Can sports talk radio follow the print media's demise?
I've been at home today playing Mr.Mom and I have casually listened to 97.1 today and WTKA on-line....WXYT (Valenti and Foster) started their day with the RR-Dorsey non-story, and almost 3 hours later they are still ranting about it. Un-fucking-believable.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:02 PM ^
I haven't heard a positive thing said about Michigan from those two idiots in years. Then again I don't expect to hear anything positive about UM coming from a big mouthed MSU grad.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:04 PM ^
I wonder how many people on this board listen to it. The recruiting roundup with Sam Webb is the only thing I can stand.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:05 PM ^
I would rather listen to this for 4 hours
February 5th, 2010 at 5:16 PM ^
radio isn't going anywhere unless you have to pay for it... as long as people can get it for free people are going to listen to it... now i am one of the people that defends valenti on this board because i do like how he does his job and he doesn't come off all wishy washy on stuff... but earlier this week i did warn people in another thread that during this week you should not listen to them for at least 3 days, maybe i should have said not to listen for the entire week... as long as nothing else comes out about dorsey or another player they will not be talking about this next week...
February 5th, 2010 at 5:18 PM ^
I actually think they are being somewhat fair on the situation. I tend to agree that they (especially Valenti) are usually anti M, but its hard to disagree today. RR could have handled the presser better (which is the position they're taking today). They have said several times that they are impressed by the way Dorsey is handling the situation, which is nice that they recognize that.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:23 PM ^
Fine, let them have their opinions, let them blow up RR, let them ridicule every caller that disagrees with them....but for this to go on for 3 straight hours now, with something like, oh, I don't know, THE SUPER BOWL 48 hours away is ridiculous.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:24 PM ^
But they also did say that they are doing this b/c most people don't listen for 4 hours straight. So they have a "reason", but you can tell Valenti is really enjoying himself, which I think also has something to do with it.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:30 PM ^
is doing whatever it takes to keep the focus off of michigan states class... i bet if anyone called the show right now and told dery that they wanted to talk about michigan states recruiting class you would hear a dial tone fast...
February 5th, 2010 at 5:42 PM ^
You're right when the show started on signing day the first thing they talked about was Mich ST. losing to Wisconsin in basketball. They wanted nothing to do with recruiting classes until Rodriguez was ambushed at his presser. Then the rest of the show was all about Dorsey and Rodriguez.
Which oh btw was in complete contrast to how Valenti acted the previous year when he was bragging on and on about how MSU won in-state recruiting last season and D'antonio closing the gap speak. blah blah blah.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:54 PM ^
leading up to signing day last year all he did was talk about how good the class was... he would even get fired up about it if michigan fans tried to tell him different... i think valenti is starting to realize that winning the instate recruiting battle in michigan doesn't mean much unless your one of the MAC schools... but now he acts like he doesn't care about recruiting and thinks that people who follow it are pathetic...
February 5th, 2010 at 7:30 PM ^
Part of the problem Valenti ran into was that there is nothing compelling about MSU's class other than Gholston, who basically said he is gone in 3 years. So yeah, they nabbed the best defensive prospect in the state, but beyond that it was a pretty pedestrian class. Dantonio has never consistently drawn in top-notch classes, and while his teams may consistently win 6-9 games a year, the MSU fans I know are basically resigned to the mid-tier bowl for the foreseeable future, at least until something like the dorm incident occurs again.
February 5th, 2010 at 7:46 PM ^
though is that he has no problem talking basketball recruiting... hmm i wonder why that is??? :)
February 5th, 2010 at 5:26 PM ^
Valenti's current stategy means he still gets to rail on RR while not being seen as exploiting a HS student. Valenti is a major asshat but he isn't stupid.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:35 PM ^
They're being fair? I just tuned in and all I'm hearing is them screming from the top of their lungs that Rich Rod is a lair. I don't find anything fair about what they're saying right now.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:41 PM ^
some real objectivity keep listening right till the end when they do the cross over to the next show... valenti and caputo talking about this should be interesting... it would be nice to know if dennis fithian(sp?) grows a set and says something...
February 5th, 2010 at 5:53 PM ^
Dennis Fitthian doesn't have a strong enough personality to butt heads with these elitist media pricks. If it were up to me I'd kick Foster out of his seat and stick someone like Rick Leach in that chair to butt heads with Valenti. I think Leach would destroy Valenti.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:58 PM ^
doesn't even argue with valenti anymore... he has turned into a yes man that is to busy trying to be funny... i was kind of hoping that when 97.1 hired stoney that he was there to replace foster... i think valenti and stoney would be a great show...
February 5th, 2010 at 5:51 PM ^
As the afternoon went on. So I would say the last hour and a half has not been fair.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:41 PM ^
Valenti and Foster are lying right now...they keep railing that there was no acquittal, that the charges were thrown out. Well if they did any research at all they could find that there was a jury trial and there was an acquittal. To call RR a liar based solely on the fact that they didn't like his answers at the press conference is "journalism" at its worst. So now people who don't give the media the answers they are looking for are liars, cheats, and overall bad people.
February 5th, 2010 at 6:00 PM ^
Isn't going anywhere. They do it in soundbites--things the average listener wants and the Rush Limbaugh's of the world made popular. Also, the poster who said radio listeners don't listen that long is correct.
Talk radio knows people usually listen for about 15 minutes--the average car ride, wen people usually tune in. The belief is that you get almost complete turnover in your audience ever quarter hour.
Consequently, they rehash and go over the same stuff again and again (how about those updated scores on the "20's"?) because there are many more new listeners, and many who have dropped off.
They aren't worried about the people who are glued to the radio for 8 hours during "work"--they are focused on the revolving audience that is flipping through the dial while they are stuck in traffic.
February 5th, 2010 at 6:48 PM ^
Is that what I hear while I'm tuning my FM transmitter for my mp3 player? This 'radio' thing is a foreign concept to me. Is it kind of how people pay to have web stories printed on reams of paper and dropped on their doorstep?
In all seriousness, talk radio will probably always be around. Not only is it free, it's also highly partisan (whether political, or sports oriented.) People enjoy having someone else come up with original thoughts and narratives for them and then having those beliefs confirmed and repeated ad nauseuum. What's more, when you only discuss with or listen to people who share your beliefs, it tends to harden said beliefs. In short, that probably means that it's only going to get worse; Both politics and sports.
February 5th, 2010 at 7:51 PM ^
But to answer the OP's sorta question: as the number of podcasts grows, and as the cheaper/easier/more ubiquitous mp3 players get, and as cars start having greater connectivity to said mp3 players, the closer to extermination local radio will get.
I can fill my entire day with informative and entertaining podcasts with just 15 minutes a night on the iTunes store.
And at the eventual future date when most major metropolitan areas are covered in high-speed broadband coverage, hello internet radio and goodbye terrestrial nincompoops.
February 5th, 2010 at 10:03 PM ^
What is going to stop said nincompoops from migrating to the Internet themselves?
February 5th, 2010 at 8:42 PM ^
I don't see talk radio changing. The problem with all media is it has become influenced by ratings and as a result has injected more talk radio and opinion within the news. It's funny that communist countries got the rap for producing propaganda (which they did) but we have to shovel through more crap in our country to get the truth. Don't read into that last comment to much because we at least can find the truth in situations by looking for ourselves, a privilege many don't have and a skill that mgoblog's "father" excels at.
February 5th, 2010 at 10:14 PM ^
Yea talk radio sucks. I live in Chicago and even though I dont have the joy of listening to them talk about U of M, i hear them talk about the same shit everyday. When are the Bears gonna hire someone, fire Delnegro, keep Vinny, fire him, keep him, etc. And it does get annoying that they think they can run a team better than the GMs. While I admit both the Detroit/Chicago teams arent doing that great this year, it really annoys me when people think they can juss be some super GM or that its an easy job.
I think I listen just to get pissed.
February 6th, 2010 at 2:51 PM ^
That may be the most introspective and insightfully true post ever posted in the history of MgoBlog posting...um...er... history.