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Westwood One Sports Broadcasts

N

NoDakObserver

Last year, the station in my market that carried Westwood One sports broadcasts for many years dropped it completely, leaving us without any broadcasts of the prime time or playoff NFL games.
Looking at their website this year, their station finder is showing a lot less stations that it used to.

I have heard elsewhere that they used to "barter", but don't anymore, so was that a major change that caused stations to drop the broadcasts?

Since I am not a radio professional, I'm curious what was involved in the barter, and what they have changed to now that the stations don't like.

I really miss the broadcasts, but there's still a few clear channels carrying the games so I should be able to pick them up at night.
 
Their Station Finder was never well maintained, so the reduction could very well be a long overdue update. It's possible that the rights fee they have to pay for the broadcasts might have made providing the program on a barter basis unprofitable, but if they are clearing ads in fewer markets that would negatively impact their rates as well. AFAIK, the broadcasts are still cleared in Detroit.
 
WW1 claimed "nearly 500 affiliates nationwide" in a press release yesterday for their NFL coverage, so either that's a lie or their station finder is broken - you don't get to 500 stations if you only have 25 in the four of the largest states in the lower 48 (Texas, California, Illinois, Georgia).
 
NoDakObserver said:
Since I am not a radio professional, I'm curious what was involved in the barter, and what they have changed to now that the stations don't like.
Click to expand...

In a barter arrangement, the station gets the programming in exchange for carrying a certain amount of network provided spots per show or per hour. The station pays no cash, and the network goes out and sells the time on all the stations to a national advertiser.

If the barter model is not used, then stations have to pay cash for the content. Many do not want to do that.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
WW1 claimed "nearly 500 affiliates nationwide" in a press release yesterday for their NFL coverage, so either that's a lie or their station finder is broken - you don't get to 500 stations if you only have 25 in the four of the largest states in the lower 48 (Texas, California, Illinois, Georgia).
Click to expand...

I think there might be missing stations. I checked the website of the station in the town I grew up in that's carried these broadcasts since the 80s, and on the top of their home page they say they are carrying the Thursday/Sunday/Monday night games this coming weekend. They are not in the station finder.
 
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