Baseball’s Position in the Media Landscape
There’s a moment early on in the pilot of ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ where Jeremy Renner’s character, Mike McClusky, laments his role as the patriarch of Kingstown’s corrupt penal network: “This is never what I wanted. Never what I thought I’d be. But then, I’ve never been anywhere else. Even when they sent me away, they just sent me right back here.”
We learn that Renner’s kingdom, the “20,000 lost souls” of Kingstown’s various prisons, is not something that he’s proud of. Impressive as it is, it’s a source of shame for him.
I wonder if MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred faces the same struggle. As the likelihood of a shortened spring training/regular season rises – “progress” was made today when the MLB-MLBPA agreed to continue negotiations tomorrow after an unproductive meeting instead of waiting till next week – can Manfred really be proud of MLB in 2022? Or will the 2022 season – one that’s likely shortened not by a pandemic, but by a greed-fueled stalemate between billionaires and their millionaire players – be a source of internal shame for Manfred?
Regardless of the level of pride Manfred places in his product, or even the immense amount of money it brings in, MLB faces one certainty – it’s that America’s pastime is no longer a nationalized affair. The sport’s slow pace of play and lack of offense have created a national disinterest and an aging fanbase: The average age of a MLB fan is 57 – up from 52 in 2000, and older than that of the NFL (50) and the NBA (42). Additionally, just 7% of MLB’s viewers are under 18 years old. In turn, MLB’s reliance on regional broadcast networks for ratings and revenue has begun to falter. Attendance dropped 33.9% from 2019 to 2021 and regional sports networks also saw a drop in average household viewership of 12%. Moreover, 12 out of the 29 regional markets saw decreases in viewership.
While MLB is not by any means on its last legs, it is in danger of aging out its fanbase. Sure, the next 3-5 years don’t propose any large concerns, but what about the next 10-15 years? 15-20? If the league is unable to grow a more youthful audience and a larger national recognition, then America’s pastime could be left in the past entirely.
Boo hoo. Baseball’s boring, we get it. How does this have anything to do with the Phillies?
Well, in light of Thursday’s announcement that former Phillies Kevin Frandsen will be leaving his post as the color analyst for road games on the Phillies radio broadcast, quite a bit actually. With regards to baseball’s complex position in the national media landscape, Frandsen’s departure opens up more than a position along Scott Franzke, it starts a dialogue on the team’s radio and television broadcasts as a whole.
Back in April, I wrote on the transformative power of listening to baseball on the radio – how a moment spent listening to a baseball game adds another memory to a time capsule, one that can only be accessed by the sound of broadcast. It’s an appreciation of baseball in its purest form — a game that becomes a part of who you are, no matter where you are.
My larger point, however, was of the medium’s untapped potential. Although it’s the oldest form of broadcast, radio may hold the key to engendering younger fans to the game.
Baseball’s ability to function as a story on radio broadcasts can hold up on its own. What it needs to flourish with new audiences is a structure that creates excitement around each broadcast – an expansion of the radio network.
People today are constantly trying to immerse themselves in a different world. One of the most popular avenues for escapism are podcasts. Instead of just slotting the Phillies broadcast beneath the sports talk rigmarole of listener call ins and pre game interviews, it should be marketed through streaming services like Spotify and Apple podcasts. If each game was broadcast not only on the radio, but as an episode of an on-going podcast, the Phillies could be far more accessible to a younger audience. All week, different episodes featuring player interviews, analysis, and, could build storylines for the upcoming radio broadcast. If packaged as a podcast each game wouldn’t be an isolated event, but instead a chapter in that season’s story – a story that exists beyond the 9th inning, encompassing the humanity of the sport as well. Baseball, as a story full of heroes and villains, could reach an audience who never saw it as anything more than a sport on television.
The tone and content of Phillies broadcasts, both on radio and television, is also interesting. What’s clear in both is how each caters to their audience, an older, hyper-local group, – there’s an effort to be “folksy” and traditional, even at the expense of the analysis. It’s a fine balance, between appearing relatable and boring the audience to death with statistics, but
On the radio, color commentator and Philadelphia icon Larry Anderson has mercifully regaled himself to home game broadcasts. Although I’m fond of Anderson and he forms an excellent match with play-by-play man Scott Franzke, the radio broadcast feels like an afternoon spent with Anderson and not one listening to the game. All too often, the dialogue and story sharing between Franzke and Anderson overpower and drown out the action of the game.
On television, Tom McCarthy does a nice job of juggling different analysts, including the oft-under prepared, not quite camera ready Mike Schmidt. My only gripes reside with the color analysts – Jon Kruk and Ben Davis – along with the “Phillies Postgame Live” show that airs after each game. Although Kruk is not dumb, he’d sure like you to think that he is. His adopted persona of a bumbling old curmudgeon, an effort to appear folksy once again, often stands in the way of shrewd insight. Davis, on the other hand, isn’t folksy as he is just relentlessly negative – as if he has extremely high expectations of this team. His negativity is echoed throughout the broadcast by post game associates Ricky Bottalico and Michael Barkann – they grow increasingly frustrated when dissecting a Phillies loss. In a season filled with close losses, the television broadcast held an air of disappointment.
Featured Image: Beyond the Bell
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