is accurate, but KFAN HASN'T been banned from the Tuesday media gathering, practices (if they ever wanted to cover one), and games...so KFAN will still have plenty of access...still think the exclusivity ban is a BAD P.R. move.
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That's a shame...is there a specific incident the U is reacting to? Seems like a massive overreaction to offhand negativity.
 

harrys ghost said:
I've lived in Minnesota my whole life. Went to my first football game in 1960 (Vikings). This state is a bunch of bandwagon jumpers. Win and you can't beat 'em off with a stick. Lose and you have difficulty giving tickets away. KFAN has zero impact (IMO) on ticket sales. Right now, the Gophers need to win or the sellout of TCF isn't going to last very long. How does Cosgrove taking time off from preparing for one of the most important games of the season (from a PR perspective) to go on KFAN benefit the program?
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"Hear hear!" and to reiterate:

If it wasn't for Vikings games, this station would be off the air. From Arbitron today:

Ranking Outlet Format JUNE 09 JULY 09 AUG 09
1 KQRS-FM Classic Rock 10.0 9.7 9.0
2 KEEY-FM Country 9.0 8.9 8.7
3 KSTP-FM Hot Adult Contemporary 8.0 7.9 7.0
4 WCCO-AM News Talk Information 5.3 5.6 6.7
5 KDWB-FM Pop Contemporary Hit Radio 6.4 6.3 6.6
6 KXXR-FM Active Rock 5.2 5.9 5.7
7 KNOW-FM News Talk Information 5.7 5.7 5.5
8 KZJK-FM Adult Hits 5.8 5.3 5.1
9 KTCZ-FM Album Adult Alternative 4.6 4.6 4.8
10t WLTE-FM Soft Adult Contemporary 4.3 3.9 4.2
10t KQQL-FM Oldies 4.7 4.5 4.2
12 KTIS-FM Contemporary Christian 2.9 3.3 3.8
13 KTLK-FM News Talk Information 2.5 3.1 3.2
14 KTTB-FM Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio 3.4 3.4 2.9
15 KSTP-AM Talk/Personality 3.3 3.0 2.8
16 KFAN-AM All Sports 2.1 2.3 2.6

That means an average 77,000 people out of 4.5 million people listen, including Viking and Timberwoof games.
 

the sports info office needs to mediate this. i think its really shortsighted on the part of the coach. this should be a time to celebrate gopher football and the new spirit around the program, regarding stadium, etc.
 



MNCH said:
People here gripe all the time about the program not getting enough exposure. Whether you like KFAN or not, it has a sizeable listening audience and to suddenly shut down exposure from them, will only create negative publicity.

Huge buzzkill by Brewster right after a big victory and all the good pub about the new stadium. What's next, pulling the press passes from the Strib because they employ Reusse?
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If it wasn't for Vikings games, this station would be off the air. From Arbitron today:

Ranking Outlet Format JUNE 09 JULY 09 AUG 09
1 KQRS-FM Classic Rock 10.0 9.7 9.0
2 KEEY-FM Country 9.0 8.9 8.7
3 KSTP-FM Hot Adult Contemporary 8.0 7.9 7.0
4 WCCO-AM News Talk Information 5.3 5.6 6.7
5 KDWB-FM Pop Contemporary Hit Radio 6.4 6.3 6.6
6 KXXR-FM Active Rock 5.2 5.9 5.7
7 KNOW-FM News Talk Information 5.7 5.7 5.5
8 KZJK-FM Adult Hits 5.8 5.3 5.1
9 KTCZ-FM Album Adult Alternative 4.6 4.6 4.8
10t WLTE-FM Soft Adult Contemporary 4.3 3.9 4.2
10t KQQL-FM Oldies 4.7 4.5 4.2
12 KTIS-FM Contemporary Christian 2.9 3.3 3.8
13 KTLK-FM News Talk Information 2.5 3.1 3.2
14 KTTB-FM Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio 3.4 3.4 2.9
15 KSTP-AM Talk/Personality 3.3 3.0 2.8
16 KFAN-AM All Sports 2.1 2.3 2.6

That means an average 77,000 people out of 4.5 million people listen, including Viking and Timberwoof games.

I'm scared, and so is Brew...
 

I see the ratings you posted...those might be old...Arbitron is no longer used to generate those ratings...People Meters, which are more accurate, are now the technology in place for that...and those reports come out almost every week...what you're failing to recognize is: a) there are actually more people than that listening over the course of a week (too long an explanation on this, but asking you to trust me on that) and b) not everyone in the state (the 4.5 mil. you cited) cares about sports (for my career sake wish they all did, but most don't)... KFAN reaches a certain demographic...the 18-54 yr old male, research showing that the most affluent males in the metro listen to KFAN, every sports team wants to reach those individuals.
 

I just find it odd that not even a month ago or so, I'm pretty sure Decker was on there as well as someone else I thought. What happened between that and now to suddenly do this? If they could handle all the crap from the first two years he was here, why now? I thought KFAN was getting better and better, specifically PA's show, who is usually decently positive about anything and everything Minnesota sports.

PA is really driving this home lol.
 

Must be more to this. KFAN will spin like they are the innocent victim here. Always 2 sides to a story.
 



sorry for posting multiple times...will attempt to put together my thoughts in a more concise matter later...also remember that the FAN radio network is wide-ranging...affiliates in Mankato, Rochester, Duluth, and other markets...Morris through Barreiro reaches many, many people each day...it's just a bad thing for the fans.
 

highwayman said:
14 KTTB-FM Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio 3.4 3.4 2.9
15 KSTP-AM Talk/Personality 3.3 3.0 2.8
16 KFAN-AM All Sports 2.1 2.3 2.6
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What the hell is "rhythmic contemporary hit radio?" Whatever it is, more people are listening to that than PA's babbling right now....
 

PlayHosea said:
I think it's a silly move by Brewster, but the fact is KFAN has always treated the U like 2nd class citzens. Just look at the breakdown on their message boards. The Twins, Vikes, Wild and Timberwolves all get their own message boards. All the Gophers programs are lumped into bulk "college" boards. If you want to talk Gopher hockey, it's on the same board as UND and SCSU. If you want to talk Gopher football, it's on the same board as Iowa, Florida and St. John's. Gopher hoops shares a board with NDSU, Virginia and Coppin St. They have separate boards for video games, hunting and fishing and soccer for crying out loud.
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Nother more can sum-up how KFAN feels about the importance of Gopher sports -- Good post PlayHosea.
 

mullen said:
oh god and they're having a field day with it. this is like kfan programming gold. the on-air talent loves to go off when they feel the station is being slighted or they can turn up heat on what they see as pompous or holier than thou attitude on the part of the local sports teams.
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Exactly. If something great would happen that actually matters for the football team, win vs Cal or Henderson commits, you would hardly hear about it for more then 5 minutes. Those 2 things would be huge right now for the program.

But in reality, much easier to fill time with this pompous negative stuff. Remember, much of the coverage a few months ago was about the stupid alcohol issue. Coverage is never about things that matter. Just talking points.
 

Go Gophers Rah said:
I have no problem with this.
There have been media outlets out there that have been 100% negative on the Gophers for years (Reusse and KFAN in particular), so why be complicit in degrading your own team by participating with them?
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It is not the job of the radio station to provide positive coverage.
 

freshtrout said:
Nother more can sum-up how KFAN feels about the importance of Gopher sports -- Good post PlayHosea.
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Well....looks like they'll have to ban the Star Tribune as well. When I pull it up on my mobile phone, they have links to Vikings, Twins, Wolves, Wild and Preps. No Gophers.
 

Great stuff, as always, Doogie. I wasn't too happy when you got let go, either. I've always been a big fan of yours, though I can't say I was sorry to see Chad go. I think KFAN has slipped big time after Dubay went off the deep end, and they let some others go (and taking Sludge and Lake off the air was a horrible decision as well). However, they're still by far the biggest sports talk station in the area, and a lot of people spend their time listening to them. If KFAN doesn't talk about Gophers football, it hurts Gophers football. And plus, this just makes Brew look like a petulant spoiled kid who can't take the heat. The correct way to deal with the Reusses and the Barreirros is not to take your ball and go home, but point out, when possible inaccuracies, and most of all, to prove them wrong on the field. This looks bad to me.
 

My take as someone who works in the corporate communications world: This is absolutely the wrong thing for Brewster to do. Especially at this point.

The team is 2-0, the new stadium is impressive and open, there is a top 10 team coming to town this week. Things are awfully good right now in Gopher Nation. You want to keep that momentum going. A loss this weekend doesn't kill it (though a blowout loss wouldn't be good).

Why is this a bad move on Brewster's part: KFAN is going to spend part of every day the rest of this season talking about Gophers football. It might not be as much as people on this board would like and you are entitled to that opinion, but the Gophers are going to be talked about. And at least for the rest of the day, there will be much talk about how Brewster is acting like a child.

So you have two choices: Participate in those conversations and help shape them. Or not participate and have no role in what is said.

If I worked at the U in athletic communications, I would get somebody (a player, a coach, Brewster, Maturi) on KFAN almost every day. Why? It's very difficult for a radio host to rip somebody they are interviewing as long as that person isn't somebody like Vick or a baseball player who has tested positive for steroids or something. They certainly aren't going to rip a college player who is doing a live interview.

If PA had had Cosgrove on today, there is no question that it would have been positive. What is there to be negative about?

But if you choose not to participate, then, in my estimation, you don't have anything to complain about if you don't like what is being said.

And to the Screw KFAN crowd, I believe that the U needs KFAN more than KFAN needs the U. Why? KFAN hosts can talk about anything they want and can talk Gophers football without having any guests on. That, again, goes back to the participate and have some control part of the equation. If they are going to talk about you, wouldn't you want your voice heard so you can tell your part of the story and potentially correct misconceptions?

Also, this remains a very crowded sports market with four pro teams, the U of M and tons of small colleges. This isn't a college town where the university is the only game in show. There are plenty of other things for the hosts there to talk about.

I realize that this might not be very positive, but I think KFAN is important for the U to build its brand, especially to the non-CCO listening crowd. You do that by gaining attention and building buzz. Having a media entity speak favorably of your product does legitimize it for some people. Even if KFAN hosts rip the Gophers, that means that the Gophers are important. Because the only thing worse than being ripped is being ignored.

Also, with KFAN's network, they have an awfully big reach in the state.
 


highwayman said:
"Hear hear!" and to reiterate:

If it wasn't for Vikings games, this station would be off the air. From Arbitron today:

Ranking Outlet Format JUNE 09 JULY 09 AUG 09
1 KQRS-FM Classic Rock 10.0 9.7 9.0
2 KEEY-FM Country 9.0 8.9 8.7
3 KSTP-FM Hot Adult Contemporary 8.0 7.9 7.0
4 WCCO-AM News Talk Information 5.3 5.6 6.7
5 KDWB-FM Pop Contemporary Hit Radio 6.4 6.3 6.6
6 KXXR-FM Active Rock 5.2 5.9 5.7
7 KNOW-FM News Talk Information 5.7 5.7 5.5
8 KZJK-FM Adult Hits 5.8 5.3 5.1
9 KTCZ-FM Album Adult Alternative 4.6 4.6 4.8
10t WLTE-FM Soft Adult Contemporary 4.3 3.9 4.2
10t KQQL-FM Oldies 4.7 4.5 4.2
12 KTIS-FM Contemporary Christian 2.9 3.3 3.8
13 KTLK-FM News Talk Information 2.5 3.1 3.2
14 KTTB-FM Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio 3.4 3.4 2.9
15 KSTP-AM Talk/Personality 3.3 3.0 2.8
16 KFAN-AM All Sports 2.1 2.3 2.6

That means an average 77,000 people out of 4.5 million people listen, including Viking and Timberwoof games.
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My, how clever you are!! Here's some advice, look up the word 'demographic' before you post anymore overall ratings.
 

ilovethebarn said:
It is not the job of the radio station to provide positive coverage.
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And the Minnesota Gophers do not need to serve KFAN, they aren't royalty. A radio station just might not get as much cooperation if they are going to continue to trash a program. The irony is that this is leading to more Gophers talk on KFAN than if they had allowed coaches on KFAN.

I don't expect any media outlet to be homers, but I do expect them not to be anti-homers. They are of course free to do whatever they want, no one is stopping them from doing anything.
 

Maximus said:
Well....looks like they'll have to ban the Star Tribune as well. When I pull it up on my mobile phone, they have links to Vikings, Twins, Wolves, Wild and Preps. No Gophers.
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I barely know how to use my cell phone, so I'll take your word for it. I do know the Strib has a separate page for the Gophers on their website and win or lose, there is always at least two pages of Gopher content on Sunday.
 

anonymous said:
The team is 2-0, the new stadium is impressive and open, there is a top 10 team coming to town this week. Things are awfully good right now in Gopher Nation. You want to keep that momentum going. A loss this weekend doesn't kill it (though a blowout loss wouldn't be good).

Why is this a bad move on Brewster's part: KFAN is going to spend part of every day the rest of this season talking about Gophers football. It might not be as much as people on this board would like and you are entitled to that opinion, but the Gophers are going to be talked about. And at least for the rest of the day, there will be much talk about how Brewster is acting like a child.

So you have two choices: Participate in those conversations and help shape them. Or not participate and have no role in what is said.

If I worked at the U in athletic communications, I would get somebody (a player, a coach, Brewster, Maturi) on KFAN almost every day. Why? It's very difficult for a radio host to rip somebody they are interviewing as long as that person isn't somebody like Vick or a baseball player who has tested positive for steroids or something. They certainly aren't going to rip a college player who is doing a live interview.

If PA had had Cosgrove on today, there is no question that it would have been positive. What is there to be negative about?

But if you choose not to participate, then, in my estimation, you don't have anything to complain about if you don't like what is being said.
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Nice put! Media coverage is about the narrative. If KFAN gets ignored then they can choose to fill any time they spend on the Gophers creating whatever nonsense narrative they want with no pushback. If the Gophers owned a bigger share of the attention/support in this town/state then they could ignore KFAN and be ok because the other outlets would put out enough positive stories to counter the drivel. But they don't.
 

anonymous said:
My take as someone who works in the corporate communications world: This is absolutely the wrong thing for Brewster to do. Especially at this point.

The team is 2-0, the new stadium is impressive and open, there is a top 10 team coming to town this week. Things are awfully good right now in Gopher Nation. You want to keep that momentum going. A loss this weekend doesn't kill it (though a blowout loss wouldn't be good).

Why is this a bad move on Brewster's part: KFAN is going to spend part of every day the rest of this season talking about Gophers football. It might not be as much as people on this board would like and you are entitled to that opinion, but the Gophers are going to be talked about. And at least for the rest of the day, there will be much talk about how Brewster is acting like a child.

So you have two choices: Participate in those conversations and help shape them. Or not participate and have no role in what is said.

If I worked at the U in athletic communications, I would get somebody (a player, a coach, Brewster, Maturi) on KFAN almost every day. Why? It's very difficult for a radio host to rip somebody they are interviewing as long as that person isn't somebody like Vick or a baseball player who has tested positive for steroids or something. They certainly aren't going to rip a college player who is doing a live interview.

If PA had had Cosgrove on today, there is no question that it would have been positive. What is there to be negative about?

But if you choose not to participate, then, in my estimation, you don't have anything to complain about if you don't like what is being said.

And to the Screw KFAN crowd, I believe that the U needs KFAN more than KFAN needs the U. Why? KFAN hosts can talk about anything they want and can talk Gophers football without having any guests on. That, again, goes back to the participate and have some control part of the equation. If they are going to talk about you, wouldn't you want your voice heard so you can tell your part of the story and potentially correct misconceptions?

Also, this remains a very crowded sports market with four pro teams, the U of M and tons of small colleges. This isn't a college town where the university is the only game in show. There are plenty of other things for the hosts there to talk about.

I realize that this might not be very positive, but I think KFAN is important for the U to build its brand, especially to the non-CCO listening crowd. You do that by gaining attention and building buzz. Having a media entity speak favorably of your product does legitimize it for some people. Even if KFAN hosts rip the Gophers, that means that the Gophers are important. Because the only thing worse than being ripped is being ignored.

Also, with KFAN's network, they have an awfully big reach in the state.
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Thank you!! Best post of the day. Glad someone here understands the bigger picture implications of the decision instead of just stating, "well I don't listen to KFAN so who cares?"
 

lol @ PA pouting about it the last two hours. It's actually been entertaining for me haha.
 


skiumah2 said:
But if coverage is nothing but negative, why are we surprised the program doesn't want to provide anything for the radio station?
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The thing is, this decision comes at a time when the coverage wasn't (and wouldn't have been) all negative. There is very little of substance to be negative about which means that on matters of substance (team/stadium) the focus would have been at least moderately positive. This move makes it possible to ignore everything of substance and spend time bashing the decision to freeze out KFAN.
 

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