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ESPN Deportes

D

disney fanatic

I just heard about it that WEPN is going to launch the first Spanish sports station on 1050 starting next week. Does anyone heard the news?

Which means that WEPN will no longer be carrying ESPN Radio on 1050 AM, but you can hear it at 98.7 on the FM dial, because the station cannot reached when it reaches Newburgh. WFAN is the only remaining sports station that is left, but there is some speculation that WFAN would launch a 24-hour network known as CBS Sports Radio which will debut in January 2013.

That must be a tough time and a sad time for sports fans. Back in 2000, WEOK and WALL started a sports format known as ESPN Radio, but failed miserably and it lasted about 2 years until 2003 when it flipped to a failed Spanish format known as "El Ritmo". Is ESPN Deportes would be the next "El Ritmo"? I guess so, Spanish formats didn't work in the Hudson Valley a long time ago, but this going to happen next week. 1050 AM has a good signal, but it's a 50,000 watt station but carries NYC and the rest of the Hudson Valley including Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Kingston, New Paltz, Catskill and right up towards Albany. Are they're going to bring some of the hispanic and Spanish speaking listeners in the HV listeners to tune in to hear a 24-hour Spanish sports station on 1050 AM? We'll find out!

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/september-7-is-start-date-for-espn-deportes-on-1050-am_b66813
 
I wonder how long until they end up selling 1050 and moving Deportes to 1560 (replacing Radio Disney)? Really, 1010 and 1050 are disadvantaged because of being on Canadian clear channels (CFRB and CHUM respectively)... here in Albany I often get a mix of CFRB/WINS and CHUM/WEPN at night :)

Edit: Oh, and the 1050 has to be directional due to KYW which is 10kHz up the dial in Philadelphia ;) ESPN Deportes 1050 won't have a good signal in central NJ and the shore for this reason...
 
1050 switching to ESPN Deportes is a mistake, but it is a done deal. 98.7 and 1050 together have the signal strength to almost rival WFAN. As another poster mentioned, 1050 is the strongest AM during the day North of New York and you lose the NY FM's around Newburgh. 1050 could have extended the reach of 98.7 North and East of the city.

So many AM stations that could benefit from a Spanish Sports station..620, 930, 1330,1380,1560,etc.
 
I lose many of the FMs in my car at Newburgh as well, though my AM radio loses 1050 not far past there. (WFAN and WCBS carry the farthest north for me; I can usually hear both all the way to Albany when not under power lines.

I would ask others more knowledgeable how important listenership on the fringes of the DMA is to stations. It seems to me that the PPM boundaries are more intuitively connected to the area NYC advertisers would need to reach than the DMA is, and I suspect that the PPM boundary is where it is for just that reason, and the areas outside PPM reach are of less to nil importance.
 
We'll see what happens come Friday afternoon at 2 PM to hear the change. I guess ESPN Radio in New York City is going to end on 1050 in two days before dropping a simulcast from 98.7 FM, and it will be ESPN at 98.7 alone, but you can't get the station on FM. Look what happens to 1050, they're going to lose its luster, save it to WFAN to get a better signal in the north, but it's a 50,000 watt station, but 1050 AM is still a 50,000 watt station both day and night, but it will be flipping to a spanish sports station as ESPN Deportes Radio and it will bring a few or some hispanic listeners from the Hudson Valley to hear what is going on. Remember "El Ritmo", that format killed back in 2005 when WEOK and WALL flipped to "Radio Disney".Look what happened back on 3/4/05 in an article from the Times-Herald Record, let's go back to the days of yesteryear about a spanish station that failed miserably:

Spanish radio station taken off air

Poughkeepsie – Tens of thousands of Spanish-speaking listeners eager to tune in their favorite radio station Wednesday got an unpleasant surprise.

The voice of El Ritmo, the Hudson Valley's only 24-hour Spanish language radio station, was silent. The popular Latin music and Spanish talk that listeners craved had been unceremoniously replaced with cartoon theme songs.

The station, which broadcast on WEOK 1190 AM and WALL 1340 AM, had been on the air since August 2002, serving the Hudson Valley's large and growing Spanish-speaking population a tasty combination of music, talk and community events programming.

El Ritmo's sudden demise came as a shock to both listeners and the station's popular disc jockeys, who said news of shutdown came without warning or fanfare from the station's general manager, Chuck Benfer (before he joined CC a few years later).

"They just took us into a room about 1 p.m., and by 2 p.m., we were gone," DJ Gonzalo Quintana said.

Benfer said El Ritmo fell victim to low ratings and poor advertising revenue.

"It's unfortunate," Benfer said. "We didn't get much rating support. But another problem was the community just didn't seem to be supporting our advertisers. Unfortunately those two things are really very important for radio to be successful."

Quintana said the formula is not that simple.

"People were not returning the rating forms, but then again those forms are in English" Quintana said. "Everyone understands they live in an English-speaking world, and they have to function in English. But everything that can make them feel a little more at home helps.

"It's like having the rug pulled out from under them," he added.

Benfer said the market just couldn't support the station.

"The Spanish market is a growing market, but it's a small market for us," he said.

U.S. Census data show a Hispanic population of more than 50,000 in Orange and Ulster counties. The data also shows those numbers are rising.

Prominent members of the mid-Hudson's Hispanic community say they're outraged by the loss of El Ritmo, which translates as "The Rhythm."

"I'm furious," said Eddie Ramirez of R&M productions, one of the region's biggest promoters of Latino culture and entertainment events.

"They didn't even give them a chance to say goodbye on the air," Ramirez said.

"I'm just shocked," said Sonia Ayala, president of Orange County's Latino Democratic Committee. "It's an insult. The market is there, especially in Orange County. I hope someone will take advantage of this because there's a huge need and an audience out there for it."

Former El Ritmo DJ Ruben Estrada, a member of the Orange County Republican Committee and a former vice president of the successful Spanish Broadcasting Corp., echoed Ayala, saying Hispanic ownership of radio stations is key.

"I think we should be looking at this as a void, and that void should be filled by us," Estrada said.

El Ritmo's departure leaves Spanish-speaking listeners with only one alternative – Latin Jubilee, which airs one hour a week, Saturday from 5 to 6 p.m. on WTBQ 1110 AM.

WEOK and WALL will begin broadcasting Disney Radio for kids today, Benfer said.

And now, 7 years later, a spanish sports station is going to flip on 1050 AM starting this Friday afternoon at 2 PM, you should save the date that this Friday, 1050 will lose ESPN Radio in the Hudson Valley listening area including Poughkeepsie, Kingston, Saugerties, New Paltz, Highland, Newburgh, Beacon and the rest of them right up to Albany. What's going to happen next, I got an idea! Why not flip one of the Cumulus stations in the Hudson Valley. Perhaps WEOK and WALL is going to be a candidate for a flip to CBS Sports Radio which is going to start in January 2013 as a 24-hour sports network, and maybe they pull the plug on Scott Shannon's "True Oldies Channel" and leave it "Fox Oldies" or WBPM since it already rebrands itself as "The Biggest Hits of All Time", just like the way CBS-FM did over the weekend. WBPM has finally tweaked the format to a more "Greatest Hits" station with the likes of Randy Tuner and Bob Miller.

WEOK & WALL, let the speculation begin!!!
 
For those of you have tuned in to 1050 that as of midnight, the station has finally dropped its simulcast of ESPN Radio as heard on 98.7, but it was replaced by a series of announcements regarding "Make the Switch" to ESPN Radio on 98.7 and coming tomorrow is the launch of ESPN Deportes at 1050. That means you will no longer be hearing ESPN programming in English anymore. That is sad. If you're in the HV listening area, you will only get one station which is WFAN.

What's going to happen on any Cumulus AM outlets at 1340 and 1390? Maybe they will be dropping TOC to start the new 24/7 network called CBS Sports Radio which will be coming up in January or any of the Anastos stations in Albany elsewhere, but this will have a sports station in the Hudson Valley. Any thoughts?

I'll have an aircheck later on.
 
It's official! 1050 ESPN Radio is now ESPN Deportes and it is now a spanish sports station in NYC, and it will be reaching its signal towards the Hudson Valley. Many of you listeners in Newburgh could not pick it up on FM at 98.7, then too bad, it is now Spanish for the first time since "El Ritmo" died 7 years ago. I'll have an aircheck of the launch later today after I will finish recording.
 
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