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How is WEEI-FM doing?

T

TonySantiago

First off, I'm a New Yorker, please be nice :)

The reason why I ask this is because there have been some recent departures, in terms of management and on air, happening over on WXRK (92.3 Now), which is CHR. Based on these departures, a lot of people on the New York board are literally "begging" for this station to become WFAN-FM, the sports radio station currently on 660 AM. Both properties are owned by CBS Radio.

Since WEEI did their FM simulcast of the AM station not too long ago, I was curious to know about the numbers on it. Has it vastly improved from when the station was "Mike 93.7"? Do people start thinking of 93.7 regarding 'EEI more than 850 AM?

I'm just curious.
 
The 6+ ratings can be seen here at radio-info; the 25-54 (especially male) are more important and we get those from time to time, either from newspaper writers or those in the know who might be (ahem)
crowing about how their own station (Sports Hub, CBS) is doing show by show. Generally the new
WBZ-FM (new as of Aug '09) has been winning quite a few time slots, and at one point the midday
show on WEEI was doing so poorly in the 25-54 (IIRC) that 98.5's ratings were 14 times as high. WEEI
and WBZ have gone back and forth, show by show, with EEI improving a bit with the move to FM
last Sept. (just in time for the Sox collapse). I'd have to look up some articles (and posts here on r-i)
to show you how things have gone.

Fybush's NERW this week btw does mention the NYC situation. His column is subscription only but he
does mention CBS is thinking of doing a "WFAN-FM" perhaps to scoop ESPN which might be considering
a WEPN simulcast.

WEEI accents the "93.7"--"you're next on 93.7", hosts will say. This seems to be the case in other
places, too; last night driving through New Hampshire I had WPEN 950 on (apparently from Phil.)
and the host said "you're next on 97.5"...

Here's a thread that will give you the show-by-show ratings for WEEI vs. WBZ-FM, in men 25-54 etc.
(at least rankings if not actual numbers). Sometimes they seem to be neck and neck but 98.5
wins many slots. The average ratings of course factor in the various talk shows, not simply play
by play; interest in Sox should go up a bit for both games and talk about baseball once the season gets going. 98.5 benefited from B's winning Stanley Cup and Pats winning AFC championship (but not
super bowl). Sox meltdown last year, C's not too hot but who knows; we'll see how ratings for
those games, and talk about them, goes.

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=202410.10

It's possible ratings are including both 93.7 and 850 as one station; if anything most people
are probably tuned to the FM at this point. WEEI may have gotten a very slight increase when
the FM move came, but WBZ-FM was still strong and they are neck and neck with 98.5
winning most slots.

Ratings --for 6 plus--here at radio-info. It says "WEEI-FM" but I don't know if the 850's ratings
are included or not. I don't see a "WEEI (AM)" listed.
http://www.radio-info.com/markets/boston
 
Thank you very much raccoonradio! ;D

I'm just trying to get insight based on a situation in a city. I should also look into Philadelphia with WIP-FM (the former WYSP).

Granted, it's inevitable that it's going to happen anyway in New York City. I'm just curious to see how this is all going to play out. I'm sure ESPN would love to grab 94.7 (WFME) when Family Radio sells off that station, to which in that case CBS would flip something to get WFAN on the FM.
 
Tony Santiago said:
First off, I'm a New Yorker, please be nice :)

The reason why I ask this is because there have been some recent departures, in terms of management and on air, happening over on WXRK (92.3 Now), which is CHR. Based on these departures, a lot of people on the New York board are literally "begging" for this station to become WFAN-FM, the sports radio station currently on 660 AM. Both properties are owned by CBS Radio.

Since WEEI did their FM simulcast of the AM station not too long ago, I was curious to know about the numbers on it. Has it vastly improved from when the station was "Mike 93.7"? Do people start thinking of 93.7 regarding 'EEI more than 850 AM?

I'm just curious.
Click to expand...

Now that Nick Cannon has resigned his position at NOW and, (judging by 6+) they still have yet to make a big impact on Z100 it may happen.

Though they may just be there to steal a half a point here and there from Z and KTU and some revenue. If that's the case, and they're doing it and are somewhat successful in core demos, they may be safe.

Question is, could they make MORE money by adding to FM counterpart to WFAN?
 
Tony,

I'm from NY as well, and have lived near Boston for 21 years.
From what I gather, WEEI with it's AM and FM aren't doing fabulous.

93.7 WEEI whose COL is Lawrence, and whose signal is from well north of Boston doesn't have such a hot signal just south of Boston and beyond, that could be a "game changer" compared to WXRK which covers all parts of NY metro quite well.
The Sports hub 98.5 can be heard very well within a 40 mile radius of Boston, has a more edgy, younger skewing demographic than WEEI. The sports hub is doing fine.

WEEI FM's signal pattern: http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WEEI&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

WXRK's signal pattern: http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WXRK&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

WBZ FM's ( The Sports Hub) signal pattern : http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WBZ&service=FM&status=L&hours=U
 
Here are the Fall 2011 radio ratings comparing WEEI's combined signal with WBZ FM's ( The Sports Hub)



WBZ-F sports CBS Radio, Inc. - - 4.1 4.1 4.4 781,400
WBMX hot AC CBS Radio, Inc. - - 3.4 3.6 3.5 908,500
WBOS modern rock Greater Media, Inc. - - 3.7 3.6 3.4 724,900
WEEI-F sports Entercom - - 3.8 3.5 3.4 539,300
 
WBZ-FM's antenna is in Newton, about 10 driving miles from Boston (acc. to google maps)...west of town.

WEEI-FM's antenna is in Peabody, about 17 driving miles from Boston (poss. less as the crow flies),
north of town. No doubt WEEI-FM will do well on North Shore, Merrimack Valley, and even into
SE New Hampshire and a small sliver of SW Maine. (Driving home last night from Northern NH I noticed
I couldn't pick up WEEI-FM till around Concord or Manchester). So while these areas will come in well,
there are some to the south where it would be lacking. There are simulcasts on Cape Cod and in
R.I. So while it's a fairly powerful signal, it is slightly to the north of downtown and not centered
as well as 98.5's is, as you'll see from the coverage maps. This could be one reason why they are
still on 850, to maybe cover those areas.
The complaints in the past were from people to the west who had trouble picking up 850 after dark.
Some of them may get 93.7 fine, but others, not necessarily. (There's an AM 1440 in Worcester they simulcast on; heck, if WAAF's rock format were not such a money maker you could poss. see them
simulcasting on 107.3 or even on 97.7 (a WAAF simulcast), south of town.

I did notice the WEEI simulcast on 103.7 from R.I. did pretty good south of Boston in places
like Canton, but not sure how well it does in other places. WEEI does have their simulcast "network"
to help out. WBZ-FM has no such network (other than for B's and Pats games of course) but the
signal is well centered over the Boston area.

A map of WEEI network stations http://www.weei.com/weei/shows-schedules/network-stations.
While it does cover a good part of New England, many in VT and NH, and parts of ME and CT,
can't quite pick it up (on an affiliate; though of course there are Sox and C's network affiliates)

The coverage map for WEEI-FM (not totally accurate ) looks like it covers a lot of ground but is
centered just north of metro Boston (at least it's Peabody, not Lawrence or Lowell...a bit closer
to Boston than that). Living on the North Shore, about 6-8 miles from 93.7's stick (and working
about the same distance from it), I can picture WEEI-FM as being very powerful but it's true that
in many areas, particularly to the south, it's a lot weaker. If Entercom had a station that broadcast
from Newton or esp. from a downtown skyscraper like the Pru or Hancock, they'd be more centered
in metro Boston, but Peabody isn't all that far from downtown.

Compared to, say, if the 93.7 were out of Lawrence, the actual city of license...


--
From Boston Radio Archives: ARS, then owners of 93.7, moved it closer to Boston:
>>ARS quickly began working to move 93.7 closer to the center of the Boston market. In the summer of 1995, WEGQ began building a new 152-meter (498-foot) guyed tower at 100 Lakeland Park Drive in Peabody, easily visible from US 1 and the I-95/MA 128 interchange. “Eagle” signed on from the new tower in early 1996, with 34 kW at 179 m (587 ft) and a much-improved signal into downtown Boston and the South Shore.

http://bostonradio.org/stations/1919
 
Those ratings (mentioned just above) appear to be the "6 plus" mentioned here on radio info (ratings >> show all markets >>
Boston ), but aren't 25-34 and 25-54 (and 18-34) more important? We get those sometimes in
newspaper articles. (btw I think we're supp. to only quote rankings and not necessarily
actual numbers and cumes? We can link to a page but not quote actual numbers, I'd think.)

This Globe article (Chad Finn) from last Nov. will give you a better idea of those demos.
http://www.boston.com/sports/touching_all_the_bases/2011/11/high_marks_for_sports_hub_weei.html

>>The Sports Hub continued to produce outstanding ratings; its programming finished first in morning drive, middays, and afternoon drive among men 25-54 as well as among men 18-49 and 18-34.

Of course there's a debate as to whether or not the 103.7's ratings should be included.

It also says "But WEEI was first in the 7 p.m.-midnight window, while the Sports Hub was 10th. And the station's ratings improved significantly from September across the board among men 25-54."

Take note that it was on Sept 12 of last year, IIRC, that the move to FM was made. Note "ratings
improved significantly from Sept. across the board". Then again, maybe the ratings before were
pretty low, and the move to FM helped them to at least get a bit closer to 98.5

Hence proving that the move made sense--at the very least, it helped even the playing field a bit.
(A bit...)
 
6+ numbers are meaningless. There's plenty of room for two sports stations, and they're both making money. I'd say if anything, the competition has made WEEI better, and WBZ-FM is on fire.

Coverage-wise, you just can't match the WEEI Network. WEEI-FM has good coverage. WEEI-AM fills in some Metrowest gaps during the day. Then you've got WVEI Worcester. WVEI-FM Westerly-Providence which has a KILLER signal. You can carry WVEI-FM west of Hartford, no problem at all. WWEI-FM Easthampton/Springfield, which you can also pick up down to Hartford. (That leaves only southwest and western CT without WEEI coverage, and that's NY territory anyways.) WEII Dennis/Hyanis, WEEY Keene, NH, WPEI Saco, ME, and WPPI Topsham, ME. That's considerable coverage for large New England regional advertisers, and presents a lot of opportunity for localization of advertising dollars with outrageously low operations costs.

They're selling local spots in six additional markets outside of Boston while maintaining a small office staff and a sales force in each area. That spells money.
 
That's why I put "as the crow flies" because if you enter Lakeland Park Dr Peabody and a generic
Boston address into google map search, it gives a route like US route 1 but you'll notice it twists and turns a bit so
the "17 miles" is more like 10, as you say. 93.7's stick may be closer to Boston than people
think but again, in some areas, it could be iffy. (I will say that on Sept 10 I attended my niece's
wedding on the Cape and as I drove down Rt 3, I occasionally checked in on 93.7 which was in
its last days as "Mike FM". It did pretty well down that corridor. So you have Merr Valley, North Shore,
southern NH, a good chunk of Boston metro, down Rt 3, etc, and probably a bit to the south too.
So 93.7 is an even better signal than most would think

...thus maybe if it's lacking in ratings, blame the programming. "Don't blame us for what these
nitwits say--hey, they don't work for us."--Jim Cutler's Whiner Line disclaimer
 
>>6+ numbers are meaningless. There's plenty of room for two sports stations, and they're both making money. I'd say if anything, the competition has made WEEI better, and WBZ-FM is on fire.

Exactly

>>They're selling local spots in six additional markets outside of Boston while maintaining a small office staff and a sales force in each area. That spells money.

By the way, once again WBOQ will be a Red Sox affiliate--and one might think, hey, 93.7 covers
the North Shore just as well as 104.9--why would WEEI let WBOQ remain a Sox affiliate? They get
an affiliate fee, and WBOQ can sell itself as the _North Shore's home_ for Sox baseball and "good
time favorites". Their site (and at least one billboard I saw) urges local advertisers to "fish where
the fish are"--to advertise on 104.9 and reach North Shore listeners. Even though some of us
here in Essex County might tune to 93.7 for the game instead.

http://northshore1049.com/advertising.html
>>If you need to drive traffic to your business or generate business leads, you need to get your message out on North Shore 104.9! We target active adults with disposable income. Our listeners care as much about The North Shore as you do

Those Norm Peterson/George Wendt moments are funny though, aren't they? :)
 
chrish said:
the WEEI-FM transmitter in Peabody is just under 10 miles as the crow flies from the Boston Common not 17
Click to expand...

Using the QTH locator with FN42li25db40 as Boston Commons and FN42mm17pn69 for 93.7, I get 12.89 mi (20.744 km). ;D
 
Ah! When WEEI started on 93.7 many said Peabody was too far north of Boston; even I have said maybe a station on the Pru, the Hancock, or in Newton would do better signal-wise. Yet Peabody indeed is not all that far. I do know up here,
that tower nr routes 1, 95, and 128 is quite easy to see.
 
Tony Santiago said:
Thank you very much raccoonradio! ;D

I'm just trying to get insight based on a situation in a city. I should also look into Philadelphia with WIP-FM (the former WYSP).

Granted, it's inevitable that it's going to happen anyway in New York City. I'm just curious to see how this is all going to play out. I'm sure ESPN would love to grab 94.7 (WFME) when Family Radio sells off that station, to which in that case CBS would flip something to get WFAN on the FM.
Click to expand...


WIP is a very unique situation...

YSP is very missed, WIP is liked, rates well, etc. I'd say check over on our boards for an elaboration.
 
In addition to taking advantage of WEEI's complacency (especially the Big Show, which at times had Larry Johnson on twice a week) 98.5 hit the jackpot when the Bruins won their first Stanley Cup in 40 years. WEEI all but ignored hockey for all of its existence, because hockey ranked as a distant 4th among Boston fans. Personally I find hockey boring and hockey talk even more boring. The bandwagon got rolling, however, and 98.5 recognized it quicker. WEEI has now included hockey in their programming with many Bruins and Bruin announcers doing regular gigs. With all of the emphasis on hockey, I hear very little actual hockey talk from the callers. The only time there is a lot of talk is in regard to concussions, suspensions, fights, and of course Tim Thomas' political views. If he weren't an evil Republican, I doubt if anything would have been mentioned about it. Theo snubed the White House invitation and not much was said, because it was George Bush rather than the messiah.

I'm surprised that Felger has done so well. Maybe he's changed since he was on 'EEI. Personally I thought his anti-Boston, contrarian shtick was old, years ago. I don't consider Toucher and Rich a sports show. I still contend that T&R vs. D&C is apples to oranges.
 
IIRC Felger was also on the ill-fated WAMG 890, only daily local show (and Mikey Adams was on the Zone for a time). Now, Ent. might be excused for underestimating Sports hub given past competitors but a powerful FM signal and CBS marketing, Pats, and B's should have possibly spurred WEEI to make the move to FM. Heck, if the move failed they could have gone back to having Mike on 93.7...and yes, Mike turned a profit But imagine this scenario--strictly fictional

CBS announces the debut of Sports Hub which will debut 8/13/09 (IIRC). But wait...

(again, fictional)
Entercom Press Release--Entercom has announced that WEEI will be simulcast on WMKK-FM 93.7 starting August 1, 2009.
This will give Boston its first FM sports station. In addition, all Red Sox games will move to FM 93.7 and AM 850 on that date.

"We're thrilled that our listeners will be able to get crystal-clear reception
of our talk shows, the Red Sox, and the Celtics," said program director Jason Wolfe.


---
OK...the move to create WBZ-FM as Sports Hub came in mid July of 2009...see link below. I was imagining what would have happened if WEEI decided to "beat them to the punch"...and get a head start.

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...oing-all-sports-98-5-wbz-fm-compete-weei.html

>>At first blush my reaction was that they won't be able to compete with WEEI - but the fact that EEI has neglected to add an FM station in that market is what BCN is taking advantage of
(emphasis mine)

I wonder if Kahn and Wolfe thought about doing the move but Ent. HQ shot it down...?
 
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