Where Things Stand for the Future of Twins Broadcasts, and What It Means for the Team

[DJL44]

6 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Have you gotten the surveys asking you if you'd pay for that?

I am not aware of any product surveys.

[Shaitan]

Normally, I'm all for blaming billionaire corporations.

But this one isn't a Twins problem, it's a market problem. There are few Midwest media alternatives right now with a shifting cable landscape. It would be great if they could just "move" from Bally elsewhere...but no other, comparable entity really exists.

Could the Twins or MLB build their own network? Yes, but that takes time and it's hard to build from the ground-up in a single off-season. 

I have no answer except...it's complicated. I'd like to see a multimedia package like others are suggesting. Maybe one streaming contract and another on TV. That way everybody wins and the Twins don't have their current problem of putting all their eggs in one basket.

[theBOMisthebomb]

4 hours ago, Johnny Ringo said:

I am so sullen over the unfolding collapse of the team that this media stuff seems like small potatoes.

But as long as I am bumming out, in this department, they are a complete mess. They have the two worst broadcast teams in baseball. This problem is particularly acute on the radio side where they are unlistenable.  They must know how dreadful Gladden is, but they keep sending him up to the plate. Can anyone explain why he always says "Good evening everyone" when he takes over the play-by-play in the fourth inning even though he has already incessantly babbled during the first three? For amusement, my sons and I sometimes lapse into Gladden-speak. This includes disputing the significance of any number no matter its validity and also dropping all "g's" from verbs. An example of a good compound sentence in Gladden-speak is "That speed limit don't mean nothin' " 

On the television front,  Justin Morneau seems a fine fellow but he it just getting worse for talking way too much and saying very little. Provus has been shot full of BSN Kool-Aid.  The good news is that because of the Twins broadcast deals, very few people have had to watch them.  

Their global strategy at One Twins Way seems to be "we don't get rid of anybody" (Rocco is hoping that I am right) and "maybe if we close our eyes, it will get better".

But perhaps an extension of all that is the observation that when it comes to TV and streaming, DSP et al appear to be 1995 (cable) guys  solving a 2024 problem. I hate to tell you boys, but cable is dead. It left no notes.

 

Amen. Gladden is the worst of the worst. I cannot listen. 

I was grateful to get out from under the Dick Bremer television broadcast era. I had high hopes for Provus, that he would provide a fresh, modern voice. Unfortunately, Provus sounds restricted and nervous the times I've heard him, like he's afraid to be himself and worried about ts and hear some really impressive announcers. 

[NYCTK]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Regardless, I expect the payroll to go DOWN again next year.....

Well, they won't WANT to, but the fans didn't support them enough so they'll have no choice...

[Johnny Ringo]

6 minutes ago, theBOMisthebomb said:

Amen. Gladden is the worst of the worst. I cannot listen. 

I was grateful to get out from under the Dick Bremer television broadcast era. I had high hopes for Provus, that he would provide a fresh, modern voice. Unfortunately, Provus sounds restricted and nervous the times I've heard him, like he's afraid to be himself and worried about ts and hear some really impressive announcers. 

Thanks for the comments.

I still like the romance and nostalgia of listening to baseball on the radio and so I listen to a lot of other teams' broadcasts. I defy anyone to listen to any of them and conclude that Gladden is good at his job. He won't tell you the score or who is on base but you will know what Jack Morris ate for lunch in 1991. His disdain for modern players and modern thoughts for the game are always bubbling on the surface. It seems like a bad parody of a town team broadcaster. 

Provus is smart and has some chops but he has clearly been told or he has inferred that he can only talk about the sunny side of the street when discussing the team.  Of course, this is ridiculous and frankly insulting as the club has traveled down this cloudy road.

The Twins/BSN may believe that honesty is the best policy but they also seem to demand that it is not an acceptable one.

[NYCTK]

6 minutes ago, Johnny Ringo said:

Thanks for the comments.

I still like the romance and nostalgia of listening to baseball on the radio and so I listen to a lot of other teams' broadcasts. I defy anyone to listen to any of them and conclude that Gladden is good at his job. He won't tell you the score or who is on base but you will know what Jack Morris ate for lunch in 1991. His disdain for modern players and modern thoughts for the game are always bubbling on the surface. It seems like a bad parody of a town team broadcaster. 

Provus is smart and has some chops but he has clearly been told or he has inferred that he can only talk about the sunny side of the street when discussing the team.  Of course, this is ridiculous and frankly insulting as the club has traveled down this cloudy road.

The Twins/BSN may believe that honesty is the best policy but they also seem to demand that it is not an acceptable one.

This is why the Mets have the best broadcast booth in the league. Plenty of appreciation of the past from the old guard from Keith and Ron, but no sense of smugness about the old way being better. Able to criticize the team in any capacity when they deserve it. And able to call the game fairly without any sense of insulting homerism, as if the employer are the Good Guys and the opponent is in the wrong. 

[TheLeviathan]

RSNs are doomed.  Trusting the Twins to find a viable solution is also doomed as evidenced by over a decade of backward-thinking incompetence.

They need MLB to swoop in and save them with another option.  Even then, expect them to further cut payroll as a result.

[Linus]

16 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

RSNs are doomed.  Trusting the Twins to find a viable solution is also doomed as evidenced by over a decade of backward-thinking incompetence.

They need MLB to swoop in and save them with another option.  Even then, expect them to further cut payroll as a result.

Yep. The model doesn’t work anymore. The best solution in my opinion is to stream via mlb tv and sell over the air rights for one free game per week. 

[Western SD Fan]

2 hours ago, Johnny Ringo said:

Thanks for the comments.

I still like the romance and nostalgia of listening to baseball on the radio and so I listen to a lot of other teams' broadcasts. I defy anyone to listen to any of them and conclude that Gladden is good at his job. He won't tell you the score or who is on base but you will know what Jack Morris ate for lunch in 1991. His disdain for modern players and modern thoughts for the game are always bubbling on the surface. It seems like a bad parody of a town team broadcaster. 

Provus is smart and has some chops but he has clearly been told or he has inferred that he can only talk about the sunny side of the street when discussing the team.  Of course, this is ridiculous and frankly insulting as the club has traveled down this cloudy road.

The Twins/BSN may believe that honesty is the best policy but they also seem to demand that it is not an acceptable one.

I agree with your assessment on Cory Provus. In national broadcasts, he is much more candid and honest about the team than he is on BSN broadcasts. Just listening to him last Sunday on Roku, he was much more critical of the team and their recent shortcomings with the Reds color man Jeff Brantley than he is ever seemingly allowed on home broadcasts. It was almost as thinking this is not the same broadcaster.  I wonder if Cory wishes he would have signed with the Big Ten full time instead of the BSN.

[Guest]

7 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

I don’t know much, but I do know one thing… Dave St Peter should not be leading these discussions. 

Just to add to this thought: Falvine/Baldelli are responsible for the, "on the field product", while this business side/broadcast issue is a St. Peter issue. Maybe it is time to hold his feet to the fire and get him to put up or get put out.

[LewFordLives]

To add to my earlier comment......what they absolutely should NOT do is wait for MLB to come up with a global solution and guidance. There are too many interests involved and they will take forever to come to an agreement. And you can bet whatever they come up with won't necessarily be what is best for the Twins.

[NotAboutWinning]

1 hour ago, LewFordLives said:

To add to my earlier comment......what they absolutely should NOT do is wait for MLB to come up with a global solution and guidance. There are too many interests involved and they will take forever to come to an agreement. And you can bet whatever they come up with won't necessarily be what is best for the Twins.

The Padres, Diamondbacks and Rockies already have this up and running.

[Vanimal46]

1 hour ago, Verified Member said:

Just to add to this thought: Falvine/Baldelli are responsible for the, "on the field product", while this business side/broadcast issue is a St. Peter issue. Maybe it is time to hold his feet to the fire and get him to put up or get put out.

I think that is long overdue to be honest. The Twins need someone who can market the team better and get more butts in seats at TF. As @bean5302mentioned, the season ticket holders is dwindling because the value isn’t there. 

[twinswest]

Can't you just get a VPN account then sign up for the MLBTV package and watch?  The VPN line can either hide your location or show it as elsewhere out of market so the MLB plan does not black the Twins game out.  You can probably save more money by decreasing your cable plan to a lesser package than it costs to have the VPN line and the MLBTV package.

[theBOMisthebomb]

12 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

I think that is long overdue to be honest. The Twins need someone who can market the team better and get more butts in seats at TF. As @bean5302mentioned, the season ticket holders is dwindling because the value isn’t there. 

That is the conversation I have had with my season ticket rep for the last few years with little to no response - the value isn't there to commit to a season ticket package. You avoid the fees, which aren't insignificant (although one trip to the ticket window at Target Field could accomplish the same thing). Then, they sell the ballpark pass and let those folks essentially sit wherever they want to for a fraction of the cost. It's so frustrating. 

Now, the Twins have offered me the premium option after raising the cost of my flex plan by 3.4%. Which is a decent gesture except I can't compare costs because the pricing for the premium option isn't revealed yet. 

[theBOMisthebomb]

9 hours ago, twinswest said:

Can't you just get a VPN account then sign up for the MLBTV package and watch?  The VPN line can either hide your location or show it as elsewhere out of market so the MLB plan does not black the Twins game out.  You can probably save more money by decreasing your cable plan to a lesser package than it costs to have the VPN line and the MLBTV package.

That's an integrity question. I guess I'd rather follow the rules and pay the proper amount. 

[NotAboutWinning]

2 hours ago, theBOMisthebomb said:

That's an integrity question. I guess I'd rather follow the rules and pay the proper amount. 

My conscience is clear. I've paid full price for the product. If I bought an ebook from Amazon and they told me I could only read it from 1-3pm, I'd probably figure out how to get around that.

[Lauriee23]

On 9/17/2024 at 7:48 AM, Peter said:

Twins will get tv deal figured out!!! Worse case just listen to them on radio 

I'm a STH and get to about 20 games a year in person.  When I switched from DirecTV to YouTubeTV, the Twins were carried.  Since 2021, I rely on MLB.TV and occasionally watch a full game (after the blackout) but usually watch the condensed games.  I used to love to listen to Cory on the radio.  Can't stand listening to Kris Atteberry, though.  He talks non-stop, misses things going on in the game, and is not good about giving score updates for people tuning in mid-game.  The Twins have completely lost my 91 yo mom as a Twins fan - since she doesn't want to get the expensive package on Comcast and will no longer listen to the radio because she can't stand Atteberry.  Very frustrated about the whole situation.  And that the TV situation caused ownership not to invest in the team in the offseason or at the trade deadline.  We are seeing the results now...

Thanks for letting me vent!