What do you do when you’re a top-rated talk and sports station in a major market and have a championship-winning team as a broadcast property? You play it for all it’s worth.
That’s the playbook that Chicago’s WGN(AM) is using with the Stanley Cup champ Chicago Blackhawks.
One example — “Chicago Blackhawks Live.” Not only is “Chicago Blackhawks Live” a broadcast program, frequently though irregularly scheduled, but it is a remote event for a live audience.
It gets better. It’s actually a group dinner at a well-known Chicago-area tavern that is rented for several hours. Fans pony-up $50 to have dinner with a Blackhawk (current or past legend), participate in the live hour-long broadcast with WGN Blackhawks announcers, and they can get an autograph and picture with the Blackhawk.
Icing on the cake touch — the event is sponsored by the locality and the venue. The WGN marketing department gets three stars for “Chicago Blackhawks Live.”
The next iteration is with defenseman Duncan Keith and scheduled for the Old Town Pour House next Monday. Valet parking is available to keep the cementheads out.
