"Uhhh hey boss, by the way, I have 90% of our target demo blocked. Really looking forward to working with you!"
As for the Fan, I share most of the same criticisms as you all. But I read some of that old thread from like 8 yrs ago when the station is new... a bunch of people seemed to wonder if it would last, and now here we are. They must be doing something right?
I don't know if it's "doing something right" as much as it may be some other things.
First and foremost, they mostly lack competition in the market. Sure, they have to deal with Madden but that's only from the 3-6pm time slot every day. There's only one other "full-time" conventional sports radio station that covers their market and that's ESPN Radio 970. 970's local programming is limited to:
- Savran, who I think is solid.
- Two hours in the morning of Tunch & Wolf & 5000 Anecdotes About What Chuck Noll Said. I know this town is bat$hit Steelers crazy but if I wanted to listen to two guys reminisce about how great things always were back in their day, I'll go to a bar where at least I can have a beer.
- Crowley in the late afternoon/evening. I've tried to listen to him and he's not...bad, at least when he's not wasting time dodinting/bragging about his latest slapfight with some yinzer on social media. He's not the only one that does it, but he seems to do it more than just about anyone else I've heard in the area. I'm sure that Twitter war with StillerzFan69 was riveting when it actually played out on his phone, but listening to him yammer about it for three full minutes on the air is like listening to someone brag about their fantasy football team.
The Fan also benefits from ridiculous signal strength. I think that makes them very attractive as an advertising medium, especially if you're looking to hit the "sports talk radio" demographics. On days when I've driven to/from Erie and the weather is clear, I've been able to get 93.7's signal well north of I-80. On the flipside of that, ESPN Radio 970's signal is comically bad. Heading home from work, I lose their signal once I'm north of the Hopewell exit on 376 West.
I do like a few people that are regularly on the Fan during the week. OK, I like two - Colony and Mueller - and I'll listen to Zeise because he'll talk college sports more than just about anyone else. I also think their weekend programming is strong, even stronger than some of their weekday stuff.