• 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

Good Karma To Lease 880; WCBS News Programming To End

Status
Not open for further replies.
So what happens to all the advertisers that have a contract/relationship with WCBS? With the LMA are they null & void? Audacy have to return money to them if they had contracts that have months left to go? Could some advertisers say "Sports format ain't what we signed up for so give me back my dough!" Assuming the "Kars for Kids" stuff is a PSA, will they continue on? Will Audacy offer "make good" spots on their other stations? I'm assuming the ads that play nationwide [Balance of Nature, Big Lou-if he can sell life insurance in other states [I know he can in Ohio; I've heard the ads here]-, Fake Viagra ads, etc. will continue on as they probably don't care what the format is.
I've never been on the sales side of the business and really never gave it a thought before as all the stations that I worked at that flipped formats/were sold, all of us DJs, etc. were scrambling for the next job. The DJs were usually first in line to get fired, everyone else after that, though they did try to hang on to some sales guys & gals if they were good.
 
It's an affiliation issue being addressed by SkyView Networks. Obviously SkyView wants to retain its NYC affiliation. They have a contract with Audacy New York. WINS has an ABC News Radio affiliation. As I said earlier, WTOP in DC is affiliated with both. So it's possible Audacy will transfer the CBS News affiliation to WINS. But it's doubtful they will air all of the TOH as WCBS did. The main thing an affiliate has to do is run the commercials, not the content. There's a big spot commitment with a news affiliation. They have to figure out how to handle that.
If they have, say NBC news, and wanted CBS also couldn't they split the difference and have one at the bottom of the hour? I know the local music AM in my area has CBS News at the TOH [or close to it] and a news brief at the bottom of the hour [or close to it].
 
Assuming the "Kars for Kids" stuff is a PSA...
It's not. The "charity" spends a lot of money buying ad time, they just buy it in fringe times (largely overnights and weekends) where their spot costs are a fraction of what it would be in drive time or middays. But also, most of what you hear isn't a local time buy on WCBS, they're spots bought on CBS News Radio and carried (as part of newscasts or adjacent to them) by CBS affiliates.

BTW, it's not radically different from all those Shriners and St. Jude's Children's Hospital spots you see on diginet channels. Those aren't PSAs either. They buy that time, just at bargain basement rates compared to the big boy TV networks. Otherwise they couldn't afford to fundraise that way.
 
It's not. The "charity" spends a lot of money buying ad time, they just buy it in fringe times (largely overnights and weekends) where their spot costs are a fraction of what it would be in drive time or middays. But also, most of what you hear isn't a local time buy on WCBS, they're spots bought on CBS News Radio and carried (as part of newscasts or adjacent to them) by CBS affiliates.

BTW, it's not radically different from all those Shriners and St. Jude's Children's Hospital spots you see on diginet channels. Those aren't PSAs either. They buy that time, just at bargain basement rates compared to the big boy TV networks. Otherwise they couldn't afford to fundraise that way.
Yeah, I was assuming it was a "PSA" with a grain of salt. And I knew all those Shriner and St. Jude junk was a load of, bsically, mini-infomercial sh......errrr, crap. That one "spokeskid" has to be collecting social security by now, I think he's been shilling for them for decades. I can just picture him like the baby in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"......"We done taping now? Then get me a damn beer and my Playboy collection, I'm gonna be busy for a few hours so don't bother me for any reason, not even if the buildings on fire!"
 
So what happens to all the advertisers that have a contract/relationship with WCBS? With the LMA are they null & void? Audacy have to return money to them if they had contracts that have months left to go? Could some advertisers say "Sports format ain't what we signed up for so give me back my dough!"
Ad orders and / or contracts are billed at the end of the month and are supposedly net 30. Future spots are not billed.

The advertisers, mostly agencies, are notified. They may be given options with the "other" news station, or allowed to simply cancel.
Assuming the "Kars for Kids" stuff is a PSA, will they continue on?
It's paid based on number of inquiries.
Will Audacy offer "make good" spots on their other stations?
There is nothing to "make good" for as no spots have been billed that have not already run.

About the only categories that are usually cash-in-advance are restaurants, night clubs and shows. I doubt WCBS had any of those.
I'm assuming the ads that play nationwide [Balance of Nature, Big Lou-if he can sell life insurance in other states [I know he can in Ohio; I've heard the ads here]-, Fake Viagra ads, etc. will continue on as they probably don't care what the format is.
Many of those are PI ads, and the station owner may run them on other stations or not. Most are run in "if available / when available" times.
 
And I knew all those Shriner and St. Jude junk was a load of, bsically, mini-infomercial sh......errrr, crap. That one "spokeskid" has to be collecting social security by now, I think he's been shilling for them for decades. I
I don't know about Shriners, but I have been to St Jude and been part of several fund raisers at stations. The hospital is marvelous and I even send a small amount each month automatically.

They have a formula for fund raising that works, and the job they do helping and saving children is magnificent.
 
If they have, say NBC news, and wanted CBS also couldn't they split the difference and have one at the bottom of the hour? I know the local music AM in my area has CBS News at the TOH [or close to it] and a news brief at the bottom of the hour [or close to it].

Just because a station is an affiliate of a network doesn't mean they run the TOH national news. The affiliation gets them access to national audio that they can incorporate into their own locally anchored reporting. That way they run their own local branding instead of the national brand.
 
Just to throw in my bit of WCBS nostalgia… For a good number of years several decades ago I worked at a bunch of small and medium-sized radio stations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic doing the morning and mid-day news. At every station, WCBS was considered the gold standard.

Since we mostly came to work before the sun rose, every person the newsroom in every market listened to WCBS on the way to work. It was how we got caught up on what was happening in the world. Then, once we got to the station, we ripped and sorted the overnight wires, and then dug through the local newspapers.

WCBS was a touchstone for many dozens (hundreds?) of radio journalists far beyond New York City. Even when I worked several states away, me and my boss from downstate Illinois would listen to WCBS each morning.

During a local disaster in another state I did several phoners for WCBS, and I got phone calls from my relatives in NYC congratulating me for having finally "made it."

I don't know if anyone from WCBS is on this forum, but if you read this, know that you inspired a generation of young journalists who loved reporting, loved radio, and loved serving the public. You did more than just read the news.
 
So what happens to all the advertisers that have a contract/relationship with WCBS? With the LMA are they null & void? Audacy have to return money to them if they had contracts that have months left to go? Could some advertisers say "Sports format ain't what we signed up for so give me back my dough!" Assuming the "Kars for Kids" stuff is a PSA, will they continue on? Will Audacy offer "make good" spots on their other stations? I'm assuming the ads that play nationwide [Balance of Nature, Big Lou-if he can sell life insurance in other states [I know he can in Ohio; I've heard the ads here]-, Fake Viagra ads, etc. will continue on as they probably don't care what the format is.

David sums up the situation well. Spots not yet aired have yet to bill. Don't know how common it is in New York, but, if the station had any contracts that had yet to be fulfilled, Audacy would have already informed Good Karma, and what needs to happen would've been outlined in the LMA. Plus, most contracts have clauses on what happens should the unthinkable occur.

I've never been on the sales side of the business and really never gave it a thought before as all the stations that I worked at that flipped formats/were sold, all of us DJs, etc. were scrambling for the next job. The DJs were usually first in line to get fired, everyone else after that, though they did try to hang on to some sales guys & gals if they were good.

Sales staff is the most likely to keep its job when a major change occurs. Not that it always happens that way, but the sales staff typically sells multiple stations and formats. So, the sales staff isn't dependent on a specific format or sales approach. Plus, salespeople have relationships with the advertisers and are usually trained on how to deal with customers who are upset at changes.
 
So what happens to all the advertisers that have a contract/relationship with WCBS?

Asked and answered about four pages back:
My expectation is that GKB will transfer its clients from 98.7 to 880, and Audacy will transfer any news clients to WINS. The Mets games will stay as they are.
 
Good Karma Brands wanted a stronger reception and that's why they picked 880.

Things have become more clear in the days since I originally made that comment. The reason they were interested in 880 is for a second signal and for the PBP affiliations already on the signal. That reason makes sense to me. The other suggestion that was mentioned by someone else did not make sense, and it’s already been proven incorrect.
 
Considering that news, especially in an emergent situation is more important than sports especially nowadays, WINS should have moved to 880 and keep the stronger signal and put ESPN on 1010 and get 92.3FM also. In an emergency situation, having a strong AM station broadcasting vital news information is key a la September 11. Keeping news on 880 with WINS would have been a seamless changeover. This changeover should have waited until after September 20 when WCBS would have celebrated its 100th year of broadcasting.
 

It was Grebe's hope to expand the Atlantic Broadcasting Company into a network operation, now that NBC has shown the way. But in September 1928, an opportunity arose that would make this station one of the major players in radio history. The Columbia chain did not own an outlet in New York. Its local affiliate was Bamberger's WOR, which was sure it could produce local programs of equal quality. When WOR refused to clear additional time for the CBS network, WABC stepped in to become the second affiliate, a move it hoped would justify a power increase. For a few weeks in 1928, WABC was the CBS station on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, with WOR carrying the network on the other four days, but soon WOR dropped CBS completely.​

In November 1928, Columbia offered to buy either of its New York area affiliate, and President William S. Paley negotiated with both Grebe and Bamberger. WOR's facilities were superior, but Paley chose the less-expensive WABC, and in December [1928] the Atlantic B broadcasting Company became a subsidiary of CBS. The sale price was $390,000, though the appraised value of the studios and transmitter was just $130,000. Grebe had apparently let the WABC studios go to seed, for Paley reported a mess on the seventeenth floor of Steinway Hall. Among the assets were goods accepted as payment from sponsors; jewelry, kitchenware, and reportedly even some live chickens.


Here is the site for Don Swain's WCBS appreciation pages. Yes this includes the time the soon to be WHSQ was WABC as in Atlantic Broadcasting Company and WAHG. Here is the place to look at some of its storied history at the station. Yes this includes another one when CBS originally had their radio affiliate on WOR when the network started in 1927. Also this site includes the various airchecks from WCBS-AM's time as an all news station.


Interestingly WFMB Springfield, Illinois originally had the rights to the WCBS Calls back when they were a traveling radio station that had a radio license registered to a Providence location in 1926. The Call letters WCBS existed 1 year before the CBS Radio Network was formed in 1927.
 
Considering that news, especially in an emergent situation is more important than sports especially nowadays, WINS should have moved to 880 and keep the stronger signal
Both signals are 50 kw. The difference is that 1010 is directional but the FM fills in any lacking coverage in the MSA.
and put ESPN on 1010 and get 92.3FM also.
Why the FM? It is not for sale and not available. It is the reinforcement to the AM.


In an emergency situation, having a strong AM station broadcasting vital news information is key a la September 11.
A station is not going to lose money waiting for a repeat of event... as horrific as it was... that has happened once. It's a business.
Keeping news on 880 with WINS would have been a seamless changeover. This changeover should have waited until after September 20 when WCBS would have celebrated its 100th year of broadcasting.
Nobody in the general audience cares that any station is 100 years old... generally, not even the owners. We care about today's listeners and today's billing. Accent on billing.
 
Things have become more clear in the days since I originally made that comment. The reason they were interested in 880 is for a second signal and for the PBP affiliations already on the signal. That reason makes sense to me. The other suggestion that was mentioned by someone else did not make sense, and it’s already been proven incorrect.
I've seen elsewhere that perhaps Madison Square Garden–or James Dolan specifically–may have influenced Good Karma into finding an AM signal of better quality than 1050, now that Knicks and Rangers games are moving off FM. That possibility is wholly plausible. And "Guitar Jimmy" wants to make sure he can listen to his teams when he's out East.

Remember that the two teams' primary outlet was WFAN prior to moving to WEVD/WEPN in 2002-03 or thereabouts. The move to 880 puts the Knicks and Rangers on a signal with pretty much the same exact reach as 660.

Now are they going to keep Rutger sports or are they going to be the odd man out and kicked to the curb?
This has been mentioned elsewhere in the thread, by myself and others: Only men's basketball is affected, not football (which airs on WFAN). And it depends on the contractual terms Audacy has with Rutgers and its media partner, Learfield. (The **assumption** is that 1050 could take any Rutgers games that conflict with Knicks or Rangers broadcasts, if that would be allowed and amendable to all parties involved.)

Really though, we'll have to wait for the full schedule–with Big Ten games on it–to be released to see how it really shakes out. And remember that the league's tv partners are the ones setting those game times for in-conference games. The non-conference portion of the Scarlet Knights' men's regular season starts on Nov. 6, so it's not a huge priority at this point.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.


Back
Top Bottom