O'Donnell: 'Duck, dodge and hide' the apparent new passwords at AM-1000
THEY OFFER TWO TYPES of programming at ESPN AM-1000:
The unlistenable and the not listened to.
And in the corporate vertical from the local disaster signal on up to ESPN HQ, they apparently have two types of executives:
The unreachable and the not worth trying to reach.
Who can blame them?
Who would want to begin to attempt to explain why a brawny national brand allows such an ongoing flop to continue to take down the company's image in the nation's third-largest market?
In the most recent Nielsen Audios, AM-1000 checked out with the 28th-ranked all-ages number in a 30-station market.
That would be the 1.2 which enabled the wizards of whiff to best No. 29 WFMT-FM (98.7), the legacied classical station (1.0), and No. 30 WMBI-FM (91.1), the voice of the Moody Bible Institute (0.8).
And as far as competing anymore with the Cubs-driven WSCR-AM (670), forget about it.
Whatever its flaws, WSCR-AM was No. 7 with a 3.9.
From those ruins, a simple question was formed:
What is your station going to do to turn things around?
The first call went to Jim Pastor, the Chicago-based overseer of AM-1000 since late 2004.
He declined to reply directly, although he did fire off a snarky tweet.
So, following was a detailed message to Traug Keller, the senior VP of ESPN Audio, and, in channel, Pastor's boss.
Through a corporate spokesperson, Keller took two weeks to craft a final answer before "respectfully declining to reply."
OK.
Time to backlog.
After additional diligence, the next call went out to Bob Snyder.
He was the AM-1000 station chief prior to Pastor.
Despite inheriting a wretched and draining rights deal with the Bulls and White Sox when he assumed command in 2000, Snyder kept AM-1000 chugging, to the point that the station was in a virtual dead heat with WSCR by early 2004.
Then, to push his 'hoss, Snyder decided to hire Jay Mariotti to host middays.
Solid move, except for the enormous animus which existed between Mariotti and Jerry Reinsdorf.
Reinsdorf is a man of many things, among them, influence.
Whatever the circumstances, by the end of 2004, both Snyder and Mariotti were out, Pastor was in, and the ceaseless downward drift of AM-1000 was on.
Still, when asked about the likely underpinning of ESPN's continued patronization of its woebegone radio child, Snyder - who now owns a modest broadcast concern in Boston - was both kind and adroit.
"Unless you're sitting in on the planning meetings and sales meetings and know what exactly corporate's strategic goals and dictates are with a station like that, you can only speculate," Snyder said.
"Can anyone be happy with their numbers? Probably not, even when it is broken down into target demos.
"With all of the fragmentation and digitalization in some areas of specifics, perhaps they are reaching interim goals with an eye to seeing where the landscape is in a year or two.
"I know they have some capable people working there. Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman are good, I don't know all of the others.
"As ESPN has grown, the general attitude of corporate seems to be safer is better, change is slow.
"Would you rather ride a safe train or a riskier fast train?
"I took a chance with Jay because he is a such a polarizing figure and it's polarizing people like him or Howard Stern or others like that who are truly going to be difference makers in sports talk or general talk."
Mariotti insists he was fired at a downtown fast-food restaurant on the day after Christmas because he refused to agree not to ping away on-air against the Bulls and the White Sox.
"I've seen my share of dysfunction in media," he said. "But to be threatened with a firing inside an Arby's in the Loop if I didn't sign documents promising that I wouldn't criticize the White Sox or Bulls on my radio show - I knew then that Pastor and AM 1000 were a joke."
And now Pastor's problem is that not enough people are listening anymore to hear the laughter.
STREET-BEATIN': It all begins anew Thursday when Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth call the Atlanta-Denver Hall of Fame game from Canton (NBC-5, 7 p.m.). Notable line move for the really hungry masses as Vic Fangio's Broncos opened as 2½-point 'dogs and are now 3-point favorites. (The Falcons haven't won a preseason game since 2016, so they're obviously the correct pick.) … Speaking of Michaels - age 74 - informed droplets that he's targeting NBC's presentation of Super Bowl 56 from the new Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park as his last major broadcast - in February 2022. … Brittney Payton made it back from maternity leave to WFLD Channel 32's "Good Day Chicago" in time for the 65th anniversary of the birth of father Walter Payton. … Also on the Bears back beat, discussion overheard among fantasy football intensives arguing how quickly Tarik Cohen's value as a midround pick will be diminished as David Montgomery establishes himself as a "three-down" back. Maybe Marianne Williamson and a House Blessing Ball could clarify the projection. … Trevor Bauer's 375-foot "Cleveland farewell" provided a rocket of baseball video for the rages. And lip readers relished the R-rated reaction of Terry Francona. … The passing of tireless networker George Randazzo recalled that when Chet Coppock was whacked at WMAQ-Channel 5, Randazzo collected close to 10,000 signatures in an effort to get Coppock reinstated. Station boss Monte Newman was unmoved. … The Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin will get added exposure for its White Sox/Cubs exhibit when author Rick Kaempfer ("EveryCubsEver") visits live with Marky B. and Larry Jones on WRMN-AM (1410) at 8 a.m. Friday. … And reader Scott Hipple, on the futures of Len Kasper and Jim Deshaies as the Cubs move to their new Marquee Sports Network: "What's the matter with bland? Bland is economical, manageable and easier to replace. Do the Ricketts Cubs really want another Harry Caray?"
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports & Media column appears Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.