LIstening to KNBR on the drive in this morning, I started wondering why they call themselves the sports leader if they don't cover all the sports. Their promos always say "Giants, A's, 49ers, Raiders" - even the Sabercats get a mention. But, no Earthquakes. I got to thinking that maybe it's our fault. What would happen if one day each week, half of those who post on this board were to call in on KNBR's talk shows and force the issue. Generate a discussion about soccer, the Playoffs, going wire-to-wire, the affordability of season tickets, Spartan as a great venue, hell, even Landon's Abs, or whatever. What if we kind of took over the program and made a show of force. Given his receptabilty to the Earthquakes, I could see this most easily happening on Rick Barry's show but why not try it across the board? It might help open KNBR's eyes to the fact that there ARE alot of soccer fans here and we're not just a bunch of soccer moms, or (insert your favorite ethnic group here). Might make sense to coincide with the articles that run in the most Wednesdays. Just a thought. Any comments?
I have a feeling we'd be dismissed as a regular group of crackpots. Eventually, their producers and screeners would see through us and stop taking our calls. It wouldn't change anyone's minds from Bob Agnew on down (or Gary Radnich on up). Remember KNBR programs to the widest part of the bell curve, not to the most intelligent of us. Unless you buy a lot of time on the station like the SaberCats do...and even at that, the Cats don't get a whole lot of promotion. And remember too that it's not KNBR's job to promote the Quakes...it's the Quakes' job to promote the Quakes. The intelligent hosts on KNBR (Rick Barry) know that there are a large and loyal contingent of us who want to hear soccer news and interviews, and they take care of us. The rest of the hosts on The "Mainstream" Sports Leader are just ignorant boors.
The "Corporate" Sports Leader. The "Big Sponsorship" Sports Leader. The "Giants/Warriors Co-Sponsorship" Sports Leader. The "Bandwagon" Sports Leader. The "Predictable" Sports Leader. The "Vested Interest" Sports Leader. The (______________) Sports Leader. Bajoro, An official John Schrader supporter.
While I agree that it is not KNBR's job to promote the Earthquakes, I'd love to change their preceptions that soccer isn't deserving of coverage and that only happens when enough people show an interest. While I agree that a-holes like Radnich and Barbieri will probably never give soccer a fair shot, I think that if the station saw that there was a high number of committed soccer fans in the area, they'd do more to cover the sport. The same with every newspaper in the area, if they think that interest exists, they will give it some attention. As for advertising, expensive as it is, I'd love to see the Quakes experiment with a month's worth of spots and see what happens. If that gets us a little more credibility, (and I'm not saying it would), I'm all for it. I still hold out hope for the day when Shrader hosts a weekly Earthquakes roundtable on KNBR. Of course by that time it'll probably be a fifty year old Coach Dunivant sitting in....
Here's an (O/T) example of how a small, vocal, and dedicated number of fans makes absolutely no difference in the mass-market world of broadcasting. BBCAmerica recently pulled the plug on the drama EastEnders, citing precipitous drops in ratings in its daypart. Nielsen figures showed that the ratings for EastEnders were 86% lower than its lead in program (repeats of Changing Rooms). The ratings bounced up 36% for the show that followed EastEnders (repeats of Bargain Hunt). EastEnders has a fiercely loyal following all over the world. It's the #1 rated "soap" in the UK. However, it's small, vocal, and dedicated following did not translate into enough viewership to translate into advertising $$...which is what drives mainstream broadcasting, even on cable. Now, replace the words EastEnders in the example with EarthQuakes (sp), and you get some idea of how little a small but devoted band of activists would matter to KNBR. If we inundated them with soccer calls, the tune-out rate of the average listener would kill their ratings, and thus, their revenue. That's why such a campaign would have a diminished return. The next basic step should be for us to buy copious amounts of time on KNBR and see if there's any effect that can be gained from advertising on The Mainstream Sports Leader. Changing the perceptions of the mainstream media won't be done in a season or two or with battering rams to KNBR's phone banks and floods of "letters to editors". This is a generational change...and, you're right, Mike, we may have to wait until Dunni is coaching the club to see the fruits of our labours.
Spart, I wouldn't chuck Mike's idea out the window, completely. I don't listen to it that much, only like right now, when the topic comes up. I am sure that Barry would like to hear from soccer people, and I'm sure that Radditch couldn't care less. Why doesn't John Schrader have a couple of hour program on that station? As to your example of EastEnders, I can understand why BBC America would drop it, they're commercial. But I believe San Jose's KTEH and several of the other local PBS outlets (KQED, KCBR, etc.) still carry it. My favorite in that area is "Are You Being Served?" and if it weren't for the PBS stations, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to see it.
I would like to see KNBR have a vested interest in the Quakes success -- some kind of promotional venture with the radio station itself, or one of its advertisers. I don't give a rat's a$$ about who's a jerk or who isn't. By now I've given up on making people who don't like us change their minds. The only thing that will change their minds is when they're losing money by not being part of the bandwagon. And who's responsible for the bandwagon? Partly us, the fans... and partly the Quakes front office. I think they've got to find a partner with some muscle, because they simply don't have the marketing and sales muscle it takes. That much seems obvious by now. If that partner were KNBR, I wouldn't mind. Just so long as the numbers work.
And, if we somehow could make a splash, maybe it gets the front office involved enough to commit some dollars to actually marketing the team. There's still time to put together a nice push towards the playoffs with some promos (especially since the Giants will lose two games in Florida and be out of it by Monday ). I could see a couple of playoff ticket giveaways and Schrader, with his ties to the station, doing some quick interviews or live remotes. Well, it's nice to dream anyway...Now back to reality.
I should add that.... "and partly the league." I'm kind of surprised the league doesn't have some kind of visible national promotion -- localized, but with national sponsorship. It seems that's better than letting 10 little marketing organizations flounder without all that much success. Lego MLS soccer toys at McDonalds with kids meal? $10 off two tickets with qualifying purchase? It seems doable. And of course, they do advertise on The Mainstream Sports Leader. The funny thing is, McD's have nothing to say in their "live announcer" commercials, but they say it anyway (Tolbert reads the script and ad libs poorly). Why not add a Quakes message in there?
Now that's thinking outside the box...or is it outside the bun... (I'd take Taco Bell, Wendy's or any sponsorship just short of the KMart lunch counter.) Actually, Bajoro, that's a great idea and the league should do a better job from the top down. Maybe with the untimely demise of the WUSA, McDonalds will try a closer association with MLS rather than turning its back on the sport in general. I don't understand why they don't try more discount coupons. It's a product whose inventory has an extremely short shelf life. Might as well sell the tickets at a discount and let more people get exposed to the sport.
Since they already think of soccer fans as witless hooligans, maybe we ought to. "Right then, give us a kiss." (Head butts Barbieri and throws a dart in Tolbert's forehead...)
Devil's advocate here... Why on earth should KNBR want to invest in a marketing partnership with the Earthquakes? What's in it for them? What will be the return on their investment? Are we telling them to do it because it's what they should do? Because they're "The Sports Leader" and soccer is a sport therefore KNBR should lead in soccer coverage? What's the $$ impact for them? They're not going to give out marketing $$ unless there's more $$ coming back in return. Convince me of that argument (without using the word "potential") and I may join in the argument.
OK, banning the word "Potential"...here goes. Yes, the "Sports Leader" should be front and center in leading the charge on the world's (but not America's) number one sport. Because: (1) Exposure-soccer fans are a loyal demographic. Face it we're an embattled group. If you support us, we'll support you. So, if you give us mentions and do live remotes or, even better, cross promotions with the station and an advertiser or two, we will show our appreciation with our wallets. (2) Exposure - part two - Not a bad way to increase your visibility among a group of fans that might not always listen to your station. A weekly segment, say 8 to 9pm with Mr. Schrader and a few mentions during the week would not hurt your ratings in some of the weaker day parts. (3) Excellent opportunity to attract imported beer ad dollars. When was the last time you saw a Giants or Niners fan holding a Newcastle or Fuller's London Pride?Nuff said. (4) Possible vehicle to prop up the ratings of sister station formerly Ticket 1050-kind of like ESPN2. (5) Sponsorship possibilities - would much rather see it as the KNBR Rally Run (By the way Blue Crew, how about not tossing all the shirts to the first two sections? There are fans in sections 127-125 - Try to pace yourselves.) (6) Visibility - Schedules, bumper stickers, Booth at the stadium, signage. I'm sure there are other exiciting and even more compelling reasons. Spartacus, have I budged you one inch?
Devil's advocate returns... No, I have not budged. Because there's not a significant number of (banned word) listeners for them to see significant return on investment. Yes, soccer fans are a loyal demographic. There just aren't enough of them showing up at Spartan to justify an investment. And, if you'll go back into the LD appearance on KEZR thread from last week, you'll see that no matter how loyal we are to the club, we don't always show that appreciation with our wallets. The small number of additional listeners generated in airing the John Shrader Round-table would probably not justify the investment unless the time was purchased as a straight time-buy by a participating advertiser. Then you'd have to consider if the advertiser would get enough return buying expensive time on a flamethrower like KNBR. And few stations are willing to "break the format" to accommodate sports programming these days...sports of any kind. I tried years ago to hustle Blackhawks broadcasts to a variety of stations...only one would even talk about a time buy, and their time was so expensive it became cost-prohibitive...and that was on such a minor station it couldn't be heard all over the Bay Area. Now think of what that hour could cost on KNBR... Visibility? To whom? The loyal 10-11-12K that visit Spartan each week. Let's double that first, then we'll have something to talk to KNBR about. Sponsorship possibilities? What could KNBR get out of a Rally Run? I know its frustrating...but it's the world we're living in now. Our attendance curse walks in front of us on this one. And the cycle feeds itself...we've got to draw more fans consistently to gain media attention but we can't draw more fans consistently without media attention, etc...etc...etc...
I guess I wasn't being clear. KNBR would do it for one reason. MONEY. They would get the MONEY from (1) the Earthquakes marketing budget (2) McDonald's or Home Depot or anyone else who could be brought in as a promotional sponsor (3) perhaps from the MLS marketing budget (4) any other sponsorships or comarketing deals they can offer their existing customers and (5) from ticket sales: Suppose they got $6 per ticket for any number of attendees over 14k? That's $78,000 if we got a full house. That would be a nice capper on a one-week campaign. And believe me, when a station is relying on baldness cures, "brain function" supplements and "natural alternatives to Viagra" to make ends meet, it might sound like a good deal for an experiment in a down market.
But how much RETURN ON INVESTMENT are they getting? Is what you're offering them enought to justify what they'll be putting out? And how much money do you think they're making on those "natural brain function alternative to Viagra and hair growth" spots? I'll bet more than MLS and its sponsors could provide.
... and by the way Mike, if you think McDonald's isn't interested in soccer... I just went the the Women's WC site and they were all over it, with videos the of US women and sponsored links. http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/03/en/index.html
Spartacus, I would NOT be asking KNBR for a thing. I would propose a mutually beneficial business partnership. If they can make money on it fine. If not, then you find another partner. I think the big issue with KNBR is -- the Quakes would ultimately compete with the Giants. The Giants would not look kindly upon KNBR promoting a competing sport, even a small one. (Unless of course the Giants did the right thing and bought the Quakes!) So, perhaps we're squeezed out of traditional media by players who are already there. Fine. Let's find another radio partner. If it were me... I would be covering all the bases with big corporations that are already committed to soccer as one of their big promotional efforts. McDonalds and OSH are two such companies. Phillips is another. MasterCard. Budweiser. Coke. Hyundai. Toshiba. Fuji Film. They're not hard to find, I just pulled some of these names off the FIFA WWC site. Radio stations salivate to make promotional deals with these kind of companies (rather than "the herbal alternative to Viagra") Maybe the Quakes are not in a position to do co-marketing with these big players. But the MLS is. My point is, we're not asking for charity. We're looking for business partners. As the man* says "Making money is a team sport. If you're a lone wolf, your chances are less than if run in a pack." I know the MLS has partnerships, I just don't see how they're working directly to put butts in the seats. Maybe they are... I know there's a lot going on that I don't know... but I'm a good observer of these things and I just don't see much going on. * Robert Kyosaki, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad"
No Baj, I didn't mean to say that McDonald's isn't interested in soccer. It's just that they seem to be infatuated with WOMEN'S soccer. I haven't seen them pony up for MLS.
Oops... my bad. You're right of course, and you made a good point. It might be an opportunity to have them partner with MLS and the individual teams.
This totally pissed me off, you have no idea... And they did it just one week before Lisa shows up to ruin Phil and Kate's wedding! No souls, I tell ya...
She didn't spoil the wedding, but she did throw some ice on the reception at the Vic. Doug, check out the BBC website, you can virtually see all the episodes between the end of BBCAmerica's coverage and the current run on BBC (start from September 8 to see what happens to Phil & Kate's honeymoon). I'm going to be spending a bit of Saturday morning doing that instead of watching BBCA.