Companies trying to reach men 25-54 are finding more opportunities in a newly competitive environment: all-sports radio formats.
Greater Media’s launch of a second sports radio station in Philadelphia, the nation’s sixth–largest radio market, is the latest in a series of launches that has moved sports past contemporary hit radio (CHR), rock, “lite” adult contemporary, and standards in format popularity among stations. On Oct. 1, Greater Media converted its former AM oldies station WPEN to sports, taking on Philadelphia’s 800-pound gorilla, Infinity Broadcasting’s WIP.
There are more than 500 sports-talk stations in the U.S., according to “Talkers” magazine, which covers talk radio, and the biggest winners are advertisers, media buyers acknowledge.
“You get a younger male audience” with sports radio, says Mark Fratrik, vice president of BIA Financial Network, a media research and consulting firm based in Chantilly, VA. “And since younger males don’t consume a lot of other media, any programming that attracts them is going to be very attractive for selling to local advertisers.”
Indeed, because of its attractive demo, sports radio “is probably the one area you can have the best chance of success” in a competitive arena, says Tony Sweeney, vice president/media director of LevLane Advertising in Philadelphia. “We’re not going to artificially support them without getting value for the money… but you always want to see competition.”
“There are many, many ways to monetize sports radio programming,” says Bruce Gilbert, general manager of ESPN Radio. “There are a lot of advertisers that want to have affiliations with teams. Those things definitely drive business with advertisers…. What the format does is provide a club for men 25-54 who typically are very focused. Sports radio has shown it keeps people around listening much longer and not jumping around” the dial.
Generally the new station, such as ESPN’s WEPN in New York, will offer more of a national perspective on sports than the incumbent. In New York’s that’s WFAN, the Infinity Broadcasting outlet that led the sports radio revolution when it launched in 1987 and now grosses about $52 million a year, according to BIA.
In August, Boston joined the parade of cities with competing sports stations when a pair of ESPN affiliates, WAMG–AM and WLLH-AM – each broadcasting to different areas of the sprawling market – took on WEEI. That’s no small task: Arbitron’s spring ratings book ranked WEEI as the most listened-to station among men 25-54.
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