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ESPN FM?

94.7

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, is done to get a better signal to the east of Manhattan. They'd need something between 94.7 and 107.1 to fill in on LI.

If it happens, I'll miss the Yankees on a big AM signal.
 
luperm said:
94.7

They'd need something between 94.7 and 107.1 to fill in on LI.

If it happens, I'll miss the Yankees on a big AM signal.
Click to expand...

They haven't had the simulcast on 107.1 for a while now. It is now part of the WLIX Christian Radio network.
 
I thought WBLS wasn't officially on the market, and that Magic Johnson would be running the show.

With the Family Stations sales in Washington and Philadelphia, it would almost certainly have to be 94.7 this deal alludes to.

Oh, and what does Mushnick mean when he says WCBS "is a big money-loser station for... the CBS Radio Network"? Shouldn't that be just "CBS Radio"? It's not as if the Yankees games are airing on other CBS-owned stations across the country. Wake me when Mush retires.
 
The article alludes to an announcement possibly by the end of the week. I assume that would just be an announcement of a sale and not the date of the format change. Assuming it's just the sale, how much time would ESPN need to transfer the format over to 94.7?
 
For the perfect time to fire up an FM signal, I would anticipate it happening tomorrow night - Thursday night - right before the annual NFL Draft, which takes place in New York.

Oh, and for those still not convinced that 94.7 is not the intended signal, lest we forget this:
http://www.fybush.com/nerw-1912-wfme-goes-commercial/

(I'd go hunting out for newly registered domains for clues, but the likeliness of such a deal would be that ESPN would continue using ESPNNewYork.com as their domain for the station.)
 
DToTheJ said:
I thought WBLS wasn't officially on the market, and that Magic Johnson would be running the show.
Click to expand...

Yeah, WBLS isn't on the market, the only station in NYC that we know of on the market is 94.7.

Now, I usually avoid conspiracy theories, BUT! I can't help myself on this one. Did anyone else notice the interesting wording of this paragraph?

"The deal, upon completion — and that could be by the end of this week — would give ESPN long-term programming rights on the FM station, allowing the sports network to chase — and hard — Yankees rights."
Click to expand...

"long term programming rights..." does that sound like a possible LMA to anyone else? Like, an LMA of WEMP?
 
Its been nice having them on a clear channel AM station since you could listen to them anywhere in the northeast at night. Upstate this can sometimes be the only way to receive the game at night since local AMs power down at night. The online streams of the games are blacked out. But if the games aren't profitable for WCBS, I see no reason why they would sign another deal.
 
reelyreal said:
"long term programming rights..." does that sound like a possible LMA to anyone else?
Click to expand...

It does. If they actually bought a station, they wouldn't use that language. But there are other stations that we might not be considering, like QHT or even WPAT. Emmis is still in trouble, and an LMA allows them to make money from a station without most of the expense. They did an LMA in LA a couple years ago.
 
RadioInsight speculates that WFME is the "likely" station that ESPN is interested in. It points out that the signals of WEPN 1050 and WFME "compliment each other."
The article in RadioInsight states that WEPN has a good signal east toward Long Island; WFME is strong in NJ, and the western part of the New York market.
 
Yes and they say 1050 has problems in "much of New Jersey". WFME won't. Heck they might not even need to change the calls: FM_ E(SPN)! :)

Lic. to Newark NJ, it leads me to slightly parody a certain song Sinatra's famous for: Start spreadin' the news, I'm leaving today. I...want...to be a part of it. New-ark, New-ark... ::)
 
Another interesting possibility kicking around is that ESPN may buy WFME, and offer to swap signals with WBAI, and offer BAI some kind of regular lease income. That would solve the short signal on Long Island problem, and put ESPN on the ESB.

BAI would have income, and lose a few dozen listeners on Long Island, and pick up some listeners in the Jersey and Pennsylvania hinterlands. BAI doesn't do ratings so where its fringe listeners are doesn't matter.

ESPN could also buy a station on Long Island to fill in the small blank, and give it better reach on the island than most NYC FMs.

That said, the LMA of a station like WPAT-FM makes sense too. Apparently, we should all know for sure by the end of the week.

Chances are we will soon have two FM sports talk stations, just like in Philly and Boston.
 
TimeIsTight said:
Another interesting possibility kicking around is that ESPN may buy WFME, and offer to swap signals with WBAI, and offer BAI some kind of regular lease income.
Click to expand...

Good thinking, but that would have made Family's transfer of WFME's license from non-com to commercial unnecessary.
 
There are a few scenarios that could happen when and if ESPN purchases an FM station here in New York.

The number of staions up for as we know is one WFME 94.7. If ESPN is successful in acquring an FM station and brings either the Mets or Yankees to this stations which both station contracts expire on WFAN & WCBS respectivley, would CBS Radio convert 92.3 to an all sports station to be competitve with ESPN?

What happen to WEPN 1050AM?

If CBS moves WFAN to 92.3, what happens to WFAN on 660AM?

We MAY have to wait six months to a year from now answers to what the New York Radio landscape would look like.




Thanks,
Kevin L. Sealy
 
Good thinking, but that would have made Family's transfer of WFME's license from non-com to commercial unnecessary.
Click to expand...

True, but when Family Radio first put the station on the market it didn't know who was going to bid or what their intentions for the station were. It was just more valuable as a commercial, and they could always switch it back to non-comm.

Still, if WBAI were in this "signal trade" picture, I can't imagine that fact being kept quiet before a deal was made. Pacifica and WBAI are the perfect examples of why "rule by committee" and "boards" can be dysfunctional. I suspect we would have heard a lot of noise because one BAI listener on the lower East Side of Manhattan wouldn't have an "identical" signal from "way out in Jersey" or couldn't be expected to remember a new frequency address.

If they did pull such a trade off it would be amazing, but I think your idea of an LMA like WPAT is more likely. However, you would think ESPN would want to "own" a radio station, just to have a good option when the LMA contract comes around for renewal, in case the station owner decides not to renew.
 
The other real wild card here, just thinking outside the box, is that multiple deals are in the works, with several LMAs and purchases going on.

With CBS having some cash from selling off their West Palm Beach cluster, perhaps selling off WINS, and getting into the bidding for WFME, thus leaving ESPN needing to do an LMA with someone else.
 
TheBigA,

I find it very unlikely CBS selling off 1010 WINS which is a money maker for them.



Thanks,
Kevin L. Sealy
 
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