Francesa

[ZYanksRule]

He's so funny. He puts on such airs about everything and so obviously avoids admitting he doesn't know something or is wrong.

He has a hard time staying modern. He still refuses to admit that the newspaper as he knew it for 50 years is dead. He still yells about RBI's. He still can't get over the fact that the modern NFL coach has had to evolve and doesn't call all the shots.

I'll say this, though...I will miss him when he's gone.

As disliked as he is, you have to admit one thing: He's enormously talented at what he does. Absolutely has the pulse of what causes the masses to tune in and call in. You don't have to like him, but you have to respect the man's abilities.

[NYDCYankee]

As disliked as he is, you have to admit one thing: He's enormously talented at what he does. Absolutely has the pulse of what causes the masses to tune in and call in. You don't have to like him, but you have to respect the man's abilities.

He and Russo together were the best there ever was.

[YankeeFan1421]

As disliked as he is, you have to admit one thing: He's enormously talented at what he does. Absolutely has the pulse of what causes the masses to tune in and call in. You don't have to like him, but you have to respect the man's abilities.

Oh yeah...totally. Richard Neer seems totally likeable but he's nowhere near as entertaining as Mike.

The interesting thing about Mike is that today he's the personification of "Unconsciously Competent", but he started out his career as "Consciously Competent". Few people go from one to the other.

By all accounts I've heard, mostly public, but one who worked with him too, Mike was the best in the business handicapping NFL games for Jimmy the Greek and all that when he was a kid. Supposedly he was a total workaholic and got tons of inside scoop from around the league.

Today though a big part of his appeal ARE his flaws...he really doesn't know baseball any better than most any poster in here...in fact he's way behind in any kind of statistical discussion and i don't sense he knows the rosters particularly well past the big market teams.

So I'll play armchair psychologist, which is really stupid to do, I know, but Mike's basic insecurities and apparent unhappiness sometimes I think stem from the fact that his major success has come not from out-thinking or outworking people, but rather from just beng a natural character that he doesn't even understand himself...he's Mike Francesa and nobody tunes in to learn anything from him or because they find him to be a likeable person. He's just inherently entertaining even though it's really hard to articulate why.

He definitely knows how to do a show...but a lot of people do and almost all of them never reach his level of success. And the fact that his grumpiness and rough spots are actually the source of so much of what he has must make it a little tortuous to try to improve himself.

[YankeeFan1421]

Oh, and one other thing I really do like about Mike.

Nearly twenty years ago, I would drive my grandmother to her doctor's appointment once a week. Today I drive my daughters around. And in both cases, I could listen to his show and totally trust that he wouldn't say something embarrassing.

i love adult humor and through the years have laughed hard at Stern and whatever else...but Mike and Dog on FAN never reached for ratings via sneak attacks...you knew what you were getting and what little 'guy humor' they had would always be done intelligently and subtly without the stuff that leaks into some of the other shows out there. The FAN in general is good about that. I like Boomer and Carton too, but I know to listen to it when the kids aren't in the car.

[YankeePride1967]

When I think of choosing between Francesa and Kay (or any hosts on those stations) I thank God I have XM.

[Yankees1962]

Francesa should be entertaining today as he gets on the former Rutgers coach now with Tampa and the Jets loss in Pittsburgh.

[4bronxbombers]

WFAN Sportsradio 66 to Simulcast on 101.9 FM

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/10/...t-on-101-9-fm/

Wow, 75 million!

[GordonGecko]

WFAN Sportsradio 66 to Simulcast on 101.9 FM

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/10/...t-on-101-9-fm/

Wow, 75 million!

That's crazy - is that really the value of the spectrum, studios, and speed buttons on people's radios? I have to think they also own some sort of Manhattan real estate too, otherwise holy crap, $75 mil just to duplicate your existing signal...

They no doubt have been looking at what happened to ESPN 1050 when they moved to FM. Apparently they got a huge net increase in listeners (even though they lost a lot of AM listeners)

[JL25and3]

That's crazy - is that really the value of the spectrum, studios, and speed buttons on people's radios? I have to think they also own some sort of Manhattan real estate too, otherwise holy crap, $75 mil just to duplicate your existing signal...

They no doubt have been looking at what happened to ESPN 1050 when they moved to FM. Apparently they got a huge net increase in listeners (even though they lost a lot of AM listeners)

Of course, ESPN 1050 didn't have anything like WFAN's signal. It's not obvious to me how this benefits a strong clear-channel station.

[waterdr]

Of course, ESPN 1050 didn't have anything like WFAN's signal. It's not obvious to me how this benefits a strong clear-channel station.

The 1050 signal was terrible, could barely get it in parts of NJ, where 660 you could be in Boston our down in Maryland and still get it. Remember years ago being in Georgia driving at night and was able to pull in a signal.

[StingrayJG]

I live and work in the Shelton, Stratford, Trumbull area of CT and this is the absolute fringe of 101.9 having a signal satisfactory enough for me to listen to in the car. Beyond this it's way to weak. The AM signal is perfectly fine in this area and well, well beyond.
Barring any kind of signal boost that might come with the deal, I don't see much of an upside for myself to start listening to the FM signal.
The only thing I can see where this can benefit the station and/or the listener is if two live sporting events are occurring at the same time and where there was a conflict in the past, maybe now one will be on one signal and the second one will be on the other. Kind of like what ESPN and ESPN2 are to each other. Or like last night when there was conflict between NYY-BAL and SF-CIN, they broke off onto TNT for the other game. Other than things like that, I'm curious as to what other upsides there may be.

[Big_E]

I live and work in the Shelton, Stratford, Trumbull area of CT and this is the absolute fringe of 101.9 having a signal satisfactory enough for me to listen to in the car. Beyond this it's way to weak. The AM signal is perfectly fine in this area and well, well beyond.
Barring any kind of signal boost that might come with the deal, I don't see much of an upside for myself to start listening to the FM signal.
The only thing I can see where this can benefit the station and/or the listener is if two live sporting events are occurring at the same time and where there was a conflict in the past, maybe now one will be on one signal and the second one will be on the other. Kind of like what ESPN and ESPN2 are to each other. Or like last night when there was conflict between NYY-BAL and SF-CIN, they broke off onto TNT for the other game. Other than things like that, I'm curious as to what other upsides there may be.

The upside is that, aside from much larger listening area, AM is a dead bandwidth. When I was growing up, AM was king. WNBC and WABC fought it out to be #1 in NY. I never listen to the FAN anymore, so the only time I listen to AM radio is for Yankees games, or if there's a major news event and I want an update. I don't even tune in for traffic anymore, since my GPS will help me avoid traffic delays.

And even for Yankees games, if they are on the road I will tune in to XM, since I will get the opposing team's broadcast and not have to listen to Sterling/Waldman.

[deadrabbit79]

Oh come on!!!! just when you start to get used to Alternative Rock being on the radio again its gone!

[GordonGecko]

The upside is that, aside from much larger listening area, AM is a dead bandwidth. When I was growing up, AM was king. WNBC and WABC fought it out to be #1 in NY. I never listen to the FAN anymore, so the only time I listen to AM radio is for Yankees games, or if there's a major news event and I want an update. I don't even tune in for traffic anymore, since my GPS will help me avoid traffic delays.

And even for Yankees games, if they are on the road I will tune in to XM, since I will get the opposing team's broadcast and not have to listen to Sterling/Waldman.

I'm the complete opposite, I can't stand the sound of talk on FM and I only listen to AM. I think AM suffers from massive tech discrimination, when any radio tuner is included in a device it's always FM only

[ZYanksRule]

Oh come on!!!! just when you start to get used to Alternative Rock being on the radio again its gone!

No kidding! It was a really good station, too. Hopefully someone else changes formats and we can get it for a while, again.

[Mr. Mxylsplk]

No kidding! It was a really good station, too. Hopefully someone else changes formats and we can get it for a while, again.

Yup. It left, then came back, now they yank it away again. Very frustrating.

[theDurk]

I'm the complete opposite, I can't stand the sound of talk on FM and I only listen to AM. I think AM suffers from massive tech discrimination, when any radio tuner is included in a device it's always FM only

There is a reason. FM devices can use the headphone wire as an antenna. AM can't. An internal AM antenna is going to be way larger than these devices can handle. So no AM in phones and mp3 players.

[GordonGecko]

There is a reason. FM devices can use the headphone wire as an antenna. AM can't. An internal AM antenna is going to be way larger than these devices can handle. So no AM in phones and mp3 players.

Gotcha, I would think that by now they would have figured out a clever solution to that antenna issue. So either they're not trying or there's some actual physical limitation. Ah well, no 880 on my phone any time soon

[JL25and3]

There is a reason. FM devices can use the headphone wire as an antenna. AM can't. An internal AM antenna is going to be way larger than these devices can handle. So no AM in phones and mp3 players.

I guess you need a device at least as big as my old gray Panasonic transistor radio.

[dstoffa]

Gotcha, I would think that by now they would have figured out a clever solution to that antenna issue. So either they're not trying or there's some actual physical limitation. Ah well, no 880 on my phone any time soon

Nope. The only way you get AM on your cell phone is to:
1. Stream the internet feed.
2. Install a ferrite rod bar antenna in your phone, which will double the size (at least) of your phone, along with other circuitry to make it work. (I think that any AM receiver in a phone is going to be susceptible to so much noise from other devices, that it will be relatively useless.

AM radio waves are very large compared to TV and FM radio waves. Most antennas are designed to receive a certain set of frequencies. This is why you have a VHF-lo, VHF-hi, and UHF antennas on the market. (FM band is very close to VHF-lo). The lengths of the elements are inversely proportional to the frequency. The higher the frequency, the shorter the antenna. Antennas are usually 1/4 wave or 1/2 wave.

The average quarter wave antenna for FM is around 30 inches. This is why a heaphone wire can be used as an FM antenna. It's also why your car antenna is of similar length. Not so much for AM. The 1/4 wave antenna for AM is hundreds if not over a thousand feet long. Then how do you get AM in your car???

There are work-arounds for AM reception, which is why your old transistor radio had a ferrite loop antenna built in, an external loop antenna, or some other type of loading coil to resonate the signal so that it can be received with a shorter antenna. Such things are undesirable in a modern portable device.

So no AM tuner on your phone.... It's antenna is ridiculously short, simply because they operate on such high frequencies. I'ts most definitely a physical limitation, imposed by the phone designers, as they want small things.... You can't have your cake and eat it too.


Cheers!
Doug

[Torre Must Go]

I don't like Francesa because I believe he's arrogant, clearly doesn't treat his staff and former WFAN employees well, and never gives certain teams/players the benefit of the doubt because they don't help him or his show for whatever reason. But he is very kind and fair to A-Rod and is one of the biggest supporters of his in this town and deserves some credit for that considering almost no one else with his ratings are.

[kobak8]

Nope. The only way you get AM on your cell phone is to:
1. Stream the internet feed.
2. Install a ferrite rod bar antenna in your phone, which will double the size (at least) of your phone, along with other circuitry to make it work. (I think that any AM receiver in a phone is going to be susceptible to so much noise from other devices, that it will be relatively useless.

edited out fort shortness

Very good explanation, thank you