Heavy Hundred of Sports Talk Generates Record Hits

The recently published Heavy Hundred of Sports Talk – The 100 Most Important Sports Talk Radio Hosts in America, has generated so much traffic to Talkers.com that – at times – navigation on the site slowed to a crawl, forcing the IT staff at Talkers.com to increase the site’s bandwidth to accommodate the visitors. 

This massive interest in America’s sports talk radio personalities is indicative of the format’s popularity with both consumers and from within the media industry.  TALKERS VP/managing editor Kevin Casey states, “Sports talk radio is off-the-charts popular in so many markets across the country – reflecting the importance of sports in American popular culture. 

The interest in the Heavy Hundred of Sports Talk from people working within the business is one thing, but the attention from consumers of sports talk and the rabid sports blogosphere is astounding.  The passion that exists for the format, the personalities, as well as the games and athletes themselves.

You can check out the Heavy Hundred here:

http://www.talkers.com/2012-talkers-heavy-hundred-of-sports-talk/

Sirius XM Radio to Offer Live Coverage of Wimbledon

Sirius XM Radio has announced that it will offer subscribers comprehensive live coverage of The Championships, Wimbledon for 2012 from the opening day of play on Monday, June 25, through the Ladies' and Gentlemen's Singles Finals on Saturday, July 7, and Sunday, July 8. The agreement was made in association with ESPN Radio, rightsholder to Live @ Wimbledon radio broadcasts in the U.S., and The All England Lawn Tennis Club.

Live play-by-play of matches will air on weekdays on Sirius channel 93 and XM channel 206 and on weekends on ESPN Xtra, SiriusXM channel 85. The broadcasts will also be available on the SiriusXM Internet Radio App for smartphones and other mobile devices and online at SiriusXM.com. SiriusXM listeners will hear Live @ Wimbledon, the official radio broadcast of Wimbledon.

SiriusXM listeners will get up to 13 hours of live Wimbledon coverage daily - from 4:00 am ET through the end of each day's play - giving them access to point-by-point action of matches on both Centre Court and the outer courts, plus pre- and post-match commentary, highlights and up-to-the-moment tournament news.

Dial Global Says 20.6 Million Listened to Final Four on Radio

Dial Global: 20.6 million heard Final Four.

Proving the power of sports on radio, nearly as many people heard a broadcast of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four on broadcast radio as heard the Super Bowl. Dial Global says radio’s Final Four audience was an estimated 20.6 million, nearly as large as the 23.1 million who tuned-in to hear the New York Giants defeat of the New England Patriots.

512 affiliates carried Final Four programming between March 31 and April 2.  “We are pleased that our previous research findings still hold true, people desire play-by-play sports on radio in a big way,” Dial Global co-CEO David Landau says.  The network came up with the audience estimates by commissioning Edison Research to conduct a national telephone survey on Tuesday, the day after the University of Kentucky Wildcats’ victory over the University of Kansas Jayhawks.

Country Music Fans Listen Digitally

One in five country music fans never tune in to country radio stations, according to a research study released Wednesday afternoon at Country Radio Seminar, a four-day national gathering of music makers, players and radio industry executives in downtown Nashville.

Country music fans get their music from websites, their own collections stored on iPods or listening to other types of radio stations, the annual report on industry trends found.

Artists that skew younger like Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood are popular with all ages of fans, and they are recognizable from both devoted and casual listeners.  Younger country music fans are not the only ones downloading country music.  Adults and those that have been country music fans for 20+ years are also buying digital music in droves.

Like all radio, what can country music now do to keep listeners.  stay tuned.

iHeartRadio Adds Greater Media Radio Stations

Clear Channel Radio, the leading media company in America, and Greater Media, a premiere privately held broadcasting company, announced today that Greater Media’s 22 radio stations will be available on the iHeartRadio digital radio platform, offering Greater Media’s listeners more choice and an enhanced digital listening experience.

Under the agreement, Greater Media’s 22 AM and FM radio stations in Boston, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Detroit and New Jersey will be available on the iHeartRadio platform beginning April 2012. iHeartRadio is Clear Channel Radio’s free, industry-leading digital radio service that offers more than 800 broadcast and digital-only radio stations from 150 cities plus the ability to create custom radio stations, delivering listeners everything they want all in one fully integrated service.

“Adding Greater Media to iHeartRadio only improves our leading digital destination for consumers, expanding their ability to find the best and most complete online radio experience anywhere,” said John Hogan, President and CEO of Clear Channel Radio. “Clear Channel Radio and Greater Media understand that radio connects local businesses to consumers like no other medium can, and this agreement offers more choices for our listeners which is what they want.”

“We are thrilled to be able to provide our listeners with even greater access to our stations, anywhere they may be listening throughout the country, with this exciting platform,” said Greater Media Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Peter H. Smyth.

iHeartRadio is available to consumers through the Web, mobile devices and automobiles. It is the number one free broadcast radio app on the iPhone and Android. There have been 47 million downloads of iHeartRadio mobile apps.