-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Globe: WEEI to FM, ESPN to 850 (In talks...)
- Thread starter raccoonradio
- Start date
thetheo said:
Their signal may actually be better on the north shore than the south shore though. People hear the city of license "Brockton" and automatically think the signal must be better down here. It definitely is not. On cheap walkmans, clock radios, etc, 97.7 is much weaker than any of the other major Boston stations, including 93.7. As has been discussed before, this is probably due to the antenna being mounted low on the north side of the WGBH tower, which is quite wide.
Unless things have changed since Entercom bought it (I haven't checked since 107.3 works just fine for me), I've never gotten 97.7 very well anywhere north of Boston. It's been static-y at best, and sometimes non-existent. But those were the hip hop days, maybe it's been boosted/moved since then?
Sports FM is the way to go--static free signal covering more areas, often, with a younger audience (the ones who probably don't know AM exists). The local talk would be there on FM with residual play by play and ESPN on
AM (plus ESPN on the FM, too, nights and weekends)
There already is at least one AM 850 ESPN... Cleveland's WKNR (some programming on AM 1540)
http://www.espncleveland.com/
AM (plus ESPN on the FM, too, nights and weekends)
There already is at least one AM 850 ESPN... Cleveland's WKNR (some programming on AM 1540)
http://www.espncleveland.com/
Still on with ESPN as of a few minutes ago. Local shows def. are gone we're to understand but maybe it lasts thru today?
I don't know if it's a matter of "ESPN pulling their affiliation" (probably) or "owners switching format due to lousy
ratings/billing" but I wonder if ESPN is now staying on 890/1400 for the time being while things are being ironed out...?
The station's GM supposedly confirmed the change in programming late last week and today was to be the day.
But when I tuned in around 10:45, still on at 890.
890 at 11:07 am:
Ad for Bigelow tea w/ Terry Francona
Ad for Rt 24 Toyota, ad for window company
"Red Sox notebook on 890 ESPN..."...more ads...
"This is the Herd...here's Colin..."
I don't know if it's a matter of "ESPN pulling their affiliation" (probably) or "owners switching format due to lousy
ratings/billing" but I wonder if ESPN is now staying on 890/1400 for the time being while things are being ironed out...?
The station's GM supposedly confirmed the change in programming late last week and today was to be the day.
But when I tuned in around 10:45, still on at 890.
890 at 11:07 am:
Ad for Bigelow tea w/ Terry Francona
Ad for Rt 24 Toyota, ad for window company
"Red Sox notebook on 890 ESPN..."...more ads...
"This is the Herd...here's Colin..."
Hmmm, WEEI to FM? Such a great idea, I wonder why nobody here thought of it before!?! :
There's talk on Fybush and rumors going around about the possibility that Entercom may be able to ink a deal to have WEEI show up on 99.5. That would essentially be the consummation of a deal that died last year. IF they could pull that off, having WEEI on 99.5 would be the best possible scenario for Entercom. Perhaps an LMA leading to a purchase? This way they keep the revenue from WAAF and Mike coming in while picking up revenue from the newly improved signal of WEEI on FM.
Either way, at this point, Entercom must put WEEI on FM. They have too much invested in the format to see CBS siphon away much of the audience to a better FM signal. To compete, they must even the playing field. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that having 2 sports talk and an 1 issues talker taking up much of Boston's FM dial is the greatest thing for the listener. However, if you are Entercom, you have no choice. As for CBS, putting the format on 98.5 was smart. It's all about strategy and, like it or not, these moves are good strategy.
There's talk on Fybush and rumors going around about the possibility that Entercom may be able to ink a deal to have WEEI show up on 99.5. That would essentially be the consummation of a deal that died last year. IF they could pull that off, having WEEI on 99.5 would be the best possible scenario for Entercom. Perhaps an LMA leading to a purchase? This way they keep the revenue from WAAF and Mike coming in while picking up revenue from the newly improved signal of WEEI on FM.
Either way, at this point, Entercom must put WEEI on FM. They have too much invested in the format to see CBS siphon away much of the audience to a better FM signal. To compete, they must even the playing field. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that having 2 sports talk and an 1 issues talker taking up much of Boston's FM dial is the greatest thing for the listener. However, if you are Entercom, you have no choice. As for CBS, putting the format on 98.5 was smart. It's all about strategy and, like it or not, these moves are good strategy.
As of 12:30 pm ESPN 890 was running a looped message saying they are going off air today. They thank
listeners and sponsors and said they were proud to bring ESPN and local talk to us the past 4 yrs
listeners and sponsors and said they were proud to bring ESPN and local talk to us the past 4 yrs
Why two Sports FMs..cause this is Boston..there may be no other market in America that could pull this off..Entercom and CBS both make significant piles of cash carrying the four major franchises..the Patriots carry something like six hours worth of pre and post game every week..and while Entercom and CBS both have significant investments in talent, you're getting one the hardest audiences to reach for advertisers..18-34 and 25-54 males..
Some of you need to realize that AM radio is dying an accelerarting death..the physical plants and licenses are worth almost nothing in many cases..and putting their programming on FM is the only reasonable course of action..I'd wager that a large majority of current AM stations won't survive this recession and will cease to exsist soon..
Some of you need to realize that AM radio is dying an accelerarting death..the physical plants and licenses are worth almost nothing in many cases..and putting their programming on FM is the only reasonable course of action..I'd wager that a large majority of current AM stations won't survive this recession and will cease to exsist soon..
Would agree.
For those who collect these type of things, here's ESPN 890's farewell loop (up for a limited time)
http://raccoonradio.freehostia.com/Air/890bye.mp3
For those who collect these type of things, here's ESPN 890's farewell loop (up for a limited time)
http://raccoonradio.freehostia.com/Air/890bye.mp3
Music is almost as bad as watching Overdrawn At The Memory Bank _without_ the Mystery Science Theater commentary!
http://agonybooth.com/recaps/Overdrawn_at_the_Memory_Bank_1983.aspx
(taxpayer funded cringe inducing cinema!)
http://agonybooth.com/recaps/Overdrawn_at_the_Memory_Bank_1983.aspx
(taxpayer funded cringe inducing cinema!)
Speaker of Truth said:
I'd agree with that. Boston is a somewhat unique market in that regard. It's also the large market which has the poorest format variety. One thing in Fybush's column today that was inaccurate was when he stated (when discussing the demise of urban WAMO radio in Pittsburgh) that Pittsburgh was the largest market - by far - that lacked an urban station. Although he may be thinking of WILD 1090 in that capacity for Boston, I'd still point the finger at Boston as the largest market without a real urban formatted station. WILD is a hybrid format and is a daytime signal. A far cry from the full-time FM signal that the 'burgh just lost.
And there are several other formats out there which other markets take for granted that Boston is missing.
However, all that being said; yes, CBS and Entercom will make money with sports on FM. No doubt about it.
Speaker of Truth said:
Personally, I think that your comment carries the concept of AM obsolescence too far and your prediction is too extreme. Yes, the foundation of what you're saying seems to be true. However, good AM stations with decent 24 hour signals and solid programming can make it and be quite profitable for a number of years into the future. A local example of that is WBZ, which is not going anywhere for a long time. WRKO can be viable, and (if programmed well) there are a couple of other frequencies that can have success in the market.
Trouble is that there are far too many AMs on the band now. Far too many graveyarders, far too many signals on formerly clear channel frequencies; basically way too many stations to serve the shrinking pool of listeners. Too much crap. Who's fault is that? The FCC - of course. Shoehorning umpteen signals into formerly open frequencies with the blissful ignorance that skywave does indeed exist and that these added signals do degrade the whole band by raising the overall ambient noise level. Not to mention the IBOC atrocity which wipes out 3 times the bandwidth of the original signal. Another FCC error that is contributing to the demise of AM. Most of the band is noisy and that alone is a turn-off. Heck, I sometimes get background noise when listening to one of my local 50 kw signals at night too. It need not be like this - AM used to actually sound pretty decent. Well enough that you would not miss the FM stereo if it was a spoken word format. In some ways, it even sounds better than FM for speech - when mixed right.
By the way, a good 50 kw day and night signal can still pull down the best ratings in a given market - as is the case quite frequently in LA, Chicago, Boston, NY and many other markets. However, there's not room for everyone. The "herd" (of AM stations) needs to be thinned so that the group can survive.
Your assertion that the large majority of AM stations won't survive this recession is only going to be true if this thing lasts for 10+ years. Otherwise, it's a bold exaggeration. A few will drop for sure. But that will not amount to but a speck on the dial. It'll take longer that that for the band to die.
Don't get me wrong: it's slowly headed that way. Although people start to discover (or rediscover) big AM talkers around the age of 35-40, the present-day youngest demos (gen Y) may end this trend. They're totally unaware of the existence of AM. So, the time bomb is ticking. But until such time as all popular formats can be represented on good, solid, full market FM signals, AM still has some life in it.
BRNout said:
No, I wasn't counting WILD - I'm thinking of WJMN. I realize that's a debatable proposition, but before you dismiss it out of hand and say "Jamn's a rhythmic top-40, not an urban", head over to Yes.com and compare WJMN's playlist to Pittsburgh's remaining top-40 entries, WKST-FM and WBZW.
Even beyond the "Official #1 for Hip-Hop and R&B" slogan that comes up on Yes for WJMN, it looks to me as though WJMN (at least judging by the last couple of hours) is indeed pretty much straight-ahead hip-hop and R&B hits. WKST and WBZW both played Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus in the last hour, not to mention Daughtry and the Fray and Jesse McCartney. To my ear, that's top 40, while what WJMN is playing is at least passably urban.
I'd also take issue with the assertion that Boston has the least format diversity of any major market FM dial. That was true when I came to town two decades ago...not so much now, with WCRB (even in its reduced form) as one of the last commercial classical FMs standing, WTKK doing talk and WBZ-FM doing sports, WKLB doing country on a full-market signal. Compare that to New York and Boston looks pretty good, I think.
Hi Scott, thanks for clearing that up. Honestly, I thought you were talking about WILD, but it is great fodder for an interesting conversation.
Having listened to JAMN for a number of years for a lack of anything else "rhythmic" on the radio, I tend to disagree about it being "urban." They seem more geared toward punky white kids in the suburbs to me. Now, if we want to classify them as 'urban' they're a pretty poor excuse for one musically. They don't stack up too well with other urban contemporaries around the country when it comes to anything aside from hip hop. Always reminded me a lot more of Wired 96.5 in Philly than of Power 99, for example. But you're right about it being debatable.
However, where I beg to differ is format diversity! Boston is a terrible market for musical variety. Aside from the questionable offerings of JAMN, there's no urban contemporary or urban AC format (i.e. no soul on the radio at all). To use your comparison to New York (also not that great for format diversity), Boston may have an FM talker and an FM sports talker; though New York has 2 big 50 kw AM talkers and 2 big 50 kw sports talkers that serve those listeners just fine. New York has 2 CHRs, 2 urban contemporary signals, 2 urban ACs, 1 dance-heavy rhythmic AC, a Hot AC, 2 mainstream ACs, a classic rocker, an oldies signal, a AAA/classic rock hybrid, 3 spanish language formats, and 2 non-comms on the commercial band (those take up some space). Suburban rimshots supply a plethora of classic, alternative and active rockers and AC formats.
Overall, Boston is stronger on the rock side (NY has never been a good 'rock' market) but is equaled or bested by NY in pretty much every other musical category. And, again, NYC is one of the least diverse markets. Compare Boston with the likes of Philly, Washington, Cleveland, Dallas or Chicago and it's not even close.
I realize it's a bit subjective to compare these two markets; then again I'd argue that there's more variety available to you on the FM dial in most of Connecticut than there is in Boston. Which is strange given the cosmopolitan nature of Boston and its environs. Programmers seem to assume that Boston is Maine's largest city.....
Having listened to JAMN for a number of years for a lack of anything else "rhythmic" on the radio, I tend to disagree about it being "urban." They seem more geared toward punky white kids in the suburbs to me. Now, if we want to classify them as 'urban' they're a pretty poor excuse for one musically. They don't stack up too well with other urban contemporaries around the country when it comes to anything aside from hip hop. Always reminded me a lot more of Wired 96.5 in Philly than of Power 99, for example. But you're right about it being debatable.
However, where I beg to differ is format diversity! Boston is a terrible market for musical variety. Aside from the questionable offerings of JAMN, there's no urban contemporary or urban AC format (i.e. no soul on the radio at all). To use your comparison to New York (also not that great for format diversity), Boston may have an FM talker and an FM sports talker; though New York has 2 big 50 kw AM talkers and 2 big 50 kw sports talkers that serve those listeners just fine. New York has 2 CHRs, 2 urban contemporary signals, 2 urban ACs, 1 dance-heavy rhythmic AC, a Hot AC, 2 mainstream ACs, a classic rocker, an oldies signal, a AAA/classic rock hybrid, 3 spanish language formats, and 2 non-comms on the commercial band (those take up some space). Suburban rimshots supply a plethora of classic, alternative and active rockers and AC formats.
Overall, Boston is stronger on the rock side (NY has never been a good 'rock' market) but is equaled or bested by NY in pretty much every other musical category. And, again, NYC is one of the least diverse markets. Compare Boston with the likes of Philly, Washington, Cleveland, Dallas or Chicago and it's not even close.
I realize it's a bit subjective to compare these two markets; then again I'd argue that there's more variety available to you on the FM dial in most of Connecticut than there is in Boston. Which is strange given the cosmopolitan nature of Boston and its environs. Programmers seem to assume that Boston is Maine's largest city.....
by the way I tuned in to 1400 just before 5 pm (in N Reading) and couldn't pick them up. Had a hunch 890 would be following suit. Sure enough, tuned it to them a few seconds before the clock struck 5 and the looped message ended followed by a switch off of the transmitter. New format for now, silent?
B
beantownradio25
Guest
I missed their looped message, because by the time I could get to a radio, it was past 5 and they were off the air.
What if they're silent until further notice? The AM dial is pretty crowded in Boston, what format choices do they have?? It's sad to say, ESPN will probably be the best format 890 ever saw.
ALSO espnboston.com launched today without an affiliate (lol)
They must be working something out, or else the website would not have launched.
What if they're silent until further notice? The AM dial is pretty crowded in Boston, what format choices do they have?? It's sad to say, ESPN will probably be the best format 890 ever saw.
ALSO espnboston.com launched today without an affiliate (lol)
They must be working something out, or else the website would not have launched.
BRNout said:
Not absolutely none, but the offerings are pathetically meager. There's that low-fidelity automated Classic Soul jukebox program that runs on WILD weekdays 4pm-signoff and Saturdays and Sunday afternoons, and a few weekly specialty shows on college-based stations (WMBR's are quite good, IMO). Unfortunately, that's about it for soul/adult urban programming in this area, and I'm not counting the few Motown hits mixed into oldies, classic hits and AC formats - and HD subchannels like "Funkytown" and "Smooth Jazz", although they play some adult urban artists, still sound to me like they're not aimed primarily at urban audiences.
bostonradio tweets have said that maybe there could be announcement at least about a poss. WEEI/ESPN deal by or before Oct 7 (MLB playoffs start) and I'd guess even if WEEI didn't shift to FM (...yet...) you might hear some MLB playoff games (not conflicting w/ Sox) on WRKO. That is, at first, you would have WEEI local talk and then ESPN
overnights (sorry JT) and weekends on 850, but no move to FM as of yet.
WRKO btw wound up with game 2 of the NFL doubleheader the other night; WEEI norm. has W1's Monday Night Football but the Pats were blacked out on 850 to protect 98.5...Mikey, etc talked Pats during the game and real
postgame show followed, and since Entercom had to carry Raiders-Chargers by contract they aired it on WRKO.
One Jerry Doyle fan on SaveWRKO said she was disappointed that the Doyle show quickly shifted to football
and I pointed out to her it's all part of the contract, just like how on occasion WRKO wound up with Revs soccer.
http://www.savewrko.com
Comment by therealbarbara
>>at 10:40pm or there abouts, all of a sudden I am listening to a football game, chargers vs raiders brought to you by westwood one radio………can someone explain this to me? Why 40 minutes into a TALK show is there no warning, no nothing and a football game is being broadcast???
overnights (sorry JT) and weekends on 850, but no move to FM as of yet.
WRKO btw wound up with game 2 of the NFL doubleheader the other night; WEEI norm. has W1's Monday Night Football but the Pats were blacked out on 850 to protect 98.5...Mikey, etc talked Pats during the game and real
postgame show followed, and since Entercom had to carry Raiders-Chargers by contract they aired it on WRKO.
One Jerry Doyle fan on SaveWRKO said she was disappointed that the Doyle show quickly shifted to football
and I pointed out to her it's all part of the contract, just like how on occasion WRKO wound up with Revs soccer.
http://www.savewrko.com
Comment by therealbarbara
>>at 10:40pm or there abouts, all of a sudden I am listening to a football game, chargers vs raiders brought to you by westwood one radio………can someone explain this to me? Why 40 minutes into a TALK show is there no warning, no nothing and a football game is being broadcast???
- Status