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ESPN: Back To The Drawing Board
- Thread starter DToTheJ
- Start date
IMHO, ESPN's only way onto FM in New York is at 94.7. They could swap 1050 for 94.7 and of course there's the issue of short spacing WMAS Springfield and building a directional antenna on the ESB.
Another possibility: Assuming Randy Michaels & Co flip 101.9 to news/talk, WOR would be very much impacted, probably more so than WABC. Buckley has from time to time been rumored that they want out of New York. If that scenario happens, Buckley might be more than happy to LMA 710 to ESPN. That would mean ESPN would be on 710 in NY and LA. ESPN won't be getting the class B FM in NY they long coveted, but they'll get a 50 kW AM blaster that reaches areas 1050 can't.
Another possibility: Assuming Randy Michaels & Co flip 101.9 to news/talk, WOR would be very much impacted, probably more so than WABC. Buckley has from time to time been rumored that they want out of New York. If that scenario happens, Buckley might be more than happy to LMA 710 to ESPN. That would mean ESPN would be on 710 in NY and LA. ESPN won't be getting the class B FM in NY they long coveted, but they'll get a 50 kW AM blaster that reaches areas 1050 can't.
Once again, the idea of Disney spending money for a broadcast property, radio or TV, is over. They are content providers and owners. They are looking for a deal to put their content on a better facility. But they see no need to spend dollars to buy it. They own a valuable brand, and that is what they bring to the table. No need to spend money on towers and transmitters when you have a valuable brand. Let someone else own the electronics.
radioguy39nj said:
With Harold Camping still breathing and drawing donations from the dumb and gullible... I won't hold my breath. That false prophet's got an easy five years left in the tank - if not longer.
radioguy39nj said:Another possibility: Assuming Randy Michaels & Co flip 101.9 to news/talk, WOR would be very much impacted, probably more so than WABC. Buckley has from time to time been rumored that they want out of New York. If that scenario happens, Buckley might be more than happy to LMA 710 to ESPN. That would mean ESPN would be on 710 in NY and LA. ESPN won't be getting the class B FM in NY they long coveted, but they'll get a 50 kW AM blaster that reaches areas 1050 can't.
I doubt that too. WOR keeps chugging along in spite of 75+ demos. Randy (and likely Methany, et al) will be aiming for the younger 25-54 demos. You know, the people that don't know WOR exists. Listen to WLW or WTAM at night - even while on the AM dial, their aggressive attitudes is still a reflection of Randy and Kevin's programming influences long ago. WOR instead sounds like the tired old relative that needs help moving around the house in comparison.
That being said, given WOR's money machine of syndicated radio programs, Buckley won't sell for quite some time.
TheBigA said:
Exactly. There was a reason why they gave up the ABC Radio station group and most of the network to Citadel a few years back. If anything, given Disney's recent paring of small-market Radio Disney O&Os, they are headed in the opposite direction.
Nathan Obral said:
After reading on the link that KSPN overpaid for the Lakers radio rights in LA, I wonder if WEPN will make a bid to overpay to get the Mets or the Yankees in 2012. The contracts with CBS for both teams are up at the end of the current baseball season.
It is no secret the Yankees are looking for more money. Their most hated rivals, the Boston Red Sox, get $18MM from Entercom. The Yankees get $13MM from CBS. WEPN could be brash and offer $20MM to either NY baseball team, but can't offer the signal coverage 660 and 880 can. If WEPN had a class B FM or a 50 kW blaster AM, they'd be a strong player.
Would the Mets or the Yankees take extra money in radio rights but lose coverage area? This remains to be seen!
radioguy39nj said:Nathan Obral said:
It is no secret the Yankees are looking for more money. Their most hated rivals, the Boston Red Sox, get $18MM from Entercom. The Yankees get $13MM from CBS. WEPN could be brash and offer $20MM to either NY baseball team, but can't offer the signal coverage 660 and 880 can. If WEPN had a class B FM or a 50 kW blaster AM, they'd be a strong player.
Would the Mets or the Yankees take extra money in radio rights but lose coverage area? This remains to be seen!
It's been pretty well documented that neither team will sign with the station like 1050 whose signal is compromised. The reach and revenue potential simply won't be there. Taking just a few extra million in rights fees would be very shortsighted.
blue feast said:radioguy39nj said:Nathan Obral said:
It is no secret the Yankees are looking for more money. Their most hated rivals, the Boston Red Sox, get $18MM from Entercom. The Yankees get $13MM from CBS. WEPN could be brash and offer $20MM to either NY baseball team, but can't offer the signal coverage 660 and 880 can. If WEPN had a class B FM or a 50 kW blaster AM, they'd be a strong player.
Would the Mets or the Yankees take extra money in radio rights but lose coverage area? This remains to be seen!
It's been pretty well documented that neither team will sign with the station like 1050 whose signal is compromised. The reach and revenue potential simply won't be there. Taking just a few extra million in rights fees would be very shortsighted.
Maybe so, but money talks a big game.
blue feast said:
I agree except that 1050 seems to suit the Knicks, Rangers and Jets just fine. They all bolted WFAN and its 50 kW blaster signal. The big, bad, smack talkin' Jets like to think they've surpassed the Giants and half their fans can't receive their games on 1050 AM!
The Yankees may not be pleased that the Red Sox get more than they do for radio rights, but IMHO they won't tarnish their brand by putting their games on a compromised signal. Not sure what the Mets get for radio rights, but they've been on WFAN since the station launched in 1987. The question is will CBS want to pony up to keep both teams.
Wbzfm2010 said:
I wouldn't put it past Randy. Look at how he built WLW as a talk station, and even managed to wrap the pre-existing Reds PBP around it all. Bidding for the Yankees or Mets matches his M.O. perfectly.
Nathan Obral said:
CC's WPGB FM News Talk 104.7 has had the Pirates since its inception as a talk station, so 101.9 NY could bid for the Yankees or Mets.
RE WLW, the station has long been associated with the Reds. WLW also picks up Bengals football games at the close of the Reds' season. Bengals games that overlap the Reds are simulcast on sports station WCKY and FM rocker WEBN.
radioguy39nj said:blue feast said:
I agree except that 1050 seems to suit the Knicks, Rangers and Jets just fine. They all bolted WFAN and its 50 kW blaster signal. The big, bad, smack talkin' Jets like to think they've surpassed the Giants and half their fans can't receive their games on 1050 AM!
The Yankees may not be pleased that the Red Sox get more than they do for radio rights, but IMHO they won't tarnish their brand by putting their games on a compromised signal. Not sure what the Mets get for radio rights, but they've been on WFAN since the station launched in 1987. The question is will CBS want to pony up to keep both teams.
But those other sports aren't baseball. With all the dollars that the NFL makes on its TV deals, the radio deals are downright puny and it's only 16 regular season games.
When the Garden bolted WFAN, the NYK and NYR were highly tarnished and the Knicks had their off-court problems as well. Plus 1050 needed the cache of live games to compete with the FAN and overpaid for those rights. They'll do what they can to try to "steal" baseball from CBS Radio NY but I'm guessing it only serves to drive the price up. The 101.9 speculation is interesting and if I'm the NYM and NYY, I'm loving getting more bidders involved.
In a related story, Bob Raissman stirred the pot in his latest column, suggesting that 101.9 could be interested in the Yankees contract in an effort to get listeners to discover the new station.
blue feast said:
NFL radio deals may be small compared to TV, but every team is on a blaster signal in its home market. All have FM flags or co-flags except for the Jets, Giants, Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos. The Giants, Bears and Broncos are on 50 kW AM blasters WFAN, WBBM and KOA respectively. The Jets are on directional AM WEPN which most of NJ and LI cannot receive. Big difference! The Jets bolted WFAN in 2000 probably because then-new owner Woody Johnson didn't like Joe Benigno's rants after a bad loss.
The 101.9 speculation is likely to drive up the asking price for both the Mets and Yankees radio rights for 2012. WEPN will likely be willing to overpay, but I doubt that either team, particularly the Yankees, would take extra money at the cost of a compromised signal. It is MLB, not the NBA or NHL.
radioguy39nj said:blue feast said:
NFL radio deals may be small compared to TV, but every team is on a blaster signal in its home market. All have FM flags or co-flags except for the Jets, Giants, Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos. The Giants, Bears and Broncos are on 50 kW AM blasters WFAN, WBBM and KOA respectively. The Jets are on directional AM WEPN which most of NJ and LI cannot receive. Big difference! The Jets bolted WFAN in 2000 probably because then-new owner Woody Johnson didn't like Joe Benigno's rants after a bad loss.
The 101.9 speculation is likely to drive up the asking price for both the Mets and Yankees radio rights for 2012. WEPN will likely be willing to overpay, but I doubt that either team, particularly the Yankees, would take extra money at the cost of a compromised signal. It is MLB, not the NBA or NHL.
They could try a network of smaller stations down the NJ turnpike. Baseball & football teams have done it before.
DToTheJ said:
When the Jets were on WFAN, Benigno was doing overnights. His rants after a bad Jets' loss were a must listen. Even today, Benigno is quite capable of sounding desperate when the Jets lose a game.
The Jets need to be on FM worse than the Giants do. The Jets do have a strong FM affiliate at the Jersey Shore, WCHR 105.7 The Hawk out of Manahawkin. It reaches up to around Asbury Park in Monmouth County.
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