Raccoonradio asks:
> (I)f the NHL ever rises from the dead, where will the Bruins land?
Believe it or not, the Bruins could stay with WBZ-1030.
Here's how it could happen: WBZ could broadcast all the home games of both the Bruins and the Celtics, as well as most away games of each team.
When both teams play at the same time, the team playing at home would be heard on WBZ, while the team on the road would be heard on one of Infinity's local FM stations.
Depending on the scheduling, 'BZ probably would get to broadcast about 70 regular-season games each of the Bruins and Celtics per year (all home games of both teams and about 30 away games of each team), with one of Infinity's Boston-area FM stations broadcasting about ten away games of each team.
Still, I doubt that the Celtics would end up on WBZ. For one thing, I don't think they'd want about ten away games each year moved to an FM station whose signal only goes out 40-50-60 miles (in contrast to WBZ, whose nighttime signal covers the eastern half of the country). And if they do come back, I don't think the Bruins would want to see ten away games each year moved to FM, either.
I still think the most likely course of events is that the Celtics will take radio coverage in-house and buy airtime. And I think they'll end up doing so on Worcester's WCRN-830, and the soon-to-be-ESPN Radio simulcasts affiliates WAMG-890/WLLH-1400. The team may also buy airtime on Gloucester's (actually based in Beverly) WBOQ-104.9 and Marshfield's WATD-95.9 to insure strong reception of the team's broadcasts on the North and South Shores. Buying airtime on WCRN and the WAMG/WLLH combo will cost less than buying airtime on WBZ, WRKO-680, WEEI-850, or WTKK-96.9. In fact, buying airtime on WCRN, WAMG/WLLH, WBOQ and WATD combined may even cost a little less than one "big" Boston signal.
