Bob Raissman checks in with some intriguing news:
Is the curtain falling on Ma and Pa Pinstripe? Will next season be John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman’s last in the Yankees radio booth?
Right now their future is up in the air. The Yankees contract with WCBS-AM, worth about $12 million per year, expires at the end of the 2011 season, so do Sterling and Waldman’s pacts. Sterling has been the radio voice of the Yankees since 1989. Waldman joined him in 2005.
There has yet to be any serious negotiations between the Yankees and WCBS. The job status of Ma and Pa cannot be resolved until a new radio-rights deal is cut. Industry moles say other outlets have chatted informally with Bombers brass. These potential suitors are looking to get a sense of which direction the club wants to go with its radio rights.
Outside of WCBS, which probably wants to keep the Yankees, it’s highly likely ESPN will – if it hasn’t already – stick its beak into the mix. For ESPN-1050, the process of trying to chip away at WFAN, longtime Mets rights holder, has not been easy.
There are 2 issues here. The first is the possibility that the team moves off WCBS, which I think is a terrible idea. WCBS has an excellent signal that reaches across the tri-state area. Conversely, ESPN-1050 has a weak signal that would limit the Yankees to a far smaller constituency. I cannot imagine that a few extra bucks received from ESPN would be worth cutting off thousands of fans and commuters from the product.
The second issue is that of the announcers. I happen to like Sterling, as I find that he handles exciting moments very well and properly captures the drama of important games. Even so, I must acknowledge that he has started making an incredible number of mistakes per game. While I find him entertaining, he is no longer the right announcer to handle a 162 game schedule where he needs to be the eyes for the listener. No matter whether the team stays at WCBS or goes to ESPN, they should take this opportunity to move on from the current broadcast team. With the excellent Jon Miller no longer at ESPN, perhaps he can be pried away from his job with the Giants by a large offer of full-time employment. I think the team should try and pair Miller with a younger announcer who can be groomed to eventually take over the lead role. This would give the Yankees a qualified lead announcer, as well as give them a definitive plan for the future once Miller retires.
How would you handle these issues?
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12 Responses to Time To Move On In The Radio Booth
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I think Miller is still an ESPN employee, he’s just only on the radio now
Oh, I hadn’t heard that was finalized, just that it was being discussed. If so, they can find someone else with some experience. Let me think about it.
Its hard for me to imagine that a big company would spend huge dollars to acquire the yankee rights, and then make a move that could potentially cost them listeners. The more conservative move would be to assess a value/price for the asset and leave things as is. Fans get very attached to their radio announcers, and it usually takes a few seasons before they are accepted. Many of them don’t last that long, look across town at how many Met announcers have come and gone since Murphy died.
But if they determine that Sterling COSTS them listeners with all his mistakes, then I could see a move being made. I think most fans know and accept John with all of his warts, so I doubt he’s a net minus in terms of listeners. Further, I think the attention his antics receive is good for business.
For myself, I can’t stand either of them. I haven’t even tried to listen to a Yankees game in the last two years, because they are so annoying. I realize that much of what they do is dictated by the Yankee brass, and the
station, as well as the advertisers, so it’s unlikely I’ll find anybody worth listening to…but, I’d like to give it a try.
I live in the northern part of commuter country, where 1050′s reception can be pretty spotty and 660′s is pretty good, but I listen to the games on a local FM station anyway. With the Yankees’ popularity, even if there end up being spots that can’t listen on 1050, I’m sure there’ll be local affiliates on the Yankees radio network to pick up the slack.
WEPN is too weak a station to carry the Yankees, so I’d remain on WCBS.
I’m sorry but Sterling cannot see the field anymore. And his homerun calls are straight out of highschool radio.
No matter what happens, station wise, He and Suzyn have to go.
Must say I still love to listen to John Sterling. He has been my connection to the Yankees since college, when I had no cable tv. He’s corny, but I just love listening to him. Susan has not offered any type of quality commentary in years. Her voice is not pleasant to listen to – and when she gets excited, it’s darn right unprofessional often times. Kim Jones, when she filled in on the radio, did an excellent job.
Keep John Sterling!
He has become the voice of the Yankees – no need for a complete change. He needs to be paired with a knowledgeable, stats-friendly, partner who can add something to the broadcast by occasionally taking a differing point of view.
John can supply the historical, emotional, fan-type perspective, his partner can supply the detail, the stats, the trends, and the counter-balance.
If there is ANY possible way to axe her, we vote for new voice in the Yanks booth! We listen to games on the Tampa affiliate and, though a Yankees fan since 1952 (what memorable voices over the yeras!), frequently simply turn off the game now — she is that annoying. Both are tiresome and cliche-driven, but Susan Waldman is by far the worse, merely a sqwaking parrots.
The anti Sterling group is full of young people and smaller than they think it is.
Waldman must have made some deal with Sterling to keep quiet abouty Sterling’s real age which is 72 since he has everyone believing he is 62 by posting his birthdate on Wikipedia as born in 1948 when it is actually 1938. That makes Waldman older than him which must be hard for her to pretend but does so in order to have the opportunity to work as Sterling’s partner in the first place. It answers alot of your questions those wondering why he is starting to miss calls, because he is 72 that’s why
[...] commenters on that post advocated replacing John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman, something I suggested months ago. The team here at TYA had a lengthy email discussion on this topic last night, and we came up [...]