Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest » Blog Archive » Fantasy Phenom Contest About Ads Not Future Talent

Fantasy Phenom Contest About Ads Not Future Talent


By Mike Silva ~ July 19th, 2010. Filed under: Sports Media Commentary.

People have been asking me whether I participated in the WFAN Buffalo Wild Wings (the sponsor is the key term) Fantasy Phenom Contest. I figured I would address this and provide the rationale about why I believe this contest is a sham. The answer is no, I will not. This publicity stunt by Mark “Three Titles” Chernoff is from the old 1970′s rock DJ playbook. It’s meant to sell advertising for Buffalo Wild Wings primarily and give the station someone to goof on. Last time I looked I am not a bear in the cage. Also, this contest is about taking Buffalo Wild Wings money, not creating depth on the WFAN bench. If it were a serious contest the sponsor name wouldn’t be necessary.

If Mr. Chernoff and CBS ever get serious about “NY’s #1″ they would have a clear career path and process to apply. They would also have a serious presence on the internet. I am confident the NYBD format can be successful on terrestrial radio. The vision here is a lot deeper than that and encompasses social networking, blogs, and radio combined.  This is about personal branding, good content, and niche subject matter experts. Alas, that requires knowledge and vision, two traits that I have yet to see at WFAN under Mark Chernoff. A “healthy station” has resorted to selling the rights to on air calls (they have some sort of Mohegan Sun promo for callers). Essentially WFAN is becoming the outfield wall at a minor league park.

I wish the participants good luck in the contest. I hope I am wrong (pretty sure I am not), but be prepared to become the dancing bear in Mark Chernoff’s circus during their end of summer snooze fest at Bar A in Lake Como. I doubt we will hear much from you after that, perhaps as fodder during the morning show or to get Chernoff coffee. Better yet, probably doing overnight updates. Yeah, in the world of smart phones updates is a great way to achieve visibility since it’s so vital to the listener radio experience.

Also, with all due respect, I don’t see how Anita Marks, based on what I have heard on air, really knows what good radio is. There is a big difference between talent and equal opportunity if you get my drift. The real losers in this scenario are the kids who spent money on a college education only to see “Joey Boombotz” get visibility. Yeah, that’s fair to those kids.

I will continue to build by personal brand and hope someone with vision in the industry understands what the future holds. Clearly WFAN does not.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com
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6 Responses to Fantasy Phenom Contest About Ads Not Future Talent

  1. murdock
    July 20th, 2010 at 7:45 pm

    I figured that, “You will have your own show for a year” was pretty clear, but I guess not.

  2. Mike Silva
    July 20th, 2010 at 7:54 pm

    After reading about the behavior of this station the last few years do you trust in anything they say? If having your own show means Xmas, Thanksgiving, in the dead of night then yeah, but don’t expect to be taken seriously. Think dancing bears and the circus.

  3. Slater
    July 22nd, 2010 at 10:31 am

    Mike, Can you elaborate on “behavior”?

  4. Mike Silva
    July 22nd, 2010 at 7:46 pm

    They resort to gimmicks when they need ratings, see the Mia Harris commentary on how they treat low level talent, they do very little to promote a solid web presence, they fail to embrace independent media and blogs (like other stations in other markets who, quite frankly, put out a better show). Bottom line is WFAN is an arrogant station without competition, their performance does not meet what I would expect from someone proclaiming to be “NY’s #1″

    “NY’s lazy monopoly” might be more appropriate.

  5. Bryan
    August 4th, 2010 at 1:26 pm

    There are so many aspects of this post that defy logic. I don’t mean this as a personal attack. Let me just make a couple of points.

    First of all, the point of commercial radio is advertising. It’s a business and there is no exception to this. Thinking anything else is just immature. Every commercial radio station you’ve ever heard is a “minor league outfield wall.”

    Second, every promotional contest ever has been for … you guessed it, promotion for the sponsor. What’s different about this and what’s wrong with it? Again, it’s a business.

    Third, what obligation is WFAN under to have a clear career path? Radio is a TALENT industry. That’s like saying Led Zeppelin shouldn’t have gotten popular because they didn’t go to music school. Makes no sense. No offense to people who go to Connecticut School of Broadcasting, but I’m pretty sure they’d take just about anyone willing to pay.

  6. Mike Silva
    August 4th, 2010 at 4:55 pm

    Bryan

    To absolve WFAN from having a plan to develop their own talent is mind boggling. If you are a company that is relying on an industry, not your own resources, to develop the future then it’s about time to shut the doors. When you have a rock radio DJ (Chernoff) using that blueprint for sports essentially you get a marginalized product.

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