TUNING IN

 

Cofield’s weekly TV/Radio notebook

Sports-talk listeners and programmers will have a few more listening options come September.

Dan Patrick should make his return to network radio around September 13. He’s now working with a Chicago company, the Content Factory. CF is working on syndication deals. Rumors have Westwood One and Sporting News Radio as the lead candidates to land Patrick and his new show. Patrick’s brother Bill is SNR’s program director

The Houston Chronicle broke the new yesterday that Patrick’s show, formerly filling the Noon-3p ET slot will move earlier in the day to 9a-Noon ET.

 According to David Barron:

The company picked the 8-11 a.m. CT slot to avoid head-to-head competition with the syndicated Jim Rome Show, to give East Coast stations another option in late morning, and to give West Coast stations a familiar name to boost ratings in morning drive time.

The only hitch for Sporting News Radio is that their flagship program, The Tony Bruno Show, currently fills the same time. Once he finds a home, how will they affiliate the Patrick Show?

We’re hearing ESPNRadio will attempt to restrict all affiliates from adding Patrick and covering up it’s network programming. Clear Channel/Premiere/FoxSportsRadio has always employed an aggressive stance against affiliates mixing and matching shows. More than a few programmers have heard the riot act from FoxSportsRadio affiliate head Kurt Kretzschmar when they’ve attempted to mix in other programs.

In Las Vegas, Lotus Broadcasting owns both the ESPN (ESPNRadio920) and FOX (FoxSportsRadio1460) affiliates. It’s hard to see Patrick finding a home on either of the market’s two biggest stations.

GUESTS LOAD 

If you recall, The Fabulous Sports Babe bolted from ESPNRadio back in 2000, and had a very difficult time finding affiliates at her new home SportsFan Radio Network. Without a huge phone call load, Babe generally did 5-6 guests per three hour show.

She did have one advantage, Patrick may not. Babe was still able to use many of the “insiders” from ESPN. ESPN now has a policy restricting their TV, magazine and .com insiders from appearing on non-ESPNRadio stations.

How loyal are Patrick’s staple ESPN guests/insiders? .

Listen below. Here is Mike Francesa from WFAN in New York telling ESPN head honcho John Walsh that the policy is stupid and counterproductive.

FRANCESA WITH WALSH

We also have to see if programmers even want the Patrick Show. Was it carried out of necessity to fulfill ESPN’s demands or do program directors believe he does a great show?

And will listeners demand they get their Patrick?

 This from Barron:

A straw poll on the station’s Web site as of Sunday afternoon indicated 41 percent of respondents prefer sticking with ESPN and 32 percent want another local show.Twenty percent, meanwhile, want KFNC to pick up the new Dan Patrick Show.

IRVIN PART OF THE MIX?

There was some talk of the Patrick Show including personalities like Keith Olbermann, Rick Reilly, Reggie Miller and Michael Irvin. Irvin may be out of the mix before Patrick is back on the air. He’s been speaking with FoxSportsRadio and did an extended stint this weekend. If he is part of the FSR/Premiere lineup, where would he fit in? Jim Rome and J.T. the Brick are locked in. Beyond that, it’s up for grabs. The logical slot would be Noon-3 ET where FSR currently replays Steve Czaban’s morning show.

I thought Irvin’s weekly spot with Patrick each week was one of the best spots on national radio. The conversation was always argumentative. Irvin is combative in nature and generally has the back of athletes in controversial situations. But he’s also a loose cannon. Is FSR ready to take the heat when Irvin sticks his foot in his mouth as he did more than a few times with ESPN? I’d would also question Irvin’s commitment to his own daily radio show. Doing a weekly radio spot and TV is a little different from coming in five days a week and consistently delivering compelling topics. Assuming Irvin has a sidekick, chemistry could also be an issue. Irvin is hoping to do the show from his home according to the Dallas Morning News:

Irvin hopes his radio show would emanate from a studio in Frisco. He could watch his children play sports on the weekends. Frankly, he said, “the road sometimes offers too many temptations.” On the practical side, Irvin believes there is as much money to be made in radio as there is in television. “Maybe more,” he said.“For me, this would be a win-win situation.”

Patrick always served as a strong force in battling Irvin. What in-house FSR candidate could stand Irvin’s heat?

1. Big Ben Maller (Is his skin thick enough to withstand Irvin mocking on his weight? “Big” Ben had more than a few off air wars with Bryan Cox)

2. Dan Moriarty (solid with his radio fundamentals)

3. Andrew Siciliano (Tough to see Irvin buying the 5-foot-5 Siciliano a legit sports expert)

UPDATE:

Talking to industry moles, there may be a third player in the Patrick sweepstakes. Premiere Radio IS looking at Irvin but they may be also looking at Patrick. The buzz with some at Premiere is that a Patrick-Irvin pairing would be something the radio giant is very interested in. It also makes sense since Patrick’s people made sure there was no time slot conflict with their flagship program, Jim Rome. A Patrick-Rome block would more than compete with the Mike & Mike-Cowherd block on ESPNRadio.

SEDANO OUT AS FSR OVERNIGHT HOST 

This from the Miami Herald:

Jorge Sedano, 29, is expected to leave his job as WIOD’s Heat host to join 790 The Ticket to anchor a three-hour talk show, either preceding Jon Sciambi or following him.

Sedano, who attended Miami Pace High and FIU, said he will remain Fox Sports Radio’s overnight host (2 a.m. to 6 a.m.) for a few more weeks, but then will give up that job and do fill-in work for Fox Radio.

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