This is a very interesting endeavor by DONU. Several points from me:
1. I was at KASI on the ISU Football Broadcast crew in 1992, which is when KASI sold-out to Learfield as they began buying stations and accumulating their network for broadcasting.
The point here is that Learfield has over time gotten significant debt to be able to have their very large radio network.
Radio revenue is not something that is easy to escalate. The amount of airtime, especially at sporting events is finite (even after you name everything: "this extra point brought to you by......").
So it would be interesting to know just how much or little money actually flows down hill to the schools.
2. Nebraska, more than most schools still has a National Radio (maybe not so much TV) audience, in part because of our older fan base, who remember the glory years.
If you recall, before Learfield, we had stations in Minnesota (alumni supported), Arkansas, Wisconsin, California, Oregon, South Dakota, Iowa, Oklahoma, Nevada (Vegas, baby!), Texas, and Colorado.
Those alumni are still there, hungry for Husker football on the radio, despite BTN, or maybe because of it
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3. Revenue: DONU can sell ad time and profit where Learfield IMG could not because their cost base is much smaller: they didnt buy anything to get there.
Only question is finding stations that will/can carry the games live, which will probably be a mix of AM and FM stations.
4. Who else is like DONU?
-Major football tradition
-large National alumni, many of whom are older, like the radio as much as TV
-Have enough resources to go their own way?
Answer: Notre Dame
und.com
I predict this "Back to the Future" move by DONU will be a large success, that will be emulated by others.
GBR
PS:
If they need someone for their Score Board Show, that's what I did for ISU, I am available, and I work for free
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I think I told the story that I always wanted to do Husker Football on the radio after growing up listening to beloved Lyell.
In 1992, ISU's last game was against Colorado, DONU was not playing that weekend and so KFAB carried our broadcast.
My Mom and Dad got to hear me broadcasting football on KFAB; man, woman and child was that a thrill for me!