Imagine for a moment that Bears games for decades had been broadcast by as many as four Chicago radio stations. But the team decided it could make more money by making those stations bid for exclusive air rights. So what does one of the unsuccessful bidders do? It chooses to join the GREEN BAY PACKER radio network.
Oooh, that`s scary.
In effect, that`s what happened in Madison, Wis., this season when the University of Wisconsin awarded exclusive rights to a 33-station network, which in turn awarded affiliation to one of the four Madison stations that had carried Badgers games in the past.
In turn, one of the stations locked out of Wisconsin chose a rather unique programming alternative-Iowa football. And the decision seems to have left both parties smiling.
Bob Leu, Wisconsin`s director of athletic marketing and broadcasting, said most of the Big 10 schools have exclusive radio rights, and for very good reasons.
”We tripled our radio rights fees,” Leu said. ”Another benefit was the amount of promotional items we got, like billboards, schedule cards, posters, and getting clients involved in contests to raise money for our scholarship fund. Now, a client can get statewide coverage on one station. It becomes a better sell. They can charge more money.”
But the decision left other station managers, such as Bill Vancil at WTDY in Madison, with a tough decision: What do we do to fill our fall Saturday afternoons?
”Our station has had Wisconsin football for 40 years,” said Vancil.
”We made an offer, which we felt was a strong, generous offer, to gain the affiliation for Madison. Unfortunately, or fortunately as it may have turned out, we did not get that and another station in town (WTSO) became the exclusive outlet for Wisconsin football.
”Not out of bitterness to the university-because we understood it was a business decision on their part-we simply made a business decision of our own. We had been carrying football for 40 years, and it had accounted for 15 to 20 percent of our revenue. We just didn`t want to walk away from carrying football and plug into the network and carry a gardening show or something. So we started thinking about alternatives.
”Iowa football seemed to be a logical choice because, first of all, it`s Big 10 and people are interested in Big 10 football in Madison. When Iowa comes to play at Wisconsin, they traditionally draw the biggest crowd of any visiting team. There`s always been a love-hate relationship with Iowa and Wisconsin.
”The advertiser response has been good. We`ve sold out the games, and sponsored them completely. Listener calls and letters from Iowa fans have been really good. We`ve gotten very positive reaction to it.
”As far as people who are not Iowa fans, the reaction has been about 90 percent positive. The reason is that the football fans in the area feel they`re the real winners. They now have a choice. They can tune in Wisconsin, or they can choose another game.
”Financially, we came out great. We offered a very generous deal to become the Wisconsin football station. We cut it right to the bone. We would have been lucky to come out even on it. But we thought we wanted to have it. We didn`t get it, so we turned around and got Iowa football for just a very small fraction of what we would have had to pay for Wisconsin football, and we end up making money.
”It turned out to be a blessing in disguise from a business standpoint. It really made sense.”
Another station in Madison that was bumped opted for Notre Dame, giving listeners three games to choose from on any given Saturday. But the big winner, Leu said, has been Wisconsin.
”Our response has been very positive,” Leu said. ”Naturally, some people like one broadcaster over another. Those people aren`t very happy. But that`s a personal decision. They`re probably still going to listen to the
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(Wisconsin) games no matter who`s doing them.”
– While ABC Sports officials and Commissioner Fay Vincent politely deny any collusion on the resumption of the World Series, they do raise the simple question as to why the games couldn`t have been at least rescheduled for the afternoons of Saturday and, if necessary, Sunday. And the answers are just as simple: ABC, which has a contract with the Big 10 and Pac-10 for football games, already has scheduled a football double-header Saturday, and it doesn`t want to buck the mighty NFL on Sunday. Therefore, the later starting times.
”When the commissioner decides to play baseball, it will be his
(Vincent`s) decision,” ABC Sports coordinating producer Curt Gowdy Jr. said. ”Safety is a primary concern.”
Safety for whom? Certainly not the thousands of Bay Area baseball fans who not only will have to fight snarled traffic patterns to reach Candlestick Park but also the unspoken fear of what might happen at the slightest hint of a another tremor. They deserve better. They deserve baseball in the sunshine. – Best shots of the weekend: CBS breaking into the Alabama-Tennessee game to show the brawl at Notre Dame. . . . Florida State`s frisky equine mascot knocking down an ESPN cameraman during the pregame ceremonies. . . . 49ers receiver Jerry Rice, overhearing the instant replay official`s call, signaling a touchdown before the referee made the announcement.
– Best line: ABC`s Keith Jackson on rivalries: ”If you go into conference games, you`ve got to be very careful because they don`t like you since 1939.” – Best predictions: CBS` Pat Haden: ”When his career is finished, Todd Marinovich will be the standard against which all USC quarterbacks are measured.” . . . ABC`s Dick Vitale (yes, he`s baaack): ”Danny Ferry will come back to the NBA wearing a Cleveland Cavaliers uniform.”
– WGN-TV (Channel 9) and WBBM Radio will have live coverage of Sunday`s Old Style Chicago Marathon. While WBBM has aired the previous marathons, this will be the first time WGN has telecast the race. Dewayne Staats, Dan Roan and analyst Tony Reavis will provide commentary on WGN, while sports anchor Dave Eanet and analyst Creigh Kelly, with the aid of 10 other reporters, will call the race on WBBM. WBBM`s Eanet also has a five-part series this week on the marathon.
– According to a CBS source, the network has reached an agreement to televise more than 12 regular-season baseball games next year.