Jim Ralph out as Leafs colour commentator

[ZBBM]

When Beyak left I was really bummed.  Now this.

I used to listen to the Leafs on radio a lot, not very much the last 2 or 3 years.  Ralph was a bit of a homer but he often would counter that by admitting when we would get a call go our way.  On the whole I thought he was pretty darned good.

I suppose if MLSE didn't want him on the radio they wouldn't want to see him with a TV gig either.  :-\

 

[Kin]

So when people lament the "Corporate Maple Leafs" here I'm assuming they're comparing that to the fly-by-night vegetable co-op owning hippies who owned the team before Rogers and Bell?

 

[OldTimeHockey]

So when people lament the "Corporate Maple Leafs" here I'm assuming they're comparing that to the fly-by-night vegetable co-op owning hippies who owned the team before Rogers and Bell?

Ha! ;D

 

[Optimus Reimer]

They should have got rid of Greg Millen first.  He seems like he looks forward to calls going against the Leafs, or when there are reviewing goals scored by the Leafs it seems as if he is calling it that the goal should not count, and vice versa when there are reviewing goals scored against the Leafs that the goal should count.  Maybe Begers is mistaking Ralph for Millen?

 

[Corn Flake]

Ralphie seemed to be a very likable guy and I'm sure he was, but to me his whole color shtick was:

a: constantly referencing his short and rather unsuccessful career as a semi pro goalie.  It felt like every other time he spoke, he threw in some reference to it.. joke or not.

b: complaining about the refs. "Kessel tripped.. no call.  Lupul hooked... no call."

Corporate?  : Come on .. everything changes and this should be no exception.  Boy do we ever get sentimental about stuff in Leafs land.

 

[oakl0008]

Tell Joe Bowen that.

Joe Bowen ‏@BonsieTweets
15 great years with Ralphie and then it's over like that. Radio business is a strange animal

 

[bustaheims]

Ralph had a good voice for the stuff and was an okay colour guy, but it's not like they're letting Foster Hewitt go here. There are plenty guys out there who can do the same job just as well (or better), but without the pay rate that comes with having the job for so long. People aren't listening on the radio as much as they used to, which means ad revenues for radio broadcasts are down, so costs needed to be cut. That's really what this comes down to.

 

[KoHo]

Ugh! Rogers does it again.

January 2010: Fires dozens of staff at CityNews including longtime personalities
October 2011: Hires dozens of people to staff their new CityNews channel
May 2013: Fires tons of those people abruptly and shuts down the channel

I'm not comparing Ralphie to the CityNews mass firings but Rogers can sure be a hate-able company sometimes...

 

[KoHo]

Oh, and if this is the sign of any pattern I'd be watching my back if I was Paul Hendrick...

 

[13th fan]

Ralph had a good voice for the stuff and was an okay colour guy, but it's not like they're letting Foster Hewitt go here. There are plenty guys out there who can do the same job just as well (or better), but without the pay rate that comes with having the job for so long. People aren't listening on the radio as much as they used to, which means ad revenues for radio broadcasts are down, so costs needed to be cut. That's really what this comes down to.

Most likely the cost are up and the revenues are down but what stops the decline of the radio listeners when they let go one of their long time radio personality . I guess the writing  was on the wall when Beyak left.

 

[bustaheims]

Most likely the cost are up and the revenues are down but what stops the decline of the radio listeners when they let go one of their long time radio personality . I guess the writing  was on the wall when Beyak left.

Well, as long as whoever they bring in to replace him does close to the same job, less people will care about losing a long time personality than you think. At the end of the day, the product is still the Leafs, and that hasn't changed. Radio broadcasts are still going to attract a similar number of people next season as they did this season - which is still not all that many, with the increase in things like satellite radio and PVRs, etc, that weren't really around 10 years ago or as prevalent 5 years ago.

I also had the chance to talk to someone who is close to Jim, and the way he said things went down was that, before this season, Leafs radio broadcasts didn't have a producer in the booth. This year they did, and there were some clashes in terms of style (not in terms of content, though - this isn't about Rogers/Bell wanting a puppet or anything like that). They'd also apparently received a number of complaints about the way Jim would insert his colour commentary during the play, which would sometimes mean the action on the ice would get lost/be missed. On top of the likely money issue, Rogers and Bell want a more traditional setup in their broadcasts - the play-by-play guy gets the vast majority of the air time while the action is on, and the colour guy contributes mostly between whistles and in the intermissions, etc. That's how just about everyone else does it, any way.

 

[ZBBM]

Most likely the cost are up and the revenues are down but what stops the decline of the radio listeners when they let go one of their long time radio personality . I guess the writing  was on the wall when Beyak left.

Well, as long as whoever they bring in to replace him does close to the same job, less people will care about losing a long time personality than you think. At the end of the day, the product is still the Leafs, and that hasn't changed. Radio broadcasts are still going to attract a similar number of people next season as they did this season - which is still not all that many, with the increase in things like satellite radio and PVRs, etc, that weren't really around 10 years ago or as prevalent 5 years ago.

I also had the chance to talk to someone who is close to Jim, and the way he said things went down was that, before this season, Leafs radio broadcasts didn't have a producer in the booth. This year they did, and there were some clashes in terms of style (not in terms of content, though - this isn't about Rogers/Bell wanting a puppet or anything like that). They'd also apparently received a number of complaints about the way Jim would insert his colour commentary during the play, which would sometimes mean the action on the ice would get lost/be missed. On top of the likely money issue, Rogers and Bell want a more traditional setup in their broadcasts - the play-by-play guy gets the vast majority of the air time while the action is on, and the colour guy contributes mostly between whistles and in the intermissions, etc. That's how just about everyone else does it, any way.

That explains it more than simply they wanted to reduce costs.  If that were the only factor, they could have gone to him and demanded a pay cut if he wanted to stay on.

Not that I condone employers blackmailing their older workers to save a buck, prevalent though that seems to be nowadays.

 

[13th fan]

Most likely the cost are up and the revenues are down but what stops the decline of the radio listeners when they let go one of their long time radio personality . I guess the writing  was on the wall when Beyak left.

Well, as long as whoever they bring in to replace him does close to the same job, less people will care about losing a long time personality than you think. At the end of the day, the product is still the Leafs, and that hasn't changed. Radio broadcasts are still going to attract a similar number of people next season as they did this season - which is still not all that many, with the increase in things like satellite radio and PVRs, etc, that weren't really around 10 years ago or as prevalent 5 years ago.

I also had the chance to talk to someone who is close to Jim, and the way he said things went down was that, before this season, Leafs radio broadcasts didn't have a producer in the booth. This year they did, and there were some clashes in terms of style (not in terms of content, though - this isn't about Rogers/Bell wanting a puppet or anything like that). They'd also apparently received a number of complaints about the way Jim would insert his colour commentary during the play, which would sometimes mean the action on the ice would get lost/be missed. On top of the likely money issue, Rogers and Bell want a more traditional setup in their broadcasts - the play-by-play guy gets the vast majority of the air time while the action is on, and the colour guy contributes mostly between whistles and in the intermissions, etc. That's how just about everyone else does it, any way.

That all makes more sense , Jim Ralph could go on some tangents sometimes but I hope for the best Jim in his future . I wonder if  Bowen was  put on a shorter leash this year too ?

 

[caver]

Rumour has it that the new administration has told Bowen never to say " Rick - O - Shay" again. 

 

[Arn]

A few years back before the likes of NHL Gamecenter or the European based TV Channels NASN and ESPN America began broadcasting in the UK, AM640 radio online was the only way I had of following the Leafs. Many a night I fell asleep listening to Ralph and I guess I learnt a lot about the NHL through listening to that show.

Haven't had cause to listen much of late due to the increase in availability of TV pictures, but would like to thank Ralph for keeping me informed back in those days.

 

[PG]

I have yet to hear of a Leaf penalty that he felt was deserved.

 

[lamajama]

I have yet to hear of a Leaf penalty that he felt was deserved.

And your problem is ?? 

It just balances out Hughson, Simpson, Healy et al.

 

[Jolly good show chaps]

A few years back before the likes of NHL Gamecenter or the European based TV Channels NASN and ESPN America began broadcasting in the UK, AM640 radio online was the only way I had of following the Leafs. Many a night I fell asleep listening to Ralph and I guess I learnt a lot about the NHL through listening to that show.

Exactly the same here.

Which radio station are the Leafs games on now? Tried listening on AM640 a few times earlier in the year and got ordinary chat shows.

 

[Kin]

A few years back before the likes of NHL Gamecenter or the European based TV Channels NASN and ESPN America began broadcasting in the UK, AM640 radio online was the only way I had of following the Leafs. Many a night I fell asleep listening to Ralph and I guess I learnt a lot about the NHL through listening to that show.

Exactly the same here.

Which radio station are the Leafs games on now? Tried listening on AM640 a few times earlier in the year and got ordinary chat shows.

Pretty sure they're split between AM 590 and AM 1050.

 

[ZBBM]

A few years back before the likes of NHL Gamecenter or the European based TV Channels NASN and ESPN America began broadcasting in the UK, AM640 radio online was the only way I had of following the Leafs. Many a night I fell asleep listening to Ralph and I guess I learnt a lot about the NHL through listening to that show.

Exactly the same here.

Which radio station are the Leafs games on now? Tried listening on AM640 a few times earlier in the year and got ordinary chat shows.

Me too.  I liked Ralph and Beyak a lot.  Beyak is way better than Bowen.  Talk about a guy who fancies himself a wit.