Mariners will get a bye in the wild card round, so it will be the weekend of October 4 before the divisional round starts for them. TBS and Fox/FS will carry those games and have exclusivity, so no Root Sports, of course. With the Fox network connedtion, it's an opportunity for 13 to go all out for Washington Sports Wrap and possible pre and post game shows, includiing the duopoly channel and streaming. Whatever the decisions are, expect to see a lot of coverage on the morning/evening news shows in town ahead of home games for all the stations. Their budgets will be stretched for travel to the east and back with NYC, Toronto, Cleveland, Boston and Detroit all in the picture. And if the team advances, it will get even more expensive. The sales folks will be lining up advertisers to meet the costs. Certainly KING has the most manpower, and so does Fox 13. I would expect KOMO to use a lot of Chris Daniels to help Niko Tamurian at T-Mobile and on the road. KIRO could send Eric Thomas if they want to spend the money, but Gary Horcher has the institutional memory. I haven't seen reporter Jason Sloss lately and he does have some sports backgroud.
- Flagship station broadcasts: The flagship radio station of a team competing in the postseason can produce and air its own play-by-play broadcast with the regular local announcers. This allows fans to hear their familiar local voices throughout the playoffs.
- National broadcast rules for affiliates: While the flagship station airs the local broadcast, the other stations in the team's radio network are usually required to carry the national broadcast feed, which is exclusively provided by ESPN Radio. This requirement is especially strict for the World Series.
- Online streaming restrictions: Major League Baseball places tight restrictions on the online streaming of radio broadcasts during the postseason. Stations are typically not allowed to stream the live game on their websites or apps outside of their immediate market area. Listeners outside the designated market must typically subscribe to services like MLB.com's Gameday Audio or SiriusXM to hear the game.
KIRO should send Gary to all of the road games. He has covered sports before in a similar role, helping out with the Seahawks. And, with Deborah Horne's retirement date inching closer, I believe he is the most senior on-air talent that KIRO has. He may not have as much sports knowledge as a full time sports reporter or presenter, but he should have enough to do a decent job here. Eric and Jason would be fine too, but they may not have the knowledge that comes with being in Seattle for over 20 years and knowing the ins and outs of the Mariners. I would have them work with Gary to cover these games to help expand their knowledge for future Mariners coverage.
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DeleteI agree with IDC9 - if the Mariners go far in the playoffs, it would be wise for KIRO to send Gary. Nothing against Eric, Jason or Jake Chapman (who seems to cover a lot of sports for KIRO), but when it comes to covering a historic postseason run, experience & context matter. Gary has been in the Seattle market for a long time & brings a depth of knowledge that only comes from years of being immersed in our local scene. He understands the significance of the Mariners' history, the ups & downs and what this moment would mean for us. Even though he’s not officially titled a *sports* reporter, his reporting background & deep roots in the region make him the right person to cover away games. IF the budget allows, of course. That said, FOX 13 will be the station in the spotlight with this playoff run - I’m assuming they’ll send Aaron Levine?
ReplyDeleteI honestly forgot that Jake Chapman has been helping to cover sports for KIRO lately. He could also help Gary cover these Mariners playoff games, though if Eric and Jason are also tapped to do that as I previously suggested, the pool of reporters left to cover the rest of the news that needs to be covered would be quite small. At minimum, Gary needs to be sent to cover the games. No doubt about it. Who should help him cover the games? Thats the real question. Eric, Jason, and Jake are all good candidates for the task. And KIRO would benefit from having a few reporters with an enhanced level of knowledge about our region's professional and college sports teams for daily news coverage and playoff runs like this. It could make strategic, long term sense to have all three help Gary, even if regular news coverage is more limited than usual during this playoff run.
DeleteYes, Gary Horcher gives the story of the team much better with his instituional memory.
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