So apparently one or two people were listening to the Olympics on the radio. Not that radio ratings are akin to a boxing match, but this was as close to a knockout in the business as you can expect to see. The Fan enjoyed a huge ratings boost for the Olympics, the question of course is, what relevance will that have on advertisers and their tight budgets. I mean, the Olympics are over so there is no reason to expect similar numbers post Olympics. Advertisers know that, what this does help is for the next time there is a large event like this in Canada to guestimate what rates should be given approximate ratings.

Men aged 25-54: 6-9am
640= 5.2
590= 5.9

Overall, the Fan show, according to Zelkovich jumped from a 5.8 to a 7.5

Men aged 25-54: 4-7pm
640: = 3.8
1010 = 4.5
590 = 9.2

Overall, the Fan show, according to Zelkovich jumped from a 7.2 to a 12.0

Men aged 25-54: 1pm
640: 3.0
1010: = 3.9
590 = 5.3

the Fan show, according to Zelkovich jumped to a 5.7 in hour #2

Zelkovich has the bullpen getting an Olympic boost going to a 5.7 from 4.4 and the Game Plan saw a similar raise heading to a 6.2 from a 4.8.

The Olympic gold medal game landed the fan a 40 share! Huge numbers to say the least.

So what have we learned? Mccown is still on top. Hockey central at noon continues to blow Leafs Lunch out of the water. At some point, probably after the summer, if this continues, I would think that the folks at 640 are going to have to make a change to Leafs lunch. I don’t know how many times I can say it but Dreger isn’t a host and Watters all the time isn’t a good thing. Rotate the hosting duties amongst other talent and then put Wilbur on when and only when there is something really unique to talk about.

Zelkovich’s blog can be found here

Here’s your bikini of the day from getabikini.com

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- Grapeline with Don Cherry & Brian Williams at 4:45
- Bob McCown’s co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is John Shannon
5:25 Chris Zelkovich, Toronto Star
5:45 David Poile, Predators GM
6:06 Sherwood Bassin, Erie Otters GM & Managing Partner
6:30 Jerry Sullivan, Buffalo News
6:45 Michael Meyers, Professor of Health & Human Development At Montana State University

On 640 with Brady and Watters thanks to Mike S.:
- show doesn’t begin until 5:00 today because of Operation Haiti special

- an interview with a member of the Maple Leafs’ front office

- Bob “The Bear” Cowan on the NFL playoffs

- Jolly Jonas Siegel from Nashville to preview tonight’s Leafs-Predators game

- hockey insiders Darren Dreger and Ray Ferraro at 6:10

- show goes until 7:30 and then makes way for the Leafs pre-game show

Various reports are abound that the NHLPA has closed it’s doors (albeit temporarily). Apparently Ian Penny, the interim leader of the day is out either via resignation or termination (or both). The same fate is apparently is shared by Buzz CAW Hargrove. Their is of course a scramble amongst the MSM to get the story right. Kypreos broke this one, which is odd in that Dreger has owned he PA story. McKenzie is on it too though.

TSM will keep you up to date as we can.

Updated- not broke just bent betty- stay tuned- it’s not closed just Penny is gone. Nice work Kyper

So the numbers are in for the first month of the fall ratings on the radio. This is the new People Meter System which should deliver a more accurate account on who is listening to what.

Here are the highlights as I know them:

Men aged 25-54..Total Share Of Audience

John Oakley — 7.7
590 Morning Show – 6.3
CFRB – 5.7

Cumulative Audience

Fan 590: 158,000
640 Toronto: 111,000

So fair is fair and fair is unfair- there is only one sports show in town and the closest comparison is Oakley…

Mike Stafford — 7.4
The Bullpen — 2.9

Same story here as the Bullpen is the only sports show in town. I suspect this isn’t that surprising to the folks at the fan. It’s not the best time of day, the show appeals to a very small but dedicated group of people. No one else talks ARGO football/ CFL and then, well there is Toth….

Leafs Lunch — 6.3 – older demo (35-49) 4.0
Hockey Central/baseball show (only 12-1pm) — 4.3 older demo (35-49) 5.4

leafs lunch — 18-34 4.6
HC/BC ——-18-34 2.6

weekly cumulative: 25-54 fan 590 152,000 640 101,000
daily cumulative 18-34 fan 54,000 640 30,000

640 has fewer people listening longer which leads to larger share of the audience

I seem to recall this being reversed. To be fair, again, HC didn’t have a full month. The baseball show in a baseball dead town took on half the month. This is a good sign for Dreger though. I am most interested to see this number in the coming books.

Prime Time Sports 9.0
The Bill Watters Show 4.6

PTS cumulative 207,000-weekly 75,000 daily
BWS Cumulative 138,000 weekly 39,000 daily

Mccown has a big lead. BWS makes in roads in this space there is no question. However, Mccown is Mccown.

Interestingly enough, the Watters show surpassed Mccown with the younger demographic, 18-34 men: BWS 4.8, Mccown 3.9

In the older demographic men aged 35-54: Mccown 10.2, BWS 4.4

I don’t think that is totally surprising either.

TSM spoke with Nelson Millman, the boss over at the fan about the latest “book”

“It is fine, not hugely different than what we have seen. Our cumulative are up, honestly it will take 6 months for this all to shake out and we can identify some trends. No programming decisions will be based on personal people meters. No one should rip their rotator cuff off padding themselves on the back from one month under the new system.”

Over at 640, Program Director Gord Harris offered this “Leafs Lunch has been a market-leading program for some time, and we are thrilled that TSN’s Darren Dreger, as the program host, has extended our lead over other news/talk and sports/talk competitors in both the Male 25-54 and Male 18-34 demographics. In fact, AM640 is the number one AM radio station in the Toronto market in those demos during Leafs Lunch. We are confident that, as the exclusive radio partner with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the only radio reporter who travels with the team to every game, and our unprecedented line up of hockey “insiders” (including TSN’s Darren Dreger, Bob McKenzie, Ray Ferraro, Pierre McGuire, and CBC’s Scott Morrison),

We are also very happy with the strong growth we have seen for The Bill Watters Show, going from approximately 10% of our competitor’s share of listening in Male 25-54 demographic before we launched the show, to over 50%. That in just two years since the launch. Even more gratifying is the tremendous growth we have enjoyed in the younger male demographic (18-34) where we lead both our news/talk and sports/talk competitors. As the host of The Bill Watters Show, Greg Brady brings not only a wealth of sports knowledge and experience to listeners, but a youthful enthusiasm and humour – because sports is, after all – fun!”

Interesting times at both stations for sure. Let’s see how this looks next month.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Here’s your bikini of the day from bikinibeat.org:

On Fan 590 Tonight- thanks to Mike S.

- open phones with McCown from 4:05 to 4:40
- co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is Jim Kelley
- Herb Zerkowsky of the Montreal Gazette
- Shane Malloy from Satellite radio & ea sports

On 640 with Brady and Watters Thanks to Mike S:

MATT STAJAN – LEAFS FORWARD
RICHARD GRIFFIN – TORONTO STAR JAYS COLUMNIST
JIM LAMPLEY – OLYMPICS HOST/BOXING ANALYST
BOB COWAN – NFL PROGNOSTICATOR
RON WILSON – LEAFS COACH
INSIDE THE NHL WITH DREGER & MORRISON
TED LEONSIS – OWNER WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Here’s your bikini of the day from bikinibeat.org:

On Fan 590 Tonight-

-TBA
-
On 640 with Brady and Watters thanks to Mike S.:
Bobby Orr in studio between 4:05 and 5:00
-Bob The Bear Cowan with his Monday Night NFL pick
- hockey insider Darren Dreger at 6:10

Here’s your bikini of the day from bikinibeat.org:

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- open phones with Jeff Blair from 4:05 to 4:40
- co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is Stephen Brunt
- Roundtable guests are:
James Deacon
Bruce Arthur

On 640 with Brady and Watters Thanks to Mike S.:

- Live from WEGZ Stadium Bar
- Bob The Bear Cowan with his NFL picks
- Jim Nill, assistant GM of the Red Wings
- hockey insider Darren Dreger at 6:10
- Jonas Siegel from Detroit

Here’s your bikini of the day from bikinibeat.org:

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- open phones with McCown from 4:05 to 4:40
- co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is John Shannon
5:20- 5:50 Tom Anselmi, COO of MLSE IN STUDIO
6:05 John Branch, New York Times
6:30 Paul Waldie, Globe & Mail
6:45 Don Banks, SI.COM

On 640 with Brady and Watters thanks to Mike S.:

- discussion on Crosby & Malkin not playing tonight against the Leafs
- replay of Glenn Healy interview from Leafs Lunch
- hockey insider Darren Dreger at 6:10

Here’s your bikini of the day from bikinibeat.org:

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- open phones with McCown from 4:05 to 4:40
- co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is Stephen Brunt
5:20 Ed Olzyck, NBC & VS
5:40 Bob O’Billovich, Ti Cats GM
6:05 Bill Daly, NHL’s Deputy Commissioner
6:30-7:00 Trent Edwards, Bills QB In Studio

On 640 with Brady and Watters thanks to Mike S.:

- plenty of discussion on the Phil Kessel trade
- Jock Climie of TSN on the CFL
- Bob The Bear Cowan with his Monday Night NFL pick
- hockey insider Darren Dreger at 6:10

Here are the lineups for the shows at noon:

On Baseball Show:

TBA

On Leafs Lunch:

Dreger is back and Paul Kelly joins him and Watters at 12:40

College of Sports Media Game of the Night:

Nothing like some good old fashion Us Open tennis to get things going on hump day. Arthur Ashe Stadium will be hosting some of the top seeds in the world in second round play at Flushing Meadows. Starting it off you have Amelie Mauresmo taking on Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak. Tough draw for the Canuck as she gets a former world number one so early in the tournament. Wozniak is looking to bounce back from an early exit at the Roger’s Cup. Next up is another lay who had a short stay in TO, Venus Williams and she will be facing Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Rafael Nadal is on court next for his opening round match. France’s Richard Gasquet is his opponent. In the evening matches, Roger Federer continues his quest for his sixth straight Us Open title. He battles Simon Greul in his second round match. Serena Williams rounds out the day at centre court. The younger Williams sister takes on Melinda Czink.