WGR's self-promotion and "number one ranking"

[smokinandjokin]

Hey all Clements had to do was knock down that pass against Jacksonville in the opener a few years ago & the bills would of been well on their way to the playoffs. Clements should look in the mirror before throwing any stones as to why the bills have not made the playoffs in the last 5 years.

 

Nate never said anything bad about Buffalo or the Bills. I was merely using Clements as an example because:

 

1) He has been here for the entire duration of the franchise's recent trend of selling hope for the next season, which never seems to pan out

 

2) He jumped to the 49ers, a team considered to be a bottom-feeder at the moment. "He just took the money and doesn't care if he wins" was the way Bills fans washed their hands of him. Well, how do you think the Bills are perceived around the league? A young, improving team, looking to add the final pieces to make that playoff push...Hasn't Nate read this book before???

 

My point is, I agree with you, the Bills looked okay at times last year....But in a larger scope, they are one of the five worst teams in the NFL for the past 6 or 7 seasons- buried with the likes of Detroit and Arizona and Cleveland. Why would WGR spend time on that crap, when they can flip the page and talk about one of the most entertaining, successful, and likable teams in the city's sports history?

[The Dean]

Nowhere, Im just saying we lost with Clements, maybe he was part of the reason we lost.

 

 

Actually you said:

 

Clements should look in the mirror before throwing any stones

 

but, whatever...

[dundy249]

My penis is the longest one in my pants.

 

I would hope so!

[The Senator]

Considering their "Number one listened to Sports Radio Station in the country" ranking was reported in the Buffalo News, I think they have every right to report, and even brag about it.

Holy cow!!! This was reported in the Buffalo News???

 

Well then! It must be true, 'cause that's the #1 newspaper in town too!!!!

[Max997]

just buy Sirius and you will never listen to regular radio again

 

local sports talk is garbage in most areas because the number of calls they get matters so you know they will always try and piss people off because thats the only way they can get people to call in

 

610 WIP in Philly is terrible, havent been able to listen to them for years

[The Dean]

just buy Sirius and you will never listen to regular radio again

 

local sports talk is garbage in most areas because the number of calls they get matters so you know they will always try and piss people off because thats the only way they can get people to call in

 

610 WIP in Philly is terrible, havent been able to listen to them for years

 

 

Excellent! What's the best Sirius channel dedicated to Buffalo area sports?

[gomper]

It really is a shame that such a great team like the Sabres has to be covered by such a horrible station. We've gone round and round about this but the facts remain: it is not good radio. The hosts (especially that pos Brad) have a semi-coherent grasp of broadcasting. Yes, the Sabres are amazing, but you'll never hear any insightful analysis of the team. Listen to the comments you and your friends make while watching the game.........it's way better than GR. How Buttdog still has a job is amazing never mind the chumps in the morning. Poorly produced and poorly executed. Forget about any decent Bills coverage.......they dont know football at all. Let's not forget all those funny and insightful forays into pop culture. Homeland Security probably uses some of their segments to torture detainees.

 

GR is awful......maybe another station will take them on again.....until then its just sad.

[bbb]

Sabres PR, I mean WGR, has been reduced to nothing more than a bunch of glorified cheerleaders for the Sabres. I think the topic of todays morning show is "who is the hottest Sabre?," followed by the afternoon show (which Sabres penis would you touch?" Don't get me wrong, I am a huge Sabres fan myself. But, the bias they have when covering the Sabres in relation to the Bills is staggering in its blatant disregard for the seemingly outdated journalistic principle of evenhandedness.

Further, Mike Schopp is a pompous arrogant condescending prick. Now, it is possible that his producers tell him to show disdain to any callers that don't share his point of view, but that would just make a whore to his network, as well as an arrogant prick. The Bulldog is a lackey, and the show in general is a farce.

One quick stipulation: Schopp does have some sports IQ, as he can be insightful when breaking down games. However, that trait is overrided by his other obnoxious characteristics.

 

This nails it!

[Willis990]

Besides the fact that this channel is filled with obnoxious, insecure local homers, I continue to laugh everytime I hear their shameless self-promotion about being the number one "rated" or "ranked" sports station in America. It's amazing what people will "sell" and what people will "buy" because the first time I heard that I knew it was bogus. They never tell you by who or how that came to be, do they. They don't tell it on their website either because basically, they just want you to take their word for it. It's the concept that they own a radio station and that automatically gives them credibility. Kinda like Jeremy White using his Syracuse degree as his credibility when in fact he's just some tool from rural America who thinks that having an opinion means he knows what he's talking about or can speak intelligently about a topic without shouting. Like Marv Levy says, the louder you talk the less I hear you.

 

Anyway, let's just look at some simple facts to dispel this ranking.

 

1. The Buffalo radio market is ranked 52 in terms of size. (Source: Arbitron) So these hosts who think they're so great, knowledgable and professional need to realize (and probably do) that they're in the minor leagues when compared to other markets.

 

2. In the fall of 2006, WGR55 ranked 8th in THIS MARKET in terms of listening share (Arbitron) behind WBEN and a bunch of music stations.

 

3. I was unable to find any data supporting WGR55s claim they're ranked no 1. You have to subscribe to get this data from sources such as Arbitron. However, I have a pretty good guess how that was derived. The most important issue here in any ranking of radio or television is viewers or in radio's case listeners. Then there is the share of listeners in any of a variety of ways to measure. So how could WGR55 be rated number one in the country? Could it be that they are the only sports radio station in the region and that by that, they always have 100% of the people listening to sports radio listening to their channel? One way or another, this was determined through simple analysis of data.

 

Also, this rank or rating was determined was definitely not determined by a survey of listeners where they were asked to rate the station for quality. There is no way that enough listeners would rank this station highly. I work in an office where sports are many people's lives and no a single one likes WGR55. Every single friend I have that is an avid sports fan hates them too.

 

If it was based on a survey, it was likely one question on a larger survey of local media and went something like this "When you listen to sports locally, what channel to you listen to."

 

Trust me, I have a degree in journalism and a masters degree in a social science. I know how the media slants things and I certainly know how surveys and data can be developed and created to make anyone be anyting they want.

 

When WGR bought out WNSA, they created a monopoly whereby if you want sports news or talk or boradcasts, you're forced to listen to WGR. That doesn't mean their good or anyone likes them, it just means they control the means of production!

 

 

This must be the playbook for Sports radio stations. I live in Boston and WEEI is always talking about their the #1 rated sports sports station in the country. They even have little bits where they brag about being #1. WEEI is awful w/ the same type of blow hards who know zero about sports.