• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Beasley Broadcast Group Sells 92.5, 96.5 to CBS radio, CBS sells 610 AM to Beasley

I like this line from David Madden's report on KYW's website, "No plans were announced to change programming formats at any of the new CBS stations in Philadelphia."

Yes, that is until they dump Wired and begin to simulcast KYW on 96.5. Does Beasley continue CBS Sports Radio on 610? Or does Beasley broadcast talk radio on 610 and 1210 becomes CBS Sports Talk with the am simulcast of the Phillies & Eagles.
 
Last edited:
Amp radio on 96.5, I'd bet, before KYW.

1210 to CBS Sports Radio. Beasly inherits the rest of 1210's intellectual property, at which point the local content is dropped in favor of syndication.
 
Does 610 get the WWDB call letters?.They could have Imus, Beck, Rush, Sean, Mark Levin, etc and infomercial or best of shows on weekend along with college sports that CBS and GM don't carry.
 
For the record, 1210 AM is not - repeat NOT - involved in this deal.

"No plans were announced" means no plans were ANNOUNCED. Not that they don't have any plans. (1) Yes, they will probably move KYW to Wired. (2) No, it won't help much.

CBS could move syndicated sports talk to 1210. And Beasley would then pick up Rush and Hannity who would have become available, If anybody wants to think about this for a second, this is one of the dumbest moves ever - even for radio people. Moving Rush-Hannity was a flop when Merlin did it; it would be an even bigger disaster to move them again so soon. And syndicated sports talk on WIP is a cellar-dweller. CBS would be trading a mediocre performer on 1210 for a terrible performer. CBS has unloaded an AM and picked up two FMs in the market. They should quit while they are ahead.
 
eaduied our

For the record, 1210 AM is not - repeat NOT - involved in this deal.

"No plans were announced" means no plans were ANNOUNCED. Not that they don't have any plans. (1) Yes, they will probably move KYW to Wired. (2) No, it won't help much.

CBS could move syndicated sports talk to 1210. And Beasley would then pick up Rush and Hannity who would have become available, If anybody wants to think about this for a second, this is one of the dumbest moves ever - even for radio people. Moving Rush-Hannity was a flop when Merlin did it; it would be an even bigger disaster to move them again so soon. And syndicated sports talk on WIP is a cellar-dweller. CBS would be trading a mediocre performer on 1210 for a terrible performer. CBS has unloaded an AM and picked up two FMs in the market. They should quit while they are ahead.

Sure, they'd be trading a mediocre (to be kind) performer for a virtual non-entity, but the cost savings--and more deisrable listener profile, even on a smaller scale, of sports make it interesting to consider. Dump the morning show host, co-host/newsreader, mid-day host, afternoon duo, evening guy and various fill-ins, plus the producers et al. Replace those cost lines with....a hard drive in a closet that you already own. Keep the Phillies for the heck of it...and now the trade looks more appealing.
 
I hope Wired 96.5 stays the way it is. If they have to go to 96.5 Amp Radio, don't fire all the DJs and go jockless a whole season. A few of the jocks on Wired came from 92.3 Now when that got Amped, it would be cruel for them to be laid off again for another Amp.
Regardless, the DJs on Wired 96.5 should update their resumes and try to jump ship to another city.
XTU is doing well so CBS should likely not mess with it.
 
Sure, they'd be trading a mediocre (to be kind) performer for a virtual non-entity, but the cost savings--and more deisrable listener profile, even on a smaller scale, of sports make it interesting to consider. Dump the morning show host, co-host/newsreader, mid-day host, afternoon duo, evening guy and various fill-ins, plus the producers et al. Replace those cost lines with....a hard drive in a closet that you already own. Keep the Phillies for the heck of it...and now the trade looks more appealing.

1210 will become a computer in a closet - sooner or later. It's a far better move for CBS to dump their local right-wing hosts and replace them with syndicated right-wing hosts than to dump the right-wing talk format and let Beasley pick it up.
 
If it were a case of all syndication owned by someone else and all sports owned by someone else, I'd likely agree wholeheartedly. However, so long as CBS remains committed to its sports network, that factor has to weigh in the overall business equation.

"Letting" Beasly take on the syndicated conservative format isn't exactly giving them the keys to Fort Knox. CBS let Rush and Hannity walk once before, and 1210 didn't suffer all that much for it, nor gain much from getting Rush back live, and Hannity back whenever it happens to fit the nighttime schedule. Bounce them away again, and will Beasly be getting anything all that valuable in the mid- to long-range?

Sports at least has shown some strength with a more desirable demograhic. No one is saying the national network will rival the local. But sold in tandem, it would be an easier sell than trying to sell the 85-to-dead audience for the current 1210.
 
"Unregistered:" You may over-estimate how much influence getting clearance for CBS Sports Network has over local management's programming decisions. Local management is responsible for profits generated locally, not for getting clearances for a unit in another division of the company.

As Julius reminds us, this is a market in which CBS top of the hour news and the Osgood File are not cleared. Clearly, local stations are not being run to please the radio network now distributed by Westwood One, which is now part of Cumulus. CBS produces content for the Westwood One network which carries the CBS "brand," just as ABC produces content for the WWI network carrying the ABC brand and NBC produces content for the WWI network carrying that brand. And CBS also provides content for CBS Sports Radio, a Westwood One network, too.

Moving talk and moving sports talk is just going to cost both listeners. Cume dropped when the syndicated hosts moved to 106.9 and then moved back to 1210. It happened when syndicated hosts moved from WABC to WOR. It's happened consistently when hosts change stations. Everybody is better off if everybody stays put.
 
1210 AM will change formats soon, I predict.

I'm predicting it right now, CBS will change the format on 1210 WPHT-AM to sports as a result of the huge deal announced today involving Beasley Broadcast Group. I think the WIP calls will move to 1210 AM too.
 
"Unregistered:" You may over-estimate how much influence getting clearance for CBS Sports Network has over local management's programming decisions. Local management is responsible for profits generated locally, not for getting clearances for a unit in another division of the company.

As Julius reminds us, this is a market in which CBS top of the hour news and the Osgood File are not cleared. Clearly, local stations are not being run to please the radio network now distributed by Westwood One, which is now part of Cumulus. CBS produces content for the Westwood One network which carries the CBS "brand," just as ABC produces content for the WWI network carrying the ABC brand and NBC produces content for the WWI network carrying that brand. And CBS also provides content for CBS Sports Radio, a Westwood One network, too.

Moving talk and moving sports talk is just going to cost both listeners. Cume dropped when the syndicated hosts moved to 106.9 and then moved back to 1210. It happened when syndicated hosts moved from WABC to WOR. It's happened consistently when hosts change stations. Everybody is better off if everybody stays put.

If local trumped national across the board, the previous simulcast would have likely been preferred to turning 610 over to the network. They were able to keep local hosts on 610 whole play by play was on FM (Eagles notwithstanding). Best of both worlds. I find it hard to believe local management was that enamored of the network that they just had to have it on 610. Or that they're so enthralled by Scott Shannon that they opted locally to carry his new syndicated show (and that the other classic hits stations felt the same way, by pure happenstance). Or that the KYW bosses felt 6:30 p.m. just cried out for an audio feed of the CBS news.

Those are higher priorities than Osgood or TOH news. Not all initiatives are created equal.

Then there's the question of the play by play that does air on 610. If CBS wants to retain that revenue, they consolidate it with 1210. If I were looking for the filler material to plug around that expanded sports presence, the network branded sports is a better fit than talk (as is often mentioned). The trade off is sending a diminished, and dying, slate over to the other guys. Not a bad end result for CBS at either the local or corporate level.
 
If local trumped national across the board, the previous simulcast would have likely been preferred to turning 610 over to the network. They were able to keep local hosts on 610 whole play by play was on FM (Eagles notwithstanding). Best of both worlds. I find it hard to believe local management was that enamored of the network that they just had to have it on 610. Or that they're so enthralled by Scott Shannon that they opted locally to carry his new syndicated show (and that the other classic hits stations felt the same way, by pure happenstance). Or that the KYW bosses felt 6:30 p.m. just cried out for an audio feed of the CBS news.

Those are higher priorities than Osgood or TOH news. Not all initiatives are created equal.

Then there's the question of the play by play that does air on 610. If CBS wants to retain that revenue, they consolidate it with 1210. If I were looking for the filler material to plug around that expanded sports presence, the network branded sports is a better fit than talk (as is often mentioned). The trade off is sending a diminished, and dying, slate over to the other guys. Not a bad end result for CBS at either the local or corporate level.
Thank you!!!
 
Out of this entire deal, the only one I look forward to is KYW on 96.5. Besides that, we're all just looking at call letters changing and sports moving to some new stations, whether it be sports on 92.5 or whatever. Why the hell must it be only sports? 97.5 is doing fine with sports, and 94.1 is fine. Two is ENOUGH! Here's a novel idea for them, how about they start trying to get creative and put some new and interesting talk on one of these stations, or some good underground music. New, unknown but good bands deserve a station with a good- city full signal. I'm tired of network sports. Whatever the changes are, they're not saving radio. They're just serving the executives wallets.
 
Whatever the changes are, they're not saving radio. They're just serving the executives wallets.

The place for unknown bands is college radio. The place for underground music is underground. Putting underground or unknown music on radio blows the secret, ruins the thrill of the unknown, and makes it mainstream. The next step is long lines and ticket scalpers. Why is that a good idea?
 
Sports stations make money,but having more than two in a market really doesn't serve the listeners, as if that matters anymore. Look at Los Angeles. KFWB is now the fourth sports station in the market. Two talk stations and four sports stations. I wonder what Beasley will do with 610. It's only being used to clear CBS sports and hardly has any listeners.It would be so nice to use that great 610 signal with a format people would actually listen to,but I know it's AM and no matter how great the signal is is still AM. Personally, I'd love to see older oldies or the return to their glory days as a standards station. but of course that will never happen. Makes about as much sense as 1480 playing smooth jazz, possibly the worst music format for an AM station, and that is actually on the air.
 
Forgot about KEIB and KRLA in LA, so there are four talk stations, not two in LA. Still, four sports stations in one market is two too many Yes, I know they can all make some money and serve that 18-49 male demo, but how small can you slice the pie?
 
What will Beasley Broadcasting do with 610 AM will have an impact on 1210 AM's future in some way, I think that we can all agree with that.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom