Between NFL and MLB broadcast booths, Fox' Joe Buck said that the "plan this year is for him to do both" baseball and football broadcasts during October. In St. Louis, Dan Caesar notes Buck will "shift from baseball on Wednesday nights to football on Thursdays then back to baseball over three weeks in October in a never-before attempted juggling act of such high-profile jobs." He said that the way the MLB schedule sets up "there will be no Thursday games then for Fox, barring unforeseen circumstances." Buck said, "Baseball takes priority. We'll do a football schedule that makes sense around baseball. I know I'm not going to miss any baseball" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 5/18).
OPEN HOUSE: In N.Y., Andrew Marchand notes the Funhouse Twitter feed that follows WFAN's Mike Francesa is "coming back." The feed earlier this month was shut down by WFAN parent company Entercom," but it "will be back on June 4 after assurances that Entercom won't sue" for copyright infringement. Francesa's new show from a social media standpoint has "really not had much buzz without Funhouse" (N.Y. POST, 5/18).
NUMBERS NEVER LIE: Houston-based KBME-AM "continues to enjoy some separation from its other two sports radio competitors" in monthly radio ratings. KBME for the period of March 29-April 25, which "included the advent of Astros' season and the end of the Rockets' regular season," had a 1.3% audience share among listeners ages 6+. That compares to 0.8% for KILT-AM and 0.7% for KFNC-FM. Those are "frightfully low numbers" with just 2.8% for all three stations, less than the audience share for 17 individual stations in the Houston market during the ratings period (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 5/18).
BASEBALL OR NOTHING: In St. Paul, Brian Murphy reports the independent St. Paul Saints could be the focus of a "documentary series chronicling minor-league baseball's dream chasers and vagabonds." The working title is "Bush League," with the pilot "aimed at capturing the triumphs and pratfalls, sacrifices and camaraderie that keeps these players coming back." L.A.-based Paperclip Limited is "developing the series" and will "shop the 10-minute 'sizzle-reel' produced in St. Paul to streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon to finance a full series." If picked up, a film crew "would embed with the Saints" for the entire '19 season (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 5/18).
