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Redskins Continue War with Local Media - Griffin and 106.7 the fan vs ESPN 980

tshile

Guest
This happened on Monday. Here's the break down:
Griffin gives interviews on Monday - last Monday it was about a half hour. Most of the local TV news shows broke from their news format to cover the event live.

Side note: If any of our new Baylor alumni/fans forum members had any doubts about how Griffin would be received in the DC area, here's your answer - our local news stations broke away from their format for 30 minutes to cover the event live. For 30 minutes. To cover a (mostly) worthless first day of training camp Q&A. I do not believe this has ever been done before. Anyways...

But where it gets interesting is that the radio rights apparently caused problems... For those out of the area, 106.7 the fan DC and ESPN 980 are the two major competing sports talk stations on the FM dial around here. Their feuding goes back a ways :)

106.7 (WJFK) used to have rights to the redskins games - Sonny and crew called games on this station, the pregame/postgame shows were on this station, etc.

Then Snyder bought the Red Zebra Network stations ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Zebra_Broadcasting ) . For those interested, Snyder way over paid - I think he paid around 50 million for a station worth about 5 (This is from insiders I know, they may be wrong but I trust their opinion on things). ESPN980 is a member of the Red Zebra Network.

Side note: 106.7 at the time was just WJFK and was a general guy-talk station - Mike and Mike in the morning, The Junkies (not Sports Junkies), Big O and Dukes, and many other shows. They even used to have Howard Stern, Ron and Fez, etc.

So 106.7's contract with the redskins for radio rights came up for renewal and the redskins demanded a ridiculous amount of money. It soured the relationship on the spot. ESPN 980 then won the rights, and 106.7 WJFK went through a format flip (now called 106.7 The Fan DC, CBS's branding for sports stations in major cities) from general guy-talk to exclusively sports-talk; ushering in the re-branding of the Junkies to the Sports Junkies (to be fair they originally started out as the sports junkies over a decade ago), The Lavar Arrington Show with Chad Dukes, the Mike Wise Show, etc.

The two have been competing with each other ever since.

So thats the back story.

Here's what happened on Monday:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...-radio-rights/2012/07/30/gJQA08MeKX_blog.html

Basically the Redskins told 106.7 the fan they could not carry the interview live. Only ESPN 980 could. They have exclusive rights, and the redskins exercised those rights to stop 106.7 the fan, while allowing all TV stations to carry it live.

They clearly did this to help their station and punish the other station. It's also worth noting that what they did was well within their rights.

Please note that Dan Steinberg, and The Washington Post, are clearly in the 'anti-redskins' camp in terms of bashing the organization. The Washington Posts's feud with the Redskins goes all the way back to when Snyder first bought the team and is a long story. But be aware that the two have been butting heads since 1999.

I'm curious what other people on the board think of this.

--------------------
My opinion: 106.7 the fan is a station full of hacks. the only show thats worth a **** is the sports junkies and even they aren't very good any more. they've admitted to half-assing the show and mailing it in for the last couple years now and it shows. they are the washington post equivalent on the radio in terms of being anti-snyder and anti-redskins whenever they get the chance to be. they have no reporters, no journalists, and no integrity when they cover the team. if you have any doubts about that just read the link I submitted - CK's (their program director) comments just scream childish tactics and inability to deal with anything like an adult.

106.7 the fan has gone out of it's way to bash the redskins and deliver stories in a way that purposefully paints the redskins (or snyder) in a bad light; going so far as to exclude important information in stories that would conflict with their agenda. they are worst than the post when it comes to this stuff.

so, i see it as a 'haha' moment. if you're going to attack an organization, then cry when they don't grant you rights over their exclusive rights holder, then you're clearly run by a bunch of idiots. I cannot stand 106.7 and the way their hosts go about conducting business. So to me I'm happy they got screwed on this one.

i also cannot stand their relentless accusations against espn 980 as somehow being snyder friendly or biased in their reporting. they have actually journalists and reporters on their show, and they're very fair towards the redskins. Sheehan, Polin, Lovero, and Czabe were calling for Cerrato's head (and Zorn's) long before most. They do not back down from criticizing Snyder when it is appropriate.

--------end my opinion--------

edit and side note:
My opinion can be viewed as being bias. You'll never convince me that 106.7 the fan is a station worth a crap anymore - they just aren't.
If you're interested in sports radio by people who have integrity and aren't hacks, I recommend the following:
in the morning 6-10 - Steve Czaben on Sports Talk 570 - 570 AM by Yahoo Sports Radio and ESPN Radio - http://sportstalk570.com/ for info and streaming purposes

10-12 ESPN 980 - they normally run Kornheiser who I love, but when he's not on they normally use Al Galdi. Right now its Dave Ross. www.espn980.com , 980 AM, 94.3 FM (for central to northern VA) and 92.7 FM for northern VA/MD area. I switch from 94.3 to 92.7 when going over the WW bridge into MD for the games, to give you an idea of coverage.

12-2 ESPN 980 - The Sports reporters with Kevin Sheehan and Thom Lovero - great show. they do 'Redskins at 1' every day, and cover other sports. Lovero is the baseball expert, and in general the two do well together.

4-7 ESPN 980 - The Sports Fix with Steve Czaben and Andy Polin - i love this show as well.
 
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It was my understanding Red Zebra paid about $30 million for the FM stations and then another $25 million for WTEM (now 980). That comes out to around $50 million. And they've since bought more. I doubt WTEM would have only been worth $5 million.

I think it's well within their rights to do what they did. I don't think it was the wisest decision, however.
 
It was my understanding Red Zebra paid about $30 million for the FM stations and then another $25 million for WTEM (now 980). That comes out to around $50 million. And they've since bought more. I doubt WTEM would have only been worth $5 million.
I believe the purchase was a few years ago - i'm not saying it's worth 5 now, i'm saying someone who knows all the execs there said it was only worth 5 at the time. I have no evidence to back that up and it's certainly possible he's wrong :)

He's not wrong very often when it comes to the redskins though, and there's a reason for that ;)

I think it's well within their rights to do what they did. I don't think it was the wisest decision, however.

According to the NFL it is their right - radio and TV have different rules. Their right to do it isn't really in dispute. It probably isn't wise in terms of a PR decision standpoint.
 
I think Dan Snyder can, on occassion, be extremely petty.

Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2
 
Yeah, I overheard a couple of the bloggers discussing this when I was there Friday, saying Dan Snyder is back to his old ways since he has his new cash cow. Apparently he is even going so far as to screen questions prior to the Griff interviews or they don't get any more.
 
both of these stations employ ex-Redskins that are really bitter with the organization and the owner from perceived slights from YEARS ago and that really does the listening audience a disservice.

but 106.7 and 980 think it's great radio to have guys like Arrington and Mitchell busting on the team, waiting for any weak points to show and quick to condemn Shanahan and Allen because they work for 'the Man'.....................
 
thats the reason i didn't list the locker room on 980 as a show. i don't like it all that much. doc walker is great, but i can't handle brian mitchell. he's exactly as you describe.
 
both of these stations employ ex-Redskins that are really bitter with the organization and the owner from perceived slights from YEARS ago and that really does the listening audience a disservice.

but 106.7 and 980 think it's great radio to have guys like Arrington and Mitchell busting on the team, waiting for any weak points to show and quick to condemn Shanahan and Allen because they work for 'the Man'.....................
thats the reason i didn't list the locker room on 980 as a show. i don't like it all that much. doc walker is great, but i can't handle brian mitchell. he's exactly as you describe.
I resemble these remarks.
 
disagree partially on 106.7:

- I find myself turing the junkies off more often than not.....I really don't care what they think about non-Sports related issues or their personal lives...which tends to dominate

- I do like the Chad/Lavar show. I don't care what anyone says...Lavar Arrington is a smart guy...as sportscasters/athletes go...and I find his thoughts on multiple sports to be interesting and insightful.
 
- I do like the Chad/Lavar show. I don't care what anyone says...Lavar Arrington is a smart guy...as sportscasters/athletes go...and I find his thoughts on multiple sports to be interesting and insightful.
really? i find him to be pretty bad on sports outside of football.

they make false statements on basic things. like when the lockout was going on and they asked if there would still be a draft... or when they discuss baseball and don't understand that you can't just shut down a pitcher mid season and bring him back a few months later for playoffs.

and his inability to ask a simple question while interviewing someone causes me excruciating mental pain :)

at the end of the day it doesn't matter. if you find the show entertaining then it has served its purpose. just be wary of the 'information' you get from them - they're wrong way more often than they're right. especially outside of football.
 
Lavar Arrington is a smart guy...as sportscasters/athletes go...and I find his thoughts on multiple sports to be interesting and insightful.
I find him a dumb, dishonest opportunist, (i.e. lying mother ****er) who doesn't deserve a fraction of the respect given to him by some Redskins fans. My wish is for him to sell his home here and go back to Pennsyl-****in-vania and live off his Penn State career. He actually did something there, I think.
 

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