CBS Sports Radio Clearance in New York?

[Barry]

With the new CBS Sports Radio network set to begin in little over a month on Jan. 2, it is still unclear whether/where it will be carried in New York. The service will be based in New York, and utilize a number of local personalities. I would also expect that CBS would want a New York flagship station.
But where would they put it? If the choice is 660 AM, I would expect that CBS would have started running announcements by now on the frequency, preparing WFAN AM listeners to switch over to 101.9. It takes quite a while for listeners to become fully aware of such changes.
Perhaps 94.7, which Cumulus has said it expects to acquire by the end of this year? Cumulus has some sort of distribution agreement with CBS for this new effort. And CBS CEO Lew Dickey has said that 94.7 would be used as a flagship for a content initiative.
Or maybe an LMA on WPAT 93.1 by Cumulus? It continues to have poor overall ratings, despite several format adjustments over the past couple years. But since the service originates from CBS, which is maxed out in New York, I am not sure if it would be legal to use either 94.7 or 93.1.

 

[luperm]

I'm thinking WFAN-FM 101.9 HD2 will carry the national feed.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

The goal of any network is to be cleared on a big signal in market #1. An HD2 isn't going to cut it. I expect the network will be carried on 660 AM.

 

[luperm]

The goal of any network is to be cleared on a big signal in market #1. An HD2 isn't going to cut it. I expect the network will be carried on 660 AM.

If that's the plan, it's being poorly executed. They still promote WFAN as Sportsradio 66 AND 101-9 FM...if they were planning to drop the AM, wouldn't they downplay the "66" part? I think the simulcast is going to be around for a while.

 

[EJ204]

In other cities where CBS has an underperforming AM station, Houston, Detroit, Tampa, Seattle, Charlotte, Baltimore, CBS is putting its Sports Network on that station 24/7. And it's also going on 610 WIP, an AM station in Philadelphia that's part of a Sports simulcast, leaving the FM to carry on with local sports shows, except for overnights and weekends.

I guess CBS thinks a) it's too early to end the WFAN-AM-FM simulcast since it only started this month. Or b) WFAN-AM's 50,000 watt non-directional 660 signal hits so many far suburbs around NYC, beyond the reach WFAN-FM 101.9, that they can't sacrifice it for the new network, as much as the network's management would like 660 to be the flagship.

You'll note that CBS has not sacrificed its All-News AM stations in Chicago (780) or San Francisco (740), even though, like 660 WFAN, they are totally simulcast on full-power FM stations. So it's clear CBS is not going to force a local station they own to take carry the network if it's bringing in money.

As for CBS Sports turning up on 94.7 WFME... no way. Cumulus wouldn't spend $40 million to buy an FM station in NYC that will carry a network around the clock, with no local programming. And they couldn't put even a few local sports shows on it because CBS would never stand for it competing with WFAN-FM.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

Why should CBS try to steer existing sports fans away from 660 AM right now if they intend to put their new sports network onto that frequency? They'll want to share many of the same listeners between the two stations so it makes sense to keep associating 660 with sports and have the target audience keep their existing AM presets. That way when CBS flips the network switch on 660 they won't need to rebuild the audience from scratch, they'll just need to start cross-promoting.

 

[davideduardo]

You'll note that CBS has not sacrificed its All-News AM stations in Chicago (780) or San Francisco (740), even though, like 660 WFAN, they are totally simulcast on full-power FM stations. So it's clear CBS is not going to force a local station they own to take carry the network if it's bringing in money.

There is a difference here. While the ESB FMs pretty much cover the entire Arbitron MSA in NYC, KCBS's FM simulcast misses about a third of the San Francisco market; the SF market has terrain issues and runs from Santa Rosa to the north to Campbell to the South. And the Willis and Hancock FMs in Chicago don't fully cover the outer limits of the Chicago metro, while WBBM-AM does. In both cases, the AM is needed to cover the entire MSA.

 

[leethalweapon]

Can we be sure it will even go into any of their markets, as a fulltime format? I can understand if it goes into replace under performing stations (like Dallas), but I wouldn't be so sure that it they would run a fully syndicated format in New York. It seems risky to blow up a proven product, to serve up a generic format.

 

[TheBigA]

I think you guys are making much more of this than it is. It's a network. That means it's a sales platform. The programming is there to support the sales platform, but the main goal is to get spots cleared. They're not going to blow up successful local programming to carry some national network, no matter who's brand name is on it. I imagine WFAN can use the CBS Sports Network brand if they want, and not even carry a single show.

 

[xmusicmatt]

I think you guys are making much more of this than it is. It's a network. That means it's a sales platform. The programming is there to support the sales platform, but the main goal is to get spots cleared. They're not going to blow up successful local programming to carry some national network, no matter who's brand name is on it. I imagine WFAN can use the CBS Sports Network brand if they want, and not even carry a single show.

Yep. I would not be surprised if CBS does not run the Network on an HD-2 and clear the spots on the Main signal... That's all the advertisers really care about right anyways... CBS has enough following with the local content on WFAN-A/F that they do not need to muck it up with national talk shows.

 

[pjc1961]

Can we be sure it will even go into any of their markets, as a fulltime format? I can understand if it goes into replace under performing stations (like Dallas), but I wouldn't be so sure that it they would run a fully syndicated format in New York. It seems risky to blow up a proven product, to serve up a generic format.

Original 6/21/2012 CBS press release for the Sports Radio Network with breakdown of what programming elements will appear on each station:

http://www.cbsradio.com/single-press/1811?filter=2012

A couple of affiliates may have been added since the above press release.

 

[disney fanatic]

And according to that article, CBS Sports Radio will be carrying in the number of markets, but I don't see Poughkeepsie is getting a CBS Sports Radio affiliate right away, but I would to see WEOK and. WALL is going to become Hudson Valley's new home for CBS Sports Radio. WEOK & WALL are both owned by Cumulus and I would love to see sports radio coming back. If you look at WEOK & WALL in the ratings, they're still hurting WGNY with "Fox Oldies" and the new WBPM where it carries the "Biggest Hits" moniker. Like I said many times, they're not going to support three stations and that is a waste. WEOK/WALL got a big fat zero in the ratings for a few years. Cumulus needs to wake up and smell the coffee, and maybe the station will dump its "True Oldies Channel" run by Scott Shannon to go to CBS Sports Radio.

 

[DToTheJ]

Disney, how come every time you make a comment, it always somehow comes back to WBPM and/or "Fox Oldies"?

 

[Seltzer]

I think you guys are making much more of this than it is. It's a network. That means it's a sales platform. The programming is there to support the sales platform, but the main goal is to get spots cleared. They're not going to blow up successful local programming to carry some national network, no matter who's brand name is on it. I imagine WFAN can use the CBS Sports Network brand if they want, and not even carry a single show.

Yep. I would not be surprised if CBS does not run the Network on an HD-2 and clear the spots on the Main signal... That's all the advertisers really care about right anyways... CBS has enough following with the local content on WFAN-A/F that they do not need to muck it up with national talk shows.

Simple solution. Just clear the network commercial inventory. Can't be more than a minute or 2 per hour. I'd really hate to see the local stuff leave the 50K blowtorch.

 

[tgmorg]

Clearing ads for the updates should be no problem for WFAN. It's the inventory for the long-form programming that will be a problem. WFAN can't be super-saturated with national ads PLUS its own local inventory. It is already clearing network ads from Dial Global.