“All they need is a drum beat and somebody yelling over it and they’re happy. There’s an enormous market for people who can’t tell one note from another.”
– Keith Richards
SO, I SUPPOSE YOU’VE HEARD the big news that WNST “doesn’t take phone calls anymore.” In the midst of this ugly 0-3 start for the Baltimore Ravens, this is a perfect time for an illustration of the difference between “them” and “us” in the world of local sports radio and media information in 2015.
Who do you go to for news, information and analysis? And who do you trust? And where do you ever truly learn anything about the team or sports or strategy?
I’m guessing if you’re an intelligent, thinking Baltimore sports fan, the format at 105.7 The Fan this week will be like nails on a chalkboard. Wall to wall bitching, 24 hours a day and all fueled by the people who know the least about the team. You know, kinda like what you see at the bottom of the toilet on your Twitter feed.
I hear and read and see a lot of garbage about WNST and 105.7 The Fan – contrasts, comparisons, scuttlebutt and nonsense that isn’t really unique in any publicly competitive environment – and it’s far past the time that I finally said something about my upstart “competitor” down the FM dial.
I get paid to be honest and tell you what I think and this is a topic that I’m actually a supreme expert on – sports radio and local media. And let’s be honest: everything they’ve ever done over at the corporate CBS Radio monster was a rip off and a cheap imitation of WNST from the beginning.
So this missive is actually long overdue. It’s time for a report card.
At 105.7 The Fan, they spend their whole public lives judging the work of athletes so as the Bruno Tonioli of this dance, this is a one-time expression of what I think of their “art” and ethics and journalism.
So, here it is:
I’ve had a year now of being back on the radio 24 hours a day, doing the best and most intelligent sports conversations in the marketplace. I’m entering my 25th year of doing sports radio better than anyone in Baltimore has ever done it. And, yes, we’ll be throwing a party in December.
Swimming behind the murky scenes in the media world of sharks and snakes, I’ve dealt with the low blows and insults of WJZ TV corporate poohbah Jay Newman, dealt with the emergence of a New York-driven corporate entity led by radio poohbah Bob Philips attacking my brand over the past decade with various lies and a heinous and baseless lawsuit from one of his pathetic former employees that was designed to get publicity for a lazy media member looking for a cheap headline. All of this “Walmart-style” business as usual from out-of-town corporate monoliths while adjusting to a changing marketplace in the volatile space of modern media during the worst recession in our history.
I also watched my wife battle for her life last year and survive to inspire me to save more lives. I wrote about the changes in my life then – and now. I’m a very happy guy. My life is fantastic and my future is as bright as it’s ever been.
Honestly, having 105.7 around simply shows off how good our work is at WNST.net.
A few of my former hosts, whom I literally plucked from the street and put on the radio to give them their biggest opportunity in life, are over there or elsewhere – where they belong – as I outlined last month.
I’m still very happy about that.
And I’m still here at little WNST, where I’ve been since 1998 as the last local, independent voice in a wilderness of corporate media greed, corruption and stench.
And I’m still quite relevant. Every word I say gets measured, critiqued and heard – except by Arbitron and the local advertising agencies. You’re reading my words right now. So will everyone at CBS Radio.
And, you can certainly be the judge any time day or night from anywhere in the world on your mobile device.
Try my brand and try theirs.
I think the quality of the content speaks for itself.
I rest well every night knowing that we do Baltimore sports media better than anyone in the marketplace – now or ever.
And it shouldn’t shock you that the folks over at CBS Radio don’t like me one iota.
But I’ve been watching their increasingly weak act.
And the primary difference is that they base their content around listener outrage, low information conversation and “uncensored” radio. That, and lazy hosts.
This is a week when I’d love to point out the vast differences between a local guy from Dundalk who
