BlogTalkRadio’s Fantasy Sports Channel claimed the prize for Best New Site or Site Update on the second day of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association conference in Las Vegas.
The FSC took the FSTA industry award for Best Podcast on Tuesday, its first such honor.
December 23, 2009
For the second straight year in its two year existence, the Fantasy Sports Channel has been nominated in multiple categories by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. The three nominations are as follows:
Additionally, Footballguys.com’s The Audible and RotoExperts.com’s RotoRadio, both a part of the FSC’s “Must Stream Thursday” line-up, along with FantasyPros911.com’s 24 hour talkathon show, have also been nominated in the Best Podcasting category.
Awards will be distributed at the 2010 FSTA Winter Conference at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. on January 26 & 27th. (Click here for more information on the conference.)
From all of us here at the Fantasy Sports Channel, thank you to all of our listeners and hosts for all of your support!
If you are a member of the FSTA and would like to vote for the FSC in any or all of these three categories, voting is now open–download the official ballot and read descriptions of all the nominees here:
http://www.fsta.org/blog/uncategorized/fsta-awards-finalists-profiles
Please submit your ballot–a maximum of five per company–by Friday, January 8, 2010.
Alright Folks, It’s time for the latest installment of THREE & OUT. A weekly column featuring some of the finer points of the week in IDP, one of the bigger stories of the weekend, a nice pick up for your IDP league, a must-start match-up, and a player that needs to be on your bench this upcoming week.
• Say good-bye to Shaun Rogers for the season folks. The massive DT is out for the year w/ a broken ankle or torn achilles. The bottom line is that the lowest ranked run defense in the league just got a whole lot worse.
• Who’s leading the league in sacks? That’s right, Elvis Dumervil has 14 sacks but it’s not looking like he’ll be breaking any records with the way the Broncos have been using him.
• Sure Drew Brees is off the chain but so is Will Smith aka – “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. With 10 sacks on the year, he’s had a bit of a renaissance and it’s really good to see him being mentioned among the likes of Trent Cole, Jared Allen, and Jame Harrison again.
• Is there anything more consistent in the world of IDP these days than starting David Hawthorne of the Seattle Seahawks? I know we’ve talked about him plenty but this is a LB you could set your watch to.
• The Jets Darrelle Revis is awesome. End of story…. but seriously, the guy shut down Steve Smith for less than 10 yards and intercepted two passes, taking one to the house. If there’s a better corner in the league, then don’t tell Revis about. He might shut him down to.
Alright enough of that, it’s time to find you some waiver players in the latest edition of “3 & Out”. . .
LB James Anderson – Carolina Panthers
OK, I’ll be the first to admit that picking up Dan Connor was a “swing and a miss” but now realizing my flaws and learning the truth, its’ become obvious that James Anderson is the pick here. He’s taking over on the weak-side and he’s got the inside track to a lot of tackle opportunities. We all know that Jon Beason is going to be taking up a lot of tackles but Carolina’s still not stopping anybody on 3rd downs and there’s PLENTY of tackles to go around. The proof is already in the pudding w/ Anderson’s 10 total tackles last week but if he’s still out there on your waivers, then scoop him up and enjoy.
LB Chase Blackburn – New York Giants
With Antonio Pierce now on injured reserve with a bulging disk, Chase Blackburn has now found himself in the fabled cat-bird seat. The club has paid some lip service to Jonathan Goff lately, saying that he’s got a shot to be the starting MLB of the future but I doubt the Giants go that way in the last five games of the year. Point being, Blackburn is here to stay in the middle of another struggling defense that can’t get off the field like it used to in the past. Blackburn’s numbers last week against the Broncos were solid but I’m expecting an even better performance this week against a Cowboys team that loves to run the ball. If he’s out there, he can definitely help your fantasy team going forward.
S Mike Adams (CLE) vs San Diego Chargers
Normally I would be so high on a safety but this is the Browns all around worst rushing defense in the league that just lost their best run stuffer for the year. This is going to result in every single play making it to the next level and with the lack of talent left standing at the linebacker position, the secondary is sure to be very busy. Enter Mike Adams, who’s replacing Brodney Pool(concussion) at free safety. The guy is a decent tackler but with the uptick in playing time, the Chargers tenancy to run the ball, and the likely-hood that the defense will be on the field all day, I’ve gotta think that Adams could be a nice one-week filler if you’re in need of a spot fill in after suffering an Eric Weddle injury?
LB Stephen Tulloch (TEN) @ Indianapolis Colts
Sure, he got 11 total tackles the last time the Titans played the Colts but I think you can all agree that was a very different Titans team that Indianapolis matched up against. With their new-found offensive chemistry under Vince Young’s leadership, the Titans area team to be reckoned with and their defense is no longer on the field all day long with no way to stop opposing receivers from converting 3rd downs. Stephen Tulloch has been a great story this year and I can respect that but I think this is the week to avoid him if you’ve got a better option with the Colts being notoriously stingy on giving up pts to LBs.
Thanks a ton for reading and please bang out some feedback and comments below. You can also e-mail our staff questions or comments to show@idpreport.com
Want to know what’s on the FSC this Turkey Day? Look no further!
8am-8:30am: Steve Wyremski, Retired Rookie Radio
8:30am-10am: Rick Serritella, All Access Football
10am: Tony Cincotta, Fantasy Football Facts
11am: Pat Hegewald, RapidDraft.com Radio
12pm: Craig Davis, Two Feet in Bounds*
1pm: Rob Reed, Baseball Geeks
2pm-3:30pm: Lyle Konkiel, The Fantasy Football Guys*
3:30-4pm: Mike Nazarek, Fantasy Football Mastermind*
4pm-6pm: Joe Everret, The Fantasy Exchange
6pm: Dustin Ashby, WCOFF: Fantasy Sports Night in America
7pm: Matt Camp, FantasyGuru.com Radio
8pm: Chris Wassel, The Program
9pm: Oliver Benton, Phat Guys on Fantasy
10pm: Jim Day, Talkin’ Turkey with Fantasy Taz
*Replay/Prerecorded
Courtesy of FantasySportsBusiness.com
In not yet a year of existence, The Fantasy Sports Channel on BlogTalkRadio has built an impressive roster of shows featuring personalities in various sports from outfits around the industry. Marc Ronick, managing editor and creator of the FSC, took some time out last week to tell FSB.com about the launch, the first year of operation and what lies ahead.
1. First of all, can you explain the BlogTalkRadio business model to anyone who might be unfamiliar?
The network generates revenue via (1) corporate partners like Wal-Mart, Pepsico and Century 21, who lease entire radio stations and sponsor industry events, (2) traditional banner and on-air ads throughout our site and programming, and (3) two tiers of premium services, for individual hosts who want such features as expanded show lengths, call-screening and the ability to edit their shows.
2. In terms that any bum with a phone and a computer can understand, how does one get and operate a show?
For individual hosts, a basic weekly show is free. After signing up and creating their show – at which time they will see a dashboard that includes all the controls for cueing a recorded intro, taking live calls and so on – they simply schedule their debut edition. The system will generate one telephone number that the host calls in to launch the show and another that guests and listeners call into.
3. It seems like pretty much anyone who wants to can create a BTR show, right? So, what does it mean for that show to be on The Fantasy Sports Channel? What’s the difference between a “channel” and a “network”?
With thousands of shows on BTR to sift through, The Fantasy Sports Channel is intended to provide fantasy sports enthusiasts with one place to find exactly what they’re looking for. We go through a “recruiting process” with current and potential BTR hosts to determine if their shows are a good fit for the channel, and vice-versa.
4. What went into the creation and launch of The Fantasy Sports Channel, in terms of additional capital, marketing, partnerships, sales, roster building, etc.?
The costs involved in the creation of the FSC were nominal. BTR knew there was a market for this sort of programming, so a budget was set for higher-priority items. The real investment we made was one of time. A considerable amount of time was spent on recruiting hosts and then working with them (we started with 30 different shows) to put a program schedule together that worked for everyone. Marketing has been handled mainly through test campaigns, heavily focused on social networking. This included utilizing sites like Facebook and Twitter but also working with our hosts to network with their own listener and subscriber bases. With websites like footballguys.com, fantasyfootball.com, fantasypros911.com, thefantasyfootballguys.com, rotoexperts.com, etc., we had a tremendous opportunity to cross-promote our shows and channel.
5. The FSC launched about a year ago (unofficially in July 2008, officially in September). Can you describe the climb from there? How hard was it to convince your BTR cohorts early on that the FSC could work?
I was pleasantly surprised (almost shocked) how excited and cooperative hosts were about the concept. There were very few skeptics. Once they understood the potential and passion we had for the channel, they were on board. Most of our hosts look at the FSC and their shows as an add-on to the different products and services they offer. The channel follows that true spirit of social networking for both our hosts and our listeners. The amazing support and dedication the hosts and listeners have demonstrated has been more than we dreamed it would be. We couldn’t have any of this success without any of them.
6. Was there a specific turning point — an event or series of events that led you to believe (either at the time or looking back) that the FSC had “arrived”? (Whatever that means in the still rather nascent industry of Internet radio.)
That “ah ha” moment was after the first host agreed to join the channel. Craig Davis of fantasyfootball.com spent a lot of late nights on the phone with me learning the ins and outs of how to use BTR and how the FSC was going to work. Once he agreed, we knew that other hosts would see the same potential that Craig did. The other defining moment early on was to see the strong growth – 30 percent – in listenership from July 2008 to September 2008.
7. What do you think the channel does particularly well at this point, and where would you like to see it do better?
We have been able to provide a wide variety of content that keeps our channel interesting and informative. It has naturally evolved into a large niche community of “experts” and “players” all working together for the love of fantasy sports. As for areas of improvement, that’s probably more in the technical realm. I’d love to see a complete revamp of the channel’s homepage as opposed to the generic BTR channel page. We are working on a revamp that will hopefully launch just in time for kickoff in September.
8. There’s a growing view that college football is the next big growth area in fantasy sports. Have you been pursuing more programming in this area? Where else do you see growth potential — either in terms of specific sports or business pursuits?
Fantasy college football has been a growing area, and we are streaming that kind of programming. The first CFF show added to the channel launched early this year and now can be heard every Wednesday night at 7:30pm ET. As for other growth potential, the sky’s the limit. I’m hoping that we can continue to bring in big-name guests AND hosts that will draw in even bigger audiences. Streaming from big-time events like professional championship games, all-star games, rookie drafts, etc., will also give us a unique edge. We’re also working on several reality-style show concepts that get our listeners more involved with the channel.
9. How do you folks make money?
We have a number of partnership opportunities as we move toward our first anniversary of the channel — and the kickoff to the NFL season. We used this past year to establish the channel and our audience. The next step is to start bringing on sponsors and advertisers to generate revenue. The beauty of that is BTR offers a revenue-sharing program so our hosts can also reap the rewards for all of the hard work they’ve put into their shows and the channel.
10. What is the ultimate goal of The Fantasy Sports Channel?
The ultimate goal is to establish the channel as the premiere media source for fantasy sports. The media giants will always be sure to include quality fantasy sports programming here and there, but obviously has a bigger picture to focus on. We want all of the experts and enthusiasts to know there’s one place for everyone to go to give and receive free, quality content that both helps to generate new business for our experts and new perspectives to our listeners to consider as they manage their fantasy teams.
—-
More LIVE fantasy sports radio than anyone on the planet. Approximately 50 unique, interactive shows centered around fantasy sports.
BlogTalkRadio is the social radio network that allows users to connect quickly and directly with their audience. Using an ordinary telephone and computer hosts can create free, live, call-in talk shows with unlimited participants that are automatically archived and made available as podcasts. No software download is required. Listeners can subscribe to shows via RSS into iTunes and other feed readers. Our network has produced tens of thousands of episodes since it launched in August of 2006.
The FSC has been making headlines since its inception in September of 2008. Here are just some of the news we’ve made over the past year.
Cystic Fibrosis Fantasy Football Talkathon
FantasySportsBusiness.com covers the Talkathon