BRW: Celts to 'RKO

[raccoonradio]

From high above courtside (reliable sources) comes word that WRKO
has gotten the rights to the Celtics. Details on BostonRadioWatch:

http://www.bostonradiowatch.com

btw do Celts games start at 7 or 7:30 pm on weeknights? If it's the former,
would they have a pre-game show at 6:30...so what about Howie? On those
nights would he end his show at 6:30 and they could feed a half hour
"best of Howie" to the 11-or-so affiliates he has? (actually I think
his Mass. and Maine affiliates are the only ones who are on past 6)

Members of Savage Nation (not me) and devotees of John Batchelor will be missing out on their fave shows...part time.

 

[morescrapple]

> From high above courtside (reliable sources) comes word that
> WRKO
> has gotten the rights to the Celtics. Details on
> BostonRadioWatch:
>
> http://www.bostonradiowatch.com
>
> btw do Celts games start at 7 or 7:30 pm on weeknights? If
> it's the former,
> would they have a pre-game show at 6:30...so what about
> Howie? On those
> nights would he end his show at 6:30 and they could feed a
> half hour
> "best of Howie" to the 11-or-so affiliates he has? (actually
> I think
> his Mass. and Maine affiliates are the only ones who are on
> past 6)
>
> Members of Savage Nation (not me) and devotees of John
> Batchelor will be missing out on their fave shows...part
> time.
>


Will hurt the ratings, Celtics aren't big on radio.

 

[raccoonradio]

We'll have to see. Certainly they won't do Red Sox numbers, but 'RKO would hope that they'd get either the same or _slightly less_ numbers as they would with
Savage. (More? Prob. not but who knows.)They'll be on a station that's easier for many to pick up than WWZN;
they could promote them, hope the team does well in standings/picks up fans, etc.

In fact this is one reason the Celts probably chose WRKO: in the hope that the
broadcast (on a station that's easier to pick up) will get their fanbase going (including cross-promotion with WEEI.
Interview the coach or players and point out "you can hear tonight's game over
on AM 680"). If the NHL is still on hold next year (would they be that stupid?)
or if hockey has lost fans, maybe fall/winter/spring sports attention would
be diverted a bit from hockey to basketball (and yup of course there's
the Pats to talk about, too)

By the way we now have our 4 major sports teams on 4 diff. stations: Sox on
'EEI, Celts on 'RKO, apparently; Bruins (if they ever play again) on WBZ
and Pats on 'BCN. There's no question what station has "the game" on, unlike
in some places like NYC where fans of Rangers, Knicks, etc. might wonder
if they're on 1050 or 1130 or whatever (or maybe those conflicts have been
solved)

> Will hurt the ratings, Celtics aren't big on radio.
>

 

[MrAl]

> We'll have to see. Certainly they won't do Red Sox numbers,
> but 'RKO would hope that they'd get either the same or


at least people will be able to hear the games on radio again, unlike with the Zone...

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

There is one major problem for the NBA: The league's collective bargaining agreement with it's players will expire after the Finals end.

Talks are ongoing, but there is at least a chance that the 2005/2006 NBA season could be delayed, interrupted, or cancelled due to a lockout.

 

[2004RedSox]

> There is one major problem for the NBA: The league's
> collective bargaining agreement with it's players will
> expire after the Finals end.
>
> Talks are ongoing, but there is at least a chance that the
> 2005/2006 NBA season could be delayed, interrupted, or
> cancelled due to a lockout.
>
Actually, it looks as if the two sides have gotten a lot closer to
resolving their issues and it's reported that a new six year deal
is in the process of being hammered out. I think they realize a strike
would be disasterous for all concerned.

 

[penandpad]

> at least people will be able to hear the games on radio
> again, unlike with the Zone...

In a lot of ways WRKO's signal is equivalent to the Zone's, especially in Metrowest. They will definitely need an affiliate out there. Problem is there's no local stations left out there to affiliate with. 1200, Clear Channel. 1120, maybe? OK signal in Framingham, but some bit of overlap with 680. 1470's now a Boston-market station. 650 has little to no night power. OK, they'll probably have 1440 on the network, but what about the white-collar corridor around Route 20, which are the people who seem to attend the games anyway?

 

[wxctintern]

They'll need to have 1440 on the network because they were on WORC in Worcester and WORC went Espanol. I believe 640 The Zone in Springfield carries the games currently.<P ID="signature">______________
~Jay Clark~
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