WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH THE RADIO DEAL?
Yep, that’s pretty much what this post is about
Islanders president Chris Dey has authored a lengthy position paper in response to criticism in many parts of the Country of the team’s poor signal coverage of its radio broadcasts. The letter, posted on Islandermania, is a fascinating read because Dey goes into every single detail of the decision – even though he knows he’ll likely get flamed by many fans on the board. Please read it before we go any further.
This is the contradiction in Islanders Country I’ve written about lately. On one hand you have the inane and paranoid KGB-esque policy of not naming starting goaltenders or listing injuries. Then on the other, you have the team president honorably providing full disclosure on business decisions, basically saying, “I hear you. You may not like it right now. We’re working for solutions, and oh by the way, here is every single painstaking step that led to the decision.”
At the PR lecture I just gave at Hofstra this morning – yes, big drop-off at Hofstra from last night - I shared three key points:
- Make sure everyone in the organization is on the same page, from the president to the receptionist.
- Be pro-active. Tell your story, even if it’s a tough one to tell. Don’t hide.
- Be honest. You start to twist, spin or out-right lie, you’re screwed.
So even if you disagree with him, give full marks to Dey for opening his heart, mind and business plan to his hockey team’s most die-hard fans.
On the current radio deal, there is one overwhelming fact: according to many fans that have posted here and on Imania, the signal is currently not nearly strong enough. Some fans have reported not being able to hear the post-game show in the Coliseum parking lot. That’s a tough one to defend against!
From my experience at the Islanders, in some cases being part of radio contract negotiations, here are some facts and cold, hard realities I can share. Don’t shoot the messenger:
1. Dey’s note, in the Islandermania post, that the Islanders were losing “nearly one million dollars” annually on their radio deal prior to this season is 100% accurate. If anything, Dey would not have been wrong to say the team could have lost more than a mill.
2. When the Islanders were on 1050 ESPN Radio and the Garden swept in, moving the Knicks and Rangers from WFAN to 1050, an expensive deal for the Islanders – but a good one – with ESPN was over. The radio landscape changed for the worst for the Islanders. I should point out that the Islanders understood 1050′s decision and the team and station still share an amicable relationship.
3. After the Islanders lost 1050, there were negotiations with WFAN. The New Jersey Devils, about to enter a state-of-the-art cash cow arena – the kind of thing, you know, the Islanders do not have – blew away what was a very lucrative offer by the Islanders. Three hockey teams, two all-sports radio stations.
When the Islanders were on the strong-signaled Bloomberg 1130, I did not envy the Devils’ deal with WFAN – as silly as that may sound. Other than the actual games being on FAN’s air – of course, a good thing – you’d hardly know the Devils were a part of the station. One of the reasons the Islanders pushed hard for WFAN at the time was because we (I was there then) figured, “Man, Mike & The Mad Dog will talk about us all the time. They’ll even lead in to our pre-game show”! But if you listen to WFAN, they mention the Devils about as much as they talk NASCAR. The Devils pay WFAN to play their games, and that’s exactly what they get. Perhaps their advertising sales are so strong, the deal works for them.
4. And this one, well, I’m sorry – you’re just going to have to take my word for it. Islanderspointblank.com, around all of three weeks, already has more daily unique readers than any Islanders broadcast on terrestrial radio. That goes for whether they were on Bloomberg or the current LI Radio Group, but does not include the total audience from satellite and internet. Anyone who’d like to contest, I’ll bring the stats with me to PB Night at Gabrielle’s on Nov. 6. Either way, a big thank you to the thousands of readers who’ve made this a bigger hit beyond my early expectations.
If your costs are at a mill a year for terrestrial radio, that’s a lot of dough per each set of ears listening in the car.
These are simply facts. Believe me, I know the arguments:
“Figure it out! The Islanders haven’t won a frickin’ playoff round in 15 years”! (Amen, brother).
“Maybe if the Islanders were on WFAN they’d get more respect” (didn’t help the Devils sell out their home opener, doesn’t get them a Daily News beat writer, doesn’t have Mike Francesa interviewing Brent Sutter more than once a year, if at all).
“If the Islanders want to be treated like a big-time franchise sometime you gotta pay the cost” (I hear ya, but while losing 20 mill a year as Nassau County watches Rome burn, I always had trouble asking for more).
“Luongo-Chara-etc-etc” (Painful, yes. But not really applicable to what’s going on in 2008).
“I can’t believe we’re talking about this crap! All this team needs to do is win”! (Right on).
I’ve already killed the team far more in three weeks than I ever thought I would this early and, frankly, more than I was ready to. But here’s a case where my time with the franchise can shed some light and provide a reality check – as tough as it may be to read sometimes. I’m not defending the Islanders’ current radio deal – Dey lists its benefits in his Imania post, but me not being there, I don’t know enough about it. I can, however, explain how it’s come to this.
Stand Up and be heard in Comments. And remember: leave my mother out of this. It’s her birthday.
27 Responses to WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH THE RADIO DEAL?
Yep, that’s pretty much what this post is about
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Cain says:
Makes sense – and while I am not affected (being out of state) – I believe radio has gone the way of dialup modem – you use it when you are hard up.
XM/Sirius are great, Internet radio is great, there are alternatives.
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Thank you Chris! This man listens to concerns fans have and he addresses the issue! I emailed him, he got back to me and said he would look into it and post something about it. He did and I commend him for it. All I can say is that I have XM and at least I can hear the boys crystal clear on there!
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UIF says:
“I can’t believe we’re talking about this crap! All this team needs to do is win”!
This would solve just about every problem, wouldn’t it?
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Well my opinion here is all about “Winning” and a commitment to Winning period!Which i feel Wang(although lossing money) is Committed to the LightHouse more than the Islanders Franchise! Some will dispute that however you watch if and when the Approval comes give Wang some time and he will sell the frachise to a new owner and collect rent! boy i hope i am wrong!
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EdTurner says:
Now I remmember why I NEVER read or post at Islandermania, you have to sign in just to read the posts.
BTW – Happy birthday Momma Botta. Tell CB to take you to Jimmy Hays tonight for a great birthday dinner.
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Brian G says:
Chris – Was any explanation ever given by Dey or Islander Personel in why the Rangers & Devils both have Pre & post game TV coverage…and the Islanders have Nothing…this is a disgrace. This Organization & its fans gets walked on in every direction. Please let me know if you can – Thanks
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Hey Chris – how long until your Lighthouse update?
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guerin13 says:
dey said in his letter that they are looking to add small radio stations around the area as parterns. i think the isles have a shot at making a bunch of small radio stations work instead of one big station. i don’t think anybody can justify having to pay bloomberg at least a million a year to broadcast our games. and yes, it’s true that you can only barely make out 94.3 in the coliseum parking lot. once you get past central nassau their signal gets very poor.
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jaxx says:
If the lighthouse is approved and Wang sells the team, this would be a good thing for the islanders. Get a owner in here who knows a thing or two about hockey. Get rid of Wang & Snow and watch this team flourish again.
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Jeff W. says:
In which category in Islandermania? I can’t find the letter but am interested in reading it.
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Chris –
Dey says it was costing the Isles a million dollars a year to be on Bloomberg Radio. I guess what we are saying is that since we have an antiquated arena, a crappy lease, and a subpar product, we are going to punish the fans who do not live with-in a few miles of the arena? Besides a new barn, the Isles have to gain back the trust of their fans. We have been kicked in the ass so many times in the last 15 years, the fan based has turned their back on the team and this doesnt help one bit!
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Radio fix? ahem… XM. (don’t yell at me)
HB & Kudos to your mother for a job well done.
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Darren says:
Put the puck in the net, win some games, make the playoffs, get past the second round and we’ll all hear the cheers as far as Riverhead! Till then, break out the rabbit ears and tinfoil!!
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JC Frank says:
Is in the main forum, under “Message from Chris Dey”.
Ir really sucks not getting the radio in Jersey. XM doesn’t work since I have Sirus built in and can’t get the best of package. But the lack of coverage is disturbing.
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toorude says:
So its safe to say Mama Botta is NOT starting in goal tonight for the Islanders?
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Thanks, JC Frank…
I’ve got the same problem in NJ where I have Sirius and my car radio can’t be upgraded to best of XM.
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Ryan says:
I think we should stop worrying about the radio deal and worry about the product on the ice and getting a new building.
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Garth the idiot says:
Wang is losing money, but me and my boys Gordon, Dipi!, Guerin and all my other buddies from my home state are getting that money man.
DIPI for Vezina and Jeremy Colliton for Art Ross!
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The Commodore says:
cb!!!!!!!!!!!! we need a mitch fritz update!!!!!!!!! is he playing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
?
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BringBackNyiles says:
Forget the radio, the TV situation is worse. Wang is buddy buddy with Dolan, so he lets Jim get away with not offering MSG+ in HD to any dish or Fios customer. He should demand the Dolans give the HD feed out.
The pregame situation is another joke. Sure, its not the end of the world but it’s just another nail. 9 teams in the area, 8 have pregames.
There was a time, and young fans may not believe this, that the Islanders were the CENTERPIECE of SportsChannel. nets? Devils? Sportschannel plus. Yankeees and Mets April and May games? Sportschannel plus for them, the Isles playoff games were front and center.
Now we get bumped for the Liberty. This is what happens when you sit back and let your biggest rival end up with your TV rights, without a peep.
I never forgave Wang for letting Dolan throw the Isles Leafs game on metro in 2002, shutting out any non-Cableviusion home. In a time where the isles need to get as much prduct out there, we sit back and take it. But thats OK, we are busy polishing our LaFontaine Cup.
It is really sad to see how far this franchise as come down, in 1983 Sports Illustrated had the isles as a model franchise for all of SPORTS, and our TV deal made other teams envious.
Now the radio broadcast isn’t available in the bleeping parking lot. Sad. -
Don says:
Chris Dey has been very frank and honest with Islandermania readers. I’ve appreciated it since the first time he logged in to refute claims that he’d run the afl2 Hawaiian Islanders into the ground on Charles Wang’s watch. But it is sad that we have a better idea of the inner workings of the business office than the actual team.
As far as folks saying XM is an option, sure it is. So is quitting my job and following the team all across North America for six months. For those of us with non-compatible Sirius radios (glad I’m not the only one), throwing good money after bad isn’t the best option. A radio station that doesn’t get interfered with while sitting in the Coliseum parking lot is all most of us are asking. If it means moving all the Isles’ games to WHLI, so be it – WHLI comes in clear as a bell through the bulk of Nassau and Suffolk, even for folks like me who live close to the Queens border.
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Fire Garth Snow says:
As far as XM, which I listen to the games on, you will have to wait until January when they complete the merge with Sirius. It will cost an extra $5 per month to get both. At least that’s what XM has told me.
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Hey CB, how do you know that your site has more people than Bloomberg? You don’t truly know how many people listened to Bloomberg. Nobody (radio Nielsen) ever asked me if I listened to Bloomberg or the radio when I did.
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WHLI does have a good signal; but it’s required by the FCC to leave the air at sundown.
Hence only the day games are on WHLI.
I must say, the Islanders and Wang are just losing money from all different parts. It is unfortunate to think that if this Lighthouse Plan really does not pass, that could signal the end of the Islanders here on Long Island. It is such a beautiful masterpiece of a plan, and unfortunately the town of Hempstead and Nassau County always have to make it harder than it needs to be. As for the radio plan, no matter how long his explanation is, it still doesn’t make us hear it any better. When he gets that figured out, he should write a length position paper on how he finally fixed it and it was their fault. However, until we actually show we are worth watching or televising, radio stations and TV stations alike will feel we are a waste of time.
Happy Birthday Mrs. Botta