HOW WILL WFAN's MOVE TO 101.9 AFFECT 1010 WINS?

[WNTIRadio]

[CBS could consolidate the two all-news stations into one/quote]

Why would they purposely drop one of two well performing revenue streams?????

I they consolidated, the billing would in no way come close to what te combined is for the two stations. Also, if there is only one all news station, that leaves the door open for a direct competitor. We saw how that worked with 101.9. Even if he programming was better on fm news, they would still be out flanked by the two established, entrenched CBS stations.

It's a business, not a hobby.

 

[mets18]

This really is a brilliant move if it makes it past the lawyers. The only question I have is can CBS keep the must-carry and not have the station subject to the ownership cap. Sounds like having your cake and eating it too. Hats off to them if they pull it off.

 

[davideduardo]

This really is a brilliant move if it makes it past the lawyers. The only question I have is can CBS keep the must-carry and not have the station subject to the ownership cap. Sounds like having your cake and eating it too. Hats off to them if they pull it off.

As I understand this, CBS converts 10/55 to a pure cable play, and turns in the license for the spectrum used by the OTA station to be auctioned for other uses. Licensees who do this apparently retain must-carry status for cable only in exchange for relinquishing bandwidth.

Perhaps Scott Fybush, who is vastly more knowledgeable on this matter can give some additional depth to the discussion.

 

[Bob1370]

Latest scuttlebutt is that CBS will be able to keep all its radio licenses, plus 101.9/WFAN-FM, if it devolves Channel 55 on Long Island to an LMA under someone else's nominal ownership/license, leaving Channel 2 as their only fully O&O television property. And that's what they reportedly will do.

Having said that, they're crazy not to move WINS to 660, and if they do keep 1010, have it become WFAN-AM, the NYC flagship for the fledgling CBS Sports Network, while keeping 101.9 FM live and local like WFAN has been the last 25 years. We'll see if they're sharp enough to keep all the chess pieces delpoyed on the board to the best advantage.

 

[davideduardo]

Latest scuttlebutt is that CBS will be able to keep all its radio licenses, plus 101.9/WFAN-FM, if it devolves Channel 55 on Long Island to an LMA under someone else's nominal ownership/license, leaving Channel 2 as their only fully O&O television property. And that's what they reportedly will do.

LMA's and JSA's count against market caps.

 

[michael hagerty]

It is interesting to note that CBS Corporate decided that The Fan was the property that would be placed on the new FM, rather than 1010 WINS. We read so many times that WINS wins (no pun intended) revenues for CBS. Yet, sports was picked over news. Maybe they were spooked by the experience of FM News and thought they couldn't take the chance using their own news brands on that frequency?

Nope. There were exactly two things behind this. ESPN's move to FM, which could take sports listeners away from the AM band and 660....and the Yankees' insistence on an FM signal.

This says nothing about CBS' thoughts regarding news on FM.

 

[recto101]

It is interesting to note that CBS Corporate decided that The Fan was the property that would be placed on the new FM, rather than 1010 WINS. We read so many times that WINS wins (no pun intended) revenues for CBS. Yet, sports was picked over news.

WINS and WFAN have nearly identical revenues.

I think the huge success of sports on FM in places like Detroit has been a decisive factor, as well as the fact that news listeners tend to be older in general, while sports appeals to all ages and could benefit most from FM.

Some How in San Francisco thats different Sports is dismal on FM 95.7 KGMZ Entercom owned due to the fact that KNBR-AM 1050/680 is big and its a Cumulus O&O with an ESPN/CBS Sports/Fox affiliation. But In San Francisco 106.9FM KCBS all news from 740 AM simulcast is a success after the success of KQED-FM (NPR News/Talk affiliate). However San Francisco did have 2 failed attempts to put all-News and News/Talk on FM. KNAI-FM in the 1970's was all-news for the NBC NIS Network but it was killed off due to the fact that KCBS-AM and KGO-AM had higher ratings in the market. KPIX-FM was News/talk in the mid 1990's but once Group W Merged with CBS then KPIX-FM was killed off mainly because CBS wanted to back KCBS because of Higher ratings and it was more successful of the CBS affiliates in San Francisco. I do know in Washington DC WTOP-FM has done well on FM and is the highest revenue producing station for all-news and for Washington DC.

 

[pjc1961]

Having said that, they're crazy not to move WINS to 660, and if they do keep 1010, have it become WFAN-AM, the NYC flagship for the fledgling CBS Sports Network, while keeping 101.9 FM live and local like WFAN has been the last 25 years. We'll see if they're sharp enough to keep all the chess pieces deployed on the board to the best advantage.

Why move the chess pieces around when it's unnecessary? Keep it simple...as long as CBS Radio doesn't have to part with a frequency, keep the cash cows in place. Provide comfort for the listeners; very few like to change listening habits.

There's no need to move the City-based news station at 1010 to 660. 1010 serves that purpose well.
Keep 660 for the Sports Network plus game overflow - plus the stronger signal may come into play regarding Mets and/or Yankees rights negotiations (along with other sports properties: NFL, NBA, NHL).

1010 would be about as bad as 1050 was (is) for sports programming - remember Yankees games on 1010 from 1978-1980 and 1944-1957?

 

[radioguy39nj]

If WINS and WCBS had equal signals on AM or FM, only one would be all-news. You had that situation in Chicago when CBS had two all-news outlets, WMAQ and WBBM, both 50 kW non-D AM blasters. CBS had ownership issues in Chicago, so they chose to blow up WMAQ and replace it with all-sports WSCR.

I think it's possible that both WINS and WCBS could end up on FM. WCBS becomes an all-news simulcast (like WBBM and KCBS), while WINS goes with a news-intensive talk format. With equal signals on FM, WINS would no longer be superserving NYC. If that's ends up being the case, CBS isn't going to run two all-news outlets. WINS isn't going to 660. That's going to become the flagship of CBS Sports Radio.

WXRK (92.3 NOW-FM) has long underperformed against Z100 and WWFS (Fresh 102.7) is in a crowded field of stations serving female listeners.

 

[TheBigA]

LMA's and JSA's count against market caps.

Based on what I'm reading, they will sell the station, but keep the rights to the cable distribution of the channel. Not sure exactly how that will work.

 

[reelyreal]

Based on what I'm reading, they will sell the station, but keep the rights to the cable distribution of the channel. Not sure exactly how that will work.

It's a pretty interesting situation, the FCC now allows TV stations to keep their "must carry" status even if they turn in their OTA spectrum to the FCC to be auctioned off. It's a total win-win for CBS... they keep 2 stations on basic cable and get to keep all of their radio stations, and as a bonus there's no longer a physical transmitter plant to maintain for WLNY.

 

[TheBigA]

But the FCC gets more valuable spectrum space that they can sell to the telecom companies. So the FCC gets what it wants too.

 

[wirelessinnepa]

The breathtaking thing about this deal is that if CBS doesn't have to divest any radio stations, it could still swap 1010, now having freed up one of the AMs, as the lesser of the AM properties along with cash for the Family Stations FM station on 94.7, WFME. Family Stations has shown a willingness over the years to take a good AM facility in order to get cash for it's operation in return for an FM station of theirs. This way the CBS lineup looks like this:

660 WINS
880 WCBS
101.1 WCBS-FM
101.9 WFAN-FM
92.3 WXRK
102.7 WWFS
94.7 W??? - The new relay for the CBS Sports Network. If this scenario is played out and the CBS Sports Network feed fails to gain traction in the market, CBS is left the opportunity to keep all else the same and launch another music or news format on an FM signal, rather than be "hung" with an AM station with no AM friendly format.

 

[fybush]

Based on what I'm reading, they will sell the station, but keep the rights to the cable distribution of the channel. Not sure exactly how that will work.

It's a pretty interesting situation, the FCC now allows TV stations to keep their "must carry" status even if they turn in their OTA spectrum to the FCC to be auctioned off. It's a total win-win for CBS... they keep 2 stations on basic cable and get to keep all of their radio stations, and as a bonus there's no longer a physical transmitter plant to maintain for WLNY.

It may be more complicated than that. In reading through the FCC's lengthy and dense Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the incentive auction that was released recently, there's nothing explicit about maintaining must-carry for stations that have returned their spectrum entirely.

But by virtue of owning WCBS-TV, CBS still has plenty of leverage to get cable companies to carry "WLNY," whether or not there's any licensed station associated with the "WLNY" programming. They wouldn't even need to carry "WLNY" as a subchannel of WCBS-TV's OTA signal, necessarily.

 

[recto101]

CBS could consolidate the two all-news stations into one

That was Tried in LA for KFWB and KNX but that failed. KFWB ended up losing their all-news format simply because KNX had the higher ratings in the market.

 

[recto101]

If WINS and WCBS had equal signals on AM or FM, only one would be all-news. You had that situation in Chicago when CBS had two all-news outlets, WMAQ and WBBM, both 50 kW non-D AM blasters. CBS had ownership issues in Chicago, so they chose to blow up WMAQ and replace it with all-sports WSCR.

I think it's possible that both WINS and WCBS could end up on FM. WCBS becomes an all-news simulcast (like WBBM and KCBS), while WINS goes with a news-intensive talk format. With equal signals on FM, WINS would no longer be superserving NYC. If that's ends up being the case, CBS isn't going to run two all-news outlets. WINS isn't going to 660. That's going to become the flagship of CBS Sports Radio.

WXRK (92.3 NOW-FM) has long underperformed against Z100 and WWFS (Fresh 102.7) is in a crowded field of stations serving female listeners.

WINS goes with a news-intensive talk format? What do you Mean like Old KGO-AM before December 2011? Or in Some parts of the Nation Air ARNN News and Syndicated talk with the old KGO-AM Frame? That can't work because WINS is more popular than WCBS-AM in NYC. Wins attracts 3.5 Million Listeners in the NYC Market an WCBS gets 2.5-3 Million people. If WINS Flips formats then Cumulus or Clear Channel will come into play and Replicate the WINS format on a Different frequency. Sure I understand CBS has to please Suburban NYC Listeners and preserve their flagship station WCBS-AM All News.

 

[davideduardo]

CBS could consolidate the two all-news stations into one

That was Tried in LA for KFWB and KNX but that failed. KFWB ended up losing their all-news format simply because KNX had the higher ratings in the market.

No.

KFWB went to a talk format as it was being transferred into a trust ownership. CBS "kept" the news format on the bigger signal which it continued to own, and erased it from the station it had to spin to the trust. The result was a significant ratings increase for KNX.

 

[recto101]

CBS could consolidate the two all-news stations into one

That was Tried in LA for KFWB and KNX but that failed. KFWB ended up losing their all-news format simply because KNX had the higher ratings in the market.

No.

KFWB went to a talk format as it was being transferred into a trust ownership. CBS "kept" the news format on the bigger signal which it continued to own, and erased it from the station it had to spin to the trust. The result was a significant ratings increase for KNX.

KFWB was a 5kw signal while KNX was a 50kw signal for LA I knew that KFWB was put in a trust and it was part of a deal for CBS to Keep KCAL9.

 

[radioguy39nj]

If WINS and WCBS had equal signals on AM or FM, only one would be all-news. You had that situation in Chicago when CBS had two all-news outlets, WMAQ and WBBM, both 50 kW non-D AM blasters. CBS had ownership issues in Chicago, so they chose to blow up WMAQ and replace it with all-sports WSCR.

I think it's possible that both WINS and WCBS could end up on FM. WCBS becomes an all-news simulcast (like WBBM and KCBS), while WINS goes with a news-intensive talk format. With equal signals on FM, WINS would no longer be superserving NYC. If that's ends up being the case, CBS isn't going to run two all-news outlets. WINS isn't going to 660. That's going to become the flagship of CBS Sports Radio.

WXRK (92.3 NOW-FM) has long underperformed against Z100 and WWFS (Fresh 102.7) is in a crowded field of stations serving female listeners.

WINS goes with a news-intensive talk format? What do you Mean like Old KGO-AM before December 2011?

IMHO, that could be the scenario if the two stations end up with equal signals on AM or FM, more likely on FM. The news simulcast in Chicago and San Francisco will eventually come to New York. It's inevitable. CBS won't put WINS out of existence, but it will be reinvented on FM. When the two signals are equal, that will be the game changer.