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Entercom wins the Sox

I was just about to post a link to an article in today's Heraldabout Entercom meeting with Sox brass in Philly; the article saidGreater Media still had the edge for Sox rights, but Entercom wantedto make a better offer, and would put them on WRKO.Well, I just clicked on Herald's site and found THIS:http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=138066"In a stunning turn of events, radio company Greater Media thismorning pulled out of the long-running bidding war with EntercomCommunications for broadcasting rights for Boston Red Sox games."Sources say Entercom has won the hotly contested battle for Red Soxplay-by-play. Entercom, parent company of local stations WEEI-AM (850)and WRKO-AM (680), is the only remaining bidder. WEEI, the top sportstalker in the country, has been the longtime partner with the Sox.Entercom's bid was said to have offered the Sox an option to buy anequity stake in WRKO in the future. Sources say that under the nextradio deal the Sox play-by-play would likely be on WRKO."This was a difficult decision, but at the end of the day, the dealdidn't make economic sense for the company," Greater Media Presidentand Chief Executive Officer Peter Smyth said in a statement.(back to me)--fine with me, in terms of I can pick up WRKO fine at work...
 
What is wrong with having sports on the sports station?
 
>>What is wrong with having sports on the sports stationGood question; take note of the following line from the boston.com version of the story:>>>>The games would give a boost to the station (WRKO), which has trailed WEEI in the ratings, and allow the team to separate itself from the sometimes acerbic commentary on WEEI.In Cleveland, news/talker WTAM has the Indians while there's a competing all sports station, WKNR.When visiting a friend out there, we'd go to the Tribe game and on the way home listen to the post gameshow not on WTAM but on WKNR (better...)maybe both WRKO and WMKK could run Sox...the Sox would still get the "FM quality sound" plus they'd still be on a fairly good AM signal (except to the west).------------------------------------------------and now that I think of it, this could be one reason Howie was sogiddy yesterday about WCRN picking him up...because there will be lotsof times next year when Howieabruptly ends on WRKO at 6:25 due to Sox pre-game, but people can switch toWCRN and hear the rest of his show!
 
Also, I think an piece of ownership in RKO was part of the deal. Entercom would rather give away a chunk of RKO than EEI, I guess.
 
So, they will run a talkshow 5 night a week on WEEI giving running commentary on the actual game, going on at sisterstation WRKO. I'm assuming EEI/FM will still have Sox rights so they won't be running the Adams show. Strange.
 
Yes I am pretty sure WEEI-FM would keep Sox--good signal. And WEEI/Planet Mikey would be "the home of Boston Red Sox...talk..."I mentioned the Cleveland situation; I think WTAM is Clear Channel and WKNR is owned by Salem. WKNRmight be talking about some other sport but the moment the "Tribe" game ends, they kind of do theirown "_real_ post-game show"...a name, by the way, that WEEI uses for its own post-Pats talk: yes,they don't have the Pats, but they have what they feel is the best post-Pats talk show...
 
Interesting that Entercom wants to move the Red Sox to WRKO instead of leaving them on WEEI 850. I would rather leave them on 850, why would you want local sports talk while the Red Sox are on your sister station? If this is true that WRKO will have the Red Sox in 2007 WEEI should go with FOX Sports Talk for when the Red Sox are playing instead of local talk. People are going to want to listen to the Red Sox play by play. With the pregame and postgame shows I would have them both on WEEI and just have the game on WRKO. Just a thought, could we maybe see CBS Radio Boston step up now as Greater Media stepped down? WBZ wouldn't be a bad place to have the Red Sox.
 
Why BZ? Why not BCN. It seems they don't know what to do with the format over there anyway, might as well go sports/talk/alt. rock to the hilt.
 
If the Sox are on WRKO, why doesn't WEEI pick up the Yankees? The archrival is of interest to Sox fans, and there are plenty of Yankee fans in Boston as well. It makes perfect sense, which is why MLB would probably not let that happen.
 
Leave WBCN as Boston's Rock and New England Pats football station the way it is. CBS Radio's Boston FM stations are fine how they are. It is Entercom that should consider to place the Red Sox on 107.3 or 93.7 they put them on FM in RI so why not Boston, MA. We could maybe see the Red Sox go to one of Entercom's FMs instead of WRKO. Yankees on WEEI :D not going to happen ever, MLB would not allow that. Who wants to hear the NYY in Boston anyways, not many I am sure.
 
Remember talking about the news? The loss of Brudnoy left a void in the market that no one was astute enough to fill - RKO was in the best position to bring someone in that could draw from his listeners, but dropped the ball with Savage and now the bon vivant man/about town show. Instead of righting the ship by appealing to this still underserved market, now we hear that they're ratcheting up the sports, at the expense of the news. This is good? Is it good that people can't name their state rep, but can recite the Yankee batting order?
 
I think at one point Yanks games were carried in Worcester on 1440, but not anymore. 1410 in Hartford can come in well at night (Mike Adams was a DJ there years ago, as "Dale Denver"!)...and 880.Red Sox fans like myself do check in on the Yanks on occasion to hear what's going on, etc. The rivalrycontinues.And of course in other parts of N.E. you can easily hear both teams. Burlington VT for example has Yanks on620 WVMT and Sox on 1230 WJOY.
 
More details via Sat. Heraldhttp://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articl eid=138137"The deal had not been completed last night. Both the Sox and Entercom were hammering away at details."'The Red Sox and Entercom engaged in productive discussions today regarding a radio contract,' the two sides said in a joint statement. 'They are now in the process of clarifying issues and memorializing understandings reached.'"Still, in an another twist to an unusual deal, Entercom is expected to move the Sox lineup from WEEI-AM (850) to sister station WRKO-AM (680) under the new contract. Both are part of the same corporate radio empire. The move will put the Red Sox on a stronger signal, but not nearly as clear as WBOS-FM (92.9) would have provided, said Scott Fybush, editor of NorthEast Radio Watch."
 
Globe articlehttp://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/05/06/sox_likely_to_move_games_to_wrko/"Greater Media had been the favorite to win the deal this week, butduring several hours of meetings at Fenway Park in the owners' luxurysuite Thursday, the two sides could not agree on final terms...WhenGreater Media walked away, it left a rich deal on the table: $140million over 10 years, plus an $8 million signing bonus and theownership stake, according to one account."The article also says that while WBOS "set a billing record" for themonth of May, it is still the lowest rated of GM's Boston stations.Peter Smyth did express "strong support" for the station but wouldn'trule out a sports talk format, even without the Sox("left the door open")...Also from a ProJo Blog; link found on BostonSportsMedia forum:http://www.beloblog.com/ProJo_Blogs/newsblog/archives/2006/05/red_sox_sign_re.html#more"In a landmark deal guaranteed to reverberate throughout baseball and the broadcasting industry, the Red Sox today secured a record-breaking 10-year, $200 million deal to return their play-by-play rights to Boston flagship WEEI Radio.The rights had been the subject of a bidding war between Entercom Radio, the parent company of WEEI, and Greater Media, which owns a handful of stations in Boston, including WBOS-FM.-- Journal sports writer Sean McAdamThat's TWICE what the Yankees deal was.
 
It's apparent that Entercom wouldn't pay out the 20mil fee for a shorter contract length (say 5y for 100mil). They now have cost certainty for a decade (even though it's a big cost) and have eliminated the possibility of an FM sports talk station which is anchored by the Red Sox. But, it's unlikely that FM sports talk will not become a reality at some point this year.
 
racconradio said:
>>What is wrong with having sports on the sports stationGood question; take note of the following line from the boston.com version of the story:>>>>The games would give a boost to the station (WRKO), which has trailed WEEI in the ratings, and allow the team to separate itself from the sometimes acerbic commentary on WEEI.In Cleveland, news/talker WTAM has the Indians while there's a competing all sports station, WKNR.When visiting a friend out there, we'd go to the Tribe game and on the way home listen to the post gameshow not on WTAM but on WKNR (better...)
Click to expand...
WKNR is basically a joke in Cleveland.
 
maybe so but the friend I was with said that 'KNR's post-game talk was better than WTAM's.The new Boston Radio Watch hints that WRKO may have to simulcast Sox games on WAAF to cover some MetroWest areas that have poorrecep. of 680 after nightfall.http://bostonradiowatch.com/
 
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