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SPORTS

Can Indy handle 3 drive-time sports radio shows?

Dana Hunsinger Benbow
dana.benbow@indystar.com
These guys talk sports starting at 3 p.m. on weekday afternoons: JMV (left) on WFNI-1070 AM; Kent Sterling (middle) on WXNT-1430 AM; and Jake Query (top right) and Derek Schultz on WNDE-1260 AM.

As 3 p.m. hits each weekday, fans with an insatiable appetite for Indianapolis sports talk have choices.

Three local drive-time radio shows commence, each claiming to have a special recipe for success.

For the "Kent Sterling Show," it's all sports all the time, no veering into pop culture. On "The Ride" with JMV, Lady Gaga (and almost anyone else) is fair game. "Query & Schultz," the only two-man show in the time slot, is somewhere in between with a twist — banter sparked by their differing viewpoints.

In the cutthroat industry of radio — which is battling a seemingly ever-increasing ocean of competing media from the Internet to iTunes to satellite radio — sports is as cutthroat as any genre.

How many people are listening to the local shows? In Indianapolis, the 40th largest among U.S. radio markets, JMV's station leads the way. Nielsen audio rankings show WFNI-107.5 FM and 1070 AM) garnered a 3.8 rating in January. Query & Schultz's WNDE-1260 AM received a 0.4 rating and WXNT-1430 AM, where Sterling airs, finished the month with a 0.1 rating.

When it came to afternoon drive time ratings for individual shows, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., WFNI received a 4.2, WNDE a 0.6 and WXNT a 0.2.

In a market such as Indy, home to the Colts, Pacers, IU, Purdue and Butler, there is room for plenty of sports talk. But is there enough room for this much? Or is it just a matter of time until one falls off the airwaves?

"I think there's room. I sure hope there is," said Jeff Smulyan, founder and CEO of Emmis Communications, which owns WFNI. He's also the man who invented the format, launching the first 24-hour sports talk station in New York in July 1987. "Ultimately, it's up to what the audience wants."

The hosts of the three shows say that there is a market for all to survive. All three shy away from talking ratings. In fact, all say that they don't even consider one another competitors, and that the more high-quality shows there are, the better.

"That is smoke," said Scott Bridge, internship director for the college of communication at Butler University, who teaches electronic journalism and sports broadcasting. "Everybody is being professional and that's nice. But I think when behind closed doors, they want to kick each other's asses."

They are all trying to nab the biggest share they can of the sports talk radio pie in Indianapolis, appealing to an audience that is two-thirds men ages 25 to 54, according to Bridge's research.

Sterling, who previously worked at WFNI and has been doing his show less than a year, delivers analysis to the diehard sports fan without references to what Lady Gaga did at the Academy Awards.

"We talk about sports. That's just what I do best," said Sterling, 52. "It wasn't a competitive decision to do that. It's just what I think this format does best and what listeners like best."

JMV, who moved from WNDE to WFNI in 2010, mixes pop culture and some non-sports stories into talk about the games, teams and players. He wants to grab those listeners who want entertainment beyond sports.

"It's like the Super Bowl," said JMV, whose real name is John Gliva, 45. "They don't have to have Katy Perry because people are going to watch, but I'm trying to get everybody into the club to hang out and have fun. It's all about trying to fish for what is going to pull in and keep that person that maybe wouldn't necessarily be listening, while also keeping that person that's your top-level listener."

"Query & Schultz," which started in 2011, combine the two approaches while using the dynamic duo approach to banter, argue and make fun of each other.

"When you have two people, you have a greater opportunity of diversity of thought," said Jake Query, 42. "One of the benefits of having a two-person show is Derek and I never intentionally disagree. We never pre-write who's going to take what stance but, because we're of different ages (Schultz is 11 years younger), because we're of different backgrounds to an extent, I think that by and large people listening are going to have their opinion expressed."

None of the hosts would comment on how successful their approach affects ratings. Some voiced concerns that the method Nielsen uses to measure audience listening is inaccurate and doesn't tell the whole story.

Smulyan said it's clear that JMV is running away with the sports talk market in Indianapolis.

The ESPN backing, radio signal strength and affiliation with the Colts, Indiana, Pacers and Butler give WFNI a decided advantage, Bridge said. (WNDE broadcasts Purdue.) He doesn't believe that means the others can't survive.

"People need their sports," Bridge said. "We are a nation of rabid sports fans. I think they are always going to have an audience."

Follow Star reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow.

Inside the studios

'Query & Schultz'

Jake Query (left) and Derek Schultz host an afternoon sports talk show on WNDE.

Weekdays 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on WNDE-1260 AM

Show's official pitch: "A different take on sports in Indy."

About Jake Query and Derek Schultz: Query is not married, likes to stay up until 2 a.m., but would help anyone at the drop of a hat, according to Schultz. In his free time, Query volunteers at an IPS school, where he mentors struggling youth. Schultz, 31, is the "domesticated one," married to Ashley, who is a nurse. "We DVR Judge Judy. I like to coupon. We went on vacation a couple weeks ago in Florida and we went to a farmer's market and we went to Madeira Beach, which is super old and that's my vibe," Schultz said.

Their philosophy: "Besides being a two-man show, I think both of us aren't fans of the teams," said Schultz. "We're just not. I didn't grow up that way (he grew up in Connecticut) so it hasn't been hard for me to separate those two things. And even though Jake kind of grew up an IU superfan, he's since kind of grown out of that phase. It's not that the other guys are homers by any means. I don't think JMV is one and I don't think, necessarily, Kent is, but I think people like that we don't have any kind of emotional investment in the success of the teams."

On the competition: "All of us in this market bring a different thing to the table," said Query. "You know you go into a bar, some nights you might want an IPA, some nights you might want a brown ale. And some nights you might want a lager. Each of us in our own form have a definitive one thing that we are, but we all have the ability to mix it up a little bit and offer a slice of everything."

Sports: Query played basketball until his love of broadcasting took over. He opted out of sports to do play-by-play for North Central High School. Schultz was never good at sports so the best way to be in sports was radio.

Impressions? Query does Peyton Manning and Tom Carnegie. According to Query, Schultz can sing any musical act to sound like Nickelback covering the choosen song.

Tidbit from the show: It happened in February on a frigid day. "OK Derek. Here's the thing," said Query. "I don't know if you know this or not but we are back in the polar plunge, OK? We're in the middle of the polar vortex plunge. It's once again a meteorologist orgy in town. They're all going on and on and on about the fact that it's 26 degrees below zero out."

Senior vice president of programming Rob Cressman's take on Query and Schultz: "They present fresh observations from decidedly different perspectives. ... Fans know that Jake and Derek share very little in common — inside and outside of the studio. Their mutual passion for Colts football or Pacers basketball has become especially interesting to Indy sports fans because Query & Schultz tend to disagree on most principals and philosophies. Their conflicting opinions are unique and entertaining beyond the X's and O's of the game."

'The Ride with JMV' (John Gliva)

John Michael Gliva, better known as JMV, at WFNI-AM 1070, "The Fan", begins his drive time sports radio show Tuesday, February 17, 2015, afternoon at his studio on the Circle.

Weekdays 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on WFNI-107.5 FM and WFNI-1070 AM

Show's official pitch: "The ride home is made easier every day with his perspective on sports and life. Major market sports talk with small town common sense."

About JMV: He is married to Christy, an elementary school principal. They have a son and a daughter.

His philosophy: "Pop culture, no problem. We'll go anywhere and everywhere with it. It's an entertainment show so we've got to be entertaining. You know, if I sat there and just regurgitated what 100 of these guys did nationally and locally before me, that's no fun. And especially no fun to me because I've got to entertain me."

On the competition: "I focus on this show. There are days you're thinking, 'Man, this thing is dragging,' and those are the days you're thinking, 'Man if I'm dragging to me, I bet I'm dragging to them.' That's not a good thing so you've got to keep it rolling. I like to know that I'm doing well. But it's really about having fun."

Tidbit from the show: JMV was taking issue with people criticizing or approving Paul George's return this season. "Are you a doctor, are you his doctor?"

Sports: He still plays basketball four times a week and he says he's awesome at it.

Impressions?: "So I do the low (testosterone) sprinkler, the weed eater that won't start and a really bad Hans Gruber from Die Hard."

Program director Greg Rakestraw's take on JMV: "People love the show because of how relatable he is. He is what he sounds like he is on the radio. Just a sports fan who happens to have a radio show. He doesn't come across as better than you because he has access to all these athletes, games, events. He has this wonderful ability to make you care about things that aren't sports. He walks the fine line of entertainment and sports radio, and this great ability to talk up both. He's relatable and reliable."

'The Kent Sterling Show'

Kent Sterling, CBS Sports radio 1430am, talks with his producer at the top of his sports talk radio show Monday, February 16, 2015, afternoon at their North Meridian Street studio.

Weekdays 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on WXNT-1430 AM

Show's official pitch: "Indy-focused sports talk for your ride home."

About Sterling: He is married to Julie, an office manager for a dental practice. They have a son, 26-year-old Ryan, who is in law school at IUPUI.

His philosophy: "I'm real honest. I think as you get older you realize that you only have so many opportunities to say something that's going to matter to people and so you ought to take them all seriously. I don't try to titillate. I don't try to anger, excite. I'm just trying to tell the truth as much as I can."

On the competition: "I don't view those guys as competitors. We're not competing. If we all do our jobs really well, it's good for all of us. The more options people have of quality the better. So I hope they do great shows every day and we work really hard to make our show the best that it can be."

Sports: He played golf and soccer (fullback) in high school.

Impressions?: "I do an impression of a guy doing an impression of Harry Caray."

Tidbit from his show: It happened the day after Northwestern beat Iowa 66-61. "How much fun is it to watch Fran McCaffery (coach of Iowa) lose now? It's a lot of fun. Once we discovered that Fran McCaffery is a bit of a douche it became fun to watch Iowa get beat."

Program director JR Ammons' take on Sterling: "There are a lot of folks in sports radio that just watch Sports Center and regurgitate other people's opinions on the air. But I don't know that I've worked with anyone who is as obsessed with his show as Kent is. I can't imagine the number of miles Kent has put on his car since taking over the (afternoon) drive here. If something is going on that affects sports in Indiana, Kent wants to be there in person covering it. It's not enough to hear other people's perspectives on what's going on, he wants to look the newsmakers in the eye, ask the questions, form his unique opinion and share it."