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960 Plattsburgh to CBS Sports Radio

A

am_directional

Went looking for Imus this morning... denied !
Just heard this morning that WEAV 960 Plattsburgh is CBS Sportsradio.

Their biggest competition is their sister station (ESPN 101.3).

Happy New Year,
Joe
 
You ever see the video on YouTube of the New York Jets draft follies where Mel Kiper says "the Jets don't know what the draft is all about?" This maxim applies here. What does this do to the perception of 101.3? You have a radio station that carries programming from "The Worldwide Leader in Sports," then you flip another station in your portfolio to CBS Sports. Well, if you already carry the "Worldwide Leader," then what does that make CBS Sports?

What you do is make 960 the full ESPN national schedule, which would be a simulcast of what's on 101.3, save for Chris and Rich/Lake Monsters/UVM basketball/Patriots. You make the national events and shows from ESPN available to those who don't care to listen to the local events and shows. You're the ESPN World Wide Leader affiliate, yet, when you preempt their national shows for local games, you don't put them on 960, you put on a different network entirely. I don't like to call people stupid, but this idea is just straight up stupid. I can't put lipstick on this pig.
 
As usual some people just look at the surface. I know people within Vox and this is the reason changes were made.

The sports franchise has been a home run for the company with revenues. They have a frequency in 960 that has been underperforming for years and has been only getting worse. CBS and NBC came out with sports networks. They decided to change 960 to all sports for several reasons. 1. To keep a potential sports competitior off the dial. 2. To keep all sports under the same roof. 3. It is being billed under the "Champlain valley Sports Nation" umbrella. 4. They now have Celtics, Patriots, Bruins (when they return), UVM men's basketball and Lake Monster baseball across their two sports stations. 5. They are already billing more with the new format than the old.

Yeah, controlling 90% of the sports market, increasing revenues on an AM station that had little and being all alone in a format sure is "straight up stupid". Obviously, thoughts from someone who has never owned a radio station and was responsible for making decisions that increase revenue and values.
 
Who gives a **** about CBS Sports Radio? Just because somebody started a national radio network does not mean that you're obligated to clear it in Burlington, Vermont the week it launches. You already have most of the worthwhile pro and college contracts and a local talk show to complement ESPN. Fear that a competitor will pick up a national birdfed sports format is not grounds for muddling your own brand identity. For Chrissakes, if somebody wanted to compete badly enough, they could pick up NBC or Fox! You're telling people straight up "you should listen to ESPN! No, you should listen to CBS!"

Again, do what WEEI does. Since you're so doggedly determined to do what major markets do, do what that successful major market station does. Local stuff on 93.7, national stuff on 850. Emulate that. What if somebody in Burlington wants to hear the ESPN radio night show on a summer night instead of a Monsters game? You're going to have them tune to 960 and hear CBS instead of ESPN? It's simply an indefensible programming move.
 
And how is the sales pitch going to work when you go around to local merchants? "You can buy time on ESPN on FM, or on CBS on AM."

"So, wait, CBS is on FM?"

"No, no, ESPN is on FM."

"But I want to advertise during the Celtics."

"Yep, that's on the AM."

"Didn't you just say the AM was CBS?"

Good Lord, I want to put my fist through the wall just having typed that. And those are actual statements that your sales department may utter to a Burlington businessman in the not-too-distant future.

What, in your honest to God minds, makes you believe that running CBS Sports on 960 would net you a nickel more than running ESPN's national feed on 960?
 
I would happily tell them they can be in every relevant sports event for one easy monthly payment because we have cornered the market.
 
Yeah, and they could have cornered the market on sporting events WITHOUT AFFILIATING WITH CBS SPORTS RADIO.

Seriously, am I on Candid Camera?
 
Let me explain this so even the griping poster on this board can understand.

1. You cannot go all "local sports talk" on 101.3 because the market isn't big enough to justify the expense...plus there isn't enough local compelling sports to fill an entire 14 hour day.

2. You obviously haven't been in sales. If you had read the post they are selling both stations under the one of umbrella of the "Champlain Valley Sports Nation".

3. You assume Lake Monsters will be on 101.3.....I might not be so sure of that.

4. CBS Sports radio will, most likely, become a major brand and this avenue keeps it under their roof and off the competition. Again, why is it bad to be the only player in a market in your format? Most people would kill for that!

5. They are also taking NBC Sports Radio at night. I just put that in there to further make your head rotate. :) Again, keeping all competitors out of the sports format and capitalizing on the sports sell which is doing gangbusters for them.

Again, we are talking about an AM station with little ratings and even worse revenue. It's already doing better as sports as it was as a talk station? This will increase the brand for sports in the market and help them to be the dominant player for a long time to come.

Why don't you get that? It seems to make sense to everyone on this board but you.
 
I'm always amused when someone with *nothing* personally at stake offers up marketing/branding/positioning advice (avec a large dose of rage, bluster and condescension) to someone who has *everything* at stake as the owner of a broadcast property.
 
Marconi said:
1. You cannot go all "local sports talk" on 101.3 because the market isn't big enough to justify the expense...plus there isn't enough local compelling sports to fill an entire 14 hour day.
Click to expand...

I understand that.

2. You obviously haven't been in sales. If you had read the post they are selling both stations under the one of umbrella of the "Champlain Valley Sports Nation".
Click to expand...

No, I haven't worked in radio sales. You're right about that. And of course I read the post. I'm fully aware of what their strategy is. It's just that the strategy is nonsense.

3. You assume Lake Monsters will be on 101.3.....I might not be so sure of that.
Click to expand...

Doesn't really matter if they're on 101.3 or on 960.

4. CBS Sports radio will, most likely, become a major brand and this avenue keeps it under their roof and off the competition. Again, why is it bad to be the only player in a market in your format? Most people would kill for that!
Click to expand...

How deep do you think the demand is for sports radio in Burlington? How big do you think the pie is? What competitor would take CBS Sports? What makes them better than, or even different from, Fox Sports, which is currently not, to my knowledge, cleared in the market? If you're going for the monopoly, then take the monopoly and put Fox Sports on 96.7. Hell, buy two of Champlain's AMs, then you'll have five frequencies for all five national sports formats! (ESPN, CBS, NBC, Fox, Yahoo) Hell, they already got rid of Elvis Duran on 96.7. That sounds like "we're getting close to quitting CHR" to me.

5. They are also taking NBC Sports Radio at night. I just put that in there to further make your head rotate. :) Again, keeping all competitors out of the sports format and capitalizing on the sports sell which is doing gangbusters for them.
Click to expand...

Short of Ken Barlow e-mailing me his spreadsheets, we'll never know. The only evidence I have of the success of 101.3 is anecdotal. A friend tells me that the Chris & Rich show has only TWO phone lines, yet said friend tells me he can frequently call the show without a busy signal.

Again, we are talking about an AM station with little ratings and even worse revenue. It's already doing better as sports as it was as a talk station? This will increase the brand for sports in the market and help them to be the dominant player for a long time to come.
Click to expand...

It's been a sports station for a frickin' week! How about we give it three months before we start saying things like "it's already doing better as sports."

Why don't you get that? It seems to make sense to everyone on this board but you.
Click to expand...

Yeah, when the "everyone" is Vox employees and their cronies, of course I look like the one who doesn't make sense.
 
Lester Young said:
I'm always amused when someone with *nothing* personally at stake offers up marketing/branding/positioning advice (avec a large dose of rage, bluster and condescension) to someone who has *everything* at stake as the owner of a broadcast property.
Click to expand...

Lack of the wealth necessary to purchase a terrestrial radio station disqualifies the validity of my opinions? What if I was the station owner and you the message board pundit? Would you post opinions on my business decisions?
 
And to touch again on "help them be the dominant player for a long time to come": Did that company believe they would be the dominant oldies player when DOT-FM signed on? Does that company still believe they can become the dominant CHR player with Planet? Why do they think they've struck gold with a sports duopoly that blindly snaps up national network clearances?
 
Man....you are one angry little man. Why do you hate people who put themselves on the line and go for it?

And as far as the dominant player...I don't see them changing the format of Planet from CHR...they simply went another way in the morning. I listen and they are going in a more music direction playing 11-13 songs an hour where Triple X plays just 5-6. Sounds like they are trying something different because Elvis didn't get ratings. Not exactly a rocket science decision there...other people have made that same move many times. Not sure if it will work or not but I understand them trying something different. It's seems you have a personal grudge against either the company or people there.
 
Marconi said:
Man....you are one angry little man. Why do you hate people who put themselves on the line and go for it?
Click to expand...

Do you believe that a person is immune to criticism if they put themselves on the line and go for it? That argument has come up repeatedly, and it doesn't carry any water.

It's seems you have a personal grudge against either the company or people there.
Click to expand...

Sure I do. When you put literal friends and neighbors of mine out of work without giving them a fair shake, you open yourself up to criticism in everything you do. Burlington radio is a weird, incestuous animal. There are people at the Fort now that I love dearly. There are people who have been terminated (in some cases, wrongly, based on my evidence) that I love dearly. There are people who are lifelong friends of mine that work in Burlington radio now that I didn't even know had an interest in the medium.

I did my time up there. I learned a lot of great things when I was at the X, lessons I apply to my non-radio career now in which I've become quite successful. But through it all, I've remained a nice, honest, Vermonter at heart. I'm not sure "nice" really applies to the Vermonter that owns Star/Planet/Zone/ESPN.
 
One final statement and then I am done because this is getting none of us anywhere. You assume people weren't given a fair shake yet....if I am correct....most or all of those people who left were not picked up by anyone else very quickly or at all.

But the most obvious point is when you state you have a personal grudge against the stations and it's owners. That negates any objective opinion you could produce and thus, makes all of your arguements without merit.
 
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