Sunday, May 31, 1998

BY JOHN ERARDI
The Cincinnati Enquirer

In 1977, just after the Reds had won back-to-back World Championships, the "Reds radio network" totalled 115 stations.

It now totals 50.

Part of the reason is: the buying up of radio stations, a consolidation of markets, a dropoff in listener interest in baseball and an increase in talk radio, syndicated sports shows and the broadcasting of such weekend sports as NASCAR.

WEAKENED SIGNAL

A comparison of the Reds radio network in 1991 (the year after the Reds won their last World Championship) and this year shows a dramatic reduction in the number of stations carrying Reds games in a four-state area once called "Reds Country": State '91 '98 Ohio 21 15 Kentucky 22 12 Indiana 15 9 Tennessee 3 0

But another reason, says Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman, is that the Reds no longer run their own radio network.

"When (Reds broadcasting director) Jim Winters was alive, it was all run in-house," Brennaman said. "The teams with the biggest radio networks in baseball were the Reds, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals.

"The Reds felt it was vitally important to the franchise to have as many stations in the network as they could possibly get." The Reds went into the radio business themselves in 1971. With an aggressive staff and a magnificent team to market, the club added 45 stations to their 70-station network within six years.

In the mid-1980s, Brennaman said, the Reds opted to sell the radio rights and dissolve the in-house operations.

"WLW took it over," Brennaman said. "They don't pursue stations with the same vigor the Reds did when they did it themselves. They've not worked at it . . ."

Dave Armbruster, WLW's assistant program director and coordinator of the Reds radio network, says the nature of the business nowadays means not being as concerned with having a huge number of stations in the network.

"If a station drops now, we don't necessarily re-add, because we want to give stations exclusivity in that market," Armbruster said. "It used to be the Reds dealt directly with the stations. Now that we're running the show, it's going to change a little bit."

He foresees the Reds radio network increasing from its present size as the team improves and as more stations go "fully automated," meaning they will no longer need an employee at the station to run the broadcast.

"In the 1970s, the Reds had the best team in baseball," Armbruster said. "Everybody wanted them on their station. Stations were coming out of the woodwork to get them. . . . We've lost some stations to the Cleveland Indians, even more to the Atlanta Braves. Once the Reds come back and start winning, some of those stations that dropped (the Reds) will flip back."

Brennaman has no doubt the reduction in the size of the Reds radio network has cost the team some attendance.

"Whether you have a good ballclub or a mediocre one, if you have a presence (in a community) it has to help," Brennaman said.