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The Fresno Bee, Calif., Rick Bentley Column: World Cup is a Big Deal for Spanish Radio

Posted on: Thursday, 8 June 2006, 09:01 CDT

By Rick Bentley, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

Jun. 8--Dan Crotty, general manager of local Spanish-language radio stations KLBN, FM 105.1, KMMM, FM 107.1, and KGST, AM 1600, is rooting for the United States and Mexico to do well in the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 competition. But should either or both teams be eliminated early, Crotty still will have reason to smile.

KGST, the ESPN Deportes affiliate in Fresno, will broadcast 50 matches in the upcoming World Cup competition. The schedule includes the semifinals and finals. For Crotty, the World Cup broadcasts are like having Christmas and a huge election fall on the same day in terms of interest among advertisers.

"This is really a big event for the radio station. We have already sold out all of our commercial time for all of the radio broadcasts," he says.

The schedule of games on KGST starts at 6 a.m. Friday as Germany battles Costa Rica. The first broadcast featuring Mexico will be at 9 a.m. Sunday. Mexico faces Iran.

Three matches will be broadcast each day throughout the opening rounds. The competition continues until the finals July 9.

The level of interest for soccer with the English-speaking population of the United States is open for discussion. But there is no question that soccer is huge around the world. And it is particularly popular among the Spanish-speaking listeners of KGST.

Ratings for past local broadcasts of the World Cup matches have shown that even if the teams from the United States and Mexico get eliminated, interest remains high.

Crotty also is happy that this World Cup is being held in Germany. Ratings for the World Cup broadcasts four years ago, which originated in Korea and Japan, dipped. That was because the games were played at 2 and 4 a.m. locally.

"Most of the games are in prime radio time: 6 a.m., 9 a.m. and noon," Crotty says of this year's schedule. That is a similar time schedule to the World Cup competition held in Paris eight years ago.

The early-morning hours are considered to be prime broadcast hours for radio because more people are in their cars commuting to work and school.

"This is really a great time for us. Everyone at work is talking about soccer. We have been trying to come up with some ideas about having an event in connection with the broadcast. But it is hard to get people to a sports bar at 6 a.m.," Crotty says.

Local radio won't be the only way to keep up with the matches. KFTV, Channel 21, and KTFF, Channel 61, will televise 64 games. That will be more than 300 hours of soccer. Because the live telecasts are so early, Univision will rebroadcast matches at 7:30 p.m. on its sister station Telefutura, seen locally on Channel 61. Some of the other games will be rebroadcast on the cable channel Galavision at 5 and 10 p.m.

Univision's 2002 broadcast of the FIFA World Cup attracted 35 million viewers.

New job

Local sports talk radio host Kelly Carr is leaving KCBL, AM 1340, and KVBL, AM 1400. Starting June 12, Carr will chat about local and national sports on KFIG, AM 1430.

Carr, who was on KCBL and KBBL for three years, initially will join 1430's "Paul Swearengin Show," which airs at 4-6 p.m. weekdays. Carr and Swearengin are former sports anchors at KSEE, Channel 24.

Swearengin says a decision will be made in a few months as to whether the pair will continue to work together or whether Carr will get his own time slot.

Other news

Casting call: KGPE, Channel 47, will hold auditions for the next season of the CBS reality show "Survivor" 5-8 p.m. Wednesday at the Sierra Vista Mall in Clovis.

Rules and details are available at www.cbs47.tv.

Special guest: KFIG AM, 1430, is bringing Mario Andretti to town to meet with fans. The racing legend will be at the GoodGuys Tire and Auto Repair, 1425 Herndon Ave., Clovis, 11:30 am.-2 p.m. Monday.

Big event: Visalia-based KDUV, FM 88.9, is hosting the fifth annual Freedom Celebration at 3 p.m.June 24. It will be held at Visalia Naz, 3333 W. Caldwell Ave., Visalia.

Army Sgt. Sean Ferguson will be presented the Freedom Award. He served in Mosul, Iraq.

Need to Breathe, Overflow and Jadon Lavik will perform. Admission is free.

The reporter can be reached at rbentley@fresnobee.com or at (559) 441-6355.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Fresno Bee

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