``Savran on Sportsbeat'' to be cancelled

Bob,

It seems like the game of musical chairs within the area's

sports reporters and talk show hosts, just continues.  Its a numbers game with too many names and less money to go around.  I hope he finds another good gig somewhere, just as long as its not with the Pirates.

Bob,

  As a former Pittsburgher now living in the southwest, I am deeply upset with the news that Savran on Sportsbeat is being cancelled. Thanks to Directv it is the one place where I have been able to keep up with western Pennsylvania sports. Stan is a welcome relief from most of the sports talk shows on both radio and television. It has been the one place on radio or television to get factual and accurate reporting of sports news. Shame on FSN Pittsburgh!!!! I hope Stan gets to move his show to another television outlet, even though I will no longer be able to see it.

I agree with the comments made so far?  How can FSN cancel Savran on Sportsbeat?  Stan provides the best Pittsburgh sports coverage of any member of the media (no offense Bob).  What an outrage - I won't watch another FSN broadcast again.  

Bob,

Given Liberty doesn't want to pay for original programming, how do you see this affecting future rights fees for the Pirates in particular? ( FSP is going to have to pay a fortune for Penguin TV rights in its next bid to hold on to them.) The team is bad and getting worse with dwindling viewership. I could see a scenario where FSP lowers its bid amount for the next Pirates television contract.  If that happens do you think one of the local network affiliates, who now have and can add extra digital broadcast channels, making a play for the Pirates on their own "sports oriented" digital channel?

If no one else bids on Bucco games and they end up with less money, how much will that affect their ability to sign and retain players?

I've talked to people that it's time for the Pens and Pirates to build their own station much like the YES Network or even do something like NESN in Boston. FSN is a joke of a station and could be an interesting revenue stream for these teams. I love watching the old features on Bonds as a Pirate and reruns of games.

Bob ...can you PLEASE help us dummies, or at least this one, to understand the logic/rationale behind business decisions like this?  

(Whistle: If I may quote Deep Throat: ``Follow the money.'' -- Bob Smizik)

Penguins -The PensBlog covered the premier of the Penguins' championship DVD : -Sergei Gonchar and

Bob, I am a Pittsburgher now living in south central PA. I can't believe this decision was made. I watch this show every night and I do not understand this. Maybe the Pirate owners work for Liberty and are making these decisions..they seem to have made making stupid decisions a science.  

Absolute BULLS###!!!!!!!

When I was in high school I was planning on majoring in communications.  My high school had a program where students could do internships at sites where they thought they would be employed in the future.  My site was WTAE.  While doing my internship there, I would talk with Mr. Savran every chance I got.  He was kind, gracious and was always willing to listen to my opinion.  We were both Cleveland Indians fans.

After I graduated from high and college, I ran into Mr. Savran on the street and at hockey games.  He never forgot me.

I think what makes Mr. Savran a great sports talk show host is that he allows people to speak their mind and then through his use of the Socratic method, brings those listeners on the lunatic fringe back to reality.  There are not many talk show hosts left who have that talent.  

It is a shame that many stations would rather cater to the herd mentality and hire talk show hosts who pattern themselves after Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck.  This is a sad day for sports talk.  Mr. Savran is to sports talk to what Mr. Lange is to Penguins radio broadcasts.  

this show has a national following.  it is a nightly connection for those of us "not in the pittsburgh market."  segments such as "hockey to the max" are invaluable.  the p-g is not distributed more than a 30 m radius, except for sunday,  now we'll have to have our sports online too :(

that's just BLEEPING great, exactly, for those of us BURGHERS who don't live in DA BURGH anymore, it was the best link, best way to be up to date, kept in the loop of whats going on, i will miss the TOWN HALL meetings, I.E. pens = caufield, steigy, errey, STEELERS = Bouchette, Tunch, Stan, etc,  I guess I can stop my DVR now from taping it everyday.

Thanks Stan & everyone involved, you were awesome, I will miss ya..my heart feels like it was just ripped out.... thanks FSN,

Maybe if FSN/Liberty didn't spend money on terrible Pirates commercials, we'd be able to keep the best sports show on television.  

And, as the case with Mike Lange, FSN ousts yet another Pittsburgh media staple.  

If the show does move to another outlet, you can still get it outside the market.  Just use a Pittsburgh address on your satellite TV account, select paperless billing, and have the charges deducted automatically from your checking or credit card.  In this way, you will get all the Pittsburgh channels, no matter where you are in the country.  I get all the Burgh channels up here in Crawford County.

Just sad. Liberty is very short sighted. If I want nothing but a homogenized national view of sports, I'll turn on ESPN. FSP was at least semi-local.

The lack of heart when it comes to FSN has become a distraction at what is ordinarily an ecstatic time for sports in my PGH. hometown.  Guy Junker, Mike Lange, now Stan Savran, then what?.....  I live near Cincinnati and Columbus now, and the local sports scene out here is basically poor in its reporting and its interest, and not just because of no recent championships or poor performance.  I watch Stan Savran a lot for Pgh sports stories, and to have sports reporting with some heart!!! He has contributed to keep interest up when the teams were down, like a Myron Cope or a Bob Prince or a Lanny Fratare or Mike Lange.

Don't let Pittsburgh turn into something as pathetic as what we have in most of the rest of the country.  It appears to be time for the local media in PGH to step up and provide competition for FSN -- maybe ComCast? Just when was it that the Nuttings bought Liberty Media/FSN anyway?  Keep them and Liberty Media away from ownership in the Pens and Stillers!!!

Bob,

I have to agree with gilbert3. as a transplanted Pittsburgher living in Erie I am devastated by this news.  We're lucky enough to have FSN and that local programming is what keeps me connected with Pittsburgh.  There's nothing better than tuning into the Stan every night to hear about the most recent game or rumblings around the 'burgh.  I thought losing Mike Lange on FSN was bad but this is worst.  Just another example of a large corporate destroying something.

You can't tell me that after winning a Super Bown and a Stanley Cup that a "true" Pittsburgh sports show shouldnt be on the air anymore.  WTF?  As everyone as stated, with all the transplants around the country (I live in Hagerstown) that this show shouldnt be supported and stay on the air.  Stan does an incredible job.  Not that it will change anything but is there any sort of petition or link to voice our opinions?

Very disappointing news.

STAN IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST ...STAN, LOVE THE SHOW !!

Bob,

You said: "Ratings have been as good or better than in the past. This was strictly financial."

Can you explain to me why there is a financial concern if ratings are good?  If ratings have been good, then the program should be generating good advertising revenue, correct?  This doesn't make sense to me why Liberty Media would do this.

Seriously Bummed-Out in Arkansas

While 'follow the money' may be a pertinent phrase, it may not apply here.  For instance, after last week I know one thi ng for sure ... I CANNOT WATCH PAUL ALEXANDER FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME ... he is much too vanilla.  I can watch Rob King however, but not sure how well he would do over a length of time.

I can emphasize with Stan whose ratings have been very good.  After years of very favorable job reviews, I continue to be unemployed, while others who are paid much more to make more important decisions continue to screw things up ... it's just part of the unfairnes of life ... the difference being that the FSN decision affects many of its loyal fans.

So, if I follow this correctly, Liberty obviously wants to make a profit, and to do so, it expects that FSN Pittsburgh make its money from advertising revenues, while it pays for the rights to broadcast Pirates and Pens games, as well as for other programing. FSN Pittsburgh is probably seeing a decline in ad revenue due to the recession. Also, original programming costs for on-air personalities, production staff, and studio space. I am guessing Liberty is looking to cut those local production costs not only in Pittsburgh but in all of their regional markets by producing national content from its headquarters, and then distributing this content to all of its markets, like Atlanta, Denver, and, yes, Pittsburgh. So, if this is right, we in Pittsburgh can expect less and less original locally-focused content on FSN, and more and more generic sports-product shown all over the country, right?  If so, I can strike FSN off my "favorites" list, other than for the games themselves, and I doubt if I'll be the only one! Yuk!

Seems to me extremely short-sighted. I understand times are tough, and Liberty trying to cut costs.  I  may be wrong, but I would think the audience numbers tick significantly upward for Stan's show compared to the network programming that would take its place. I do know one thing for sure: I won't be watching.

So now the station will become just FSN without the Pittsburgh. There will be no reason to tune in without the local reporting and flavor. No viewers will mean more revenue loss.

How has ESPN Radio fared since jamming The Herd down our throat?

"Stan, Guy, LOVED THE SHOW!"

Does anyone in this day and age even consider the happy consumer of products generated by big businesses??  Evidently not!  Our right to some enjoyment and an exceptional program is being flushed away just like so many other things because of the bottom line.  FSNP has been a staple in my household since I got DirecTV a long time ago and has kept me and my family well informed of happenings in Pittsburgh sports.  What's next Liberty, are you going to become a pay per view channel and really screw your business model because if you do, we're outta here!  You have to love sports in general, especially Pittsburgh sports, to be involved in the market.  You have failed miserably, first with relegating Mike Lange back to the radio side (I listen to Pens games online rather than watch them) and now taking Stan from us.  Someone should walk your management out to the woodshed and have a serious "discussion" before you ruin anything else.  It is very obvious to me that you were rejected for membership in the Pittsburgh Nation and now you are taking it out on all of us.  If you were to fold up shop and go away, I'm sure no one would miss you.  Thanks for nothing!  

I agree with all the the other commentators, the money to produce a local program is more expensive than ever before.

FSN wants to carry programming not originate it. More and more media outlets are doing this including this paper. ( Ask Mr. Smizik). Unfortunately for us the viewers we get canned material that represents the country as a whole and not a region such as Pittsburgh. I will miss this show but look forward to Mr Savran doing something equally as satisfying.

Then someday that too will disapear. Such is life in media today. Bob I am glad it was your blog that broke this story. Thank You

Liberty's decision, which has probably made financial sense in other markets, reflects a lack of understanding of the culture of Pittsburgh.  It's a region which is intensely proud of its local heritage and sports team.  This leads to a parochial, often insular, view of things outside this region, but it is also why local ratings for the Steelers and Pens are among the tops for any city in the country.  

I think LIberty is going to find that the increased profit margin will be quite a bit less than the bean counters had predicted not only for the timeslot that Stan occupied, but also the effect it will have on the Pens and Pirates ratings in the absence of an effective lead-in.  All due to a failure to understand the market.

I reside on the eastern part of the state, near Scranton/Wilkes Barre, the pens minor league affiliate.  this area is filled with pittsburgh fans, mostly for the Steelers, but also for the Pens and Bucco's.  It may be philly territory, but  we have many Pitt fans here. My cable company took FSN Pitt off the air a few years ago. I and many friends, immediately went to Direct tv so we could see Stan and keep up on the Pittsburgh Sports Scene. Now I will get rid of Direct TV as there is no longer a reason to keep it.

Stan,

Loved the show!

"Someone should walk your management out to the woodshed and have a serious "discussion" before you ruin anything else."

My thoughts exactly!!

Stan, Loved the show!!

wow.  the ratings will surely fall for whatever replaces Stan.  I assume it will still be cheaper for them to run those Bloopers shows that nobody watches?

Agreed, this is a BS decision. As a displaced Pittsburgher, FSN was the only link to my hometown. No longer. I'm cancelling my Fox Sports package on DirecTV and I suggest others do the same. Who knows ... with the high number of former Pittsburghers around the nation, maybe we can take a slice of out FSN's precious revenue stream. As for Stan, class acts like him end up doing fine.  

Since I'm no longer living in the Pittsburgh area, I also purchased extra programming from Directtv strictly for Sportsbeat, as the actual sports games were blacked out. I buy other subscriptions to watch the Steelers and Penguins games on DTV. WIthout Sportsbeat, on FSN I will cancel that subscription.

Stan Loved the Show.

What a horrible decision (yet again) by Liberty.  Oh well, they probably won't be happy until it's wall-to-wall poker tournaments.   Has anyone else noticed how few actual commercials there are on FSN?  It seems like for every commercial break, waaaay more than half of the time is dedicated to promos for FSN shows.  While I'm not saying I'd love to see more commercials, it seems to me that they must not have any sales people to sell the ad time (or they're not good at their jobs, if there are any there).    Can't be bringing in much money for the shows.  

Very sad to not be able to watch Sportbeat anymore.  Well, this just means I won't be tuning in early for the Pirates games anymore.

Bob,

That is just terrible news. Seeing as how that is the only true tv show that airs year round, we all must suffer through even less local coverage. As a re-located pittsburgher who is a directv subsciber who has the FSN package, I am happy to announce I will be dropping the 15 dollar a month package. Funny thing about that is that liberty media is owned by liberty capital which also owns directv. So they will be saving money, but will be seeing decreased revenue on another front. Just goes to show how out of touch execs are at these mega media conglomerates. Ah well, at least us pittsburghers still have a quality, nay the best sports newspaper coverage from the post gazette. With your blogging, collier's great column and the best beat writers in professional sports we continue to enjoy the best print coverage of any city.

Add this ex-Patsburgher to the list of those dropping the FSN package...

COMCAST just added a new CHANNEL in the Bay Area for the A's .... to the additional channel they already had for the Giants.

This is a direct result of the Pirates being DREADFUL.  A baseball team and it's LONG season and the interest the team generates is the ANCHOR for this type of local sports programming.

NOTHING for NUTTING....

Thanks for the work Stan, we'll miss ya!

If the news is to be believed, then it's a great day for sports journalism.

Stan had a great run, but clearly, the games have passed him by. The guy lost his fastfball  years ago. He has too many conflicts of interest to be give cutting-edge opinions and in-depth analysis. What's more, I can live without the coughs, gurgles, gasps and struggles to get the words out.

Pittsburgh has a reputation as a soft media town. It needs a fresh perspective, somebody that actually doesn't play favorites, has something to say and isn't afraid who it might offend. In a town that has had too many tired voices for too long, this change is overdue.

I liked Stan and the show, I have watched it faithfully for many years through DirecTv. I don't know how much good it will do (probably nothing!) but I never like to go down without a fight so I sent a complaint to Liberty and let them know how I feel about their decision. If you would like to do the same, here is the link to contact them:

www.libertymedia.com/contact-us.aspx

The biggest thing Stan has going for him is he's not Mark Madden. He picks up all the listeners who are not interested in hearing an immature egomaniac put down callers and promote themselves.

But I also think he's too "old school" to fit into the current scene. There's a different pace and attitude now and Stan does a throwback kind of show.

Yes, whatever programming replaces him will get lower ratings, but it also won't cost FSN a dime to acquire.

No more Stan, No Tunchistrator, no roundtables. This is wrong! Maybe Liberty and FSN will show Cowherd's new TV show in its place. Cancel Liberty. If you want to save money quit showing that minor league baseball team of ours.

Stop the press, I am calling for a full scale investigation of who is running FSN.

Lets try to gather some facts that could lead to a possible suspect. Paul Steigerwald (the worst announcer in any format in Pittsburgh sports history ) gets a contract extension and Stan gets the ax.

Oh my God, could it be Bob Nutting?

CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT.......DAMN THE QUALITY AND CUT SOME MORE.  If only Sportstalk could be outsourced to China.  "Chen.....Wu.....love the show!

Sportsbeat hasn't been the same since the network split up Stan and Guy, then they started monkeying with the format of the show. Since Sportsbeat often served as a pregame show for the Bucs and Pens, I guess we will see the end of that too. It is only a matter of time until Liberty decides that post game shows are too costly as well and eliminates those.

FSN Pittsburgh will soon be as generic and devoid of original programming as many other FSN affiliates around the country. If KDKA was smart, they would hire Stan to do their Nightly Sports Call program on the CW.

Savran's show is enjoyably informative until he starts taking the phone calls. Then it's just pedantic on very basic subjects that is boring to the majority of fans.

Terrible Decision for us out of town Yinzers.  Where am I going to go to see the Tunchistrator?  What about the Steelers, Pirates, and Pens coverage.  I don't want to watch "Best Dammed anything"  Hope that this show moves to a new outlit and Stan and Guy are reunited.  Thanks for the Great memories.....................................

Just another example of the blind and ignorant decision making being made at any level of our society. MONEY TRUMPS ALL! I have travelled all over the country and there is no better sports person than Stan. As many of the previous posts have stated, he has a talent that as far as I have experienced is solely unique. He was more of a draw than some of the sporting events FSN show at times. He is going away and so is my FSN viewing time.

Good Luck Stan!

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Well this is awful news.  I'm a displaced Pittsburger living in the Southeast.  Sportsbeat has been my lifeline to Pittsburgh sports for the past 11 years.  

By chance, I just happen to be participating in the Neilson Ratings this week.  You can be sure that they will get my comments on this move.  Unless Fox Sports Pittsburgh replaces the show with another similar Pittsburgh sports news program I will be cancelling my DirectTV sports package.

Other than reading the PG online, I guess I will need to start doing a daily download of the ESPN Radio Stan and Guy show to get my daily fix of Pittsburgh sports news.  Anyone know of any other good replacements?

I really enjoyed watching Savran on Sports Beat.  I enjoyed Stan's insight into the games; football, hockey and baseball.  I really liked the fan call nights.  I think Stan did a great job and I really think FSN dropped the ball on this one.  I hope someone picks up the show.

Thanks Stan!

If Stan is gone, I am wondering how long it will take to remove the Pirates and the Pens from FSN. I have the Dish Network and haven't missed a Pens game, and I catch the Bucs whenever I can. I live in cenral Pa and next to the Gazzette and the Trib it was my fix for Pitts Sports.  Thanks Stan. And can anyone tell me who is a better color man than Bob Erry.     NOT.

Saturday, 1 a.m. Q: The money vs. winning debate is not resolvable, but it can be put on a more informed