BRW, Blast: Would Entercom move WRKO to FM too?

[raccoonradio]

http://www.bostonradiowatch.com talks about the upcoming move, apparently, to put WEEI on FM (probably
93.7) and ESPN on 850. They also quote an article on blastmagazine.com saying that WAAF could "be next on
the chopping block", speculating Entercom could move WRKO there. They would keep Greg Hill in the morning and
then have Rush, Howie, etc.

Joseph Gallant speculated on another board that WAAF could go to an HD-2 and that WEEI would go to 97.7 and
107.3...I'm not so sure; I think WEEI lands on 93.7 and maybe 97.7 as well, and WRKO could go to 107.3 or
perhaps 107.3 (covers the west) and 97.7 (covers south, etc.) together. Heck, buy or LMA WCRB 99.5 and you have
the north.

All just speculation but you have to wonder. If Entercom had an FM based directly in Boston WRKO could go there
but instead they have WMKK (stick 15 mi. or so to the north), WKAF (stick on Great Blue Hill, maybe 13-15 mi.
to the south but not as strong?) and WAAF (not sure how far to the west). Note that WMKK has a CP that would give it a very solid signal in most directions... WKAF may also have a CP in the works.

 

[raccoonradio]

You also wonder if WRKO could be kept at 680 for now but simulcast on FM. Various stations doing that

WPRO AM 630 --also on 99.7
WTAG AM 580-- also on 94.9

Just like the old days ("WLYN AM 1360 and FM 101.7") before rules about simulcasting (now more relaxed?) came about

 

[mgpt6]

Dont think it will happen. Would Entercomm give up on the 2nd or 3rd best AM signal in Boston. WBZ #1 and WEEI/WRKO #2 and 3.

 

[thetheo]

I don't know if it's "giving up on" if they are putting other decent formats there.

For WEEI AM it would become the ESPN national feed, which is a lot cheaper than running a fully staffed station.

they could do something similar with WRKO....maybe if the above CARR to 107.3 rumor happened maybe they'd keep him on 680 too but then go all syndicated talk the rest of the time on 680?

I really don't even know whey they still bother trying with 680 at this point, let Howie go to 96.9, and put something cheap on 680.

WRKO 680 Fox Sports national feed
WEEI 850 ESPN Sports national feed
WEEI 93.7 the current WEEI lineup
MIKE on 97.7
WAAF on 107.3 still (maybe with Howie if that plays out)

They'd still have 3 FM live/local stations, and then 2 AM auto-pilot stations that compliment WEEI nicely and are cheap to run.

 

[12 In a Row]

Final decisions will all be based on present and (potential) future billing.

Tough questions that will need to be answered include:

How much billing on Mike? Can we sustain that billing on a lower power station?
How have we devalued 850 and possibly 680?
If we simulcast, are the value of the AM's now close to zero?

The ying and the yang of business.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Dont think it will happen. Would Entercomm give up on the 2nd or 3rd best AM signal in Boston. WBZ #1 and WEEI/WRKO #2 and 3.

VERY hard to argue that WRKO is anything other than #2. WRKO has a solid signal in southern New Hampsire and Cape Cod. WEEI does not--especially at night. At night, WEEI's signal is slightly better than WRKO's in Needham (I'm referring here to the parts of it that are west of the WEEI transmitter), Wellesley and Natick, but even that may count for naught. I believe those towns are outside of both stations' NIF contours and also the interfering signals on 680 may be enough quieter than those on 850 that, despite a slightly weaker signal, WRKO may be more listenable there than WEEI is. Also, by the time you are about half way across Framingham, WEEI's signal is weaker than WRKO's because the attenuation vs distance on the higher 850 frequency causes the signal to drop off more rapidly than that on the lower 680 frequency.

Both stations moved to their current sites around 1947. What was then WLAW was constrained to pick a site north of Boston in order to cover its then-CoL (Lawrence) adequately. There can be little doubt, though, that that choice resulted in 680 being in a considerably better location to serve the market. Perhaps if the current petitions to get the FCC to abandon its "ratchet rule" go through, we might yet see WEEI move in with WRKO in Burlington.