Cards say buh-bye to KMOX

[dalgreen]

The Cards' flagship station for the past 52 years has been KMOX. The Cardinals have announced that next year they will move to 550 KTRS. Evidently the money package was too much for KMOX to match. It'll be interesting to see what the fans say since KTRS doesn't have nearly the coverage area that KMOX does. KTRS currently carries the Blues and the Rams. But for baseball fans this is big news, similar to if the Cubs left WGN radio.

[J.R.]

This is unbelievable. Completely shortsighted on the Cards' part ...

[reggiemiller rules]

I think its a shame, and really hurts alot of Cards fans who wont be able to get games on the radio anymore. It will be even worse if they pocket the extra money and dont invest it back into the team.

[dalgreen]

I think its a shame, and really hurts alot of Cards fans who wont be able to get games on the radio anymore. It will be even worse if they pocket the extra money and dont invest it back into the team.

 

I've heard talk, and it's just talk, that the owners may be doing to increase the value of the team (inlcuding the new stadium and ballpark village) with the possibility of selling the team in a couple of years.

 

KTRS doesn't have the strong signal that KMOX does. In fact, I've gone across the river into Illinois when listening to Blues games and the signal would begin to get weak. The Cardinals already have a ton of radio affiliates, so maybe they will need to pick up a couple more that's closer to St. Louis. KTRS carries a fairly weak signal especially at night.

[reggiemiller rules]

I think its a shame, and really hurts alot of Cards fans who wont be able to get games on the radio anymore. It will be even worse if they pocket the extra money and dont invest it back into the team.

 

I've heard talk, and it's just talk, that the owners may be doing to increase the value of the team (inlcuding the new stadium and ballpark village) with the possibility of selling the team in a couple of years.

 

KTRS doesn't have the strong signal that KMOX does. In fact, I've gone across the river into Illinois when listening to Blues games and the signal would begin to get weak. The Cardinals already have a ton of radio affiliates, so maybe they will need to pick up a couple more that's closer to St. Louis. KTRS carries a fairly weak signal especially at night.

 

 

Yeah I have heard the same thing that they are trying to increase the value to sell.

 

I have always been able to pick up blues games fine over in Belleville, so I dont know about how the rest of the coverage area isl

[vaball]

I too think this is a shame. Shortsighted? Maybe. It looks like the team will own a 50% share of KTRS, allowing them to gear it more around Cardinals content.

 

Listening to the games on KMOX is such a wonderful tradition but now the station is owned by Infinity Broadcasting and run out of New York.

 

Pretty sad, but probably inevitable. I was hoping they didn't do this, but a mid-market franchise like the Cardinals has to do everything it can to raise revenue if it wants to keep the team on the field competitive.

 

As for increasing the value of the franchise for the purposes of selling it, I don't read too much into that. It only makes sense that a business would want to increase it's profits, assets, and therefore value.

[wolf stansson]

This is unbelievable. Completely shortsighted on the Cards' part ...

Not really. The ownership group is purchasing the majority share in KTRS. They'll be able to control the content and subject matter. The affiliate network basically renders KMOX's higher signal argument moot. There are local affiliates to cover every area of Cardinals territory (Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, etc). These days not a lot of new fans come because of the radio station like in the past. Now it's all generational or ESPN exposure. Albert Pujols highlights are going to recruit more Cards fans than KMOX today. The station rights, new stadium, championship contending team, and maketable stars like Pujols make it an extremely profitable sale for the group that came on board with Ray Lankford as it's most recognizable player.

[J.R.]

This is unbelievable. Completely shortsighted on the Cards' part ...

Not really. The ownership group is purchasing the majority share in KTRS. They'll be able to control the content and subject matter. The affiliate network basically renders KMOX's higher signal argument moot. There are local affiliates to cover every area of Cardinals territory (Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, etc). These days not a lot of new fans come because of the radio station like in the past. Now it's all generational or ESPN exposure. Albert Pujols highlights are going to recruit more Cards fans than KMOX today. The station rights, new stadium, championship contending team, and maketable stars like Pujols make it an extremely profitable sale for the group that came on board with Ray Lankford as it's most recognizable player.

 

It's certainly less important now, but I still think a presence on one of the few true blowtorch stations in the country is too valuable a commodity to let slip away.

[snoodmonger]

Seems like a boner move. We can only hope that it sets off a chain reaction of events that forces Selig to contract the Cardinals a few years down the road.

 

Dibs on Pujols!

[treebird]

Seems like a boner move. We can only hope that it sets off a chain reaction of events that forces Selig to contract the Cardinals a few years down the road.

 

Dibs on Pujols!

 

but pujols will be like 47 by then

 

(alley)

[Dr. Cub]

I too think this is a shame. Shortsighted? Maybe. It looks like the team will own a 50% share of KTRS, allowing them to gear it more around Cardinals content.

 

Listening to the games on KMOX is such a wonderful tradition but now the station is owned by Infinity Broadcasting and run out of New York.

 

Pretty sad, but probably inevitable. I was hoping they didn't do this, but a mid-market franchise like the Cardinals has to do everything it can to raise revenue if it wants to keep the team on the field competitive.

 

As for increasing the value of the franchise for the purposes of selling it, I don't read too much into that. It only makes sense that a business would want to increase it's profits, assets, and therefore value.

 

Lies, complete lies. I could give the Cards a roster of 14 Neifis' and 11 Remlingers' and they would win the division by 5 over the Stros' and 16 over the Cubs.

[Brian34Cook]

Cardinals leaving KMOX for KTRS

 

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The St. Louis Cardinals are switching radio stations, leaving KMOX after more than a half a century.

 

The Cardinals announced Thursday that starting in 2006 the team's radio rights will go to another AM station, KTRS, severing the relationship with KMOX that began in 1954 with Harry Caray, Joe Garagiola and a young Jack Buck at the microphone.

 

In the days before games were common on TV, the station's powerful 50,000-watt signal -- it can be heard in more than 40 states at night -- made Cardinals fans out of people in places as far away as Texas, West Virginia and the Dakotas.

 

``Somebody pinch me,'' said KTRS general manager Tim Dorsey. ``Cardinals baseball is an institution. It is St. Louis.''

 

For the Cardinals, the move simply made financial sense, team president Mark Lamping said. As part of the deal, the Cardinals obtain 50 percent ownership in KTRS.

 

The move should generate more money, allowing the Cardinals, currently in first place in the NL Central, to remain competitive without substantial ticket-price increases, Lamping said.

 

``What we're trying to do is improve our ability to put the finest baseball team on the field,'' Lamping said.

 

The team is being paid $6.7 million in rights fees this year. Infinity had sought to drop the fee to $4.7 million, and split earnings beyond that with the team, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has reported.

 

In a statement from KMOX, the station called the loss of the Cardinals disappointing.

 

``We were not prepared to enter into an agreement which would have had substantial financial implications on the station and Infinity Broadcasting in the future,'' the statement read. ``The recent proliferation of available outlets to hear Cardinals baseball games, including online, satellite radio and cellular telephone, has decreased the exclusivity for which we had been paying a premium. Increasing our rights fees at this time would have not been in the best overall interest of KMOX and its legion of listeners.''

[windows]

The real losers from this aren't people just across the river from St. Louis. The people who really lose from this are people who live a couple hundred miles from St. Louis.

 

I'm pretty lucky where I am to have five Cardinal affiliates within 30 or 40 miles. I listen on KFRU in Columbia, but there's also affiliates in Jefferson City, Moberly, Fulton, and Mexico. Most of them are pretty dedicated affiliates and pick up just about all the Cardinal games. They're somewhat typical affiliates, however, and have a range of maybe 30 or 40 miles at night.

 

While central Missouri gets good coverage, not everywhere you might consider Cardinals country has this kind of coverage. There are people, particularly to the west of here and out on the plains, that may have no local affiliate at all or may get poor coverage from a nearby affiliate. I'm thinking of places like Kansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Indiana. A lot of fans in those areas rely on KMOX for coverage their local affiliate doesn't provide, if they even have a local Cardinals affiliate.

 

Another problem is that some of the affiliates aren't very dedicated. Some affiliates don't carry all of the games. Other affiliates don't carry all of the additional programming the Cardinals have. It's been mentioned that moving to KTRS will allow the Cardinals to even have more programs on the radio and that it's good for fans. Of course many of the affiliate stations won't carry those programs and so their listeners won't benefit. And many fans will lose some of the coverage they already have if their local affiliates aren't very dedicated.

 

You can bet the Cardinals will take care of fans within 50 or 100 miles of St. Louis. The real losers in this are the fans who are 200 or 300 miles from St. Louis. It's a foolish move by the Cardinals who seem to have forgotten that some of their most loyal fans don't live anywhere close to St. Louis.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The real losers from this aren't people just across the river from St. Louis. The people who really lose from this are people who live a couple hundred miles from St. Louis.

 

I'm pretty lucky where I am to have five Cardinal affiliates within 30 or 40 miles. I listen on KFRU in Columbia, but there's also affiliates in Jefferson City, Moberly, Fulton, and Mexico. Most of them are pretty dedicated affiliates and pick up just about all the Cardinal games. They're somewhat typical affiliates, however, and have a range of maybe 30 or 40 miles at night.

 

While central Missouri gets good coverage, not everywhere you might consider Cardinals country has this kind of coverage. There are people, particularly to the west of here and out on the plains, that may have no local affiliate at all or may get poor coverage from a nearby affiliate. I'm thinking of places like Kansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Indiana. A lot of fans in those areas rely on KMOX for coverage their local affiliate doesn't provide, if they even have a local Cardinals affiliate.

 

Another problem is that some of the affiliates aren't very dedicated. Some affiliates don't carry all of the games. Other affiliates don't carry all of the additional programming the Cardinals have. It's been mentioned that moving to KTRS will allow the Cardinals to even have more programs on the radio and that it's good for fans. Of course many of the affiliate stations won't carry those programs and so their listeners won't benefit. And many fans will lose some of the coverage they already have if their local affiliates aren't very dedicated.

 

You can bet the Cardinals will take care of fans within 50 or 100 miles of St. Louis. The real losers in this are the fans who are 200 or 300 miles from St. Louis. It's a foolish move by the Cardinals who seem to have forgotten that some of their most loyal fans don't live anywhere close to St. Louis.

 

Welcome to the Forum! Are you a student in Columbia?

[windows]

Welcome to the Forum! Are you a student in Columbia?

 

Thanks for the welcome. :-)

 

Yup, this next year will be my first year as a grad student. I'm studying meteorology.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Welcome to the Forum! Are you a student in Columbia?

 

Thanks for the welcome. :-)

 

Yup, this next year will be my first year as a grad student. I'm studying meteorology.

 

Cool, myself and Cubbies75 are incoming freshman at Mizzou, and the guy who goes by Mizzou is a student as well.

[windows]

Welcome to the Forum! Are you a student in Columbia?

 

Thanks for the welcome. :-)

 

Yup, this next year will be my first year as a grad student. I'm studying meteorology.

 

Cool, myself and Cubbies75 are incoming freshman at Mizzou, and the guy who goes by Mizzou is a student as well.

 

Cool. Welcome to MU! :-)

[Strife]

more Cubbie fans at MU :x :wink:

 

<---senior this year.

[J.R.]

This is unbelievable. Completely shortsighted on the Cards' part ...

 

Nice to see that the Cards finally came around to my way of thinking. Anyone interested in a rimshot 5K AM?

 

http://www.rbr.com/radio/27207.html

 

The iconic Major League Baseball franchise St. Louis Cardinals and 50 kW 1120 blaster KMOX-AM were synonymous with one another for over fifty years, beginning in 1954, until the team bought a stake in its own AM station and moved play-by-play broadcasts to it. But next year, the games will be back on KMOX, part of the CBS Radio group.

 

The team bought a half interest in KTRS-AM, which has had the games for the past five years. It bought the stake for $2M, according to reports, and is now open to offers from anyone interested in acquiring it. KTRS has 5 kW day and night on 550 kHz.

 

That’s a far cry from the wallop packed by KMOX. One report notes that its nighttime signal can be heard in as many as 40 different states.

 

Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III said fan sentiment had a lot to do with the decision and that the case for returning to KMOX was “very compelling.”

[Garwilly]

5 plus year bump. A new record?

[J.R.]

Is it really a bump if it's continuing the conversation in a relevant way?

 

Anyway, long live MLB on clear channel (small case) AM radio.

[jersey cubs fan]

Is it really a bump if it's continuing the conversation in a relevant way?

 

Anyway, long live MLB on clear channel (small case) AM radio.

 

I think it's a bump regardless, but it's a sensible one at least.

[Careless]

5 plus year bump. A new record?

I was pretty confused to see a thread started by dalgreen

[woodchip2153]

This is unbelievable. Completely shortsighted on the Cards' part ...

 

Nice to see that the Cards finally came around to my way of thinking. Anyone interested in a rimshot 5K AM?

 

http://www.rbr.com/radio/27207.html

 

The iconic Major League Baseball franchise St. Louis Cardinals and 50 kW 1120 blaster KMOX-AM were synonymous with one another for over fifty years, beginning in 1954, until the team bought a stake in its own AM station and moved play-by-play broadcasts to it. But next year, the games will be back on KMOX, part of the CBS Radio group.

 

The team bought a half interest in KTRS-AM, which has had the games for the past five years. It bought the stake for $2M, according to reports, and is now open to offers from anyone interested in acquiring it. KTRS has 5 kW day and night on 550 kHz.

 

That’s a far cry from the wallop packed by KMOX. One report notes that its nighttime signal can be heard in as many as 40 different states.

 

Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III said fan sentiment had a lot to do with the decision and that the case for returning to KMOX was “very compelling.”

 

I just hope this doesn't mean the end of the first pitch tickets.

[UMFan83]

You say goodbye, I say hello.