The Gophers Need Another Flagship Station

Donate To GopherHole

Sound Thinking (ha)

jll62 said:
If you're on KFAN and getting airtime during the day, you're reaching a demo that probably isn't made up of hardcore Gopher fans. If you start winning, you begin to turn those listeners into casual fans. If you start winning consistently and contending for division and B1G titles year over year, then you turn those listeners from casual fans into legitimate followers of the program. This is why you're on KFAN; to reach these people and get them hooked. But it takes time. If you want positive touchy-feely news, then go get them on another station, but the only people listening will be the people who are already die hard fans. That won't do any good. Being on KFAN actually provides some legitimacy to the program in the eyes of the rubes who listen there.

The problem we hardcore fans have is that we want instant gratification and respect. Here's the common refrain that happens every time the Gophers put together a nice stretch of games and have a respectable season going: "Look we won a few games in a row and beat a team like Nebraska! We're relevant! What are people saying about us? Are we ranked? Why aren't they talking nice about us?" Etc.

SLOW DOWN. We're talking about a program that has a 50 year history of futility save for a few stretches of mediocre to decent FB. Winning 3 in a row when it looked like we might not win a B1G game all year is a great start, but if you want to change the perception of this team in the eyes of the public, you need to become a consistent winner over a number of years and you need to contend for a title once in a while. For now, just sit back and enjoy the ride and quit worrying about what everyone else is saying about the team.
Click to expand...

Excellent logic that I agree with.
 

CentralGopher said:
As far as coverage goes, KFAN is not as good as some think. Where I live I barely get AM in somedays and not at all others and the FM comes in almost never. Luckily there is a local affiliate that usually picks up the game but the rest of the stuff like the Jerry Kill show and anything else is filled with mostly static for me depending on the day. You'd think that not being very far from st. cloud I'd be able to get 1390 pretty well but apparently not and I almost never get 100.1 in. WCCO had much better coverage but had some Dave Lee issues so not a terrible move. I take most of what they say on KFAN with a grain of salt and find most of it laughable. I listen but I don't live and die with it. For now I think it would be best to just live with it.
Click to expand...

? Maybe it was because Brewster was coach, but most of the CCO commentators just ripped the guy and, by extension, the program incessantly the last couple of seasons on The Neighbor. When your great football minds consist of Eric Nelson, Steve Thomson, and Mike Max, you've got some problems. I'll at least give Mike Max somewhat of a nod because he works hard and doesn't come off as a pr*ck, but Nelson and Thomson helped dig the grave for that station when it came to Gopher coverage.
 

I am not a KFAN fan, but they have done a much better job than WCCO ever did in promoting Gopher FB. They cover the recruiting social, the pre and pst game shows are better. The weekly shows are about the same. the coolege football show that Justin G and Mason have is pretty good, and more frank than I would have expected.
WCCO does not have an ounce of promotion in their genes at this point, and now that Goph sports are not there, I never listen to them. The only other option would be KSTP and they are way more committed to the Twins than anything else.
I would expect better coverage as the Gophs fortunes improve, not the other way around.
 

Gopherprof said:
No I get that, it's just an honest question. I'm 30, and the only people I know my age who listen to the radio are liberals who listen to NPR and a few people who have XM.

Sports radio and talk radio seems to be an almost exclusively older, white, male thing.
Click to expand...

Every day in the car stuck in traffic.
 


Regarding the KTWN model, the company that owns the station is in turn owned by Jim Pohlad who takes a greater role in the Twins than either of his brothers. It's a combination of Pohlad taking an important property to his station and getting the team onto a stronger FM signal after complaints from people, even in the metro area, about trouble picking up 1500's signal. This was very much an inside job and I hold doubts about the Twins making that move if not for the connection. The Gophers can't just follow that same path because the conditions that allowed the Twins to travel it can't be duplicated.
 

50PoundHead said:
? Maybe it was because Brewster was coach, but most of the CCO commentators just ripped the guy and, by extension, the program incessantly the last couple of seasons on The Neighbor. When your great football minds consist of Eric Nelson, Steve Thomson, and Mike Max, you've got some problems. I'll at least give Mike Max somewhat of a nod because he works hard and doesn't come off as a pr*ck, but Nelson and Thomson helped dig the grave for that station when it came to Gopher coverage.
Click to expand...

Re-read my post. The coverage I was talking about had nothing to do with content on the stations. I was talking about coverage as in the ability to actually hear the frickin station. Where I live I hear only about half of what is on KFAN (1390AM and even less 100.1FM) unless I am either in st. cloud or the metro area which is almost never. The only place I had trouble getting wcco in my life has been in the extreme sw area of the state just about as far as you could get from the metro.
 

Sports_Realist said:
Regarding the KTWN model, the company that owns the station is in turn owned by Jim Pohlad who takes a greater role in the Twins than either of his brothers. It's a combination of Pohlad taking an important property to his station and getting the team onto a stronger FM signal after complaints from people, even in the metro area, about trouble picking up 1500's signal. This was very much an inside job and I hold doubts about the Twins making that move if not for the connection. The Gophers can't just follow that same path because the conditions that allowed the Twins to travel it can't be duplicated.
Click to expand...

Could be the feeling was the possibility of adding Gophers coverage to the station. The Gophers going out and buying a radio station would be as you suggested would be pretty out there.
 

If you've listened to The Sports Huddle recently on WCCO they've been strongly hinting they will have the Gophers back after this year (when the current contract expires). I hope they don't. I think the KFAN coverage could improve with time. In part, KFAN has been battling their own reputation since they signed the Gophers.

I think what the OP is getting at is he'd like to see more solely gopher focused non-game programming. I think if you want that you're going to have to grab specific shows from different stations, I just don't think the Gophers are big enough right now to have be an anchor product on any station.

One thing I'd suggest is to start podcasting radio shows. When I do this I'm able to listen to the gopher focused shows, or even segments of certain shows, whenever I want and then be done with it.
 



What about putting a serious signal boost into the University's radio station? I am guessing that adding watts to Radio K would not make economic sense as that station does not currently have advertising and it would be difficult to get any rev stream from that model. It is a dang fine college radio station though.

Iceland, I do think your original question is worth discussing. I can imagine that if the team continues to play well, a the bidding for the rights should be a little higher than 3 years ago.
 

Sports_Realist said:
Regarding the KTWN model, the company that owns the station is in turn owned by Jim Pohlad who takes a greater role in the Twins than either of his brothers. It's a combination of Pohlad taking an important property to his station and getting the team onto a stronger FM signal after complaints from people, even in the metro area, about trouble picking up 1500's signal. This was very much an inside job and I hold doubts about the Twins making that move if not for the connection. The Gophers can't just follow that same path because the conditions that allowed the Twins to travel it can't be duplicated.
Click to expand...

I think the KTWN model is perfect for college sports.

The music is a nice mix, and their morning team has the sports director from a TV station. The evening drive has one of GL's favorites, Lindsay Guentzel.

After baseball's regular season, the only sports programming is a Wednesday night Hot Stove League report with Chris Atteberry and Ron Coomer. With a motto like Music, Sports, and Community, another sports property might help.
 

I almost started laughing when someone said that KFAN is the best sports station in the Twin Cities!!!! Is KFAN even a sports station? The only show on that station that is even remotely a sports show is Paul Allen's show. Maybe some of the Saturday morning shows might be considered sports shows, but during the week KFAN is unlistenable. The Common Man knows nothing about sports and his act has been stale for the last 13 or 14 years. He must have some pretty bad dirt on someone to have kept his job for as long as he has been able to keep it. I sometimes listen to Barreiro if he has on Flip, but after two minutes of listening to his condescending voice has me changing the channel. To me, if you are a sports fan, there is no comparison between 1500 and KFAN. If KFAN didn't have the Vikings and Gopher football, KFAN wouldn't even be one of my 10 FM pre-set stations.
 

If there are gaps in coverage caused by moving away from WCCO, then perhaps more AM stations need to be added to fill in the gaps. I listen to KFAN on the drive home from work, and it seems to me that they have generally shown more respect for the Gophers since the Gophers started airing on KFAN.
 



You can't just add watts to Radio K's signal. There are all kinds of FCC rules and regs to deal with, many of which concern other AM stations in the vicinity of 770 on the AM dial. There are two major stations, WABC-AM in New York being one of them, at 770 and it would be a big issue if KUOM had a stronger signal. Apart from that, the money required to upgrade the station would not be a small amount, to say nothing of a fanbase that's accustomed to a stronger FM signal that's better than even a 50,000 watt AM blowtorch.

In all honesty, the best spot on the dial for the Gophers is KFAN at FM-100.3. The signal is strong and it's the station locals associate with sports via the Vikes, Wild, and Timberwolves (not on the station anymore, but were for most of their lifespan). The station also isn't considered "grandma and grandpa's station" as WCCO is and has been for a long time. The Ticket 105 is a loser with the directional signals. The signal on KSTP 1500 is too weak. No one listens to KTWN and in bad years the Gophers would be even more of an after or non thought to many.

You can always tweak it, but KTWN's music mix is all wrong for a sports oriented station. The primary audience is the females who would otherwise tune in KS95. I think most program directors look at the station and think "what are they doing?" when they see the Twins games breaking things up. The Twins and the station would be better served by parting ways let alone the Gophers going there too and being overlooked by people while occupying a station whose primary listeners mostly couldn't care less about Gopher sports in general let alone a football team that has to win consistently, and largely hasn't, to get any traction with non diehards.
 


ethomasp31 said:
I almost started laughing when someone said that KFAN is the best sports station in the Twin Cities!!!! Is KFAN even a sports station? The only show on that station that is even remotely a sports show is Paul Allen's show. Maybe some of the Saturday morning shows might be considered sports shows, but during the week KFAN is unlistenable. The Common Man knows nothing about sports and his act has been stale for the last 13 or 14 years. He must have some pretty bad dirt on someone to have kept his job for as long as he has been able to keep it. I sometimes listen to Barreiro if he has on Flip, but after two minutes of listening to his condescending voice has me changing the channel. To me, if you are a sports fan, there is no comparison between 1500 and KFAN. If KFAN didn't have the Vikings and Gopher football, KFAN wouldn't even be one of my 10 FM pre-set stations.
Click to expand...

Barrieromo is an expert on everything BUT sports

Paul Allen and the word best don't belong in the same sentence. He is a moron
 

Sports_Realist said:
You can always tweak it, but KTWN's music mix is all wrong for a sports oriented station. The primary audience is the females who would otherwise tune in KS95. I think most program directors look at the station and think "what are they doing?" when they see the Twins games breaking things up. The Twins and the station would be better served by parting ways let alone the Gophers going there too and being overlooked by people while occupying a station whose primary listeners mostly couldn't care less about Gopher sports in general let alone a football team that has to win consistently, and largely hasn't, to get any traction with non diehards.
Click to expand...

I disagree on the music mix for KTWN. I see it more as a competitor to Cities-97 (they even have BT doing his Thursday afternoon mystery download), while KS-95 wants to be KDWB for grown-ups. I can see other good things with a KTWN partnership. KTWN does sponsor a 1/2 inning at Target Field. In August, they start promoting Gopher Football, turn their logo to maroon and gold for those innings. They want traction, and they have some deep pockets to do that.
 


ethomasp31 said:
I almost started laughing when someone said that KFAN is the best sports station in the Twin Cities!!!!
Click to expand...
Rating don't lie, people love KFAN.
If the Gophers want exposure and to grow popularity, KFAN is the place to do it. If all you want are yes men that don't ever speak a bad word about the program, let's just take it back to WCCO and grow our grey hair demographic.
 



Ski U Master said:
Rating don't lie, people love KFAN.
If the Gophers want exposure and to grow popularity, KFAN is the place to do it. If all you want are yes men that don't ever speak a bad word about the program, let's just take it back to WCCO and grow our grey hair demographic.
Click to expand...

Well then there's no reason for them because nobody has asked for that. :clap: Or did you mean that those are the only two stations in the Metro?

http://ratings.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb027
 

Honestly, they should go wherever they get the most $$. In the grand scheme of building a program, the difference between being on KFAN, KSTP or WCCO is not that siginficant, IMO. It was certainly easier to find the game on WCCO, and despite their reputation, they don't do as bad in the demo's as folks here seem to be suggesting. I still think the Twins screwed up in ditching them, but at least they have other 'blow torch' affiliates in WNAX and KFGO.
 

The one thing I don't get is WCCO and the Wolves? I do think KFAN is the best fit for the Gophers.


Go Gophers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Anything that would bring Dave Lee back calling the games should be a non-starter.

I don't care where the Gopher radio signal ends up and with Learfield in charge it will likely be to the highest bidder as they get a cut. That said any station that would even remotely attempt to put Dave Lee back in the play by play role for the Gophers should be a non-starter in any negotiation. Dave Lee was unlistenable as Gophers play by play man. This year has been by far KFAN's best year with sideline reporting, pre game and post game shows along with the play by play. I only catch replays of the games but at least you can listen to Mike Grimm, he shows genuine knowledge of what he is talking about when talking about the Gophers.

Mike Grimm has been light years better in calling Gopher games for both football and basketball. It would be a major step backwards and a move completely in the wrong direction if the Gophers were to return to Dave Lee being the play by play man for football and basketball. WCCO needs to get that message first and foremost if there going to be a bidder, NO DAVE LEE.

Dave Lee fits perfectly for what he is calling now, St Thomas football that is where he should stay,
calling St Thomas DIII games, never to be near a Gopher broadcast ever again.
Just say no to Dave Lee calling Gopher games, he will make just about most turn off the radio, he is ESPN Joey Galloway's equal on how much effort they put in to calling Gopher games.
 

KFAN is a flaming piece of hot garbage. However, it's the best option at the moment.

The morning show is the worst/least funny thing to ever grace the radio waves.
PA is an ego maniac who knows a lot about the NFL, but virtually nothing about any other sport. That's perfectly fine, but his ego and one-liners are unlistenable.
Common. . . I actually kind of like Common. He is what he is, it's a variety show/satire and it's the best thing on KFAN.
 

What they really need are a few new shows with younger hosts. And by younger I mean under 55. If your target demo is men age 25-54, maybe have a few show hosted by people in there 20's or 30's? I'd like to see Gaard get his own show. Maybe Cove and him? Just an idea. They really need to freshen up the lineup over there. All that being said, I do enjoy Common man in small doses.
 

Gopherprof said:
No I get that, it's just an honest question. I'm 30, and the only people I know my age who listen to the radio are liberals who listen to NPR and a few people who have XM.

Sports radio and talk radio seems to be an almost exclusively older, white, male thing.
Click to expand...

Most people I know listen to radio while working out, doing yard work, etc. Pod casts count. I listen to pod casts whenever I'm in the car.
 

I live in outstate MN, so I never hear KFAN. I do pick up bits and pieces of ESPN1500 because a radio station in Worthington carries their signal from 2:00 until 5:00.

Here's my question - ESPN1500 tries to come off as "ballsy" - lot of snark and cynical attitudes from the hosts - but half of the commercials I hear are for "male enhancement" products. So they seem to be trying to aim at a younger demographic, but all their ads are aimed at older guys who can't get it up.............

I can say that in outstate MN, CCO is the Twin Cities station that most people can pick up. With KFAN being the flagship, the only way to hear Gopher games in outstate MN is to live near a station that belongs to the Gopher Radio Network - otherwise, you're SOL.

But, I agree that, if the Gophers went back to CCO, someone needs to make it 100% clear that Dave Lee cannot have anything to do with the broadcast - other than make sandwiches with country hearth bread for the tailgate party.
 

maroonfive said:
The one thing I don't get is WCCO and the Wolves? I do think KFAN is the best fit for the Gophers.


Go Gophers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Wild hockey would conflict too much to have on KFAN.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom