Report: National Sports Talk Radio on “Life Support”
A column in Awful Announcing by former WEEI, Boston staffer Alex Reimer suggests that this week’s evisceration of ESPN Radio management (ESPN Audio VP Scott McCarthy; WEPN-FM, New York PD Ryan Hurley; KSPN, Los Angeles PD Amanda Brown; and others were fired, as per Barrett Sports Media) is a sign
that national sports talk radio networks are “in a losing race against time.” Reimer says that long ago, sports fans were starved for sports talk and would tune in to national programming like ESPN’s. But now, he says, “The whole idea of national sports radio is anathema to the concept of destination programming. The content is supposed to be boilerplate, because hosts are expected to placate listeners across the country.” Fans who want to hear national sports hosts like Dan LeBatard or Bill Simmons can simply download their popular podcasts. Read his column here.