Conference Re-Alignment?

[NewZipsFan]

It may be semantics, but I disagree that the connection between Zip athletics and the nation's #18 TV market has been proven and is merely a "fact". I've stated the reason here several times, but I'll repeat to be clear. It's the northern and highest populated part (roughly within 20 miles of downtown Cleveland) of this market that I feel has not been proven to be a significant market, as yet, for televised Zip sporting events.

That's way more time than I really wanted to spend on this. We've got a big day tomorrow. Go Zips!!!

It sounds like you are saying that because there has not been significant, or enough coverage of the Zips in the DMA (which I understand to be officially called the Cleveland/Akron DMA - this term is used for all radio and tv ratings in that area - meaning that the local affiliates are the same in that geographic area) somehow negates the fact that the Cleveland/Akron DMA is a top 20 market in the country - and would be HIGHLY coveted by any conference

This is what would happen - if Akron were to joinhe's any, the Big East for example, the conference would negotiate much more lucrative deals for the market - not only giving the Zips a significantly larger amount of live tv exposure, but will in turn raise awareness and the perception of the University which will translate into better and better recruits, students, faculty, etc

[wadszip]

This is an interesting conversation and lies at the root of my disdain for Cleveland. Technically it's the Cleveland-Akron market, but in practice, that is tragically laughable for anyone who wants to see Akron duly recognized and advanced.

For at least 20 years now, Cleveland has literally almost completely refused to even acknowledge the existence of Akron. The region was force fed almost daily updates on the progress of the construction of the new Cleveland Brown's Stadium. But what did we get for the opening of the Info? A 4-minute segment the night before opening day? That should have been an ongoing story.

Would the Cleveland tv media shine more light on Akron were we to join the Big East? That's a serious question, the answer to which our admittance to that conference just might hinge upon.

Sadly, it seems that if it's at all within Cleveland's media power, they'd do anything possible to actually see Akron's Vision 2020 thwarted, or at least have as few people know about it as possible.

How's that television coverage been for our big BracketBuster contest tomorrow? Oh, right, the "Cleveland-Akron Market" hasn't even been made aware that there's even a game being played.

Screw you, Cleveland.

I think you are way off base for your hatred of Cleveland. As somebody who was born in the city of Cleveland and grew up my entire life in Cuyahoga County, I never heard anything negative toward the University of Akron, or Akron in general. If anything, people in Cleveland (Cuyahoga County) think of Akron the same way they do Lorain/Elyria (on the west side) or Lake County (east side), in that it's still "Cleveland" just a far away part of "Cleveland."

It wasn't until I went to the University of Akron before I even realized that Akron had a separate identity from Cleveland. That was an eye-opener to me because I (probably like a lot of Clevelanders) automatically assumed that Akron, for lack of a better term, was just a large suburb of Cleveland. That wasn't due to any "let's hold Akron back mentality," but rather out of pure naivety.

Being somebody who is from Cleveland, but went to the University of Akron and now associates more toward Akron because of where I live (though I live in Wadsworth, which is technically in the Cleveland MSA despite only being 13 miles from Akron and 40 miles from Cleveland), it seems the only people who draw some sort of invisible dividing line between Cleveland and Akron are Akronites (cough, cough, LeBron James).

Since it seems that since Clevelanders, for the most part, don't look at Akron as some foreign place is actually a good thing when it comes to trying to gain a share of that portion of the market. Will Akron ever do that, who knows. People on here have speculated for days and nobody can say yes or no. But the overriding good thing is that Akron is in the middle of the No. 17 TV market. That is not debatable. It's fact.

Going back to Blue & Gold's disdain for anything Cleveland, comparing the building of Cleveland Browns Stadium to InfoCision is hardly a great example of an anti-Akron biased. The NFL is by far the most popular league in America, and even more popular than the national average in Northeast Ohio (not just Cleveland). Then when you consider the whole Art Modell moving one of the most popular and historic franchises in the NFL, and its rebirth, of course it is going to draw more attention than InfoCision Stadium. I'm sure the ABJ (can't accuse them of being the Cleveland media) covered the building CBS more than the building of InfoCision as well.

As for the 2020 vision, post a link to a Cleveland-based media source that is against those plans. If one exists, I haven't seen it.

As for the BracketBuster game, I read an article today from Elton Alexander from the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer. It mentioned all three of the local teams' games, but the story's primary focus was on Akron and how it has the best chance of the three at gaining an auto-berth. So much so, that when I read the article, the only comment on cleveland.com (at the time) was from somebody accusing Elton of being biased toward Akron. That damn anti-Akron Cleveland media at work.

Overall, I've been trying to follow the media attention of Akron, Can't and Cleveland State from the Cleveland media sources (PD, TV news stations, 850 and 92.3), and I think Akron (especially recently) has gotten the most coverage out of all the the Cleveland-Akron schools.

[wadszip]

Actually it is Cleveland-Akron-Lorain. However you are right. I would put big money on if Akron joins the Big East(unless it implodes), every station there would run down here to cover the Zips just to say "there a Cleveland team"

As a side note, Akron has been fighting this for years.

Do not believe me? They have been trying to bury Akron for a long time and won.

Cleveland as a market, wants nothing to do with Akron unless money is involved.

To your first point, I hope it's true. Those stations, like the University of Akron, would be jumping on a bigger money train.

As for the links, very interesting reads. However, if Akron can somehow get into the Big East, the university should be thankful the Cleveland stations won out in those battles. If Akron-Canton broke off, it would still be a large market (but more along the lines of Buffalo, which is ranked No. 51), while Cleveland alone would be somewhere in the 30s. It's actually good, for the university's sake, that instead of trying to sell a No. 50 market, along with the potential to add in a No. 35 market, it can now just sell the No. 17 market.

That doesn't change the deeper question of how does the University of Akron sell itself to the northern half of the market (60 percent total). But it at least makes the battle easier since it is in one market, considering those Cleveland stations that won out initially still have to cover the southern half (40 percent), because covering that area is what they fought for in the first place.

[Blue & Gold]

I think you are way off base for your hatred of Cleveland. As somebody who was born in the city of Cleveland and grew up my entire life in Cuyahoga County, I never heard anything negative toward the University of Akron, or Akron in general. If anything, people in Cleveland (Cuyahoga County) think of Akron the same way they do Lorain/Elyria (on the west side) or Lake County (east side), in that it's still "Cleveland" just a far away part of "Cleveland."

It wasn't until I went to the University of Akron before I even realized that Akron had a separate identity from Cleveland. That was an eye-opener to me because I (probably like a lot of Clevelanders) automatically assumed that Akron, for lack of a better term, was just a large suburb of Cleveland. That wasn't due to any "let's hold Akron back mentality," but rather out of pure naivety.

Being somebody who is from Cleveland, but went to the University of Akron and now associates more toward Akron because of where I live (though I live in Wadsworth, which is technically in the Cleveland MSA despite only being 13 miles from Akron and 40 miles from Cleveland), it seems the only people who draw some sort of invisible dividing line between Cleveland and Akron are Akronites (cough, cough, LeBron James).

Since it seems that since Clevelanders, for the most part, don't look at Akron as some foreign place is actually a good thing when it comes to trying to gain a share of that portion of the market. Will Akron ever do that, who knows. People on here have speculated for days and nobody can say yes or no. But the overriding good thing is that Akron is in the middle of the No. 17 TV market. That is not debatable. It's fact.

Going back to Blue & Gold's disdain for anything Cleveland, comparing the building of Cleveland Browns Stadium to InfoCision is hardly a great example of an anti-Akron biased. The NFL is by far the most popular league in America, and even more popular than the national average in Northeast Ohio (not just Cleveland). Then when you consider the whole Art Modell moving one of the most popular and historic franchises in the NFL, and its rebirth, of course it is going to draw more attention than InfoCision Stadium. I'm sure the ABJ (can't accuse them of being the Cleveland media) covered the building CBS more than the building of InfoCision as well.

As for the 2020 vision, post a link to a Cleveland-based media source that is against those plans. If one exists, I haven't seen it.

As for the BracketBuster game, I read an article today from Elton Alexander from the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer. It mentioned all three of the local teams' games, but the story's primary focus was on Akron and how it has the best chance of the three at gaining an auto-berth. So much so, that when I read the article, the only comment on cleveland.com (at the time) was from somebody accusing Elton of being biased toward Akron. That damn anti-Akron Cleveland media at work.

Overall, I've been trying to follow the media attention of Akron, Can't and Cleveland State from the Cleveland media sources (PD, TV news stations, 850 and 92.3), and I think Akron (especially recently) has gotten the most coverage out of all the the Cleveland-Akron schools.

I love all Zips fans, and I can tell you really did read my post. But, come on, man, that reply could be prime example number 1 of almost exactly what I'm talking about.

Here's an experiment for anyone who wants to see "Akron" given due respect. But careful, because it could/should rock your equilibrium when you actually witness it. Three easy steps:

1) You have to have a passionate interest in Akron, UA, and, specifically, Zips athletics.

2) Watch the daily 6:00 & 11:00 Cleveland news programs (3, 5 & 8). For a while; week, month, year(s).

3) Post on here, (or anywhere, just keep track) of all the Akron Zips stories you see.

You will literally find next to none.

If this doesn't incense you, then go back & question step number one.

Doing this will enable you to see what most all miss, for most people, accept the status quo without questioning much. I do in most things. It's just my desires for Akron that made me critically notice this troubling Northeast Ohio zietgeist.

[ZachTheZip]

You won't find anything negative about Akron in the Cleveland media (besides Pluto's passive-aggressive crap, but that started at the ABJ) because to say something negative about us is to aknowledge our existence.

Wadszip is absolutely correct about Clevelanders believing that Akron is just a far-off suburb, somewhere around the size of Berea or Mentor. It's why they get confused when they hear about Akron being seperate from them in some way. To them it's no different than Westlake acting like they don't need Cleveland to survive. In their minds, Canton is a bigger entity because it's farther out of the perceived grasp of Cleveland.

[ZachTheZip]

Akron-Canton makes up 1/3rd of the Cleveland media market. Are 1/3rd of the media stories about the Akron-Canton area?

[Dave in Green]

It may be semantics, but I disagree that the connection between Zip athletics and the nation's #18 TV market has been proven and is merely a "fact". I've stated the reason here several times, but I'll repeat to be clear. It's the northern and highest populated part (roughly within 20 miles of downtown Cleveland) of this market that I feel has not been proven to be a significant market, as yet, for televised Zip sporting events.

That's way more time than I really wanted to spend on this. We've got a big day tomorrow. Go Zips!!!

OK, we appear to be mostly in agreement, though it seems to me that you're saying two different things.

First, I agree that the areas of the Cleveland-Akron TV market closer to Cleveland than Akron have not been proven yet to be a significant market for televised Zips sporting events.

However, it's a fact that there is at least some connection between Zips athletics and the nation's #18 TV market. When I watch Cleveland TV, I see sports reports on Zips athletics, though not as often or in-depth as I would like. I know there are UA grads who live in closer to Cleveland and watch Cleveland TV who are interested in keeping up with Zips sports. That's the connection I'm talking about. We know there's a connection there, but we just don't know how much of a connection there is or how big it could become if the Zips were playing in a more prestigious conference and attracting more fans.

In the context of this discussion, you may be defining "connection" differently from what I am.

[ZachTheZip]

I think our deal with STO helps tremendously.

[johnnyzip84]

OK, we appear to be mostly in agreement, though it seems to me that you're saying two different things.

First, I agree that the areas of the Cleveland-Akron TV market closer to Cleveland than Akron have not been proven yet to be a significant market for televised Zips sporting events.

However, it's a fact that there is at least some connection between Zips athletics and the nation's #18 TV market. When I watch Cleveland TV, I see sports reports on Zips athletics, though not as often or in-depth as I would like. I know there are UA grads who live in closer to Cleveland and watch Cleveland TV who are interested in keeping up with Zips sports. That's the connection I'm talking about. We know there's a connection there, but we just don't know how much of a connection there is or how big it could become if the Zips were playing in a more prestigious conference and attracting more fans.

In the context of this discussion, you may be defining "connection" differently from what I am.

Maybe you didn't see an important qualifier (on the middle of page 7) I used on your 1st read.

Aside from UA alums, how many Clevelanders typically watch televised Zip sporting events?

Now I acknowledge that one could look at the UA alum base closer to Cleveland as being the very group who might be able to "jump start" the remainder of the northern part of the market into watching more Zip TV sporting events. Time will tell, but I'm skeptical for now.

Scott D. also brings up a good point in that, as of right now, it's somewhat of a "leap of faith" to expect even the Akron market to produce the TV ratings a new-conference and their network partner would like. I just feel that counting on the northern part of the #17 TV market for significant Zip Big East (or wherever) TV ratings is a stretch (my OPINION entirely).

[Dave in Green]

You're right. I missed the qualifier.

OK, another example of Clevelanders' interest in Zips sports would be those who follow Zips players from the Cleveland area. Harney and Tree are good examples. Almost all of Elton's PD stories on Zips basketball now focus on those two. We can be certain that there is interest in Cleveland in reading about these two Zips basketball players and interest in seeing them play. We could reasonably expect even more interest from more Clevelanders if the Zips, featuring Tree and Harney, were regularly playing on TV, for example, Big East teams like Notre Dame, Cincinnati, etc.

I'm just making the point that there is some level of connection even if we don't know the full size. It would be a pure leap of faith if a conference thought the Zips would automatically rack up huge viewing audiences on Cleveland TV stations if they played in a major conference like the Big East. That's why I would expect any conference to do due diligence, analyze all available data and come up with an educated estimate about what level of viewership they might reasonably expect to build.

Again, I think that you and I are mostly in agreement but are just stating things a little differently. I read your posts all the time. I think you're among the most thoughtful posters on ZN.o, and I usually agree with your observations. I can't recall the last time I questioned what you meant because part of what you said didn't make sense to me. I was just looking for a clarification.

[johnnyzip84]

You're right. I missed the qualifier.

OK, another example of Clevelanders' interest in Zips sports would be those who follow Zips players from the Cleveland area. Harney and Tree are good examples. Almost all of Elton's PD stories on Zips basketball now focus on those two. We can be certain that there is interest in Cleveland in reading about these two Zips basketball players and interest in seeing them play. We could reasonably expect even more interest from more Clevelanders if the Zips, featuring Tree and Harney, were regularly playing on TV, for example, Big East teams like Notre Dame, Cincinnati, etc.

I'm just making the point that there is some level of connection even if we don't know the full size. It would be a pure leap of faith if a conference thought the Zips would automatically rack up huge viewing audiences on Cleveland TV stations if they played in a major conference like the Big East. That's why I would expect any conference to do due diligence, analyze all available data and come up with an educated estimate about what level of viewership they might reasonably expect to build.

Again, I think that you and I are mostly in agreement but are just stating things a little differently. I read your posts all the time. I think you're among the most thoughtful posters on ZN.o, and I usually agree with your observations. I can't recall the last time I questioned what you meant because part of what you said didn't make sense to me. I was just looking for a clarification.

You're statement in bold hits the nail on the head for me.

I think I'm usually a fairly effective (written) communicator, but I obviousy had an off day (or two) when I initially commented in this thread. I'm sorry for turning a little defensive at times. I was probably just frustrated with not being able to effectively get my point across more than anything. Go Zips!

[LosAngelesZipFan]

My perception is that there is significantly more UA coverage in 'Cleveland' media than when I was growing up in Ashtabula and attending UA in the mid-80's (holy crap that makes me feel old).

It's pretty natural that there would be a Cleveland bias from Cleveland-based media. Adding to that is Can't State. It seems to me that Can't once got far more coverage than Akron-- because of May 4, the Browns training camp being based there, the Don James-Lambert-Saban-Pinkel teams, and its branch campus network, Can't State seems like it had a much bigger presence in the market compared to UA in the 70s/80s. I think that delta has completely changed the last 10 years and UA is covered as consistently as Can't-- I know this is something the Dr. P has been very aware of and focused on. One of the reason UA buys advertising is to be a customer of those media outlets, which gives just a little bit more impetus to covering UA.

However, Akron consistently making deep runs in the tourney, becoming a solid winner in football, making a jump out of the MAC-- those are things that will propel UA to a different level of coverage. Look at what happened when JT was added a few weeks ago-- blanket coverage, headlines, packed press conference. This is why adding him is so smart-- it was like making a tourney run, etc., all in one swoop.

One area where the Cleveland media has really missed the story is in the redevelopment of UA's campus. Steven Litt, the PD's architecture writer, will do multiple columns on a random CSU or CWRU building, but has totally ignored the $400M+ spent completely transforming Akron's campus (and by extension, Akron's city center). Hopefully having JT driving 20/20 will change that both with Cleveland and national media.

[gozips19]

I think that it is obvious that Akron wants to leave the MAC at any cost. They've proven to "Think bigger than the MAC" with a huge investment in a new football stadium will show their commitment again with a new arena for basketball. With wanting to up enrollment to 40k the parallels to UCF are warranted. The alliance would be a step up in football and a big step up in basketball. It raises the profile of the university and separates them from the Can't's and Ohio's of the state. If Akron has their say they'd be gone yesterday. Everyone I've talked to has been saying that for the past 5 years. The bigger question is once Akron leaves the MAC what would be needed to jump to the Big East?

Can't wait to see how this all unfolds! Hoping Temple joins the Zips

[Dave in Green]

You're statement in bold hits the nail on the head for me.

I think I'm usually a fairly effective (written) communicator, but I obviousy had an off day (or two) when I initially commented in this thread. I'm sorry for turning a little defensive at times. I was probably just frustrated with not being able to effectively get my point across more than anything. Go Zips!

No problem. I know the feeling. I earned a living my entire professional career as a journalist/communicator, and I get terribly frustrated when I can't write things in a way that everyone understands my intended meaning. One of the reasons some of my posts grow so long is because I'm anticipating someone not understanding what I'm trying to say, so I try to say it several different ways and end up getting too wordy. I'll try to work on that for those who prefer CliffsNotes.

[Zipmeister]

I think that it is obvious that Akron wants to leave the MAC at any cost. They've proven to "Think bigger than the MAC" with a huge investment in a new football stadium will show their commitment again with a new arena for basketball. With wanting to up enrollment to 40k the parallels to UCF are warranted. The alliance would be a step up in football and a big step up in basketball. It raises the profile of the university and separates them from the Can't's and Ohio's of the state. If Akron has their say they'd be gone yesterday. Everyone I've talked to has been saying that for the past 5 years. The bigger question is once Akron leaves the MAC what would be needed to jump to the Big East?

Can't wait to see how this all unfolds! Hoping Temple joins the Zips

There is a two part answer to your question. First, a series of tragic bus accidents resulting in the untimely death of the President of each and every Big East school. Second, replacing each of them with a UofA grad.

[zen]

Akron-Canton makes up 1/3rd of the Cleveland media market. Are 1/3rd of the media stories about the Akron-Canton area?

It's just not going to work that way!

It doesn't have to be some conspiracy.

The stations broadcast from the Cleveland area. The newspaper rolls off the lines there.

The execs, broadcasters, writers, reporters, etc all live in Cleveland or it's greater suburban area.

The sports teams have Cleveland on their Jerseys and everyone knows that people from outside the area identify this region with Cleveland as well.

If you don't like it, start a news station. heh.

But, a lot of people my age and younger don't watch the local evening news or read the local paper, so I think the media void is a dying issue anyway.

So if you want to do your part, you don't have to start a TV station. Brush the chip of your shoulder about Cleveland and get involved more with the new media. It takes a lot less of an investment than getting a 10kW amplifier and an FCC license.

WKYC and the PD are creeping slowly into irrelevancy. Why do you think the PD bought Cleveland.com two decades ago?

They saw the proverbial writing on the wall. Unfortunately, they don't have enough vision not to treat new media like old journalism, but they are doing okay.

Relax. Winners have Vision.

Proenza is a winner.

Stop the angst.

[wadszip]

I love all Zips fans, and I can tell you really did read my post. But, come on, man, that reply could be prime example number 1 of almost exactly what I'm talking about.

Here's an experiment for anyone who wants to see "Akron" given due respect. But careful, because it could/should rock your equilibrium when you actually witness it. Three easy steps:

1) You have to have a passionate interest in Akron, UA, and, specifically, Zips athletics.

2) Watch the daily 6:00 & 11:00 Cleveland news programs (3, 5 & 8). For a while; week, month, year(s).

3) Post on here, (or anywhere, just keep track) of all the Akron Zips stories you see.

You will literally find next to none.

If this doesn't incense you, then go back & question step number one.

Doing this will enable you to see what most all miss, for most people, accept the status quo without questioning much. I do in most things. It's just my desires for Akron that made me critically notice this troubling Northeast Ohio zietgeist.

I decided to take you up on looking up the local media coverage. I don't watch all the actual news telecasts so I can't comment on that, other than from what I've seen it seems like Akron, Cleveland State and Can't get about the same coverage on game days (which isn't much for any of them).

However, I went back and looked at the last five pages of cleveland.com in the college sports section. I didn't count AP reports that the PD posts, only stories that were written by a staff writer (or stringer, which the PD used for today's game against ORU).

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/

The breakdown:

1. Cleveland State - 10

2. Akron - 4 (five if you count the Jacquemain/Campbell story)

3. Can't - 1

When you consider that the Plain Dealer is the Cleveland paper, it's no surprise that CSU has gotten the most ink. But the Akron coverage has been fair, IMO.

Then I looked at the websites of the four TV news channels and added up what I could find. Note: Some of the websites are definitely better (and easier to navigate) than others.

19 Action News

http://www.woio.com/category/4398/sports

Cleveland State - 1

Akron - 1

Can't State - 0

WKYC

http://www.wkyc.com/sports/college/default.aspx

None. What a horrible sports section.

Fox 8

http://fox8.com/category/sports/

Akron - 3

Cleveland State - 2

Can't State - 0

Newsnet 5 (front college page)

http://www.newsnet5.com/subindex/sports/college_sports

Akron - 4

Cleveland State - 4

Can't State - 2

Newsnet 5 (going back through the last five pages)

http://www.newsnet5.com/generic/sports/col...Sports-Coverage

Cleveland State - 11

Akron - 9

Can't State - 6

I'm not seeing any anti-Akron bias from the Cleveland TV media when comparing the three local teams.

[Dave in Green]

@wadszip, I'll bet you get (or got) really good grades in school because it's obvious that you are serious about doing your homework.

Our impressions about things are often colored by our beliefs. If we never challenge our beliefs by measuring them against factual data, we may never learn how our impressions differ from reality.

[wadszip]

@wadszip, I'll bet you get (or got) really good grades in school because it's obvious that you are serious about doing your homework.

Our impressions about things are often colored by our beliefs. If we never challenge our beliefs by measuring them against factual data, we may never learn how our impressions differ from reality.

Thanks for the kudos.

I admit, I went into that expecting there to be a bigger discrepancy, but not nearly as large as Blue and Gold assumed there would be. I was actually pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

I didn't add it up in my original post, but the number of stories from the TV sites were:

Cleveland State - 18

Akron - 17

Can't - 6

P.S. those links should refresh so people can feel free to continue to check to see if it was an aberration. But I suspect if the Zips keep winning, the coverage will continue to come.

[Blue & Gold]

Thanks for the kudos.

I admit, I went into that expecting there to be a bigger discrepancy, but not nearly as large as Blue and Gold assumed there would be. I was actually pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

I didn't add it up in my original post, but the number of stories from the TV sites were:

Cleveland State - 18

Akron - 17

Can't - 6

P.S. those links should refresh so people can feel free to continue to check to see if it was an aberration. But I suspect if the Zips keep winning, the coverage will continue to come.

That's cool you did that! But... I'm not talking about a tv news channel's website, I'm talking about the tv news channel's actual televised broadcast. Watch them for a while, and, honest to God, you'll be amazed. And probably upset.

However, hopefully I'm displaying my age with this as Zen pointed out, nowadays increasingly few actually watch the local tv news anymore. But in my formative years, like Ron Burgundy, televised news was king!

[ZachTheZip]

ECU Chancellor mentions that the Alliance is looking at MAC schools in the eastern time zone (that means not NIU).

[lance99]

ECU Chancellor mentions that the Alliance is looking at MAC schools in the eastern time zone (that means not NIU).

Now this is interesting. My question is after listening to the interview is "did Conference USA try this already?"

I actually had a thread about this two years ago and I will ask the same questions that I asked then:

-Travel cost and time

-Do you take some sports or all sports

-SOS concerns

-Charther members of other conferences wanting to leave, or wanting to have their rival game every year

-How many teams and who

-Getting post season selections(i.e. BCS games)

-money sharing between schools

Honestly, thoughts of going to El Paso or Charlotte for a Tuesday night game do not excite me at all

[Dave in Green]

That's cool you did that! But... I'm not talking about a tv news channel's website, I'm talking about the tv news channel's actual televised broadcast. Watch them for a while, and, honest to God, you'll be amazed. And probably upset.

However, hopefully I'm displaying my age with this as Zen pointed out, nowadays increasingly few actually watch the local tv news anymore. But in my formative years, like Ron Burgundy, televised news was king!

When I watch local TV news, I usually watch WKYC Channel 3 news at 11 pm. My best recollection is that they almost always cover UA in sports at roughly the same level as CSU and Can't. Last night, for example, they covered the CSU game first, which struck me as proper because that was a home game played in Cleveland. They covered Can't second, which also seemed OK because it was played locally within the Cleveland-Akron TV market. They covered the Zips game last, and it was the only one that was played outside the viewing area. But they did show some footage from the Zips game and gave it equal coverage.

Another thing I pay attention to is the weather report. It seems as if they are pretty fair about mentioning the whole area and not just the immediate Cleveland area. For example, they almost always show and mention current and projected conditions at Akron-Canton Airport, which is perfect for me as I live just a few miles away from CAK.

It goes without saying that anyone who remembers watching local news on Akron TV stations would find coverage of Akron from Cleveland-based TV stations to be lacking. Akron TV would focus mainly on the Akron area whereas Cleveland-Akron TV has to cover the entire area. The best you can hope for in that situation is to get coverage proportional to your local area's population within the larger TV market.

I'll try to pay more attention to TV news in the coming weeks and see if I think Akron is getting proportional coverage.

[lance99]

Another thing I pay attention to is the weather report. It seems as if they are pretty fair about mentioning the whole area and not just the immediate Cleveland area. For example, they almost always show and mention current and projected conditions at Akron-Canton Airport, which is perfect for me as I live just a few miles away from CAK.

It goes without saying that anyone who remembers watching local news on Akron TV stations would find coverage of Akron from Cleveland-based TV stations to be lacking. Akron TV would focus mainly on the Akron area whereas Cleveland-Akron TV has to cover the entire area. The best you can hope for in that situation is to get coverage proportional to your local area's population within the larger TV market.

I'll try to pay more attention to TV news in the coming weeks and see if I think Akron is getting proportional coverage.

Dave,

They almost have to because there is a National Weather service office there.

Also as far as the Akron area coverage, Western Reserve Media did a great documentary on this subject.

[NewZipsFan]

@wadszip, I'll bet you get (or got) really good grades in school because it's obvious that you are serious about doing your homework.

Our impressions about things are often colored by our beliefs. If we never challenge our beliefs by measuring them against factual data, we may never learn how our impressions differ from reality.

I think everyone is really missing the main point about the media coverage. As an example, the Orlando/Daytona DMA (demographic market area) also includes the Space Coast (Cocoa Beach, Melbourne, etc). If you watch the "local" news (the network affiliates available in Daytona and the Space Coast are Orlando stations) there of course is significantly more coverage of events in Orlando. Florida Tech, located in Melboure, is actually starting a football program - they will be Division II. Will they get coverage? Yes. As much as UCF? No. The Magic are in Orlando. Will they get a large amount of the sports coverage during basketball season? Of course. Is there an NBA team in Daytona or Melbourne? No. The media is going to cover what MOST people want to hear about. Until the Zips give the media a REASON to give us inches in the paper and time on the news, they won't.

As Coach Bowden says about so many things, "Winning solves everything". When we start winning - beating quality opponents, and bringing quality opponents to OUR stadium, the media will be here - I promise you that.