Sunday, June 24, 2001
Sports on TV-Radio
Buzz fills void in sports talk
By Joihn Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Every time a white caller gets through to Prime Time Sports on The Buzz (WDBZ-AM 1230), he prefaces his comments with: “I bet I'm the first call from a white guy you've got.”
“We hear it all the time,” said Wayne “Box” Miller, who co-hosts the show with former Bengal Eric Thomas. “Actually, we have quite a few white male listeners.”
But Miller admits that when he pitched the idea of a sports talk show on The Buzz, his aim was to give African-Americans their own sports talk outlet.
“A lot of people tell us it's nice to have "our talk show,'” Miller said. “There's really nothing else out there.”
WCKY-AM (1360) has never had a permanent black host. Neither did WBOB-AM (1160) when it was doing full-time local talk.
“There was a void to a degree,” Miller said. “I think the biggest thing is, you don't hear a lot of NBA talk on the other stations. The NBA is a hot topic with blacks. Baseball isn't as big. I know I'm not the first to say that.”
Prime Time Sports goes head to head with Lance McAllister's show on WCKY from 5-6 p.m., then against SportsTalk on WLW-AM (700) from 6-7.
In the January Arbitron book, WDBZ was 18th (0.8 rating) among local stations in the 25-54 male demographic that sports talk targets. HOMER was 15th with a 1.4 rating. WLW was No.1 at 11.1.
“We're on the radar screen,” Miller said.
Miller's and Thomas' connections help them get some very good guests. Miller used to own a sports marketing firm. Eric Davis, Jeff Blake and Deion Sanders were among his clients.
They've all been guests on the show — so have Gary Sheffield of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon.
“My favorites have been Norm Nixon and Marques Johnson because I'm an old Lakers fan,” Miller said. “We also have had old Negro League players on. I could do eight hours with them.”
FURMAN ON BELL: Andy Furman says a lot of inflammatory things on SportsTalk on WLW, but what he said about former Reds pitcher Rob Bell could land Furman in trouble.
Furman, citing a “reliable source,” said there was a police report involving Bell and the drug Ecstasy.
Furman said Thursday he hasn't heard any response from Bell or the Reds.
“I thought I dropped a bombshell,” he said. “But I haven't gotten a call. Maybe people trust me.”
Furman defends himself: “I never said he was using it or selling it. I'm not going to say who my sources are, but one wears a badge.”
BONDS, BIG MAC: ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball has an interesting matchup at 8 p.m. today. Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants visit Mark McGwire and the St. Louis Cardinals.
WRAP FOR FOX: Today's Dodge-Save Mart 350 from Sears Point in Sonoma, Calif., is it for Fox Sports for this NASCAR season. NBC and Turner take over as part of the new contract.
The first season on Fox has been a critical and ratings success.
“This year has been just short of astounding,” said Fox Sports chairman David Hill. “I am positive ... that in the year 2020 when you look back at 2001's Fox-FX/NBC-Turner contract, it will be the start of when the graphs take off. I think the popularity will continue to grow over the next five to 10 years.”
Fox/FX has averaged a 5.3 rating and a 13 share. That's a 29 percent increase over last year.
E-mail: jfay@enquirer.com
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Buzz fills void in sports talk
