CHAPTER 4: Moving Up the Dial

If Gametime was to be a media platform upon which we were to expand the audience of Ravens24x7.com, we needed to break away from WCBM. We loved the station’s powerful signal and the online access to it, but the audience was all wrong. Gametime on WCBM was akin to SportsCenter on the Hallmark Channel. It just didn’t work. We found a new home for Gametime a few turns up the AM dial at ESPN 1300.

The signal at 1300 was rather weak but they had an audience that we needed to reach – an audience that fit the demographic of Ravens24x7.com’s visitors. Not only was there synergy, the complementary media components provided our customers with some flexibility. We offered blended ad packages that allowed our customers to promote their products and services on both platforms.

We were growing up. We were being noticed.

I assumed the lead role on Gametime with Lucky Lund handling chores as my trusty sidekick. Lucky provided levity to the show and was also a capable debater, digging his heels in on a topic when called upon. The camaraderie came through. We both agreed that it was important for the show to shine. It wasn’t about either of us becoming radio stars. It WAS about the information. Just as with Ravens24x7.com, we wanted Gametime to be a conduit for fans. As fans ourselves, we knew what was missing from other media sources. We understood what content was import to fans. Maintaining that fan-centricity was vital. It still is. The key then, just as it always has been, was to leverage our expanding media access to deliver information for fans, by fans.

Music was a big part of Gametime. We wanted to use it to bring energy to the show and at times, to use music as a topic of discussion, albeit a brief one, to add some personality to the show. I even thought to do the same for Ravens24x7.com.

So, I had our webmaster create soundbites for specific articles. “Blackbird Singing” was a column consisting of several topics woven together in a single piece. The Beatles song of the same name played when a site visitor clicked on the link. “The Grapevine” was a column laced with Ravens-related or NFL-related rumors. “I Heard it Through The Grapevine” played when landing on that page. And then there was my column, Lombardi’s Way, which upon opening, it would play The Beatles, “Paperback Writer”.

I thought it gave the site a bit more personality, as did others. Until…

One day I received an email from a site visitor who wrote:

“Tony, I too am a big Beatles fan and love the songs that play when opening certain pages. But when I’m at work and try to read one of your columns, my co-workers hear the music and I’m busted. They know I’m not working. Can you install an option to silence the feature?”

That’s something I never considered. And we certainly didn’t want to discourage visits to our site, so we quickly honored the request.

Schedule-Gate

By April, the 2004 NFL Schedule was about to be released. I got a call from a friend who was a friend of an NFL employee working in the Manhattan league offices on Park Avenue. He told me that he received a fax from said NFL employee with the complete Ravens 2004 schedule. He asked if I’d be interested in publishing it.

After I vetted the source a bit more, I agreed to post the schedule. It was spot on and word about it appearing on Ravens24x7.com began to spread. The post generated significant traffic and when the Ravens schedule dropped on NFL.com aligning perfectly with the one I posted, it gave our site a boost, elevating our legitimacy.

The next season, right about the time when the schedule was on the collective mind of fans, the 2005 edition of that fax from the NFL offices found its way to me. And without hesitation, I posted it.

Having earned the reputation as a schedule-breaking source the previous year, fans took our 2005 schedule post as gospel. But corporate sponsors and suite holders of the team weren’t too happy. The sponsors and suite owners were told by the Ravens corporate sales team that they would be sure to inform them before news of the schedule was released so that plans could be made. Those with ties to the sponsors and suites were irate and lit up the Ravens switchboard at team headquarters, pointing to the schedule posted on Ravens24x7.com that they were NOT informed first.

The agitated customers upset the Ravens PR group and Sales Department and their disdain was directed towards yours truly. While posting breaking news based upon information from a source is potentially a good thing, assuming the info is reliable, dropping bad information can be devasting to one’s reputation. I was told by team officials that in no uncertain terms, not only was the 2005 schedule that I posted not accurate, it was COMPLETELY wrong. Not a single game was accurate – not even the bye week. I didn’t know that that was even mathematically possible. To my dismay, I learned that it was.

I had no choice but to face the music – to face the Ravens PR staff and take my medicine. I fell on the sword publicly and admitted the mistake; apologized to the Ravens and their fans and then swore off the friend of a friend and his faxed schedules forever.

Some will tell you that any publicity is good publicity. No it’s not. Not when it calls into question your credibility.

Schedule-gate was a setback. But we rallied. The site was doing well. New contributors joined the mix. The scope of our coverage widened. Traffic continued to climb and Gametime grew in popularity.

But more change was on the horizon.

(In Chapter 5 we’ll revisit some unexpected changes for Gametime and introduce some upgrades to Ravens24x7.com along with a new look and identity.)

[CLICK HERE for previous chapters of The History of RSR]

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