Damon Bruce, who’s anti-women-in-sports-broadcasting rant went national and got him suspended after Keith Olbermann got a hold of the news on ESPN, is returning to KNBR Radio 680 Tuesday, after a brief suspension of Sunday and Monday.
It’s reported by San Francisco station KRON TV 4 (who twisted his name to read ‘Bruce Damon’ in the video below) that Mr. Bruce, who became the poster child for white male intolerance of women in sports broadcasting, will return to KNBR 1050 AM, but not be on KNBR 680 AM, the main station for the organization.
Here’s the reaction of one female sports journalist, Carmen Kiew, as shown on KRON:
And if you’re still wondering what Damon Bruce said, here it is:
I wonder if Bruce learned his lesson, but the other deal here is one of business. Lee Hammer now thinks he’s got a way to draw more listeners to KNBR Radio 1050 AM by using his brand new Angry White Male lightening rod. That’s really the only reason Bruce was brought back so quickly. KNBR needs the money it will draw (maybe) from whatever interest the story generated. But the fact is, the entire story barely broke the Google Trends needle.
According to Google Trends, the greatest level of search intensity Damon Bruce generated was a 6, and before the issue, he was at zero. That’s right: a sports radio talk show host failed to move the Google Trends needle and if you compare Bruce to Courtney Stodden, who’s one of the host trends now, he registered as high as “2” versus her 17 to 100 over the last 12 months, and the “2” was for that rant of his.
Search volume is a reflection of interest, and that can and does translate to talk radio. The point is, Damon Bruce’s volume is so low, it’s just not going to translate into new listeners for the station. If KNBR’s manager Lee Hammer based his decision on the idea that buzz was going to translate, he doesn’t know how to evaluate or drive media conversations. This one just wasn’t that large.
Thus, if KNBR and Lee Hammer really think that bringing back Damon Bruce is going to draw a ton of listeners, they’re in for a surprise. He’s certainly going to cause a bit of a swell, but not a tsunami.
Let’s see how that works for him.
Stay tuned.