{"id":5408,"date":"2015-02-05T11:43:40","date_gmt":"2015-02-05T17:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=5408"},"modified":"2015-02-05T11:45:20","modified_gmt":"2015-02-05T17:45:20","slug":"sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/","title":{"rendered":"Sports talk paradox: as industry grows, on-air talent struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Eric Clark<\/p>\n

Broadcast journalists Ben Finfer<\/a>, Alex Quigley<\/a> and Mark Carman <\/a>became victims of the cutthroat nature of the sports talk radio industry in December, losing their jobs at Chicago\u2019s The Game 87.7 <\/a>only nine months after its inception.<\/p>\n

But they still believe the industry is as strong as it has ever been.<\/p>\n

The numbers support their sentiment. In January, there were 795 stations with sports talk formats in the United States, up 36 percent from 2005 according to trade publication Inside Radio<\/a>. Sports radio pulled an average 6.0 share for the 25-to-54 year old audience and a 4.1 for the 18-to-34 audience, according to Nielsen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a completely sports-crazed nation,\u201d Carman said. \u201cPeople are seeing that you can make money with localized shows, even in smaller markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sports<\/a>
Over the past ten years, the number of sports talk format radio stations in the United States has increased 36 percent. (Inside Radio, Eric Clark\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Those local shows are major drivers of the industry, Carman said, because many people are more apt to tune in to a broadcast focused on their favorite teams versus a national show with a wide variety of coverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cSports as an industry has never been bigger,\u201d said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers<\/a>, a leading trade publication in the radio and media industry. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have a ton of political or lifestyle controversy. Even with its scandals, it\u2019s still an ad-friendly medium.\u201d<\/p>\n

But even as it thrives, sports talk radio is still notorious for knocking talented individuals off the airwaves for a variety of reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a profession,\u201d Harrison said. \u201cIt\u2019s show business. You\u2019ve got to be well-connected and talented, and maybe have some friends in high places.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you take a chance to jump from a good job to another and it works, consider yourself very lucky. You can be in one day, and out the next.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Quigley remains on the hunt for a new gig, he has taken necessary steps to keep his name in the public eye. He currently freelances for RedEye<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can do a lot on your own by freelancing and staying active on social media,\u201d he said. \u201cGetting your work distributed is key.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quigley\u2019s abrupt exit from 87.7 didn\u2019t sour him on the industry, he said, but he acknowledged that getting back into it often requires full utilization of one\u2019s contacts.<\/p>\n

\u201cJob postings are often formalities or technicalities,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely good to know people and it gives you a distinct advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finfer said he understood from the beginning of his broadcast career that the industry could be unforgiving to its workforce, no matter how experienced. While he was understandably angry when he found out the station was folding, it didn\u2019t change his opinion of the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly because my thoughts were pretty low already,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a tough business but I still love it.<\/p>\n

[youtube http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NUkpQuq2uzE&w=560&h=315]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are aspects of it that are intoxicating. I love the chaos of breaking news \u2013 there aren\u2019t a lot of places to get that feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laurence Holmes<\/a>, a 17-year veteran of WSCR-AM 670, said the risks some of 87.7\u2019s employees took by coming to the station in the first place were justified.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of those guys are very talented and were ready for their next opportunity,\u201d he said. \u201cAir-time is hard to prove. They established on-air personas, and they can say that they were on the air in the No. 3 market for nine months. That\u2019s not something everybody can say.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a profession, it\u2019s show business. You\u2019ve got to be well-connected and talented, and maybe have some friends in high places.”<\/p>\n

– Michael Harrison, Talkers Magazine<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Holmes said he thinks Chicago has room for an additional local sports talk station, even with its current competitive climate. If a station has steady management and can produce quality content centered on local teams, he said, it can be supported.<\/p>\n

\u201cSports radio is so much more sellable now,\u201d he said. \u201cWe used to have to beg advertisers back in the day. Now, we have a very marketable and sellable product.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Harrison said he believes the industry won\u2019t continue to grow at its current pace, he doesn\u2019t think media companies should worry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to grow anymore to become big,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s already huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Ben Finfer and Alex Quigley lost their jobs at The Game 87.7 only nine month’s after the station was founded. (Comcast)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Eric Clark Broadcast journalists Ben Finfer, Alex Quigley and Mark Carman became victims of the cutthroat nature of the sports talk radio industry in December, losing their jobs at Chicago\u2019s The Game 87.7 only nine months after its inception. But they still believe the industry is as strong as it has ever been.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":5416,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,31,243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-sports","category-winter-2015"],"yoast_head":"\nSports talk paradox: as industry grows, on-air talent struggles - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sports talk paradox: as industry grows, on-air talent struggles - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Eric Clark Broadcast journalists Ben Finfer, Alex Quigley and Mark Carman became victims of the cutthroat nature of the sports talk radio industry in December, losing their jobs at Chicago\u2019s The Game 87.7 only nine months after its inception. But they still believe the industry is as strong as it has ever been.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-05T17:43:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-02-05T17:45:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Screen-Shot-2015-02-05-at-11.23.37-AM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1279\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"716\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ericclark\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ericclark\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/\",\"name\":\"Sports talk paradox: as industry grows, on-air talent struggles - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Screen-Shot-2015-02-05-at-11.23.37-AM.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-05T17:43:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-02-05T17:45:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/f7d0085ef888ef99e6dfe274316496ac\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Screen-Shot-2015-02-05-at-11.23.37-AM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Screen-Shot-2015-02-05-at-11.23.37-AM.png\",\"width\":1279,\"height\":716,\"caption\":\"Ben Finfer and Alex Quigley lost their jobs at The Game 87.7 only nine month's after the station was founded. (Comcast)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sports talk paradox: as industry grows, on-air talent struggles\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/f7d0085ef888ef99e6dfe274316496ac\",\"name\":\"ericclark\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/54932cc4fdc91b0ad71336c8eaaa4531ccf47a9e0b7aea770b629ce0783040a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/54932cc4fdc91b0ad71336c8eaaa4531ccf47a9e0b7aea770b629ce0783040a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ericclark\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/ericclark\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sports talk paradox: as industry grows, on-air talent struggles - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sports talk paradox: as industry grows, on-air talent struggles - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Eric Clark Broadcast journalists Ben Finfer, Alex Quigley and Mark Carman became victims of the cutthroat nature of the sports talk radio industry in December, losing their jobs at Chicago\u2019s The Game 87.7 only nine months after its inception. But they still believe the industry is as strong as it has ever been.","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2015-02-05T17:43:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-02-05T17:45:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1279,"height":716,"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Screen-Shot-2015-02-05-at-11.23.37-AM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"ericclark","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ericclark","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/","name":"Sports talk paradox: as industry grows, on-air talent struggles - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Screen-Shot-2015-02-05-at-11.23.37-AM.png","datePublished":"2015-02-05T17:43:40+00:00","dateModified":"2015-02-05T17:45:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/f7d0085ef888ef99e6dfe274316496ac"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Screen-Shot-2015-02-05-at-11.23.37-AM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Screen-Shot-2015-02-05-at-11.23.37-AM.png","width":1279,"height":716,"caption":"Ben Finfer and Alex Quigley lost their jobs at The Game 87.7 only nine month's after the station was founded. (Comcast)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/sports-talk-paradox-as-industry-grows-on-air-talent-struggles\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sports talk paradox: as industry grows, on-air talent struggles"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/f7d0085ef888ef99e6dfe274316496ac","name":"ericclark","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/54932cc4fdc91b0ad71336c8eaaa4531ccf47a9e0b7aea770b629ce0783040a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/54932cc4fdc91b0ad71336c8eaaa4531ccf47a9e0b7aea770b629ce0783040a2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"ericclark"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/ericclark\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}