When David Scott decided to end Scott’s Shots, the Fearless Leader of Boston Sports Media Watch, Bruce Allen graciously asked me to join this great site and I accepted. Knowing that I have some large shoes to fill I’ll do my best to keep you informed and entertained at the same time. Many thanks to Bruce for asking me to join BSMW.
Many of you know me from my Friday megalinks and you’ll still get them on the main page at BSMW. I’ll do the daily national links here from Monday through Thursday and also write about Boston and Providence sports media every once in a while. My main blog over at Fang’s Bites will remain up and will also have the links there as well as any press releases plus my take on various shows like 24, Lost and The Amazing Race. But this site will focus strictly on national and regional sports media news.
Since I started doing the megalinks for Bruce, I have not formally introduced myself. I’m a former radio news reporter in Providence and Connecticut having started a long time ago at WKRI in West Warwick, RI. Eventually, I landed at 920 WHJJ/94 HJY in Providence where I was part of an award-winning news staff from 1994 until the early part of this decade. I’ve had the pleasure to work in small markets from West Warwick, RI to Groton, CT before hitting Providence.
I’ve also worked in TV as an Assignment Editor for WPRI-TV in the early 1990′s. But I’ve felt radio was my calling and stayed in that medium until I left in 2004.
I’ve always had an interest in sports media and felt I was a frustrated sports reporter. Certainly the medium has changed since I started in the business, seeing mom and pop radio stations being sold to giant media corporations like CBS Radio, Clear Channel, Cox, Disney and others. What was a public trust to give listeners local news and sports became an operation to make money for the bean counters in the corporate offices.
And sports television which was a four network race between ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, has become a competition of follow the leader between ESPN and everyone else.
NESN has become a major player in New England and so has Comcast with its purchase of FSN New England. We’ll see if the region can continue to support two sports networks.
With the internet so prevalent, the whole issue of newspapers and what their model should be in the new millennium is still being fleshed out. That will be covered here as well.
So you can expect links on the sports media here every day. I’ll also give you some thoughts of the happenings here in New England and anything else that strikes my fancy.
Thanks for indulging me on this one post and I’ll give you links the rest of the way from here out.
Notice the Facebook and Twitter widgets. You can sign up on both to follow my updates both here and at Fang’s Bites. Looking forward to your continued readership.
