Out-of-towner listening to Felger and Mazz for first time in 9 months

[A Defiant Goose]

OMG! You have heard of podcasts, no? They are named that because of the Apple iPod that was released in 2001. Plenty of great NFL content there. if not, there's also this thing called audio books. Someone reads a book to you. Try it some time!

I love radio, but it's not like I have no other choice but to listen to it. In fact I rarely do these days.



********. The lazy and dumb take is that we have no other choice but to turn on the radio and listen to whatever comes on it.

Am I wrong that there are only 2 viable sports stations in Boston? We're talking about radio here. Not podcasts

 

[Bill Lee]

The sports shock jock schtick is nothing new.

Nor is the audience having a cultish sycophant devotion to said host, or having hawt takz that mimic and flatter the host.

That was exactly what the Jim Rome Show was 30-plus years ago, with nationwide tours to his devoted followers

30 years ago? You newbie!

I grew up listening to WTIC Hartford's Arnold Dean show in the 1970s. A true gentleman.

At the same time, WNBC in New York was featuring what was in my world view the first shock jock, Don Imus.

The influence of the shock jocks led them to re-brand WNBC as WFAN in the 80s, keeping Imus In The Morning then following with people with the more argumentative "hot take" style such as Mike and the Mad Dog.

Proof that large amounts of the public prefer low quality crap over something of substance.

As a Scandinavian saying goes: eat ****, billions of flies can't be wrong!

 

[yukon cornelius]

For me, putting a podcast on means I gotta sync my phone up to bluetooth, scroll, pick one, choose an episode that sounds interesting, etc.

Most of the time I'm not driving more than 10 minutes anywhere. Not worth setting anything up other than the FM station it's already set to

this lol.....i am a teacher, so my car was manufactured in 2010......so synching the phone is a PITA in the morning when i have a 7 minute ride haha......so WEEI for me on the short rides.......the morning show isn't horrid, and their sports takes are limited......they tend to be sports adjacent haha - the midday is lousy, afternoons are mid, and arcand blows.......i'll occasionally put on the Big Jab, maine based sports, especially when they do high school stuff.......but the station is pretty much JV, and that comes with JV hot takes, too haha


i miss sirius NFL radio, don't know how that is these days, i haven't had sirius on the regular in years

 

[Bill Lee]

Am I wrong that there are only 2 viable sports stations in Boston? We're talking about radio here. Not podcasts

You literally asked "What exactly else are you supposed to do?".

The reason there are only two choices on radio is that the market can barely support two stations doing sports.

Meanwhile there pretty much is an infinite selection of podcasts to listen to.

Most people are listening to podcasts where they can skip over commercials.

Commercial radio is dying.

 

[A Defiant Goose]

You literally asked "What exactly else are you supposed to do?".

The reason there are only two choices on radio is that the market can barely support two stations doing sports.

Meanwhile there pretty much is an infinite selection of podcasts to listen to.

Most people are listening to podcasts where they can skip over commercials.

Commercial radio is dying.

I mean "What else are you supposed to do" is taken in the context of the conversation. You could literally go **** yourself instead, but nobody's recommending that

 

[Bill Lee]

this lol.....i am a teacher, so my car was manufactured in 2010......so synching the phone is a PITA in the morning when i have a 7 minute ride haha......so WEEI for me on the short rides.......the morning show isn't horrid, and their sports takes are limited......they tend to be sports adjacent haha - the midday is lousy, afternoons are mid, and arcand blows.......i'll occasionally put on the Big Jab, maine based sports, especially when they do high school stuff.......but the station is pretty much JV, and that comes with JV hot takes, too haha

My podcast app auto-syncs a half hour before I wake up. My car is made in 2005 but I have a bluetooth dongle that plugs into to the car's AUX port and pairs to my phone automatically so I can use the car speakers. It cost less than a trip to a fast food restaurant costs these days.

To me I'd rather do that than listen to a few minutes of commercials in my seven minute commute.

 

[Bill Lee]

I mean "What else are you supposed to do" is taken in the context of the conversation. You could literally go **** yourself instead, but nobody's recommending that

So you're trying to make the point that podcasts are irrelevant to the current commercial sports radio scene?

To me it's like trying to say streaming is irrelevant to the current Cable TV scene, or automobiles are irrelevant to the current horse and carriage scene.

 

[upstater1]

For me, putting a podcast on means I gotta sync my phone up to bluetooth, scroll, pick one, choose an episode that sounds interesting, etc.

Most of the time I'm not driving more than 10 minutes anywhere. Not worth setting anything up other than the FM station it's already set to

??

This is what I did, I told my car's comm system (ApplePlay) to "Play 98.5 the Sports Hub."

ApplePlay found the podcast and started playing immediately. I realized it was Monday's show (even though I was really requesting LIVE radio on a Tuesday) but that didn't bother me.

Verbal commands get me instant access to practically anything without having to do a thing.

 

[203Pat]

The "just stop listening to them" take is so dumb and lazy. It's one of the biggest sports markets in the country and probably the winningest market of the last 25 years. There are two sports stations. What exactly else are you supposed to do? These guys don't get high ratings because "lol they troll and you fall for it" they get high ratings because it's a successful sports town with 2 sports radio options.* THAT'S IT!

*One of which, I may argue, is pushed ahead of the other by having an NBC Sports Boston simulcast.

Put it this way. Swap every host of every time slot with 93.7 and I don't think it makes a big difference in ratings

Both of those things can be true. You really don't think that if these stations could get better ratings with a bunch of shows spouting sunshine and rainbows 8 hours a day they wouldn't make that change?

 

[A Defiant Goose]

??

This is what I did, I told my car's comm system (ApplePlay) to "Play 98.5 the Sports Hub."

ApplePlay found the podcast and started playing immediately. I realized it was Monday's show (even though I was really requesting LIVE radio on a Tuesday) but that didn't bother me.

Verbal commands get me instant access to practically anything without having to do a thing.

Yeah it's just different experiences. For me, I have to open my phone, go to spotify, search a podcast, find an episode I haven't listened to yet and sounds interesting, pick it, oh by the way, I gotta disable WiFi or else halfway through the drive it'll disconnect while swapping over to data. All this to listen to a 30+ minute episode of whatever when I'm not gonna be in the car longer than 7-8 minutes. I am not doing all that to go drop my kid off at school at 8:20AM or pick him up at 2:40PM 7 minutes down the street. Rather I'll keep it on 98.5, see if I get a good roll of the dice and hit the 2% chance of getting actual sports news or conversation, and be agitated when instead it's these miserable hosts and their miserable callers finding any little thing to complain about. If I wanted that, I'd just go to patsfans.com. So realistically, all there is for me to do is complain and move on

 

[A Defiant Goose]

So you're trying to make the point that podcasts are irrelevant to the current commercial sports radio scene?

To me it's like trying to say streaming is irrelevant to the current Cable TV scene, or automobiles are irrelevant to the current horse and carriage scene.

My point is podcasts are irrelevant to the short drive and instant experience stream. If I have to do anything other than start the car, it's already more than FM radio requires

 

[A Defiant Goose]

Both of those things can be true. You really don't think that if these stations could get better ratings with a bunch of shows spouting sunshine and rainbows 8 hours a day they wouldn't make that change?

I honestly think they're capped out either way and any radio host with experience would fare about the same, regardless of how homerish or trollish they are

 

[Bill Lee]

My point is podcasts are irrelevant to the short drive and instant experience stream. If I have to do anything other than start the car, it's already more than FM radio requires

IMO you are in the minority, and that minority will shrink versus time.

Pretty much any car made in the last few years has ApplePlay / AirPlay and if your phone is on your body then it is just like FM radio, the minute you start your car it will start playing your most recently listened to supported app, be it a podcast app, a streaming music app, etc.

I just spent time driving my mom's new car and to be honest that really annoyed me. I wanted to connect to the touchscreen automatically just to do navigation and nothing else because I was in an area new to me and didn't know how to get around. It kept connecting to my podast app and I had to hit pause then switch over to the navigation app, which was a PITA.

It also did favor connecting to the phone over any FM radio station I had already been listening to, which is bad news for commercial radio, IMO.

For someone with a career as a software developer, I find the lack of choice in configuring these things very frustrating. Yet OTOH I understand why car makers do it. Restricting choice makes their life easier.

 

[A Defiant Goose]

IMO you are in the minority, and that minority will shrink versus time.

Pretty much any car made in the last few years has ApplePlay / AirPlay and if your phone is on your body then it is just like FM radio, the minute you start your car it will start playing your most recently listened to supported app, be it a podcast app, a streaming music app, etc.

I just spent time driving my mom's new car and to be honest that really annoyed me. I wanted to connect to the touchscreen automatically just to do navigation and nothing else because I was in an area new to me and didn't know how to get around. It kept connecting to my podast app and I had to hit pause then switch over to the navigation app, which was a PITA.

It also did favor connecting the phone over any FM radio station I had already been listening to which is bad news for commercial radio, IMO.

Yeah that's fair, I do have a 2018 equinox and I swore I'd keep this thing til the wheels fall off so it may be a while before I get that autoplay feature in mine (other than updating the console, which I won't, cause I'm a purist and like having my car be as stock as possible lol)

 

[Thunderhead]

Felger and Mazz are masters of rage bait

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

For me, putting a podcast on means I gotta sync my phone up to bluetooth, scroll, pick one, choose an episode that sounds interesting, etc.

Most of the time I'm not driving more than 10 minutes anywhere. Not worth setting anything up other than the FM station it's already set to

And saying there are other options doesn’t excuse F&M from being from being as bad as they are.

When I work from home I have them, and Bert and Zo on the tv in the background. I watch because there is Pats talk/analysis. Some of the guests are insightful, others not so much. For a guy who played in the league, it amazes me how clueless Zo is with his input.

I guess the bottom line is the show is more geared to lesser fans. Any really knowledgeable fan will learn next to nothing listening/ watching. But again, they talk Pats, so I get sucked into watching.

 

[Bill Lee]

I honestly think they're capped out either way and any radio host with experience would fare about the same, regardless of how homerish or trollish they are

Respectfully, I disagree.

IMO it was clear that civil discourse was going to lose out at least 40 years ago if not more. I'll always remember names like Don Imus, Howard Stern, Mike Francesa, Chris Russo, Rush Limbaugh etc as poo-flingers (some worse than others) who, like it or not, have made more of an impression than any traditionally moderate personality.

In the news world, for me CNN's choice to go with Crossfire in the early 80's and the success it had was a sign that the poo-flingers were going to win out over civil discourse. Now pretty much every news station worldwide from BBC to Russia's Channel One go with the poo-flinging approach, simply because they get more traction and thus better ratings this way.

Eat ****, a billion flies can't be wrong.

Crossfire (American TV program) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Rob0729]

I only listen to Bedard's segments on Tuesday. Otherwise, I never listen to them. They barely even go through the motions with their contrarian schtick anymore. Their takes are forced and ridiculous half the time.

 

[Rob0729]

My point is podcasts are irrelevant to the short drive and instant experience stream. If I have to do anything other than start the car, it's already more than FM radio requires

Funny, I haven't listened to FM radio in like five years except for post game shows. Even when I listen to 98.5 or WEEI, I wait until they release the hour in their podcasts and listen to it that way so I can skip over segments I do not want to listen to and all the commercials. I will never go back to FM. I only listen to post game shows on FM because it is immediate reaction right after the game and I don't want for an hour or two for them to put them on the podcast boards.

And I listen to podcasts from people I respect more than the guys on the radio like Evan Lazar or even Tom Curran.

If you are on a short 5-10 minute drive, podcasts are far better than FM. You are guaranteed content with podcasts. FM you could be unlucky and time your drive during a commercial block of your favorite station or stations.

And for music, I don't even know why you would even consider FM at this point with so many commercial free streaming services that you can basically tailor to your taste.

 

[borg]