After one season as the radio home to the Maple Leafs, Q-107
in Toronto announced it is sending the hockey coverage to its
sister station, AM640, according to Rob Longley of the TORONTO
SUN. Danny Kingsbury, Program Dir of Q-107, said the station had
"no regrets, but it's no secret we weren't really thrilled with
the results." Final numbers showed Q-107's overall ratings
dropped 20%, "jeopardizing its spot as one of the top FM signals
in the city." Leafs coverage "was a huge contributor to the
plunge." The "hard sell" was Q-107's to convince Leafs
management and rights-holder Molson to move coverage back to AM.
But Q-107 promised to provide regular, "live updates on game
nights as well as extensive Leafs promotions" (TORONTO SUN,
8/16).
ROYAL CROWN: The Royals accepted a three-year deal from
Liberty Media/Prime Sports to distribute as many as 80 telecast
on cable and over-the-air, beginning in '97, according to Randy
Covitz of the K.C. STAR. The 80 games will be the most in Royals
history. KSMO-Channel 62 had covered Royal games for the last
four years, but because of "growing commitments to the UPN
network," Channel 62 reduced its telecasts to 53 this season,
giving the Royals the second fewest telecasts of any MLB team.
In the new deal, Prime will air around 30 games on its cable
system and "establish a Royals TV Network affiliate" for about 50
over-the-air telecasts in Kansas City, Topeka, Wichita,
Springfield, Des Moines and Tulsa (K.C. STAR, 8/16).
