KFGO loses NDSU radio broadcast rights

[fightingsioux4life]

Just heard this on News and Views:

http://www.gobison.com/news/2016/3/29/general-north-dakota-state-announces-media-rights-agreements.aspx

Quote

FARGO, N.D. – The North Dakota State University athletic department has reached agreements with three separate media groups for coverage through the 2018-19 athletic seasons.  Football television remains with KVLY-TV and all NBC affiliates in North Dakota, men's and women's basketball television were awarded to Midco Sports Network®, and all radio coverage will shift to Radio FM Media.

Now that KFGO is, shall we say, fair game, maybe UND could move in and fill the vacuum? Someone on the Frozen Four thread was complaining that Joel Heitkamp doesn't talk about UND enough; this would change all that in a hurry. Not to mention p!$$ off NDSU fans!

It is time UND was proactive about stuff like this instead of being reactive. Get on the horn and get it done!

[gfhockey]

Nice paycheck for them

 

[jdub27]

48 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

It is time UND was proactive about stuff like this instead of being reactive. Get on the horn and get it done!

I guess I'm not following the part about UND being proactive instead of reactive other than taking a potshot like that just seems like the easy thing to do. UND is currently in the middle of a media contract, one that paid significant cash well before NDSU had one that did. I can assure you that they are exploring multiple options for when their media rights with Midco expire after the 2016-2017 season and looking for the one that provides that balances good revenue and strong coverage for as many people as they can get it to. Having NDSU negotiate their contract with NBC right now should actually help UND from a market value perspective.

As for the radio thing, I'm not positive how that contract works but UND also already has a radio affiliate in Fargo through WDAY 970 that carries football and hockey games. I doubt they look at adding KFGO at this time, especially considering their signal powers are very similar. I would think that Forum Communications was hoping to get a piece of the pie through radio and didn't, so staying on that station could be beneficial to UND in the long run. While not the biggest deal due to smartphones/technology, it would be nice to expand the radio footprint on MBB and WBB.

[fightingsioux4life]

4 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

I guess I'm not following the part about UND being proactive instead of reactive other than taking a potshot like that just seems like the easy thing to do. UND is currently in the middle of a media contract, one that paid significant cash well before NDSU had one that did. I can assure you that they are exploring multiple options for when their media rights with Midco expire after the 2016-2017 season and looking for the one that provides that balances good revenue and strong coverage for as many people as they can get it to. Having NDSU negotiate their contract with NBC right now should actually help UND from a market value perspective.

As for the radio thing, I'm not positive how that contract works but UND also already has a radio affiliate in Fargo through WDAY 970 that carries football and hockey games. I doubt they look at adding KFGO at this time, especially considering their signal powers are very similar. I would think that Forum Communications was hoping to get a piece of the pie through radio and didn't, so staying on that station could be beneficial to UND in the long run. While not the biggest deal due to smartphones/technology, it would be nice to expand the radio footprint on MBB and WBB.

It was a brainstormed idea. Or does that not meet your approval on this forum? And all WDAY does is suck up to the Bison when they are supposed to be our flagship. I say we dump WDAY and go after KFGO when the time is right.

[siouxforcefans]

According to the Fox's Facebook, they'll be carrying the football and basketball games on 107.9.  This just further reduces the music options in Fargo, if you like rock of any age...  We have a half dozen stations playing Taylor Swift, nearly as many playing Garth Brooks, and 2 that play anything resembling music...

[the green team]

6 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

It was a brainstormed idea. Or does that not meet your approval on this forum? And all WDAY does is suck up to the Bison when they are supposed to be our flagship. I say we dump WDAY and go after KFGO when the time is right.

WDAY is not our "Flagship".  First know what flagship means.  The Flagships for UND are in Grand Forks.  WDAY is an affiliate...there is a difference.   And when we were on KFGO back in the day...they too still talked about NDSU because both stations and groups are based out of Fargo.  That's a reality they know there are listeners who follow UND in Fargo and NDSU in Fargo.  And if they are doing there job whatsoever in regards to programming they are doing their part to cater to those listeners.

[fightingsioux4life]

7 minutes ago, the green team said:

WDAY is not our "Flagship".  First know what flagship means.  The Flagships for UND are in Grand Forks.  WDAY is an affiliate...there is a difference.   And when we were on KFGO back in the day...they too still talked about NDSU because both stations and groups are based out of Fargo.  That's a reality they know there are listeners who follow UND in Fargo and NDSU in Fargo.  And if they are doing there job whatsoever in regards to programming they are doing they part to cater to those listeners.

Most Grand Forks media is based out of Fargo (except for iheartradio). So we are basically screwed out of media coverage no matter what we do? No wonder NDSU has a bigger media presence in the ND/SD/MN region (which is where a lot of our supporters live). I don't know what the solution is, but our media coverage is very inadequate compared to NDSU. And that has real consequences for our programs and our university.

Having said that, even if KFGO does nothing but broadcast our games, that is still a big positive for us. KFGO has superior ratings, a better signal and a better reputation than WDAY does. That is another argument for looking at this when our contract expires.

If you don't like what I propose, I am more than willing to listen to any other ideas people may have. This was a conversation starting topic, not a debate starting topic.

[the green team]

Has our Football, Hockey and some basketball had signals in both Grand Forks and Fargo for the last several years?  Yes.

Has NDSU had a Grand Forks partner the last several years for their sports? to my knowledge- no..  

I fail to see what you are getting into a huff about

[jdub27]

17 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

It was a brainstormed idea. Or does that not meet your approval on this forum? And all WDAY does is suck up to the Bison when they are supposed to be our flagship. I say we dump WDAY and go after KFGO when the time is right.

I'm all for talking about ideas, however it was your comment "It is time UND was proactive about stuff like this instead of being reactive" that I took issue with. It seemed nothing more than a cheap shot that in reality has no bearing. That is not up a "conversation starting" topic.

UND does very well in the media area pretty much across the board outside a couple clauses in conference level contracts they have very little control over (though it still hasn't stopped UND for fighting for exclusions or changes they could benefit from).

[fightingsioux4life]

Just now, jdub27 said:

I'm all for talking about ideas, however it was your comment "It is time UND was proactive about stuff like this instead of being reactive" that I took issue with. It seemed nothing more than a cheap shot that in reality has no bearing. UND does very well in the media area pretty much across the board outside a couple clauses in conference level contracts they have very little control over (though it still hasn't stopped UND for fighting for exclusions or changes they could benefit from).

Really? Then how come I don't hear much about UND outside of Grand Forks? We just don't seem to be as well known in the region as I think we should be. Publicity matters.

[fightingsioux4life]

2 minutes ago, the green team said:

Has our Football, Hockey and some basketball had signals in both Grand Forks and Fargo for the last several years?  Yes.

Has NDSU had a Grand Forks partner the last several years for their sports? to my knowledge- no..  

I fail to see what you are getting into a huff about

A huff? I don't think I am in a "huff" about this. NDSU doesn't need a Grand Forks partner because KFGO comes in very well in Grand Forks. UND is on FM stations that don't carry as far as AM stations; that is the main problem. Too bad KNOX doesn't do our games anymore, they have a pretty good signal.

[the green team]

Does UND have a radio partner in Bismarck- yes.  So does NDSU.   Both are in Devils Lake etc....we can on and on. Typically, when I've been out pheasant hunting in North Dakota...I can get the game.   So when it comes to listening to games throughout the region...I've never had a problem.  And I listen a lot, because of work and fun I travel a lot.  But you seem to be concerning yourself with talkshows.  That's a different animal all-together.  Since UND doesn't actually have control over the programming of these stations in Fargo, what do you expect?  I think if you feel that strongly that those stations need to be talking about UND more often on those stations- then talk to the station programmers.   They probably will have more insight of why they program the way they do on their stations than I or UND ever will.

[the green team]

Plus it's been nice in recent years to leave a late meeting in Fargo and be able to pick up and listen to a basketball game starting in Fargo and listen all the way home to GF.  I wasn't able to do that 6 or 7 years ago.

[fightingsioux4life]

5 minutes ago, the green team said:

Does UND have a radio partner in Bismarck- yes.  So does NDSU.   Both are in Devils Lake etc....we can on and on. Typically, when I've been out pheasant hunting in North Dakota...I can get the game.   So when it comes to listening to games throughout the region...I've never had a problem.  And I listen a lot, because of work and fun I travel a lot.  But you seem to be concerning yourself with talkshows.  That's a different animal all-together.  Since UND doesn't actually have control over the programming of these stations in Fargo, what do you expect?  I think if you feel that strongly that those stations need to be talking about UND more often on those stations- then talk to the station programmers.   They probably will have more insight of why they program the way they do on their stations than I or UND ever will.

Again, this is a brainstorming thread. I am not going to debate anybody on the appropriateness of even talking about this.

[bincitysioux]

IMO, it is a horse a piece between WDAY or KFGO as to who the Fargo affiliate is.  Both are heritage stations with big signals that have a lot of listeners.  I don't think UND sports are ever going to be a big talker on locally hosted Fargo talk shows, simply because they are Fargo based with mostly Fargo listeners, hence all the Bison talk.  

Radio FM Media must have put out major coin to get the rights away from KFGO.  Seems like a major downgrade to me as far as listener-ship and signal quality, but as someone else said this is largely mitigated by online options these days.  KFGO will continue to talk Bison, just like WDAY has ever since they lost the contract, but I think it will be significantly less.

Personally, I prefer WDAY to KFGO as our affiliate simply because of the way they treated UND in the last round, tearing up our agreement halfway through the deal to get NDSU.  Plus, I appreciate that WDAY airs the Coache's Show and also airs basketball & volleyball games from time to time.  KFGO never did that and they have way more stations to work with.

As far as a larger talk-show presence for UND, the best place to start IMO would be to come to an agreement with KNOX in Grand Forks and make them the flagship.  They are the only talk station in GF, and they don't talk much UND sports because it would basically be advertising for their competition.  They have an awesome sports guy in Ryan Cunningham who would do a great job and love to talk and be involved with UND sports I am sure.  Other than the coaches show, the only local UND radio talk happens between 6 and 7 AM on Tim & Swyg right after they read the GF Herald over the air and right before they discuss Swyg's lawn issues.

Even as little talk UND gets in Fargo, it is honestly not much more in Grand Forks, because they keep making Clear Channel the flagship and they really have no talk presence at all.

 

[fightingsioux4life]

12 minutes ago, bincitysioux said:

IMO, it is a horse a piece between WDAY or KFGO as to who the Fargo affiliate is.  Both are heritage stations with big signals that have a lot of listeners.  I don't think UND sports are ever going to be a big talker on locally hosted Fargo talk shows, simply because they are Fargo based with mostly Fargo listeners, hence all the Bison talk.  

Radio FM Media must have put out major coin to get the rights away from KFGO.  Seems like a major downgrade to me as far as listener-ship and signal quality, but as someone else said this is largely mitigated by online options these days.  KFGO will continue to talk Bison, just like WDAY has ever since they lost the contract, but I think it will be significantly less.

Personally, I prefer WDAY to KFGO as our affiliate simply because of the way they treated UND in the last round, tearing up our agreement halfway through the deal to get NDSU.  Plus, I appreciate that WDAY airs the Coache's Show and also airs basketball & volleyball games from time to time.  KFGO never did that and they have way more stations to work with.

As far as a larger talk-show presence for UND, the best place to start IMO would be to come to an agreement with KNOX in Grand Forks and make them the flagship.  They are the only talk station in GF, and they don't talk much UND sports because it would basically be advertising for their competition.  They have an awesome sports guy in Ryan Cunningham who would do a great job and love to talk and be involved with UND sports I am sure.  Other than the coaches show, the only local UND radio talk happens between 6 and 7 AM on Tim & Swyg right after they read the GF Herald over the air and right before they discuss Swyg's lawn issues.

Even as little talk UND gets in Fargo, it is honestly not much more in Grand Forks, because they keep making Clear Channel the flagship and they really have no talk presence at all.

This is a great idea. It's not like KNOX has anything worth listening to anyway.

[southpaw]

17 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Again, this is a brainstorming thread. I am not going to debate anybody on the appropriateness of even talking about this.

Ok, so let's hear your "proactive" ideas for increasing the UND presence on talk shows in Fargo.  Based on the two most recent contracts we have this:

WDAY: All football and hockey games, some basketball games, coaches show.

KFGO: All football and hockey games, no basketball games, no coaches show.  Ripped up contract with two years remaining.

[Risky]

I wonder if Jack Michaels will come back to UND broadcasts now that KFGO isn't the Bison station?

[Fetch]

1 hour ago, gfhockey said:

Nice paycheck for them

 

Where are u hiding these days - u been so quiet - which could be a good Thang ....we're winning 

[Dagger]

With Scott Miller's passing I bet NDSU  will hire Michaels independently to join the Bison broadcast on a full time basis. 

[fightingsioux4life]

7 minutes ago, Risky said:

I wonder if Jack Michaels will come back to UND broadcasts now that KFGO isn't the Bison station?

I think Pat Sweeney is doing a good job. Michaels wanted to cover NDSU, let him keep doing it.

[fightingsioux4life]

10 minutes ago, southpaw said:

Ok, so let's hear your "proactive" ideas for increasing the UND presence on talk shows in Fargo.  Based on the two most recent contracts we have this:

WDAY: All football and hockey games, some basketball games, coaches show.

KFGO: All football and hockey games, no basketball games, no coaches show.  Ripped up contract with two years remaining.

My thinking is this: KFGO now has a big hole in their programming schedule, a hole that is not easy to fill. They are going to want something to fill it up. Therefore, we have some leverage here, leverage we can use to get a good deal. Karma is nice sometimes; they kicked us to the curb 7 years ago and now they are the ones out in the cold.

That is my thinking here. Whether it would work or not, I don't know.

[JohnboyND7]

13 minutes ago, Fetch said:

Where are u hiding these days - u been so quiet - which could be a good Thang ....we're winning 

Judy's Wi-Fi is not very good.

[Sioux>Bison]

Whatever we do we need to secure 550 KFYR as they have the best signal in the region that can be heard in all parts of the state and also surrounding states too. NDSU must not have gotten a good offer from FSN. Maybe FSN is going all in to get UND . NDSU is more fit to be on midco anyways.

[gfhockey]

Been busy. I've been posting on hockey board