cbs sportsradio on 1210, any chance of that happening?

[Jul]

does anyone think that cbs sports radio might move to 1210 am? so that wip-am can air the 94 wip feed again?

 

[pab]

No.

 

[AdamfromPhilly]

Julius, why would CBS do that? the AM dial is dead.
I am sure they are not happy that they have 2 AM signals to program, but at least they can get billable hours from both of them. If you simulcast 94.1 and 610 (again) you have reduced your billable hours.

 

[RyanHoward]

Julius, why would CBS do that? the AM dial is dead.
I am sure they are not happy that they have 2 AM signals to program, but at least they can get billable hours from both of them. If you simulcast 94.1 and 610 (again) you have reduced your billable hours.

Maybe CBS will sell 1210 to another owner like, say, Clear Channel. That way, they can get Limbaugh and Hannity back. Then CBS can
take 106.9 from Merlin and possibly start a KYW-FM with all-news.

 

[FredLeonard]

Julius, I feel like we're beating a dead horse here but what the heck, I'll play.

In decreasing order of likelihood, here's what CBS might do with 1210:

1. Buy 106.9 and simulcast the Clear Channel talk line-up.
2. Buy 106.9 and broadcast the Cumulus line-up on 1210.
3. Buy 106.9 and unload 1210.

Least likely: Keep 1210 as is or do what you suggested.
More likely a new owner would put another sports talk network on 1210. Heaven knows there are a bunch of them all of a sudden.

 

[sfradio]

why is Julius so obsessed with 1210? they still do pretty good for a AM station, who really even listens to AM theses days?

 

[FredLeonard]

why is Julius so obsessed with 1210? they still do pretty good for a AM station, who really even listens to AM theses days?

I can understand. WCAU was once of the great radio stations anywhere. CBS had to work really hard to destroy it, and it took several ham-handed attempts going all the way back to 1976. Some really talented people worked there and they did good work.

WFIL, WIP, WPEN, Wibbage and even KYW had their moments but WCAU was once in a class by itself. In fact, the WCAU Jullius remembers is a shadow of 'CAU's glory days.

 

[Gregg]

I wonder why Julius suggests such a scenario. CBS Sports Network is already on 610, probably the third or fourth best AM signal in Philadelphia. 610 WIP has been doing sports for 15-20 years. Why move CBS Sports Network off 610 and onto 1210? Who else would you serve? Then what would you do with 610?

Julius, CBS is going to continue Talk on 1210. If CBS didn't want it as a Talk station anymore, why did they hire a staff of local Talk hosts last year? Why did they hire Dick Morris to replace Michael Smerconish this year? OK, ratings are poor. I still think the hosts should not just be local (which Morris really isn't) but also range the political spectrum, just as WWDB sounded 20-30 years ago when it was Philadelphia's most popular Talk station.

But remember, there's no debt service. CBS has owned 1210 since the dawn of broadcasting. Other than the power bill and staff salaries, everything else is profit. They even share the office space with other CBS operations. WPHT doesn't seem to have a lack of commercials. In fact, they don't even run CBS News on the top of the hour in the daytime to squeeze in more commercials. That must mean they're selling airtime.

As we've said, WPHT is at a competitive disadvantage thanks to being in the same city as KYW. All the other CBS Talk stations, WCCO, KMOX, KDKA, are also their city's news leader. Even if you don't care for their Talk shows, you tune in for their newscasts, traffic and weather. Minneapolis, St. Louis and Pittsburgh don't have co-owned CBS All-News stations to compete with. WPHT is different. No one is listening to 1210 for news, traffic or weather. They go to 1060 for those things. WPHT has to make it on their Talk shows alone. And on AM. And with an FM competitor. I'm sure CBS Execs understand that and will allow WPHT to try different Talk programming approaches for the near future.

Note to Julius: Next posts should be "Will 1210 Go All-Business?" "Will 1210 Go Adult Standards?" and "Will CBS Turn Off The 1210 Transmitter and Walk Away?"

 

[FredLeonard]

CBS has owned 1210 since the dawn of broadcasting.

No, since 1958.

 

[Jul]

why is Julius so obsessed with 1210? they still do pretty good for a AM station, who really even listens to AM theses days?

because it matches my birth date and it was one of the first radio stations I listen to back in the 80s.

 

[deepstblu]

why is Julius so obsessed with 1210? they still do pretty good for a AM station, who really even listens to AM theses days?

I can understand. WCAU was once of the great radio stations anywhere. CBS had to work really hard to destroy it, and it took several ham-handed attempts going all the way back to 1976.

I think the first attempt actually did the job--it just took years and years for them to realize it. They were playing catch-up when they got back into talk, and it never really clicked.

 

[fmradio1]

CBS is not happy about having three AM's to program. If they could dump two of them and get a full powered FM they would in a heartbeat. They'd put KYW on the FM, CBS/Sportsradio & WIP-FM overflow on the AM and sell the other two AM's. I would think 1210 would be the best overall signal in this scenario, so Julius' premise would be possible under these circumstances.

But, the only FM signal that could come available anytime soon would be 106.9. If CBS buys it, KYW goes there. Period. End of discussion. The talk lineup would be gone, or moved back to 1210. CBS doesn't do political talk on FM in any of their markets, and getting KYW on FM is the whole purpose here. If the FCC forced CBS to divest an AM if they were to buy WWIQ (and they might since they also own the two TV stations, along with the two other FMs and the 3 AM's) I would think 610 is what gets dealt.

 

[aindik]

Julius, I feel like we're beating a dead horse here but what the heck, I'll play.

In decreasing order of likelihood, here's what CBS might do with 1210:

1. Buy 106.9 and simulcast the Clear Channel talk line-up.
2. Buy 106.9 and broadcast the Cumulus line-up on 1210.
3. Buy 106.9 and unload 1210.

Least likely: Keep 1210 as is or do what you suggested.
More likely a new owner would put another sports talk network on 1210. Heaven knows there are a bunch of them all of a sudden.

CBS is not going to sell 1210 to an owner that's going to put a sports network on it. Why would they do that?

I go with scenario 4. Buy 106.9 and unload 610 to Clear Channel, and put the CBS Sports Network, plus the Phillies and Eagles pre-simulcasts, on 1210.

106.9 goes either music or a simulcast of KYW, and all the talk shows currently on 106.9 go to 610.

 

[FredLeonard]

CBS is not going to sell 1210 to an owner that's going to put a sports network on it. Why would they do that?

I go with scenario 4. Buy 106.9 and unload 610 to Clear Channel, and put the CBS Sports Network, plus the Phillies and Eagles pre-simulcasts, on 1210.

106.9 goes either music or a simulcast of KYW, and all the talk shows currently on 106.9 go to 610.

A seller has no control over what a new owner does with a station after it's been bought.

CBS would sell a station for the same reasons anybody sells anything: (1) For the money. (2) They don't want to own it any more.

 

[Zackster]

A seller has no control over what a new owner does with a station after it's been bought.

Of course they do. Similar to a deed restriction, the language of the sale contract can
state "no sports format before July 4th, 2016" and if the buyer agrees, it can be enforced in court. Been there, done that.

 

[FredLeonard]

A seller has no control over what a new owner does with a station after it's been bought.

Of course they do. Similar to a deed restriction, the language of the sale contract can
state "no sports format before July 4th, 2016" and if the buyer agrees, it can be enforced in court. Been there, done that.

Hypothetically. What else are they going to exclude? No talk. No all news. Then all they will get are offers from religious broadcasters, which may happen any way. They tack on those restrictions, they diminish the value of the license and therefore the price they are likely to get.

What makes you assume CBS corporate cares is somebody puts Fox, NBC or Yahoo! sports on 1210? None of them will make a dent in the two local FM sports-talk stations, any more than 950 did. Premiere or Dial-Global (and Comcast) may put other considerations in play in order to claim they are cleared in Philly. After all, 610 is only there so CBS can claim their network is cleared in Philly. Nobody expects cume or local sales.

Big time corporate types play "let's make a deal" a lot more than you think.

 

[aindik]

A seller has no control over what a new owner does with a station after it's been bought.

Of course they do. Similar to a deed restriction, the language of the sale contract can
state "no sports format before July 4th, 2016" and if the buyer agrees, it can be enforced in court. Been there, done that.

Or just, you know, pick the buyer based on your reasoned guess as to what they'll do with the station once they own it.

 

[DToTheJ]

does anyone think that cbs sports radio might move to 1210 am? so that wip-am can air the 94 wip feed again?

I've got an even better idea: BRING BACK THE GIMP!
http://www.phillyradioarchives.com/images/am1210_wgmp.jpg

 

[Jul]

I bring back this thread because I have a gut feeling that CBS might change the talk format to sports soon and the PD that's running WIP, would wind up running 1210 AM to accommodate the change. 1210 didn't have a replacement PD ready tells me that's something is going to happen soon with the station

 

[wprt949]

Not going to Happen Julius Give up