This is my ninth installment on how to listen to the Super Bowl on the radio, and this year there isn’t much change from last. It seems like most of the same outlets will be carrying the big game in the US, Canada, Mexico, UK and Australia. While the match up between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams can be found on television in most other countries, radio broadcasts are harder to come by.

Sure, if you’re doing something where you have to keep your eyes off a screen you can always tune into a TV or video stream and just listen. But the radio play-by-play is designed for screen-less consumption, making sure every play is described for your stadium of the mind.

Each year I hope to find a new international broadcaster – or better yet, a shortwave station – stepping up to provide audio coverage. Alas, the only truly intrepid network is Australia’s SEN, which will be sending their own announcer for the fifth year in a row.

Here’s where to listen to Super Bowl LVI live from Los Angeles, CA on the radio, Sunday, February 13:

Terrestrial Radio

United States

English: Westwood One Sports affiliate stations

Spanish: Entravision stations

Canada

TSN Radio – Edmonton, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg

Australia

1116 AM SEN Victoria / 1629 AM SEN South Australia
(also online)

Mexico

W Radio

United Kingdom

BBC 5 Live (also online in the UK)

Armed Forces Network

Armed services members deployed overseas can listen via AFN Radio on satellite, and AFN 360 Internet Radio.

Internet Radio

NFL Game Pass (subscription required)

TuneIn Radio

Satellite and Internet Radio

United States

SiriusXM Super Bowl Radio

Canada

SiriusXM Canada

Is there a terrestrial, online or satellite radio broadcast of the Super Bowl we’re missing? Please let us know.

Feature image credit: Joe Haupt / flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The post How to Listen to Super Bowl LVI on the Radio around the World this Sunday, Feb. 13 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Updated Feb. 6, 2021

Last year I was in New Zealand during the Super Bowl season. In the week before I was hiking the Milford Track on the South Island, backpacking for four days across 33 miles, away from internet and television (though I did pack a little travel radio). For the actual game I was in the capitol city of Wellington, but I didn’t even try to watch because I actually don’t care much at all about football. 

I am, however, fascinated by the global phenomenon, and figuring out how radio listeners can tune in to hear it. But, due to my vacation I didn’t write my annual “how to listen to the Super Bowl” post in 2020. Even some six months ago I wasn’t sure there would be a Super Bowl to write about in 2021. But here we are with the Buccaneers facing off against returning champions the Chiefs for Super Bowl LV on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021 at 6:30 PM EST.

US Super Bowl Radio Broadcasts

In the US it’s pretty easy to find a Westwood One Sports terrestrial radio affiliate carrying the game. Some stations black out their internet feed, and it’s generally hard to predict which ones will. However, I’ve found that clicking around will eventually land you on a functioning live stream. Note that your experience may vary depending on what state or country you’re connecting from.

A reliable internet radio stream can be had with a NFL Game Pass subscription.

The Super Bowl will be broadcast in Spanish on Entravision stations in 24 US radio markets.

Satellite radio subscribers can listen in on SiriusXM channel 104 in the US. Canadian subscribers have it on XM 88. Both are also available online. (Full disclosure: I’m an employee of Stitcher, a subsidiary of SiriusXM Holdings, but that has no influence on including this listing).

International Super Bowl Broadcasts

It’s also easy to find a television broadcast just about anywhere on the globe. But radio is much more of a challenge. Yet not everyone is in a position to watch a screen – whether they’re working or driving, or are visually impaired. For many folks the most descriptive radio play-by-play is the best or most appropriate experience. That’s why my annual quest is to find broadcasters all over the world that carry the game. 

On terrestrial radio, our neighbors to the north in Canada can reliably follow the Super Bowl on the TSN Radio Network in Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver. To the south, Mexican listeners can tune in to W Radio and W Radio Deportes, as well as Los 40.

Further afield, Australians will be able to hear the game called by a home-grown announcer for the fourth year in a row on SEN 1116. In the past years I’ve been able to listen to this broadcast live online without problem.

UK rights to the game seem to bounce around different networks, but this year Super Bowl 55 will be heard on BBC 5 Live. In my experience the online stream is geofenced so that only UK audiences can catch it.

People serving in the American Armed Forces deployed around the world, as well as those who live near a base, can hear the big game on AFN Radio. Military personnel can also hear it the online streaming via AFN 360. 

Otherwise I haven’t been able to track down terrestrial radio broadcasts anywhere else in the world. Please send me your tip if I’m missing one.

Here’s where to listen to Super Bowl LV live from Tampa, FL on the radio, Sunday, February 7:

Terrestrial Radio

United States

English: Westwood One Sports affiliate stations

Spanish: Entravision stations

Canada

TSN Radio – Edmonton, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg

Australia

1116 AM SEN Victoria / 1629 AM SEN South Australia
(also online)

Mexico

W Radio

Los 40

United Kingdom

BBC 5 Live (also online in the UK)

Armed Forces Network

Armed services members deployed overseas can listen via AFN Radio on satellite, and AFN 360 Internet Radio.

Internet Radio

NFL Game Pass (subscription required)

Possibly: Westwood One Sports A on TuneIn

Ultimate Sports Radio Network (added Feb. 6)

Satellite and Internet Radio

United States

SiriusXM Super Bowl Radio 104

Canada

XM 88

Is there a terrestrial, online or satellite radio broadcast of the Super Bowl we’re missing? Please let us know.

The post How to Listen to Super Bowl LV on the Radio Around the World, Feb. 7 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Looking for info on how to listen to this 2021’s Super Bowl LV? Click here.

Updated Jan. 31, 2019

Once again it’s time for my annual hunt for the Super Bowl on the radio around the world.

Last year I had fun listening to the first Australian to call the big game for his home audience. Announcer Gerard Whateley returns for Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta to broadcast the game on 1116 SEN Victoria, along with 1629 SEN South Australia and Macquarie Sports Radio digital DAB+ channels in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

While TV broadcasters around the globe will carry Super Bowl 53, to hear it on terrestrial radio you pretty much have to be in North America, Mexico (added Jan. 31), the United Kingdom (added Feb. 3) or the land down under. If you can’t watch a screen to catch the game because you’re driving, working or otherwise occupied you certainly could just listen to the audio portion of the video broadcast or stream. But television and radio announcing are very different arts because radio announcers know you can’t see, and so they provide much more description to help paint a mental picture.

Luckily, if you can tune in to online radio, then you should be set.

TuneIn Radio typically has the Super Bowl streaming for free to all listeners even though regular season NFL games require a paid premium subscription.

Update Feb. 3 – TuneIn is only streaming to Premium subscribers, though you can get a 30 day free trial right away.

Westwood One Sports affiliate stations in the U.S. carry the game, and you can often hear the broadcast on their streams. But it’s not guaranteed because many will also black them out.

Update Feb. 3 from reader Cathy Derringer – WSAI Cincinnati is definitely streaming Super Bowl LIII on its iHeartRadio stream.

It’s also worth checking out the New England Patriot’s home station, 98.5 FM The Sports Hub. I’ll note that I tuned in to 1116 SEN in Australia over the internet, too.

Here’s where to listen to Super Bowl LIII live from Atlanta, GA on the radio this Sunday, February 3:

Terrestrial Radio

United States

Westwood One Sports affiliate stations

Canada

TSN Radio – Edmonton, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg

Australia

1116 AM SEN Victoria / 1629 AM SEN South Australia
Macquarie Sports Radio DAB+

Mexico

Added Jan. 31: Reader Eric Jon Magnuson reports that Radio Centro 97.7 XERC in Mexico City will carry the game.

United Kingdom

Added Feb. 3: Reader Owen Parkin reports that TalkSport Radio will broadcast Super Bowl LIII across the U.K. on DAB digital radio and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

Armed Forces Network

Armed services members deployed overseas can listen via AFN Radio on satellite, and AFN 360 Internet Radio.

Internet Radio

TuneIn Radio – Westwood One Sports

Satellite and Internet Radio

United States

SiriusXM carries the game over its subscription satellite and online radio services in English and multiple languages:

• New England Patriots radio broadcast: Sirius 82, XM 226
• Los Angeles Rams radio broadcast: Sirius 83, XM 225
• Westwood One national radio broadcast: SiriusXM NFL Radio Channel 88
• Spanish language broadcast: ESPN Deportes SiriusXM 468, Sirius 133, XM 227, Online 977
• Chinese language broadcast: Sirius 136, XM 230, Online 980
• German language broadcast: Sirius 135, XM 229, Online 979
• French language broadcast: SiriusXM 174
• Japanese language broadcast: Sirius 137, XM 231, Online 981
• Hungarian language broadcast: Sirius 138, XM 232, Online 982
• Portuguese language broadcast: Sirius 134, XM 228, Online 978

Canada

Sirius XM Canada also carries the Super Bowl in a variety of languages:

• New England Patriots radio broadcast: Sirius 82, XM 226
• Los Angeles Rams radio broadcast: XM 225
• Westwood One national radio broadcast: SiriusXM NFL Radio Channel 88
• Spanish language broadcast: ESPN Deportes, SiriusXM 468 (Streaming-Only for Sirius), XM 227
• Chinese language broadcast: XM 230 (not available on Sirius satellite)
• German language broadcast: XM 229 (not available on Sirius satellite)
• French language broadcast: SiriusXM 174
• Japanese language broadcast: Sirius 137, XM 231
• Hungarian language broadcast: Sirius 138, XM 232
• Portuguese language broadcast: XM 228 (not available on Sirius satellite)

United Kingdom

Added Feb. 3: TalkSport Radio in the U.K. is broadcasting the game, and also has an internet radio feed.

Other

Added Feb. 3: Ultimate Sports Radio online will call Super Bowl LIII.

Is there a terrestrial, online or satellite radio broadcast of the Super Bowl we’re missing? Please let us know.

The post How to Listen to Super Bowl LIII on the Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Looking for info on how to listen to this 2021’s Super Bowl LV? Click here.

Every year I enjoy the little treasure hunt of figuring out where you can listen to the Super Bowl on the radio. Having done this for five years now, parts are the same every year, especially when it comes to terrestrial US listening. But what keeps me on the hunt is figuring out how listeners outside the US can tune in, especially without internet access.

Why do I do it? Because regardless of whether or not you’re an NFL fan (and I’m actually not), the Super Bowl is a cultural touchstone, and one of the few big events that ties so many people together for just a few hours every year. While most will watch it on TV, audio is still the most accessible medium for many, whether they’re driving, working, or otherwise unable to watch a screen. Sure, you could just listen to the TV sound, but the play-by-play is different on the radio, since the announcers assume you can’t see the action. It’s truly a different experience.

Here’s where to listen to Super Bowl LII live from Minneapolis, MN this Sunday, February 4:

Terrestrial Radio

If you’re just about anywhere in the United States or Canada you should have no problem tuning in the big game. Good luck finding a terrestrial broadcast anywhere else. However, you’ll have more luck online, see below.

United States

As usual, Westwood One Sports carries the Super Bowl live, with the pregame beginning at 2 PM ET. Check the network’s station map to find your local affiliate.

Canada

TSN Radio will carry Super Bowl LII beginning at 6:30 PM EST.

Australia

(added Feb. 1)
Reader Eric Jon Magnuson relays that Melbourne’s SEN 1116AM will broadcast the game with one of its own talent doing play-by-play.

U.K.

Though BBC Radio 5 Live has carried the Super Bowl in years past, for 2018 it sounds like UK residents are out of luck. However, if you have internet access, see Internet Radio below for online options.

Armed Forces Network

Armed services members deployed overseas can listen via AFN Radio on satellite, and AFN 360 Internet Radio, starting at 11 PM CET.

Internet Radio

This year TuneIn is providing free access to Westwood One’s Super Bowl LII coverage online. This includes the national broadcast, along with the Eagles’ and Patriots’ home calls. Plus, in addition to English you can hear the game in Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin and Hungarian.

During the normal season NFL games are otherwise only available with a paid subscription to TuneIn Premium.

A TuneIn representative also confirmed that the streams will be available worldwide, all beginning with the pre-game at 2 PM EST, 19:00 UTC.

Satellite Radio

United States

SiriusXM subscribers in the U.S. also can hear WestwoodOne’s national coverage on channel 88, along with the other program streams:

• New England Broadcast – Mad Dog Radio Channel 82
• Philadelphia Broadcast – Fox Sports Radio Channel 83
• Spanish Broadcast (Deportes) – ESPN Deportes Channel 468
• German Broadcast (Prosieben) – Sirius 132 / XM 227 / App Channel 963
• French Broadcast (W9) – Sirius 138 / XM 226 / App Channel 962
• Hungarian Broadcast (AMC Hungary) – Sirius 137 / XM 225 / App Channel 961
• Mandarin Broadcast (Tencent) – Sirius 134 / XM 228 / App Channel 964
• Japanese Broadcast (NHK) – Sirius 135 / XM 229 / App Channel 965
• Spanish Broadcast (TV Azteca–Mexico) – Sirius 108 / XM 230 / App Channel 966

Canada

Canadian SiriusXM subscribers can hear the national broadcast on channel 145, the away broadcast on 83 and the home broadcast on 82.

Is there a radio broadcast we’re missing? Drop us a line and we’ll add it to the listing.

The post How To Listen to Super Bowl LII on the Radio this Sunday appeared first on Radio Survivor.

On this episode we revisit our features on Bainbridge Community Broadcasting, and our interviews with founders Barry and Channie Peters. BCB started out as a low-power community radio initiative, but pivoting into podcasting when the group discovered that would better serve their community. We’ll listen to our first conversation with them from July 2015, and then Paul’s follow-up visit to their studios in November 2016.

Radio Survivor is a listener-supported podcast. You can support us two ways:

Make a monthly contribution through our Patreon campaign.

Make a one-time or recurring donation with any major credit card via PayPal.

Show Notes:

• Bainbridge Community Broadcasting
• Radio Survivor Podcast #8: Bainbridge Community Broadcasting Chose Podcasting over LPFM
• Podcast #73 – Catching Up with Bainbridge Island’s Community Podcasting Experiment

The post Podcast #107 – Exploring Community Podcasting appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Looking for info on how to listen to this 2021’s Super Bowl LV? Click here.

This year fans who want or need to hear Super Bowl LI on the radio can listen in to the usual suspects, at least in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. There are all sorts of good reasons to listen to the game, whether you’re driving, at work, or are visually impaired.

While not as popular as the television broadcast, in 2012 (the last year radio ratings were reported) 23.1 million people in the U.S. tuned in on the radio. That’s why every year we compile this guide.

U.S. Terrestrial Radio

Westwood One is the exclusive radio network of Super Bowl 51, with enough affiliates that nearly everyone in the continental U.S. can probably find the game on their local dial. However, NFL games, including the Super Bowl, are usually not broadcast online by Westwood One affiliates.

U.S. Internet Radio

Update 2/5/17: A reader emailed to let us know that WJQX-FM is streaming the game right now via their website and iHeartRadio.

I’ve also confirmed that Boston’s WBZ-FM and Atlanta’s 98.5 FM are streaming the game via their websites, though not via TuneIn.

If you’re somewhere without good terrestrial radio reception, but have an internet connection, the game is carried on TuneIn Premium’s NFL station, which is part of TuneIn’s subscription service. You get a 7-day free trial if you sign up, so if all you want to get is this Sunday’s big game you could conceivably hear it for free.

The NFL also has it’s own GamePass streaming service, which also has a 7-day free trial.

However, each team’s home station will have special coverage that’s different from the national Westwood One feed, featuring their own local sportscasters. Because of this, I’ve found these stations usually don’t black out their internet feed of the Super Bowl, potentially making them good streaming radio choices. The only hiccup is that this isn’t guaranteed, and you won’t know the situation until game day.

WBZ-FM in Boston is the Patriots’ flagship station. The Falcons’ station is 92.9 FM WZGC-FM in Atlanta.

FOX television is also streaming the game online for free, but only to computers and tablets. Verizon customers can also stream it to their smartphones. Of course this is a video feed, which you can listen to, but isn’t as good as radio is you’re not in a situation where you can watch, like if you’re driving or doing other visual work. That’s because radio sportscasters will describe much more of the action than TV, where they expect you can see more for yourself.

Update 2/5/17:
Unfortunately, all of these links below are dead on Super Bowl Sunday

2/3/17:

I received an email from a radio office on a container ship currently at sea, where they have internet, but can’t use any browser plug-ins or extensions. He asked how they might listen to the Super Bowl on Sunday. Assuming that the local radio feeds in Boston and Atlanta will not be blacked out, my recommendation is to try the WBZ or WZGC on TuneIn, which I think has a non-Flash player option. Also, I was able to discover links directly to these stations’ streams that will open a play natively in Chrome. Here they are:

WBZ Boston:

• http://16943.live.streamtheworld.com:80/WBZFMAAC_SC
• http://16943.live.streamtheworld.com:3690/WBZFMAAC_SC
• http://17453.live.streamtheworld.com:80/WBZFMAAC_SC
• http://17453.live.streamtheworld.com:3690/WBZFMAAC_SC
• http://16883.live.streamtheworld.com:80/WBZFMAAC_SC
• http://16883.live.streamtheworld.com:3690/WBZFMAAC_SC
• http://17513.live.streamtheworld.com:80/WBZFMAAC_SC
• http://17513.live.streamtheworld.com:3690/WBZFMAAC_SC

WZGC Atlanta:

• http://16843.live.streamtheworld.com:80/WZGCFMAAC_SC
• http://16843.live.streamtheworld.com:3690/WZGCFMAAC_SC
• http://18763.live.streamtheworld.com:80/WZGCFMAAC_SC
• http://18763.live.streamtheworld.com:3690/WZGCFMAAC_SC
• http://16883.live.streamtheworld.com:80/WZGCFMAAC_SC
• http://16883.live.streamtheworld.com:3690/WZGCFMAAC_SC

Satellite Radio

SiriusXM satellite radio subscribers can hear Super Bowl LI over the internet service or via their satellite radios, both in the U.S. and Canada. You can hear the Westwood One national feed, the Atlanta or New England home feeds, or hear the game called in Chinese, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Hungarian or Flemish. SiriusXM offers a 30-day free trial. So, again, you might be able to hear the game for free if you don’t want to stay subscribed for more than 30 days.

Canada Terrestrial Radio

Canada’s TSN network is that country’s Super Bowl carrier. In years past the TSN Radio network has carried the Super Bowl, but this year I haven’t been able to find any explicit mention of it.

U.K.

BBC Radio 5 will broadcast Super Bowl 51 on FM and DAB radio across the U.K. This should include Radio 5’s internet stream for listeners in the U.K.

Everywhere Else

The irony is that it’s easier to watch the Super Bowl on TV in the rest of the world than it is to hear it on the radio, even though radio is the less expensive technology. Of course, outside the English speaking world the added cost of having the game called in other languages may be just cost prohibitive enough, whereas on television the ad revenue is likely sufficient to justify the expense.

In the four years I’ve been charting Super Bowl radio broadcasts I haven’t found any outside the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Please do let us know if you find one.

The post How To Listen to Super Bowl LI on the Radio this Sunday appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Looking for info on how to listen to this 2021’s Super Bowl LV? Click here.

For football fans who can’t be in front of a TV or an internet-connected device this Sunday, February 7, radio remains one of the best ways to catch Super Bowl 50. In the US Westwood One Sports remains the exclusive radio network broadcasting the game. The network has hundreds of affiliates, so it should be easy to find one near you.

As is traditional, the home market station for the two teams will have their local talent call the game instead of carrying the national feed. In Denver, Broncos home stations KOA 850 AM and KRFX 103.5 FM will have Dave Logan on play-by-play and Ed McCaffrey on color commentary. For the Panthers, WBT 1110 AM / 99.3 FM will broadcast to North Carolina.

Satellite radio subscribers in both the US and Canada on SiriusXM can hear Super Bowl 50 on channel 88. U.S. Military personnel stationed overseas should be able to listen on their local Armed Forces Network affiliate.

Spanish speakers can hear the game in that language on ESPN Deportes Radio.

Super Bowl 50 on Internet Radio

If you’ll be somewhere with poor radio reception but good internet there are a few options.

While many terrestrial sports stations have internet streams, NFL games–including the Super Bowl–are usually blocked from the webcast. However, last year I discovered that the competitors’ home stations–KIRO in Seattle and WBZ in Boston–indeed were broadcasting the game online.

This year Denver’s KOA says that it will broadcast the game online. WBT in North Carolina has not indicated on its website if Super Bowl coverage will be on its webcast.

On the paid side of the equation the NFL Game Pass is always a choice. It may also be a free one, if you take advantage of a 7-day free trial offer running now through February 10.

TuneIn will offer KOA’s and WBT’s coverage to subscribers of its Premium service. SiriusXM All Access internet subscribers get access to the national, Broncos and Panthers feeds, as well as broadcasts in Spanish, Hungarian, Japanese, French, Portuguese, Cantonese, and German.

International Radio Coverage of Super Bowl 50

Outside the US radio listening is pretty much limited to Canada and the UK, although the Super Bowl is widely broadcast on television internationally. The BBC will broadcast it on Radio 5 on AM and FM, and Radio 5 Live Sports Extra on digital (DAB). The TSN Radio network broadcasts the game to Canadians in Edmonton, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg.

Every year I find it a fascinating exercise trying to figure out where in the world you can hear the Super Bowl on the radio. I’m still a little disappointed that the options are few outside the UK and North America.

Let us know in the comments if you know of other international or internet radio broadcasts of Super Bowl 50

The post How You Can Listen to Super Bowl 50 on the Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

This week, College Broadcasters Inc. (CBI) and the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) issued a joint statement about athletic department prohibitions on the broadcast of sports programming by student media outlets.

The statement reads,

College Broadcasters, Inc. (CBI) and the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) stand behind student media outlets that have lost the ability to offer live game coverage of their schools’ athletic events due to exclusive agreements signed between athletic departments and commercial broadcasters.

Student-run media outlets are a vital part the experiential education offered on college campuses. Restricting or denying student access to high-profile events is both harmful to student development and antithetical to the value of the free exchange of ideas championed at educational institutions.  Many professional sports broadcasters and journalists first developed their skills in student media. Cutting off access to student media outlets not only undermines the academic and co-curricular mission of higher education but also hinders the development of today’s students into tomorrow’s media professionals.

While we understand the economic imperatives behind these agreements, we believe these can exist co-operatively with student-operated broadcasts, which are generally non-commercial in nature. We cannot support contracts with outside entities that restrict the freedoms of student media, particularly when these agreements are made by college administrators only, without considering student opinions.

CBI and the SPLC would like to urge colleges and universities to consider student media outlets when considering broadcast rights agreements with outside entities, and to preserve the rights of student media outlets to cover their fellow students’ athletic events.”

Often sports broadcasts are a boon for student radio stations, not only offering great experience for broadcasters, but also providing a space for students, alumni, and fans to tune in to hear coverage of their home school’s sporting events. I’ve also heard from some stations that live sports broadcasts are also some of the most popular programs on college radio as well.

Wrapping up my Seattle Radio Station Tours with Visit to KXSU at Seattle University

This week I completed my series of radio station tour posts from my fall 2014 trip to Seattle. Read more about my visit to soon-to-be LPFM KXSU at Seattle University as well as my trips to University of Washington’s Rainy Dawg Radio and University of Washington-Bothell’s UWave Radio in Radio Survivor’s growing archive of Spinning Indie Radio Station Field Trips.

KSPC CD and Record Expo on February 8

I have fond memories of my time volunteering and DJing at Pomona College radio station KSPC-FM in Claremont, California. In fact, I even worked at one of its record fairs. It’s nice to see that the tradition continues, with the next KSPC CD and Record Expo taking place this Sunday, February 8th. The San Bernardino County Sun writes that, “The expo, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, expects to attract at least 500 music lovers…” KSPC’s General Manager Erica Tyron told the Sun, “…despite the shift towards digital and streaming services for music, the expo gives people an opportunity to meet and talk with other music fans as well as to engage in the collectible, physical media that has been such a strong part of music history thus far.”

University of Oklahoma to Get LPFM

Yesterday another university was granted a construction permit for a new low power FM (LPFM) radio station. According to its application, University of Oklahoma plans to use the new license for a student-run college radio station.

KTEQ Returns to the Air at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Where Radio Broadcasts Date Back to 1922

In an in-depth piece for Radio World, Mario Heib writes about KTEQ‘s triumphant return to the air in Rapid City, South Dakota. Off the terrestrial airwaves for 14 years, KTEQ brings back a long tradition of radio on campus, which started in 1922 with the launch of WCAT. According to Heib, WCAT was “the first licensed wireless station in South Dakota” and initially had “a format consisting mainly of weather forecasts.” The station added lectures and “then came news, local talent and music broadcast by holding a microphone close to the horn of a Victrola phonograph. The AM station WCAT, or ‘Wildcat Radio,’ operated from September 1922 to 1952.” FM radio returned to campus with the initial launch of KTEQ in 1971. Read more about KTEQ’s history here and here.

WJPZ Birthday Banquet + Documentary about Syracuse University Station

Does your college radio station have an alumni association? WJPZ has a very active one and regularly hosts get-togethers and is making a station documentary, The Greatest Media Classroom: The Story of WJPZ, available in exchange for donations. It’s hosting its annual Birthday Banquet on February 28th.

CJUM Launching New Student Hosted Shows about TV, Classical Music, and K-Pop

Canadian campus-community radio station UMFM (aka CJUM) at University of Manitoba has added a few intriguing student shows. According to the Manitoban, “Campus and community radio station UMFM 101.5 prides itself on bringing quality fringe content to Winnipeg listeners.”

KCR Nominated for Radio Awards

San Diego State University’s college radio station KCR (which can be heard online, over campus TV, and over digital cable) is up for a bunch of Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) Awards, according to the Daily Aztec. But even more exciting for me, is the fact that the station has one of those Leo signs (pictured in the article!).

Goshen College Station WGCS Gearing up for IBS Awards

Another IBS award nominee, Goshen College radio station WGCS The Globe has won major awards in the past. The Elkhart Truth, did a Q&A with the station’s General Manager and asked what sets The Globe apart from other stations. General Manager Jason Samuel said, “There are two things. One is we have a format, and we treat The Globe as if it were this commercial entity or how it would be theoretically in the real world outside of college. But we have taken The Globe and moved it out into the community and increased our footprint, and that is the true difference maker. We have a satellite studio down at Ignition Music Garage. We partner with them in promoting — oh, geez — at least 25, maybe 30 shows a year at Ignition…”

Cal State Long Beach Sells FM Station to Religious Group

The FCC has approved California State University, Long Beach Research Foundation’s application to assign the license for KJZD 91.1 FM in Perris, California to Educational Media Foundation (EMF). According to the Asset Purchase Agreement, the sale price was $50,000. EMF plans to use the station as a satellite of its Radio Nueva Vida Radio Network. This follows reports that Cal State Long Beach’s jazz station KKJZ will be moving off-campus to Westwood. Neither station is run by students and the campus is home to student-run streaming and HD-3 radio station K-Beach.

We cover the culture of college radio every Friday in our College Radio Watch feature. If you have college radio news to share, please drop us a note at EDITORS at RADIOSURVIVOR dot COM.

The post College Radio Watch: Student Media Advocates Decry Restrictions on Student Sports Broadcasts; LPFM News, and More appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Looking for info on how to listen to this 2021’s Super Bowl LV? Click here.

Once again, it’s time for the big game and time to run down where you can listen to the Super Bowl on the radio. While most football fans will have plans to be as close to a TV as possible, there are still folks who want to catch the game but can’t be near a television, whether because of work or other circumstances.

Westwood One Sports will be supplying Super Bowl XLIX to stations across the country, starting coverage at 2 PM ET on Sunday, February 2, with kick off at 6:30 PM ET. The flagship stations for the Seahawks and Patriots–KIRO 710 AM and WBZ 98.5 FM, respectively–each will have their own broadcast teams calling the game. The feed for all these stations is terrestrial only, and will not be available online.

Update Feb. 1, 2015: Unlike past years, some stations indeed are broadcasting the Super Bowl on their live internet streams, including KIRO in Seattle and WBZ in Boston.

Subscribers to SiriusXM can listen to the Seattle, New England or national broadcasts in English or a Spanish broadcast via their satellite receivers.

For internet audio streams US listeners can subscribe to NFL Audio Pass or use SiriusXM’s internet service. However, NBC will be streaming its live television coverage online for free this year to anyone on a US broadband connection. So even if you can’t watch, you can still listen, though television play-by-play is a different beast than radio.

However, the free NBC stream is not available to mobile broadband users. That’s only available for Verizon customers who subscribe to NFL Mobile.

International Super Bowl Radio Broadcasts

Outside the US radio coverage is spotty, while TV broadcasts are more widely available.

Those serving in the armed forces overseas can hear Westwood One’s Super Bowl broadcast on Armed Forces Radio.

Canadians can tune in the Super Bowl on TSN Radio stations or on SiriusXM Canada. .

Listeners in the UK can listen to the Super Bowl on BBC Radio 5 Live on medium wave (AM) and digital radio (DAB).

In December shortwave broadcaster Radio Miami International–which operates the station formerly owned by Family Radio– announced that WRMI would “cover numerous top sporting events in 2015.” Listed amongst the events is the Super Bowl. However, it doesn’t seem like there will be play-by-play. Rather, there will be twice daily updates at 9 AM and 9 PM ET. I emailed the station to get clarification and will update this post when I hear back.

If you know of an international radio broadcast not listed here, please tell us about it in the comments.

The post How To Listen to Super Bowl XLIX on the Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Looking for info on how to listen to this 2021’s Super Bowl LV? Click here.

Sports are nearly as popular on the radio as on television. As USA Today observes, there are 289 more all-sports radio stations on the air since 2006, and this weekend’s Super Bowl is their “summit.” All these stations will be discussing the big game, endlessly, for the next four days, though not all of them will carry the game.

Nevertheless, folks who are working, driving or not near a TV this Sunday, or those who don’t own a TV in the first place, can still listen in to Super Bowl XLVIII on the radio. While there will be fewer listeners than the 100 million-plus viewers who watch the television broadcast, there’s still a sizable radio audience. Edison Research reported that 23.1 million listeners tuned in to a Dial Global affiliate for Super Bowl XLVI in 2012.

Dial Global is now known as Westwood One again, and you can hear the game on a Westwood One Sports affiliate station. ESPN Desportes Radio will broadcast the game in Spanish, while SiriusXM offers the play-by-play in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and five other languages. The satellite broadcaster also gives English listeners the choice of hearing the Denver Broncos or Seattle Seahawks team broadcast (channel listings below). These programs are available via satellite and through SiriusXM Internet Radio.

Another online option is NFL Audio Pass, which has a playoffs only package for $9.99. Of course the playoffs are over, but since the package includes the Super Bowl, it’s a relatively inexpensive way to ensure you can hear the game online.

Members of the US military overseas, as well as those living near military bases, should be able to listen in on American Forces Radio. In the UK listeners can hear the game on independent broadcaster Absolute Radio. There may be other international radio broadcasters carrying the Super Bowl, but I wasn’t able to confirm any.

It’s not at all clear if the live internet streams of broadcast stations are blacked out, or blacked out by region. This year I’ll make it a point to check out some streams and find out.

If you’re a radio listener outside the US, let us know if and how you plan to listen to the Super Bowl.

Here’s the SiriusXM channel lineup:

• Denver Broncos team broadcast – Sirius 92 / XM 225 / Online 802
• Seattle Seahawks team broadcast – Sirius 86 / XM 86 / Online 827
• National radio broadcast – Sirius 88 / XM 88 / Online 88
• Spanish language broadcast – Sirius 157 / XM 157 / Online 157
• Portuguese broadcast – Sirius 119 / XM 232 / Online 961
• Chinese broadcast – Sirius 113 / XM 229 / Online 965
• German broadcast – Sirius 93 / XM 228 / Online 964
• French broadcast – Sirius 85 / XM 227 / Online 966
• Russian broadcast – Sirius 108 / XM 230 / Online 963
• Japanese broadcast – Sirius 117 / XM 231 / Online 962
• Hungarian broadcast – Sirius 136 / XM 233 / Online 960

The post Catch Super Bowl XLVIII on the radio this Sunday appeared first on Radio Survivor.

My hometown newspaper has come out swinging on the sports radio snafu of the week. Here’s an unsigned opinion piece worth reading:

“Bay Area sports radio host Damon Bruce should find another profession,” declared the San Francisco Chronicle on Tuesday. “His nearly nine-minute rant last week about how women are ruining sports was misogynistic and foolish in the extreme. It gained him national attention for all the wrong reasons.”

Bruce does football talk for Cumulus station KNBR AM in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Chron wants him fired. Here’s some of the Bruce statement in question.

“I enjoy many of the women’s contributions to sports – well that’s a lie (laughter). I can’t even pretend that’s true. There are very few – a small handful – of women who are any good at this at all. That’s the truth. The amount of women talking in sports to the amount of women who have something to say is one of the most disproportionate ratios I’ve ever seen in my frickin’ life. But here’s a message for all of them … All of this, all of this world of sports, especially the sport of football, has a setting. It’s set to men. … It’s a man’s world.”

Apparently this was all said in the context of Miami Dolphin’s lineman Jonathan Martin quitting the team after a collective assault that included death threats, racial slurs, and even worse indignities. Women (read: women commentators) should shut up about these matters, Bruce rather strongly implied in his rant.

“This is guy’s stuff,” the Chronicle quotes him as saying. “This is men’s stuff. And I don’t expect women to understand men’s stuff any more than they should expect me to be able to relate to labor pains.” To which the Chronicle responds:

“The National Football League now calculates that women account for 45 percent of its fan base, which is one of the reasons it has become America’s favorite game.

As for Bruce’s claim that women have nothing worthwhile to say about this ‘man stuff,’ we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume his cave doesn’t have newspaper delivery, cable TV or an Internet connection.

A broadcaster might be forgiven for an unfortunate slip of the tongue. This was a premeditated ode to ignorance that insulted half of the station’s potential audience. If this isn’t a firing offense, then KNBR has just lowered the standard for on-air discourse in the Bay Area.”

News reports say Bruce was briefly suspended and now is back.

“It’s a privilege to return to the airwaves today,” he tweeted about 21 hours ago. “Thanks to for the support. Many, many lessons have been learned. Please accept my apology.”

Somebody quickly tweeted this response: “America is about second chances. Good luck with yours.”

The post SF Chronicle: fire KNBR’s Damon Bruce for “anti-woman rant” appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Recreating the game in the studio [modestoradiomuseum.org/recreations.html]

I was 10 years old. I loved the Dodgers more than anything in the world. I carried my large pre-transistor radio with me wherever I went so I could hear them. When they lost, I would cry – and blame myself for not rooting hard enough, for not being there, fully, totally focused, hoping and praying for them.

When they left me, I asked my mother “How could this happen?” She looked at me and said “It’s a thing called capitalism.” I have been a pinko ever since.

I immediately decided that I would punish the Dodgers for their betrayal by rooting for their traditional enemies, the Giants. Since the Giants were now in San Francisco, this could have been a problem. No local station would be broadcasting all the Giants games across the continent.

But an amazing radio technology combined with an amazing performance art saved me: the technology and art of broadcast re-creation of baseball. The N.Y. Giants had a die hard following of abandoned fans that would not give up immediately, so there was still an audience in New York for their games. The expense of paying for announcers, flying them around the country, and the high cost of pre-satellite coast-to-coast transmission made actual live coverage impossible. But there was an obscure technique called re-creation that was miraculously revived to solve this problem. In re-creation, the announcer did not need to go to the ballpark, did not even need to be in the same city, and didn’t have a telephone connection to the actual events. Instead, he sat in front of a teletypewriter, which transmitted the absolutely bare-bones truncated data of the game, like so: “Jones up. Strike. ground to third. out. Smith up. Ball. Strike. Strike . . . “

The announcer sat in front of the teletype, pretended to be at the park, and announced the game to the fans listening on the radio. The engineer and he had a bunch of buttons that activated perhaps a half dozen primitive tape sequences: Cheers, Boos, “Excited Crowd,”  “Regular Crowd.” The announcer had a bat and a block of wood that he used to simulate the sound of a bat hitting a ball.

I’m not making this up: every time a player hit the ball, the announcer whacked the block of wood. He wasn’t just announcing, he was re-enacting; no, more than this, he was recreating, or actually creating a new representation of the game, in a newly created dimension of reality, all the while passing it off to his audience as the traditional game itself, the old ball game.

The guy who did this 1957-1959 was named Les Keiter, a legendary sports announcer who was perhaps the only person ever quite up to pulling this off. Keiter was endlessly enthusiastic about everything. When Willie Mays tripled and slid into third ahead of the throw, Keiter would trumpet in supremely thrilled satisfaction: “He beat the ball, He beat the Ball!!”

Keiter spun out an elaborate repertoire of such expressions; fans ate them up like candy. Many announcers have pet phrases of course, and baseball, because of its relative lack of action, requires announcers to fill the time with flourishes, dalliance, shaggy dogs stories, and all kinds of hokum. But these mundane announcers would seem to have the considerable advantage of having the actual game in front of them – the weather, the fans, the actual players performing their complex feats, the kind of pitch that was made, how close a certain play was. Keiter was free of all details of what was happening – he didn’t know if it was a curve or a fastball; whether Mays was safe by a hair or came in easily standing up. Keiter’s language, his expressions and tangents and rigmarole, these authorial conceits – he had to make them all up. He couldn’t afford to be constrained by reality, because reality was not forthcoming.

Sitting in Bermuda shorts and eating popcorn from a bag, Keiter overcame these limitations by issuing himself a blank check of an artistic pass. Free from the clammy grip of reality, his imagination soared. These games were not pale imitations of baseball games, they were way better than the real thing, spectacular creations of the pure love of the game and the pure act of sharing it with humanity at large, especially the bereft boys of Brooklyn and The Bronx.

Lest you think I’m exaggerating, consider this: Keiter would describe fans in the seats, he would tell us that a blond woman in a red dress with a flowery hat in the stands behind first base just reached out and ‘all-most!’ caught that foul ball that Orlando Cepeda just lofted over there. Not only did Keiter not even know where the foul ball was hit – the sum total of knowledge sent over the wire was ‘FB (foul ball)’ – but the gender, the hair color, the dress and the hat – the very existence of this woman! – were fabrications of Keiter’s furious mind. Hundreds of such sweet fables were effortlessly served up every game, perhaps tens of thousands all told in the four hundred or so games Keiter recreated.

To my knowledge no tapes of these broadcasts exist. If you have any or know of any please speak up. It’s possible that after my generation is gone no remembrance of this peculiar and preposterous opera of wit and charm will persist. It will be enough, it will have to be enough, that it once existed. Thank you Les Keiter – how special you were.

The post Better than reality, more than make believe: radio’s re-creation of baseball appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Super Bowl XLVII on Dial Global Radio

For fans of both teams the game will be broadcast regionally with local calls and commentary on Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers affiliate stations. The game will be heard across the rest of the US on the Dial Global network, with affiliates in all 50 states.

Canadian fans in Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg can tune in to a simulcast of the Dial Global broadcast on the 16 month-old TSN Radio network. The game will be on digital radio in the UK on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra.

In the past some listeners outside the UK and North America have been able to tune in shortwave broadcasts of the Super Bowl on Armed Forces radio via stations in Diego Garcia, Guam, Key West, FL, and Pearl Harbor, HI. At this time only the Diego Garcia and Guam stations are broadcasting, and there has been no announcement about Super Bowl coverage. The game has also been broadcast on Armed Forces Network Europe radio stations, though, again, no announcements about XLVII have been made.

While there are plenty of international TV broadcasters carrying the Super Bowl, I haven’t been able to confirm any other international radio broadcasts. However, internet listeners can catch the game on the NFL Audio Pass. Although there are no international restrictions on the Audio Pass broadcast, it also requires a subscription.

Streaming US radio stations’ coverage online might be an option for international listeners, but I believe that many (if not all) live game streams are restricted or blacked-out altogether.

If you’re a radio listener outside the US, let us know if and how you plan to listen to the Super Bowl.

The post Catch the Super Bowl on the radio, too appeared first on Radio Survivor.

It’s been a while since we’ve reported on SiriusXM. The big news for the satellite radio provider is that Liberty Media, owner of Discovery Channel and other media interests, was approved for its majority takeover of Sirius by the FCC at the beginning of the year. Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin is no pal of Liberty boss John Malone, so Karmazin left in December. Four members of the Sirius board have been replaced by Malone picks.

SiriusXM had a pretty good 2012, closing out with a net of 2 million new subscribers, despite raising subscription rates 12% at the beginning of the year. The company’s stock now hovers well above $3 a share, which is a nice turnaround from the dark days of 2012 when the NASDAQ warned of delisting, as its stock hovered around $1.

On the programming end of things, SiriusXM has announced a collaboration with Comedy Central to start a new channel, with a projected launch this spring.

The satellite broadcaster is also bolstering its morning show lineup with a new program hosted by stand-up comedian Pete Dominick, who currently hosts an afternoon call-in and interview program on SiriusXM’s Potus politics channel. Dominick’s new program, called “Stand Up!” will anchor the male-oriented talk radio channel (whatever that means), which will be renamed from “Stars Too” to “Indie.” On his new program Dominick says he will “leave celebrity gossip and voyeurism to others while I explore more important issues with my listeners and the experts that can speak to them best.” It debuts February 11.

Finally, SiriusXM has announced play-by-play of the Super Bowl in nine languages, besides English, including Hungarian, Japanese and French. There will be will four more live broadcasts, including one on the BBC.

For 2013 SiriusXM is projecting the addition of another net of 1.4 million subscribers, which many analysts think is a conservative prediction. The company is on the upswing as the competition from streaming music services like Pandora and Spotify heats up. The real battleground is the mobile listening segment, both in vehicles and smartphones. It will be very interesting to see how SiriusXM fares, especially as Clear Channel continues its effort to to turn iHeartRadio into its primary platform and brand. It will be an entertaining year, if nothing else.

The post Liberty takeover, new programming & Super Bowl coverage start the new year for SiriusXM appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Arbitron Portable People Meter ratings for December are in, and progressive talk radio lovers in Portland, Oregon are getting a bit of wry satisfaction from the results. KPOJ, recently switched by its owner Clear Channel from blue state talk to sports, now has an Average Quarter Hour (AQH) share almost as far down the well as it goes.

Back in the talk radio days POJ clocked in at around 0.9. That was in early 2011. It hovered around 0.8 and 1.0 in mid-to-late 2012.

Former KPOJ host Carl Wolfson (carlwolfson.com).

But now? Wait for it: 0.2 in December. That means KPOJ comes in second to last in the market in average quarter hour ratings. AQH is the number of folks listening to a particular radio station for a minimum of five minutes in any discrete 15 minute period. You get the share by dividing that station’s AQH by the whole market’s cumulative AQH, and multiplying that number by 100.

A conservative station with the call letters KUFO now has a higher share than KPOJ. The only signal with a lower rating is KKOV-AM, which specializes in Barbara Streisand, Bette Midler, and Frank Sinatra tunes.

Why did this happen? The sad-but-inevitable version of talk KPOJ’s demise can be found at Willamette Week. The “real cause” of KPOJ’s death, the article explains: “The changing face of Portland radio, a communications company at the mercy of casino capitalists, and a sympathetic audience that—despite progressive talk’s potential appeal—simply tuned in elsewhere” (here’s more on that theory).

The story quotes Clear Channel marketing executive Robert Dove: “At the end of the day, the station just wasn’t performing. It had a loyal, small-core following that just wasn’t enough.”

Just a “business decision,” it was. The phrase always assumes the inherent rationality of such transactions. So is 0.2 “enough”? It could be that Clear Channel expected this and doesn’t care. After all, there are two other sports stations in the area. And the new operation looks so automated that you’d never guess the radio giant once let stand up comedian Carl Wolfson host three hour morning shows across the work week.

Wolfson is going to be on Portland community station KBOO on Wednesday. Maybe he’ll react to the numbers.

Meanwhile they’re grinning bitter grins over at the Save KPOJ Facebook page.

“They should have stuck with their ‘loyal, small-core following’ for progressive talk,” one post declares. Alas, radio listeners don’t get to tell Clear Channel what to do.

• Hat tip: Blue Oregon.
• Further reading: The Five Stages of Commercial Radio Format Change Grief

The post How low can you go? Meet Clear Channel’s KPOJ sports appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Inside the radio industry there has been quite a bit of hand-wringing about the AM dial. Though conservative talk stations and sports stations in big markets continue to generate ratings and revenue, there’s an increasing recognition that other AM stations aren’t doing as well. Many blame overcrowding on the dial which leads to more interference, especially at night. Others claim broadcasters themselves are to blame, for not maintaining facilities and uncreative programming.

Over at DIYmedia.net John Anderson takes a critical overview of the solutions being examined by the National Association of Broadcasters, which has formed a task force to tackle the future of AM. John writes,

The Task Force seems to be considering two primary ideas for “revitalizing” AM broadcasting. One is to phase it out completely and migrate all AM stations to new spots on the FM dial. The other involves a wholesale conversion of AM broadcasting from analog to digital, using AM-HD as the mechanism.

Neither of these proposals are optimal. Both would necessitate listeners buying new receivers to take advantage of any changes, and they would be expensive and disruptive to all AM broadcasters – many of whom are on shaky financial footing already.

The NAB, as the handmaiden of the largest broadcast conglomerates (and with the close cooperation of National Public Radio) seems to be leaning toward the digitalization route. Either will be a tough sell.

I tend to come down on the side of thinking that the big broadcasters made their own bed, similar to how Clear Channel and its ilk squeezed the life out of commercial music radio on FM over the last 16 years. Just like HD Radio has failed to rescue FM, I have serious doubts that digitizing AM will save it, either.

I also don’t agree with scrapping AM. Although it is an older technology, which poses technical and fidelity challenges that FM does not face, it also has distinct advantages. First, AM transmissions can cover a much bigger geographic area than FM, nearly half the North American continent with the right power level. Because they don’t travel line-of-sight, it’s easier to send and receive AM signals in hilly or mountainous areas than FM.

Second, AM receivers are simple to build and operate — a crystal set doesn’t even need batteries. While this may seem downright antiquated in the mobile internet age, it can be a real lifesaver during a natural disaster or other emergency that results in extended power outages.

Finally, the infrastructure is already there, and is in use. There are still millions of listeners tuning in AM radio each day, who would likely lose many of their favorite stations were the service eliminated. Furthermore, the AM broadcast band is a tiny swath of spectrum, not particularly useful for data services like the FM and UHF bands are.

Of course, any change would require a long FCC proceeding. But that doesn’t mean change is necessarily unlikely or impossible. What it means is that those of us who care about preserving the service need to be aware and ready to engage in the debate.

The post NAB debating the future life or death of AM Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Rui Thomas

In 2012, we use more social outlets than ever to embarrass ourselves. Luckily for 20^th century traditionalists, we still find outspoken individuals on the radio.

This month we heard two sports moguls stir up the air, to listeners’ dumbfoundedness. On September 5, Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine appeared on The Big Show sports radio. After host Glenn Ordway pressed Valentine on a bumbling season and the sense that he had “checked out,” the skipper snapped back:

“What an embarrassing thing to say. If I were there right now, I’d punch you right in the mouth. Ha, ha. How’s that sound? Is that like I checked out?”

The same day, former NFL running back and current Notre Dame radio personality Allen Pinkett voiced his ignorance to the media. As a guest on The McNeil and Spiegel Show, he proclaimed:

“…To have a successful team, you gotta have a few bad citizens on the team. I mean, that’s how Ohio State used to win all the time. They would have two or three guys that were criminals. That just adds to the chemistry of the team. I think Notre Dame is growing because maybe they have some guys that are something worthy of a suspension, which creates edge on the football team. You can’t have a football team full of choir boys.”

This sort of sageness can’t be found on ESPN (I take that back. Valentine worked for the network last year). Boston’s manager later stated his comments were a joke, but Pinkett reaffirmed on the broadcast that he stood behind his words. He was then suspended by the Notre Dame IMG Network for three games without salary.

Sports fans from Boston to Timbuktu will interpret their messages for themselves, but anyone with a sense of rationality will not take their comments to heart. Valentine was interviewed over the phone, and would have likely disconnected to avoid a traffic ticket if he drove to ambush Ordway. Pinkett has a spotless felony record, and no coaching or general managing experience.

The reason this is news, and fairly common news, is because we have two celebrities who can’t shut up. They are surrounded by microphones so often that it becomes a facet of life, and eventually their private and public worlds blur together. No one was physically harmed by Valentine or Pinkett, and the Dow Jones didn’t crash, but their images suffered. And the pair is too oblivious to notice.

Their carelessness stems from the reality of sports. When you win, you can get away with anything. When you lose, anything you say and do will be used against you in a court of civil judgement.

Missing the playoffs and a suspension aside, do you think Valentine and Pinkett feel like losers, when they have a fan base and millions of dollars?

Their statements were moronic. Whether he was kidding or not, Valentine should know never to threaten a talk show host. Pinkett forgot that a criminal per capita ratio has an adverse effect on NFL win-loss records, as the 2006 Cincinnati Bengals will attest.

The two could not escape the wrath of the media, and both their jobs are in jeopardy as a result. That’s the cost of foolishly yapping their minds to a national audience. But the next time a sports icon says something stupid on live radio, consider the context and their season record. It makes a difference.

Rui Thomas’ writings on sports can be found at The Ruination. 

The post Commentary: Bobby Valentine and Allen Pinkett Can’t Hear Themselves Talk appeared first on Radio Survivor.

I have to admit that the following observation, offered by Notre Dame radio analyst Allen Pinkett, got my attention.

“I’ve always felt like, to have a successful team, you gotta have a few bad citizens on the team,” the former star running back told The McNeil and Spiegel Show last week:

“I mean, that’s how Ohio State used to win all the time. They would have two or three guys that were criminals. That just adds to the chemistry of the team. I think Notre Dame is growing because maybe they have some guys that are doing something worthy of a suspension, which creates edge on the football team. You can’t have a football team full of choir boys. You get your butt kicked if you have a team full of choir boys. You gotta have a little bit of edge, but the coach has to be the dictator and ultimate ruler.”

For this bit of wisdom, the Notre Dame IMG Network has suspended Mr. Pinkett without pay for three games. Apparently the hosts offered him an opportunity to escape the noose by clarifying his comments, but to no avail.

“I absolutely meant that,” the radio commentator added. “Chemistry is so important on a football team. You have to have a couple of bad guys that sorta teeter on that edge to add to the flavor of the guys that are going to always do right. … You look at the teams that have one [won?] in the past. They always have a couple of criminals.”

To be fair, Pinkett noted that he didn’t favor any “mass murders or rapists” being recruited [whew!], but “guys that maybe get caught drinking that are underage, or guys that maybe got arrested because they got in a fight at a bar” could be considered.

Since then, Pinkett has apologized for his remarks. He’ll be back on the job in late September. I’m still wondering whether he’s being punished for saying something inappropriate, or for publicly acknowledging a fact on the ground. Radio Survivor readers, what sayest thou?

The post Bad citizen Pinkett: should Notre Dame radio have suspended him? appeared first on Radio Survivor.