I see that they arent even ranked in the latest Arbitron ratings. That means there are atleast 16 other radio stations in this market getting better ratings. Some of those include WZAP in Bristol, WRGS in Rogersville, and WETB in Elizabethton. I wonder if Bill Meade is sweating.

I've wondered about the same thing. At one time I thought they were an okay station and I listened. I never listened to the ESPN programming, but did have an interest in the local programming. Then I just grew tired of Bubba, Pizza Head, the Instigator, the same folks calling in all the time. No diversity of opinions.

I listened to about 30 minutes of Sportsline yesterday and it seemed as if there were few callers. When Meade announced he wouldn't take calls on ETSU football, I realized that the show wasn't caller driven and he was lying every time he said he would "love to know what you would like to talk about".

Too much Nascar and Vol calls for me. Then there are King College sports...who cares?? I'm sure she is a nice lady but I really don't care what Lori Worley thinks. Are there enough horse racing fans in the area to justify the time devoted to Colonial Downs (although said time may be paid for by Colonial Downs). It appears to me that the NBA has limited appeal in the area and there certainly aren't a large contingent of Celtics fans. Don't those who follow Braves baseball usually watch rather than listen to the games?

I wonder if they would improve their ratings once ut football season and local high school sports began in the fall.

Just my opinions.

He actually said he wouldn't take calls on ETSU football??? Wow, I must have missed that. That will take away a lot of his credibility. Folks, the lines are being drawn. Many people who have aligned themselves with Stanton and the university on this are going to be changing their tune pretty soon.

BucDoctor Wrote:Too much Nascar and Vol calls for me. Then there are King College sports...who cares?? I'm sure she is a nice lady but I really don't care what Lori Worley thinks. Are there enough horse racing fans in the area to justify the time devoted to Colonial Downs (although said time may be paid for by Colonial Downs). It appears to me that the NBA has limited appeal in the area and there certainly aren't a large contingent of Celtics fans. Don't those who follow Braves baseball usually watch rather than listen to the games?

Amen. On the deadline to declare NBA draft intentions, Meade went on about the guys from UNC withdrawing from the NBA and returning to school as well as other players around the country returing to college. I heard no mention about CP. To be fair, I didn't listen to the entire show, so its possible he mentioned it later, but he should have started the segment with CP's announcement.

Bill has lost me as listener--too much UT and Celtics Bball. I do enjoy Don Helman talking ETSU on Saturday mornings especially when football is the topic.

Bill wants to be a national host so bad. So much so, that he does his show like its a national program. I have a feeling he would get much better ratings if he stuck to local topics(and I'm not talking about Knoxville).

etsualumni00 Wrote:He actually said he wouldn't take calls on ETSU football??? Wow, I must have missed that. That will take away a lot of his credibility.

I'm paraphrasing, but what he said was that the vote was taken, a decison had been made and until there was something new to discusss, the football topic was closed for his show.

That's interesting b/c it seems like the sheer volume of calls on the subject would be a "vote" in itself. He must mean a vote with the staff around the station, which is obviously heavily influenced by advertising dollars like the Johnson City Press (and I speak with certainty on that subject because I have spoken with people there who stated they were "afraid of making Stanton angry" since the university spent so much money with WJCW who was their flagship station at the time). I'd like to call in again and pretend I never heard that rule (which is technically true) and see how he reacted. Why would he want to risk the integrity of his show that he's worked so hard to build? Why try and worry about appeasing Stanton and risk losing your listeners? Not a wise decision.

It's pretty obvious that the only media organization with any backbone in the Tri-Cities is Media General. There are occasional journalists in the other organizations that speak out, but that is the exception rather than the rule.

etsualumni00 Wrote:That's interesting b/c it seems like the sheer volume of calls on the subject would be a "vote" in itself. He must mean a vote with the staff around the station, which is obviously heavily influenced by advertising dollars like the Johnson City Press (and I speak with certainty on that subject because I have spoken with people there who stated they were "afraid of making Stanton angry" since the university spent so much money with WJCW who was their flagship station at the time). I'd like to call in again and pretend I never heard that rule (which is technically true) and see how he reacted. Why would he want to risk the integrity of his show that he's worked so hard to build? Why try and worry about appeasing Stanton and risk losing your listeners? Not a wise decision.

It's pretty obvious that the only media organization with any backbone in the Tri-Cities is Media General. There are occasional journalists in the other organizations that speak out, but that is the exception rather than the rule.

He was talking about the student vote regarding the fee increase. In Meade's defense, that has been quite some time ago and just shortly after the student vote. He may now be taking calls on ETSU football, I don't listen to the show enough any more to really know. I quit listening at that time.

My current listening to WXSM is a few minutes every couple of weeks to see if I can see any changes that would draw me back/make it worth my time to listen again. So far I haven't found that.

I do enjoy tuning in to local high school football on occasion in the fall and thus my previous comment that the fall may bring more listeners back to WXSM with local sports and ut football to talk on the call in shows.

Other's opinions or experiences may differ.

I listen to Don on Saturdays but that is about it. Bill loses me as a listener with the ut/Colts/Celtics stuff. If he would talk more ETSU sports I would listen. Just my opinion.

I can understand the UT stuff, because there are tons of UT fans in the area. What I can't understand is the Celtics talk. I mean seriously, how many Celtics fans are there in the area? Like 12? He simply talks about them because he likes them. I remember a time not so long ago, that he didn't talk much NBA at all, because they Celtics were in the tank, and he said he didn't care much for the game. Now he's all about it. Amazing how that works.

Then my suggestion to everyone on this board is to listen to who Sportsline is brought to you by, and then call, write, email, fax or WHATEVER to every single one of those advertisers and tell them you're not going back until his ass is gone. There's nothing new on the Celtics, not that anyone GIVES A DAMN about Boston in the tri-cities. Also, UT football shouldn't be talked about in June, there's nothing to report. No calls there either. I would also contemplate contacting Citadel Broadcasting and raise hell. I could imagine George Plaster (104.5 The Zone afternoon drive show host, WXSM sister station) saying he wasn't going to take phone calls on a topic pertaining to Nashville sports. Even with the stroke he carries in Nashville he'd be fired faster than anyone. That's just unreal, while being here Monday and Tuesday it's reminded me that while I'm grateful to visit and even see ETSU, I'm glad I don't live here.
One more thing, Bill doesn't have the ability to complete sentences without losing his train of thought and going ummm, uhh, errr, eeee, ummm, aah aah aah for 30 seconds intervals. How is he going to go national? In my job I've listened to sports radio from Boise to Beckley, WV., and nothing compares to the dry, unscripted, poorly produced, half-assed stuff I've heard while being here this week. I was actually saddened to hear it. Are there pre and post show meetings going on? Does anyone have a plan? Ridiculous.

BucDoctor Wrote:

etsualumni00 Wrote:He actually said he wouldn't take calls on ETSU football??? Wow, I must have missed that. That will take away a lot of his credibility.

I'm paraphrasing, but what he said was that the vote was taken, a decison had been made and until there was something new to discusss, the football topic was closed for his show.

BucDoctor Wrote:He was talking about the student vote regarding the fee increase. In Meade's defense, that has been quite some time ago and just shortly after the student vote. He may now be taking calls on ETSU football, I don't listen to the show enough any more to really know. I quit listening at that time.

My current listening to WXSM is a few minutes every couple of weeks to see if I can see any changes that would draw me back/make it worth my time to listen again. So far I haven't found that.

I do enjoy tuning in to local high school football on occasion in the fall and thus my previous comment that the fall may bring more listeners back to WXSM with local sports and ut football to talk on the call in shows.

Other's opinions or experiences may differ.

Ah, I thought Bill's statement was more recent, but you're saying he said this back in 2007. Now I'm with you.

But when you look at it, has there EVER been any other topic that Bill said he just didn't want to talk about? In his defense, he always seems happy to talk about most anything (regardless of how insignificant), and when I used to listen, I can't recall ever hearing him say he didn't want to talk about something. For him to do that, it becomes pretty clear that he's worried about upsetting someone above him, which further confirms what I was told in the past. What a shame, we assume our media outlets operate with their said intent when in fact, they're part of the good 'ol boy network and just out to further personal agendas. I guess if you can rationalize it enough so you can sleep at night then it must be OK.

It's hard to imagine Bill's show is on the air. It's, without a doubt, the worst sports talk show I've heard. I'd guess most of you would agree.

I'm guessing he gets paid next to nothing and there are very little costs associated with the show. It's a filler that brings in a few advertisers.

Honestly, can you imagine anyone listening to it on a regular basis?

kevster Wrote:Honestly, can you imagine anyone listening to it on a regular basis?

Pizza Head, Claude, and Lenny from the Bronx

It's ridiculous too, because Bud, Don and Bob Gordon have a TON of talent, and are getting brought down by the afternoon garbage. I know Gordon isn't on the air but he's still works for the company, and should come back on. I looked up the number, if you guys are really unhappy then call the main office, the number is 423-477-1000. I heard it the other day when Bill came on and the opening segment was a riveting monologue about women dunking the basketball. When is the area going to get out of the doldrums of bad radio.

kevster Wrote:Honestly, can you imagine anyone listening to it on a regular basis?

Yes, it's on a 24/7 broadcast in hell. Live from 3-6 with that smooth talking, slow walkin guy Bill Meade....then replayed around the clock until 3-6 the next day.

You're forgetting about King College basketball games on special nights. Nothing like a good George Pitts and Dale Burns schmoozefest. It was such a great call to take one of the highest rated stations in the market and dump it for really bad sportsradio.

What other sports talk show will go out on location, and basically just do an advertisement for that place for 3 straight hours, and mix in a little bit of sports talk. When he's out on location, there really is no reason to listen.

Sure there is, because now you know where to get your tires filled with hydrogen, or to place an OTB.