There’s this idea in sports-crazed cities — like Cleveland — that the local media is indifferent to the results on the field. Not only that, but if anything, media members prefer a losing product because negativity results in more upset fans, which in turn means better ratings.
But according to one Cleveland sports talk host, that premise isn’t just a faulty one; it couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Somebody sent me a thing, ‘Well you love this. Your ratings are better. Your pockets are lined.’ Somebody sent me that tweet,” Ken Carman said on Monday’s episode of The Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima in reference to the Browns’ 21-15 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday. “I go, ‘Buddy, I can tell you, 13 years of experience on this station, since Day 1, I can tell you — hand in a court of law, get any judge you want and I’ll say it in a court of law: Our numbers are better when the team is good.’
“2016, 2017, the numbers were as bad as they can get. I’m not allowed to talk about these things… I can’t speak for every radio show host that’s ever hosted in this city. I will tell you for this show, at least for us, the numbers aren’t good when the team is lousy and people give up on them. They’re not. So I don’t like talking about this from a personal standpoint, certainly not from a professional standpoint.”
Carman’s rant came in response to a caller who had claimed the host wasn’t being as emotional as he should have been following Cleveland’s latest loss. While the caller wasn’t the one to accuse him of being happy about the Browns losing for professional purposes, it’s clearly a notion that Carman — a diehard Browns fan — is sensitive to.
“All my friends are Browns fans. You think I like having them having a bad Monday morning? Hell no,” he continued. “You think I like them having to be on the hook, feel like they’re on the hook for a quarterback that can’t get out of his own way? For an offensive line that can’t block up for him. For a coach that’s back on the hot seat with everybody. For a general manager who we put out laser eyes and 4D chess memes for, who cannot physically, emotionally, spiritually draft a wide receiver that can hold onto the damn ball… so I have to sit here and I gotta make a bunch of excuses for it ’cause I don’t want to see the truth because I’m a fan. Now that’s where we’re at!”
The good news? Carman’s response provided the exact level of passion the caller was seeking.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about, Ken,” Anthony in Kent replied.
The bad news? If Carman’s right about his show’s ratings being directly correlated to the Browns’ on-field success, he’s going to need them to start playing a whole helluva lot better than they have through the first three weeks of the 2024 season.
