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differences to be classified separately from talk radio shows. The all-sports
format is considered a major, or “primary” format, and ranked 13^^ in 2007,
claiming 14.2 million listeners per week across 560 stations (Arbitron, 2008).
These shows include local programming on small market stations, as well as
large scale syndicated shows present in major-markets. Although these formats
include live coverage of athletic events, varying forms of the sports talk radio
show dominate these venues, especially during weekdays.
The beginnings of sports talk radio occurred as radio itself began to emerge.
The use of the wireless telegraph to report on the 1898 Kingstown Regatta
promoted interest in creating “live” coverage of sporting events but were
initially targeted to newspaper offices who sought to be the first to report out to
their readers (Owens, 2006). This limited transmission of updates attracted
growing audiences following increased experimentation with radio in the early
1900s. Many of these efforts occurred at universities, who used the opportunity
to create broadcasts of their collegiate sports (Owens, 2006). However, not until
the 1920s did the popularity of both radio and sports truly intersect to give birth
to the genre of sports radio. In this era, the public’s appetite for sports was
whetted by such personas as Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey who, aided by
newspapers accounts, transcended their roles as athletes (Owens, 2006). As
radio became increasingly available to the public, radio sports coverage was a
natural next step to deliver timely, lively accounts of the events. As pre- and
post-game coverage of these events expanded with the popularity of sports, the
scope of sports coverage on the radio grew quickly beyond just play-by-play
broadcasting.
As sports talk radio emerged as a distinct genre, its evolution from sports
broadcasting can be traced through its development of a community narrative
and voice. Early broadcasts in the 1930s depended on rhetoric, not just the
reporting of data, to define the experience and unify fans’ perspectives (Silvia,
2007). The telegraph operators transmitted information from games in progress
or completed, then broadcasters embellished upon these facts, crafting a
“mythological re-creation” of the event. These narratives captured the public’s
interest in an era where few could afford to travel to witness events firsthand
(Huggins, 2007). Even as sporting events became more accessible, the growth of
the market continued to rely upon radio delivering the experience for that
majority of fans who were not in attendance.
However, true sports talk radio did not emerge until more recently. While
early broadcasting of sports expanded with the upswing in radio, sports talk
radio rose from a downward trend that began in the 1970s with the growth of
television broadcasting. Television added a visual dimension to sports
broadcasting, changing the way that audiences connected with sports, and not
surprisingly, AM radio encountered significant decreases in listenership
(Gullifor, 2006). It was at this time that the sports talk radio format was
launched, a significant factor in helping to rejuvenate AM radio, along with the
growing popularity of talk radio in general. New York’s WFAN lays claim to