View Full Version : Why Does WWLS blow so hard?



cjohnson.405
01-24-2011, 04:10 PM
Out of football season they run 13th in arbitrons. 13th! That's barely ahead of mexican radio. During football season its 7th...behind OLDIES!

In many other markets, sports radio is #1 in all seasons because of fan interest. What's wrong with WWLS?

okclee
01-24-2011, 09:22 PM
Do you really need to ask, what is wrong with WWLS?

ljbab728
01-24-2011, 10:12 PM
I guess they don't survey me in arbitrons. When I'm im my car, that's the only station I ever have on.

bombermwc
01-25-2011, 06:52 AM
Because all they do is piss and moan and have fat guys that couldn't climb a stadium tell everyone how they're supposed to play. They're a bunch of blowhards that talk a big game, but don't really know what the crap they are talking about. Waste of electricity.

rcjunkie
01-25-2011, 07:45 PM
Because all they do is piss and moan and have fat guys that couldn't climb a stadium tell everyone how they're supposed to play. They're a bunch of blowhards that talk a big game, but don't really know what the crap they are talking about. Waste of electricity.

Reach into your glove box, inside you will find a booklet titled "Owner / Operator's Manuel, turn to the back and you will find the index section, locate the section that instructs you on how to either change the channel or turn off the sound.

Easy180
01-25-2011, 08:49 PM
Listen to WWLS on the drive home now since I unloaded XM...Really enjoy Traber and Al...Pretty good stuff

bombermwc
01-26-2011, 06:39 AM
rcjunkie - I stopped listening to anything local besides KGOU.....Thank God for XM.

onthestrip
01-26-2011, 09:05 AM
Why do they blow so hard? Lets see, where should I start.

Their sports knowledge outside of OU football is awful. How many times has someone called in a queston to Traber and he has to ask his helper to look up some info. They simply dont stay on top of the national sport scene. How hard is it to watch an hour of sportcenter and read a USA Today and Oklahoman sport section each day.
They also dont have command of their own shows. They let boring, annoying callers hijack the show by rambling on about some stupid story. Let them get a question and then answer it. Dont let them drag on.
And how many times do Traber and Al ramble on about stupid stuff (weather, Seinfeld, food).

One listen to Mike and Mike, Cowherd, or Gottlieb on ESPN radio and you will quickly see how lacking the sports animal is.

cjohnson.405
01-26-2011, 01:33 PM
I agree that people can change channels but WWLS does have a responsibility to not suck. This is supposed to be THE station for 18-54 year old men in OKC. We need some guy-talk: beer, chicks, cool music, highlighting the fail of others, and some good sports mixed in. We need more pranks and jokes. We need important interviews to get inside the heads of Thunder girls. (this sounds like I'm joking but I'm not)

This 100% focus of blowing hard on sports (limited to OU with occasional OSU thrown in) is boring. And, I don't get the people that defend Eschbach and Traber. Geez, I've never heard guys that are so defensive and their on-air personalities are really off-putting. I would hate to grab a beer with the on-air Traber. What a life suck that would be. I'm sure that off air, these are great guys (giving the benefit of the doubt here). And, these guys are lazy. You can tell there is no off-air prep or planning for interesting segments. Just show up and throw up. It makes for lousy listening.

Talking calls from listeners is boring and it drags the show down paths it doesn't need to go. These guys need more control and show prep because they are not talented enough to make something out of callers....except to blow hard. The formula isn't working. They are #13!

The guy-talk is what guys want and it makes for winning radio. Eschbach is lousy at it. Anyone remember hours of discussion about Freecell? I just moved back from Dallas where I became spoiled by The Ticket which has ratings that blow away every radio competitor. And I was extremely disappointed to come back to OKC and still hear the same year after year sucking of WWLS.

OKC has become so cool in so many ways over the last 5 to 7 years and it is a drag to hear that WWLS still blows hard.

OKCisOK4me
01-26-2011, 02:02 PM
rcjunkie - I stopped listening to anything local besides KGOU.....Thank God for XM.

Thank God for Pandora, and bluetooth to pump it through my car!

rcjunkie
01-26-2011, 07:36 PM
rcjunkie - I stopped listening to anything local besides KGOU.....Thank God for XM.

Then why do you care about the guys on the animal and what they do or don"t know>>

cjohnson.405
01-27-2011, 09:37 AM
Then why do you care about the guys on the animal and what they do or don"t know>>

IMO - They are occupying space they don't deserve. The market needs a GOOD station and we get sub-mediocre and no replacement.

onthestrip
01-27-2011, 11:44 AM
And, these guys are lazy. You can tell there is no off-air prep or planning for interesting segments. Just show up and throw up. It makes for lousy listening.

Talking calls from listeners is boring and it drags the show down paths it doesn't need to go. These guys need more control and show prep because they are not talented enough to make something out of callers

Exactly my thoughts

Jersey Boss
01-27-2011, 02:54 PM
Traber's obsession with the Bachelor is old and tired as well. There is a lack of insightful guests as well as insightful commentary. Typical of this is Blevins getting on and teasing that he has info that he can't share. If he can't share it, then shut up.

Bostonfan
01-28-2011, 05:32 AM
Then why do you care about the guys on the animal and what they do or don"t know>>

Maybe because he, like many of us, wants to listen to a great sports radio station. Not WWLS. Pretty simple. What are your thoughts on the topic? Or are you just going to ask stupid questions?

I have to agree with most posters on this. WWLS is just not that good. The guys seem to know very little about sports outside of OU Football. Which is one reason I listen to them in the fall, but turn it off the rest of the year. Even during football season it's tough to listen to at times. And they must have the highest amount of commercials than any radio station around.

bombermwc
01-28-2011, 06:52 AM
Exactlly Boston - should I be happy with crap? I don't think so. Rather than turn over and let them continue to dominate the market with their crap, I choose to voice an opinion that they aren't worth their airtime.

ou48A
01-28-2011, 08:25 PM
WWLS is like junior high level radio and there isn’t any one more juvenile than Traber.
The majority of sport fans in the OKC market are OU fans.
Traber makes it a point to be insulting to OU fans.
Traber has become such a hypocrite that I avoid doing business wherever Traber does a remote.

ou48A
01-28-2011, 08:29 PM
Exactlly Boston - should I be happy with crap? I don't think so. Rather than turn over and let them continue to dominate the market with their crap, I choose to voice an opinion that they aren't worth their airtime.

I agree with this way of thinking.^
The stations management and advertisers are far more likely to take corrective action if they are actively receiving critical feedback about what is wrong.

ljbab728
01-28-2011, 10:45 PM
I agree with this way of thinking.^
The stations management and advertisers are far more likely to take corrective action if they are actively receiving critical feedback about what is wrong.

Actually, that may not be correct. Talk radio invites controversy and they like for the on air staff to be controversial. It's unlikely the management would step in.
As for the people who prefer the Dallas sports talk radio, my cousin has lived in Dallas most of his life and says he prefers to listen to WWLS even though it doesn't come in too well part of the time.

ou48A
01-29-2011, 10:32 AM
Actually, that may not be correct. Talk radio invites controversy and they like for the on air staff to be controversial. It's unlikely the management would step in.


There is a huge difference between talking about a controversy and being insulting as Traber often does.

ljbab728
01-29-2011, 10:58 PM
There is a huge difference between talking about a controversy and being insulting as Traber often does.

Please note that I didn't say talking about controversy. I was talking about being the content of the showing being controversial.

Evidently you must not listen to much talk radio. Being insulting to callers is very common. Again, the management often incourages things like that as long as certain guidelines are followed. A case in point is Don Imus. He went over the line when using racial references about the Rutger's female basketball team and lost his job because of it.

Spartan
01-30-2011, 04:00 AM
I probably listen to too much of the Sports Urinal for my sanity, but I guess that means I'm qualified to report in this thread as an expert.

My report is that I think there is something seriously wrong with Al, which is intensified by my dislike for Traber. The morning and lunch guys aren't bad. I like Bob Jr., Berry Tramel, Pat Jones, Mark Rodgers, et al.

When you think about it, it's such a bizarre mix of hosts. I want to shoot myself when Traber and Al are yacking about old timey movies because there is no news and you can only pontificate so much on why OU bball is in the dumps and the OSU coaching search.

rcjunkie
01-30-2011, 04:09 AM
I probably listen to too much of the Sports Urinal for my sanity, but I guess that means I'm qualified to report in this thread as an expert.

My report is that I think there is something seriously wrong with Al, which is intensified by my dislike for Traber. The morning and lunch guys aren't bad. I like Bob Jr., Berry Tramel, Pat Jones, Mark Rodgers, et al.

When you think about it, it's such a bizarre mix of hosts. I want to shoot myself when Traber and Al are yacking about old timey movies because there is no news and you can only pontificate so much on why OU bball is in the dumps and the OSU coaching search.

Try this approach, when Al and Traber are on, change to another channel, it works in the same way as music stations, when I hear a song I don't like, I change stations and find something I do like.

rcjunkie
01-30-2011, 04:10 AM
WWLS is like junior high level radio and there isn’t any one more juvenile than Traber.
The majority of sport fans in the OKC market are OU fans.
Traber makes it a point to be insulting to OU fans.
Traber has become such a hypocrite that I avoid doing business wherever Traber does a remote.

Just maybe they gear their broadcast to fit the mentality / education level of the listener.

Bostonfan
01-30-2011, 06:53 AM
Try this approach, when Al and Traber are on, change to another channel, it works in the same way as music stations, when I hear a song I don't like, I change stations and find something I do like.

You simply don't get it do you? What other local sports station are you going to switch to? 1340 goes in and out all the time. If they'd get a stronger signal, maybe that would be a possibility.

rcjunkie
01-30-2011, 06:55 AM
You simply don't get it do you? What other local sports station are you going to switch to? 1340 goes in and out all the time. If they'd get a stronger signal, maybe that would be a possibility.

I do get it. I wouldn't care if it's sports, music, news, talk, if it's not what I like or want to hear, I turn the damn thing off.

ljbab728
01-30-2011, 10:30 PM
I do get it. I wouldn't care if it's sports, music, news, talk, if it's not what I like or want to hear, I turn the damn thing off.

Maybe Bostonfan doesn't understand that you actually don't even have to listen to the radio at all. There really are a few other interesting things that people can do to occupy their time. I listen to WWLS during the small part of the day when I'm in my car and still manage to have a full life and keep informed on other things when I'm not listening. I actually even get some of my sports information from other sources than the radio. LOL

They're in the entertainment business, people. If you aren't being entertained, tune out!!!!!

bombermwc
01-31-2011, 07:41 AM
Exactlly, i just don't waste my time listening to them. And their station should be interested in that, because as rankings decline, so do ad revenues. You've got to sell ads to pay for everything, otherwise you're broadcasting for free. I choose to not listen at all at this point, so they have no value to me. In fact, I've chosen to pay for XM to get away from local radio (aside from KGOU).

cjohnson.405
01-31-2011, 09:46 AM
Actually, that may not be correct. Talk radio invites controversy and they like for the on air staff to be controversial. It's unlikely the management would step in.
As for the people who prefer the Dallas sports talk radio, my cousin has lived in Dallas most of his life and says he prefers to listen to WWLS even though it doesn't come in too well part of the time.

Nice try but the WWLS AM and FM bands are occupied by other stations in Dallas. 1340AM in Dallas is an ESPN sports station. Maybe your cousin is confused?

Jersey Boss
01-31-2011, 10:06 AM
You simply don't get it do you? What other local sports station are you going to switch to? 1340 goes in and out all the time. If they'd get a stronger signal, maybe that would be a possibility.

1400 am- KREF

ljbab728
01-31-2011, 10:34 PM
Nice try but the WWLS AM and FM bands are occupied by other stations in Dallas. 1340AM in Dallas is an ESPN sports station. Maybe your cousin is confused?

No, he's not confused. I have listened to WWLS myself when I've been in Dallas for the OU-Texas football game. That was your nice try, not mine.

ljbab728
01-31-2011, 10:42 PM
Exactlly, i just don't waste my time listening to them. And their station should be interested in that, because as rankings decline, so do ad revenues. You've got to sell ads to pay for everything, otherwise you're broadcasting for free. I choose to not listen at all at this point, so they have no value to me. In fact, I've chosen to pay for XM to get away from local radio (aside from KGOU).

You're correct about ratings and I'm sure that the management does watch that. I really don't think it has anything to do with the shows or opinions expressed by the on air personalities which seem to upset some on here. I think it's probably more of a general change in the culture. If they went off the air tomorrow, I would be fine. I was happy for many years before WWLS came into existance. I used to listen to only country music stations and, before that, only rock music stations. People's tastes change.

Spartan
02-01-2011, 05:48 AM
Try this approach, when Al and Traber are on, change to another channel, it works in the same way as music stations, when I hear a song I don't like, I change stations and find something I do like.

Oh don't worry...I do lol.

cjohnson.405
02-01-2011, 11:14 AM
No, he's not confused. I have listened to WWLS myself when I've been in Dallas for the OU-Texas football game. That was your nice try, not mine.

The point of the discussion is to note that WWLS sucks in general. Picking up a broadcast for one game because you like the OU viewpoint of the station doesn't really match what you were trying to intimate.

WWLS does bring equipment to broadcast locally in Dallas but it's only for the Texas-OU game and that is the only time of year it is accessible. To say that your cousin chooses to listen to it regularly is a completely different argument.

dmoor82
02-01-2011, 04:37 PM
I listen to the Morning Animals every day,but thats just because its the only sports talk station in town!Go down around Ardmore and pick up some Dallas stations and youll see what REAL sports talk is all about!

dankrutka
02-01-2011, 09:56 PM
Al and Traber are bringing the Sports Animal down. Al knows about football and Traber knows about baseball. They aren't even as knowledgeable as the casual sports fan on other topics. Solution: Move these guys out of "primetime." There are better people on the Animal. Everyone on the Thunder's broadcast team is infinitely better at actually having intelligent sports discussions. Mark Rogers is ten times better at having an intelligent sports discussion. The only problem with WWLS are 2 morons that are on everyday in primetime. It is depressing.

ljbab728
02-01-2011, 10:01 PM
The point of the discussion is to note that WWLS sucks in general. Picking up a broadcast for one game because you like the OU viewpoint of the station doesn't really match what you were trying to intimate.

WWLS does bring equipment to broadcast locally in Dallas but it's only for the Texas-OU game and that is the only time of year it is accessible. To say that your cousin chooses to listen to it regularly is a completely different argument.

Are you saying I'm lying? My cousin DOES indeed listen to it regularly in Dallas. I'm not sure how to prove that to you but it happens. The equipment they bring to Dallas to broadcast for the Texas games has absolutely nothing to do being able to hear it there. Their feeds go back to the station in OKC and that's where the radio signals come from. They broadcast from the locations of all OU away games and I promise you when I was in LA for the Rose Bowl game the only way I could hear them was on the internet.

rcjunkie
02-02-2011, 06:36 AM
Al and Traber are bringing the Sports Animal down. Al knows about football and Traber knows about baseball. They aren't even as knowledgeable as the casual sports fan on other topics. Solution: Move these guys out of "primetime." There are better people on the Animal. Everyone on the Thunder's broadcast team is infinitely better at actually having intelligent sports discussions. Mark Rogers is ten times better at having an intelligent sports discussion. The only problem with WWLS are 2 morons that are on everyday in primetime. It is depressing.

My My, how do you ever sleep at night, you must be worrying yourself sick with the thought of having to listen to Al and Traber. IT'S A FRICKIN RADIO STATION, CHANGE THE DAMN CHANNEL.

Easy180
02-02-2011, 09:26 AM
I agree Rogers is the best but Al and Traber are pretty damn entertaining ...Could give a shizz whether they know stats or not

ljbab728
02-02-2011, 10:17 PM
I agree Rogers is the best but Al and Traber are pretty damn entertaining ...Could give a shizz whether they know stats or not

Agreed, and as I said earlier they are in the entertainment business not the news business. If people aren't entertained it's very easy to tune out.

ljbab728
02-02-2011, 10:18 PM
My My, how do you ever sleep at night, you must be worrying yourself sick with the thought of having to listen to Al and Traber. IT'S A FRICKIN RADIO STATION, CHANGE THE DAMN CHANNEL.

Right, Junkie. I can't imagine how someone can get depressed about a radio station. LOL

td25er
02-03-2011, 02:04 PM
Traber is by far the crown jewel of the Sports Animal. Like him or not, he's entertaining. He actually knows what he's talking about too (usually).

Al is Al.

Mark Rogers a giant d-bag (anybody who talks about a man card is obviously a sissy).

Bob Barry, Jr. is a complete moron.

Tramel is decent.

Pat Jones is...ehhh.

Morning animals are decent.

earlywinegareth
02-03-2011, 02:59 PM
I listen to the Animal during OU football season only. I can't take Al & Traber year 'round! KREF 1400 - Norman, is a nice calm change plus the info is good.

cjohnson.405
02-04-2011, 05:48 AM
Traber is by far the crown jewel of the Sports Animal. Like him or not, he's entertaining. He actually knows what he's talking about too (usually).

Traber is the worst of the blowhards and along with Al is the major problem with the ratings. I don't agree that he is entertaining. If he was, their ratings would be higher. 13th is embarrassing.

SoonerQueen
02-05-2011, 10:05 PM
We listen to WWLS all the time.Al and Jim are fun to listen to, and I like the other hosts too. I listen to KTOK a lot, but for music listen to 99.7.It's a great oldies station.

jstaylor62
02-07-2011, 12:45 PM
I like the guys in the morning...but I'm burned out trying to listen during evening drive time. I just do not like listening to commercials for 25-30 min out of the hour...Craig Humphries does a great job talking Thunder basketball. He comes to the program prepared with background material and game statistics.

dankrutka
02-08-2011, 03:24 PM
Traber is by far the crown jewel of the Sports Animal. Like him or not, he's entertaining. He actually knows what he's talking about too (usually).

Absolutely amazing. How anyone can think Traber is knowledgeable about sports is beyond me. Mark Rogers knows ten times what Traber knows for one simple reason: He takes his job seriously and actually does research. Traber is the worst I've ever heard. Ever.

Wacokid
02-08-2011, 06:00 PM
What bothers me is when those regional radio stars venture AWAY from sports. That's when they demonstrate a painful lack of history, culture, general knowledge, science, etc... They are so weak. For instance, KilgoreTrout, what would they say about Venus on the Half Shell? Why, they'd become unstuck in time, don't ya think?

cjohnson.405
02-09-2011, 11:05 AM
I listened to the total dominance hour yesterday just for fun and continue to be amazed at how low quality Al and Traber are. They both sound like they are in total give up. They just don't care and it's obvious.

Lots of dead space, Traber not listening to Al's questions and just moving down his own thought pattern, they discussed snow for 15 minutes with no new content just "there's gonna be alot of snow this afternoon." "Yep, lots of snooooooow." That's what they did to fill time.

I work with lots of different nationalities and struggle with Al's accent more than anyone.

It was part boring, part maddening, and part entertaining just to watch how stupid the whole thing is. My entertainment was laughing AT the total dominance hour. By the way - dominating what? 14th place?

I just don't get how the management of the station can justify failure like this. Please put Al and Traber out of their misery and move them along.

michael
02-09-2011, 11:30 AM
gotta say, i listen to them every weekday on my commutes to and from work. reason being..i live in stillwater and am a hardcore sooner fan and i cant get any other sooner news or even thunder news that i know of. i will say sometimes i get pissed at the amount of commercials and some of the topics that linger.

rcjunkie
02-09-2011, 12:15 PM
I listened to the total dominance hour yesterday just for fun and continue to be amazed at how low quality Al and Traber are. They both sound like they are in total give up. They just don't care and it's obvious.

Lots of dead space, Traber not listening to Al's questions and just moving down his own thought pattern, they discussed snow for 15 minutes with no new content just "there's gonna be alot of snow this afternoon." "Yep, lots of snooooooow." That's what they did to fill time.

I work with lots of different nationalities and struggle with Al's accent more than anyone.

It was part boring, part maddening, and part entertaining just to watch how stupid the whole thing is. My entertainment was laughing AT the total dominance hour. By the way - dominating what? 14th place?

I just don't get how the management of the station can justify failure like this. Please put Al and Traber out of their misery and move them along.

Wow, you listen to Al and Jim "just for fun" and your amzed at how low quailty they are, the fact you consider this to be fun and/or it's your choice of entertainment shows how low quality you are.

michael
02-09-2011, 12:25 PM
Wow, you listen to Al and Jim "just for fun" and your amzed at how low quailty they are, the fact you consider this to be fun and/or it's your choice of entertainment shows how low quality you are.

now, now,.... i wouldnt call it low quality for the person... havent you ever watched or listened to something that alot of other people find dumb and non-entertaining?? but something just strikes you about it... beavis and butthead comes to mind for me, dont know why i watched it really, just maybe so stupid it was funny. maybe traber and al are his beavis and butthead.

Easy180
02-09-2011, 05:28 PM
Think we got it now Johnson...We have you down in the book as not a fan of WWLS

onthestrip
02-10-2011, 06:48 AM
Rcjunkie, are you some sports animal megafan? Can't you let dissatisfied listeners complain on here without interjecting every other post? It's getting very annoying.

rcjunkie
02-10-2011, 07:13 AM
Rcjunkie, are you some sports animal megafan? Can't you let dissatisfied listeners complain on here without interjecting every other post? It's getting very annoying.

What's annoying is people complaining about stupid crap!!

If you don't like WWLS--don't listen
If you don't like my postings--don't read

michael
02-10-2011, 07:21 AM
as a wwls listener i must say that THIS is what forums are for..... to complain about things you dont like and praise the things you do like...well, on a post like this anyhow. i say blast awaay on wwls on this thread...its what its for and if someone wants to start a love fest for them make a new post but even then expect people that dislike it to chime in... nature of forums.

Bostonfan
02-10-2011, 07:55 AM
What's annoying is people complaining about stupid crap!!

If you don't like WWLS--don't listen
If you don't like my postings--don't read

How about you take your own advice? You've already posted in this thread 8 times.
This is a discussion forum, if you don't like the discussion, don't click on the thread and read, then post 8 times.

rcjunkie
02-10-2011, 08:51 AM
How about you take your own advice? You've already posted in this thread 8 times.
This is a discussion forum, if you don't like the discussion, don't click on the thread and read, then post 8 times.

My bad, didn't understand we had a limit. Since your counting, this makes 9

Bostonfan
02-10-2011, 09:25 AM
My bad, didn't understand we had a limit. Since your counting, this makes 9

Again, take your own advice and quit posting on what you feel is a stupid thread.

bretthexum
02-10-2011, 05:00 PM
One thing I couldn't stand (don't live in OKC anymore) - is how they end and join every sentence with Ummmm, or ughhhhhh ... these guys are supposed to be pros

Ummmm, did you ughhhhh see the Sooners last night? Yes, I did, and I thought they played A ughhhhhh very good game, the ughhhh best part is ummmmm when they won.