WCBS 880 tops MLB cumulative radio ratings
By
Seemingly in spite of themselves, John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman are reeling in the listeners. Arbitron, the radio ratings board, has released listener totals for the first half of the baseball season, and more fans tune in for Yankees games than for any other team. According to their estimates, from April 4 to June 23, an average of 441,000 listen to the Bombers. That figure eclipses the second-place Mets by 72,500 fans per game. The Cubs, Tigers and Angels round out the top five.
As for market share, though, neither the Yankees nor the Mets can crack the top 15. In baseball’s target demographic — men between the ages of 25 and 54 — nearly 25 percent of Cincinnatians listening to the radio at that time tune into Reds games. Because millions of people live in New York radio, the lofty listener totals just can’t catch up.
For the Yankees, these high figures mean one thing: More money. Armed with more precise data than ever before, the Yankees and WCBS will be able to milk more money out of the team’s radio broadcasts. “As advertisers look to capitalize on this year’s pennant race, professional baseball on the radio delivers large numbers of listeners for every game,” Arbitron Sports Manager Chris Meinhardt said in a statement. “Arbitron’s Mid-Season PPM Radio Listening for Pro Baseball reports the average game audience for each team.”
Now, if only the team would do something about the quality of their radio announcers. (A tip o’ the hat to Rob Iracane at Walkoff Walk.)
92 Comments»
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I do think Sterling has gotten better recently. He still makes his silly calls on homers-that-aren’t, but he’s been better about saying the count and score often (something that used to piss me off to no end) than he used to. He’s entertaining too, so what the hey. I’d rather listen to him than Kay.
Oooh, I don’t know. I don’t like Michael, but Sterling is unbearable to me. And Suzyn is just as bad.
I concur. Sterling is godawful.
I went fishing last week and had a radio listening to the Cleveland series. Had to resist the temptation to throw my radio off of the boat- Sterling had about 5 or 6 (literally) bad “It is high- It is far calls” calls that was just egregiously awful.
When I’m forced to listen to the Yanks on radio (in the car), I keep remembering the bit from Woody Allen’s sleeper:
(a 22nd century historian shows Miles Monroe a videotape of Howard Cosell)
Historian: We weren’t sure at first what to make of this, but we developed a theory: we feel that when people committed great crimes against the state, they were forced to watch this.
Miles: Yes. That’s exactly what it was.
lol that photo for some reason doesnt make me think that is actually waldman. Mustve been taken in the 1990s
I dont think they could find worse pictures of those two
she looks like elvira gone horribly horribly wrong
I never realized that Waldman was such a hideous crone. She looks like she wants to steal our children and make a stew with them
Think of the ratings they’d get without Waldman…me for one. I won’t listen again until she’s gone. I sometimes listen to the games on satellite radio and I always listen to the opponents’ broadcast team instead of WCBS.
“You’re eggsactly right Jawn!”
I think I’m gonna puke.
I like when she makes excuses for his horrible calls.
“I really thought that was going to go out, John! I don’t know how it stayed in the park!”
So true. So painfully true.
I listened to a game awhile back against Detroit and I was amazed at how snarky Suzyn was.
Both are huge B-Jobbers too.
Suzyn Waldman and B-Job certainly two things I never wanted to hear in the same sentence.
Hahahaha that’s great.
“Now, if only the team would do something about the quality of their radio announcers”
That’s the problem. With these ratings, we’ll be stuck with this duo until my kid, forthcoming this October, is my age (27).
stirling or waldman will def die before youre spawn turns 27
I wouldn’t be so sure. She kind of looks like a vampire in that picture.
Interestingly, more people listen to the games on the radio than watch them on YES. I find that somewhat surprising.
More people have radios than the cable packages required to enjoy the YES Network.
While your point is right, I don’t think that’s the reason.
I would think the bigger factor is radio is simply more accessible than TV. You can listen to the game on radio while you do other things (work, driving, chores, etc). Watching the game on TV requires a much higher level of your attention. With a game being played almost every day for 6 months straight, most people aren’t going to be able to devote the time to watching a majority of the games, but they’ll often still be able to listen.
Do these number reflect all Yankees radio broadcasts or just those in the NY Metro? I know AM1270 in Dover, NH carries all 162 yankee games and if I’m in the car I’m listening to it. I’m willing to be that a lot of places have a station dedicated to Yankees simulcast in addition to the local team…even in Red Sox NationTM
I know I have to listen to them on the radio during My9 broadcasts…neither FiOS (which I currently have) or DirecTV (which I used to have) carries My9, even on a local affiliate. I believe the only local station to carry it is via Time Warner Cable (yuck).
DirecTV now carries games on My9 on channel 633 (or 633-1 for HD)
Question:
Who do people dislike more Sterling or Waldman and why?
I personally dislike Waldman more. Her voice is not intended for radio.
I dislike her more because an analyst should really have played the game to compliment the play by play announcer who never played the game…..
It’s not that an analyst must have played the game, but he/she needs to at least add some semblance of sane and intricate analysis to the broadcast, as that is the only thing their job title entails.
I have a hard time criticizing her lack of analysis since every other word out of her mouth is an add for something. I’m constantly amazed at the number of ads they can cram into a single baseball game.
That’s the 15th out and a 15 minute call after the game can save you 15% or more on your car insurance!
I don’t think you need to have played the game, but you should understand it and know it well. I know they tend to give these kinds of jobs to former ballplayers, but that doesn’t make them good. Besides…you’re excluding women by saying it has to be former ballplayers. I’m sure there are many women could do a good job as an analyst and know their stuff. Kim Ng (in the dodgers front office) probably know as much about baseball as any player. The only thing former ball players are good for really is Color work, which is light on analytics, and heavy on andectotes and stories from “back in their day”
Waldman. One of my biggest problems with her is how she sometimes does the out of town scoreboard. It feels like she is going on and on about other teams at the cost of not talking about what is happening in the game.
You mean you don’t want to hear the Reds/Pirates score in the middle of a pitch? (sarcasm) She should stick to American League scores only. It would speed up the pace, and stay relevant to teams the Yankees are actually competing with.
she has a face for radio and a voice for silent pictures
ietc. I too have said she and Sterling have faces for radio.
IETC
Sterling is a carnival barker. Waldman has no insight whatsoever into the game. If you spend five minutes listening to quality announcers around the country, you realize how awful these two are. Help!
I think the Mets radio team is even better.
How could it not be? I really tried thinking of a way the radio announcers could be worse, and I couldn’t realistically come up with one (obviously they could just sit there and say nothing, but realistically it can’t be worse.)
Except there are only like five quality broadcasting crews (I’m talking TV; I haven’t listened to a radio broadcast) in the country. Everyone else is an unabashed homer for the home team.
(IMO, the five broadcasting crews are the Yanks, San Francisco, Oakland, Mets, and Dodgers)
Everyone else is an unabashed homer for the home team.
Of course they are. They’re the broadcasting crew for a specific team not a national crew, so why should they be unbiased?
Being somewhat biased towards the team which they are broadcasting is one thing. However, there should still be some professionalism when announcing games, and many crews take the bias way too far.
There’s a difference between being slightly biased and referring to the team as “we” during a broadcast.
“Everyone else is an unabashed homer for the home team.”
So true. Watching Hawk Harrelson call the Tigers’ three run home run in the bottom of the ninth just now on MLB Network was music to my ears, unlike the rest of the game
ooooh I would have loved to hear that. He must have sounded crushed, right?
Haha he just said “that ball hit deep..” and then tailed off into a sorrowful yet magnificent silence.
Oh man, that sounds classic.
Everyone else is an unabashed homer for the home team.
The Rays TV guys are HORRRRRRIBLE… big, big homers especially Kevin Kennedy (still trying to figure out his ties to TB and why he is on their broadcast). Their best TV guy is Todd Kalas (son of the late, great Harry Kalas) and he only gets the intro show (RaysLive) and cut-aways during games.
The worst (other than Hawk) has to be the Nats guys, especially Rob Dibble. My god, he is just atrocious.
Aw come on, I find Hawk Harrelson to be hilarious. I wish him and Michael Kay would team up one day.
This would either be the worst or the greatest thing ever. Also, I thought I was the only one who thought the Hawk was amusing (though if I had to listen to him for damn near every game I would go utterly insane).
Hawk is amusing when the Yankees aren’t losing to the White Sox. When they are, fuggedaboudit.
I watched the Rays game on MLBN today, and my God it was terrible. I feel sorry for you, as you have to listen to this on a regular basis.
oh my goodness gracious
Is there anyone, anyone out there who likes the job that Sterling and Waldman do? Please have the courage to come forward and I won’t criticize you (although I can’t speak for the rest of the forum).
Sterling has a reasonable amount of baseball knowledge, but he has to remind you of that every 0.8 seconds or so with his “of course”s and “what I would do”s. As a broadcaster, he fails. I haven’t found one nice thing to say about Suzyn Waldman. In the end, fans of the New York Yankees deserve better. These two are just goofy.
they kind of remind me of my grandparents, just a couple of enthusiastic homers. i think they do a decent job, and the home run calls are a bit silly, but they have grown on me
I have no problem with Sterling, although he is a bit “eccentric,” to put it mildly. But her certainly understands the game and also is a hard worker. I don’t think he’s missed a single game since what? 1989?
As for Waldman, I’m not too fond of her. She never seems to really add anything to the game. She’s what really makes the radio broadcast unbearable. I’d rather watch YES so I can hear guys like Singleton, Flash, Leiter, and O’Neill who actually played the game give insight.
Ok. I’ll bite. Instead of impassioned arguments (which I’ve done a few times in the past on RAB just to be predictably “oaktagged” by the core commentators on this site) let me simply list what Sterling does that I enjoy more than any other announcers the Yanks have had since I’ve been listening to Yankee games (and I’ve been listening since Mel Allen in the early 1960′s):
1) He is an unabashed Yankee fan and wears his heart on his sleeve.
2) His voice quality/vocal chops are top of the line.
3) His greatest hits of “best” calls are as good as any top announcer you can name (his call on Cano’s HR in Tampa last Saturday was as good as it gets; he not only captured the majesty and excitement of the shot with a perfect description of how far it went and what it meant to the Yanks but he summed it up beautifully with, in the same breath, saying that Mo has gotten up in the bullpen).
4) Even if you are the biggest hater of Sterling during a tight game in the euphoric moment when the Yanks pull it out and Sterling belts out a “The Yankees Winnnn!!!” in a way you’ve never heard before don’t tell me it doesn’t heighten the ecstasy of the moment for you.
5) Kids love his calls.
On Waldman:
1) Good interviewer.
2) I like her snarkiness directed to other teams.
3) Great post-game summaries under less than ideal conditions.
4) She is a trailblazer and Yanks should be given credit for not treating her as a token experiment. She eventually will be recognized for her historic importance in baseball broadcasting history.
Thanks for listening.
Very valid points, Sterling does have a good voice, I just wish he didn’t have to come up with a homer run call for everyone. It’s often so forced. I have this same problem with Kay and his insistence on using catch phrases for everything, way too forced. I also think he does the audience, who obviously aren’t watching, a great injustice by turning every fly ball into a HR. I don’t think it’s that he can’t judge the ball as much I think it’s an ego thing, like he has to be grandiose with every call so he’d rather err on the side of being too bombastic with a flyball than not bombastic enough with a HR. Again, Kay has the same problem. I’m rambling and I’m gonna avoid Waldman, cause I have nothing remotely positive to say.
let me simply list what Sterling does that I enjoy more than any other announcers the Yanks have had since I’ve been listening to Yankee games (and I’ve been listening since Mel Allen in the early 1960’s):
1) He is an unabashed Yankee fan and wears his heart on his sleeve.
Mel & Scooter (especially Scooter) were also unabashed homers. And although it took many years to get over his Baltimore allegience, Frank Messer was also a homer in his later years.
While he didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve, you could hear in Bill White’s voice that he was pleased when the Yanks did well (deep to left…!).
Other than those, none were around long enough to become homers (although I thought Hank Greenberg was excellent in the one year he announced for the Yanks).
I miss Scooter & Whitey. That’s who I grew up with on Channel 11.
Even as a kid, you could tell that Scooter was disappointed when the Yankees lost
Highlights from the report
The top 15 teams individually average over 176,100 listeners per game in their home market.
So these stats are for their home market only? So the cumulative figures only count the NYC media market? I can’t imagine what the total must be. Down here, all home games are on the radio and are usually the only way I get to listen/watch a game (unless they are playing vs the Rays or on Fox/TBS/ESPN/MLB). I’m sure total number of listeners would be much higher. I can see why they would want to count that in the Mkt Shr numbers but for cumulative I think they should be included (unless there is not an accurate way to count those listeners).
Also, I wonder if they count those people who are watching on TV with the sound off and listening on the radio or those at the game listening to the game call.
I’m not surprises TB’s Mkt Shr is ranked 7th since no one goes to their games. They must be watching TV or listening on the radio.
That was my question as well. This is the first season I’ve been able to find the Yankees games broadcasted consistently in the Western New York area, previously I had to try and pull the 880 WCBS signal in which worked on nights when the moon was full and when I had tin-foil on the antenna and stood on my left foot while sticking my tongue out.
Now, if only the team would do something about the quality of their radio announcers.
Like I’m the only one that mutes Katy Perry videos and syncs them up with Suzyn Waldman highlights.
Sterling actually has some baseball knowledge and Waldman actually tries really hard to give you the players’ insights, etc. The problem is just that they have no talent for broadcasting baseball games.
And no chemistry between them.
You know, ya just can’t predict radio ratings…
Still anticipating the Berkman and Kearns HR call. I know they will each hit one….at least. That and thuuuh Yankees win call are really the only part of Sterling I enjoy….
Ladies and Gentlemen, Fat Elvis has left the building…
Austin, Powers one!
???
Having listened to many teams around the country, I feel that the Yankee radio announcers are the worst announcers in baseball. For all the Yankees have in resources, it amazes me that they spend so little or think so little of their radio audience. You would think they would want a top notch group to showcase their product.
Instead we have Sterling and Waldman and their condescending approach that even has my kids making fun of them. Instead of talking to the listeners like adults they speak to the listeners as if they are little children being read a bedtime story. When Sterling goes off on one of his lectures about what personally upsets him I just turn it off and click to the computer to watch the scores update.
I just can’t figure out why they have not been replaced yet.
Maybe this is because the Yankees see radio as a dying bread and that they do not have to have top notch talent on the radio but really they are just terrible.
I don’t think they talk down to their audience, I don’t think they really understand what they are talking about any better than they project.
Have you ever heard them talk about the minor league system or about a player who was just called up? They have no knowledge AT ALL about any of these guys other than “well, the Yankees think really highly of this guy”.
To be honest, I don’t hate Sterling as much as some do.
But Waldman is a witch.
As for market share, though, neither the Yankees nor the Mets can crack the top 15. In baseball’s target demographic — men between the ages of 25 and 54 —
So I don’t count when I listen to the radio?
there shouldn’t be a radio in the kitchen…
[/obligatory’d
I was referring to the fact that I’m 21.
ha i for some reason thought you had already graduated from the U.
I did. That doesn’t make me 25 lol.
lol damn well good job! my bad for throwing you in the wrong age bracket! :p
Well, this got awkward fast….
I wonder how much the ratings would be improved, if the Yankees had an “A” rated broadcasting team instead of this current pairing?
Best radio announcer for me was Marty Glickman….and that was football…a few years ago
Never heard Vin Scully?
Yes of course and he is terrific. His biggest fault was not announcing for the Yankees. Glickman was so good for the Giants. He knew how to paint a picture of the game for the radio audience and he made a 3 yard run off tackle sound so exciting.
the comments on this thread have made me lol a ton
love it
I love the idea of a woman in the booth, even though a typical interview question from Waldman goes something like, “hey Derek, remember that one game where you got that hit in the ninth, and it went right through the shortstop’s legs, and Swish ran home and scored the winning run, did you like that?”
It’s mindless stuff. I like to hear the baseball geek stuff as much as anyone, but there’s a place for people like Sterling and Waldman. My mother-in-law would rather listen to them than anyone else out there. It’s not always going to be tailored towards people like the fans here, and there’s not much particularly wrong with that.
There is something wrong with “and that’s why they call him Jolly Ol St. Nick,” though. Shit’s just retarded.
At this point I think she’s hurting the “female in the booth” cause more than she’s helping it.
Not only will the Yankees not have new broadcasters, this means that Sterling and Waldman can demand a raise!
Considering the Yankee org’s commitment to (and recognition of) quality across the board, it is sincerely shocking that they continue to employ Sterling and Waldman.
It really is a public embarrassment.
I loved Sterling in the ’90s, when he was teamed with Kay on the radio, but both of them have aged horribly and they are so much worse apart then they were together. Waldman is perhaps the very worst of all.
Sterling seems to have open disdain for Waldman, which makes for deeply uncomfortable listening. He steps all over her when she tries to talk, he disregards her opinions on everything baseball-related. Waldman is consequently wildly eager to please, which makes her sound pathetic and almost desperate. Her voice is the needy braying of a feral cat in an alley.
They are laughably out of touch, obviously. They deal in hoary old cliches and will never, ever have an understanding of even remotely advanced analysis.
They also seem to detest their audience.
It is truly beyond all explanation that the Yankees continue to PAY THEM (much less allow them) to be the voices of the franchise.
They are a laughingstock across baseball and media.
I recall the episode wherein Waldman announced Roger Clemens’ return, after which her embarrassing histrionics went viral and were roundly (and rightfully) mocked by every sports talk radio host in the country and on every baseball-related message board in the world.
Sterling’s home run calls are inane and childish but might be considered endearing. I accept that. However, his inability to correctly call a play stands in strict opposition to the very ESSENCE OF HIS JOB.
“IT IS HIGH! IIIT IS FAR! IIIT IIIIS…reeled in by Crawford a few steps in front of the track. Boy Suzyn, the wind must have kept that one from going out.”
How many times have we cursed Sterling for these blown calls? How many times have we seen this mocked by baseball fans everywhere?
How can the Yankees stand it? I love the YES team (Kay is passable if only to hear O’Neill make fun of the size of his head). But Sterling and Waldman make us look — and sound — bad.
Couldn’t agree more.
There are many things a radio crew have to be good at, and yes, squeezing in all the commercials is just one of them.
The primary purpose of a radio broadcast of a baseball game is to give a call of the play by play accurate enough to be comprehended by someone listening to the game; someone who can’t see what’s happening on the field.
Sterling and Waldman fail in this fundamental task an appalling percentage of the pitches/plays.
This single failure is sufficient for them to be an embarrassment for the flagship franchise of Major League Baseball.
Great, I’m sure that means that those fools will be around much longer. Sterling was the reason I signed up for cable and I am not even joking. Before I was content with radio and the occasional my9 game or going out to a bar to watch it or attending a game. Interleague against the Mets was great because I could listen to their guys who are about 1000 times better.
I can’t stand a minute of their “program” if I’m stuck in the car (which is the only time I will listen, and it’s only to get the score, which if they are in the middle of an inning, good luck. You’ll wait 10 minutes before you hear anything about the score)
Here’s a fun game: Watch the game on tv while listening to Sterling. Only then will you realize the sheer vaccuousness of his “play-by-play.” The man leaves every ounce of detail out of his calls. Not only does he fail to paint a picture, he doesn’t even take out his proverbial brush. Anything outside of the general area in which the ball was hit, and whether or not an out was recorded, is never addressed.
You can complain, but in South Florida, one of the local sports radio stations picks up the WCBS feed. I really enjoy listening to the games in the car/ other places where I can’t watch Extra Innings.
For these two to have been around baseball for decades, it is totally appalling the lack of baseball knowledge they have. How many times heave we heard:
John: “Gee Susan, that is the first time I’ve ever seen that in a baseball game…Who Knew..anyway…Jeter takes a pitch (5 second delay) high.
Susan: I totally agree with you John, I’ve never seen that either. I’ll have to ask Joe Girardi if he has ever seen that..
John: You cant predict baseball, its pointless, such a daffy game…
Or…
John: Here is the new kid, Curtis. (Gives his background from Yankee media guide).
Susan: We’ve never seen him, so we’ll have to get the clubhouse report from Joe to get his background
These two are the laziest and smug announicing team in the big legaues (maybe leave out Kay). They fail to describe the action on the field correctly, often get it wrong, cover up for each others mistakes. They have no idea who the Yankees have at any level of the minor leagues.
Unfortunately, I dont have satellite radio, so I am forced to listen to thier nonsense every day. I have the bad feeling that they will be with us until they a) drop dead or 2) cannot speak. Waldman paints herself as a pioneer in womans sports, while it is widely know that she got her job only becuase of her “special” relationship with George. The HOF must be a joke to recognize as a serious announcer.
OK, I feel better now (until I am stuck in the car with these two idiots).
Can they please just hand the radio job to Bob Lorenz and whichever analyst he works best with and let Chris Shearn or Gordon Daymer take over the studio efforts of the YES network? Im not sure how connected the YES Network and WCBS 880 are, but they have to do something…dont they?