John Rhode is leaving 107.7 The Franchise

[traxx]

But that's just not how radio works. Radio is built by ratings, and like them or not, the Animal is dominant in the book. Traber is, right or wrong, the kingpin of the ratings monster there. KREF is a much smaller slice of the pie and has barely been more than a blip on the radar, historically. Mind you, I"m not bashing KREF or anything they do, nor trying to say the Animal is great radio - not at all. It's just a matter of how things work - Tyler wanted into the sports market, and they knew they'd need something splashy to do it. Traber was the play, and they lost.

Note that the Franchise marketed themselves *directly against the Animal* for a loooong time. They went on-air against their commercials, called them the "Death Star" for a time...great stuff, but it didn't help much. And they continue to struggle, it seems. I do think, however, at some point the market will be oversaturated with sportstalk stations and one of them will change formats. But I still think Tyler is going to try the Franchise, or at least overhaul it one last time, before giving up and changing formats. Purely speculation on my part, no insights.

I agree, KREF is a small piece of the pie and I think a lot of it has to do with it having such a poor signal and casual sports fans not knowing it exists. If they'd brought those personalities over from KREF with a stronger signal and bigger platform, I really believe they could've given the animal a run for it's money. If they'd gotten Dusty and Teddy and put them on opposite Traber and Al, they could've beat them. You beat Traber by getting the next big thing in the market, not by trying to poach the old guy who has already overstayed his welcome. If they'd gotten Traber then they're the animal 2.0 with no differentiation and guy who has a history of bad health and you don't know how long he'll stay. With Dusty and Teddy they would've had a couple of young guys and the only thing they'd have to worry about is those guys being poached by a national show on ESPN or Fox.

[Geographer]

Has anyone listened to the Hoover and Lauren Rew show?

[Bill Robertson]

Has anyone listened to the Hoover and Lauren Rew show?

Yes. A couple times when in Tulsa and a couple of weeks ago some of the OKC guys were on vacation so they played Hoover & Rew here. I would trade Gee, Fogle and Ramsey for H&W in millisecond. Why Ramsey is on the air I have no idea.