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Merger seems to be a done deal: CBS and Entercom (Your Thoughts!)

D

dhoule

It looks like the CBS and Entercom merger is a done deal. This brings up a lot of questions for me. Interested in what people think.

1. The strongest signals seem to be: 93.7, 98.5, 100.7, 104.1, and 103.3. Will these be the ones that Entercom will keep? Or would they sell off some the stronger signals/stations to make more money?

2. What happens with WEEI and 98.5 The Sports Hub? Do they keep both stations, since both do well in the ratings, and make them compete, similar to what WCBS and WINS do in NYC? Or would they sell one off, keeping the Red Sox?

3. What happens with WBZ? Do they move them to an FM frequency? Are they required to change their call letters since CBS TV will most likely keep WBZ-TV? Would Entercom and CBS work out a deal where the synergy would remain between the TV and the AM, despite the company differences?

So many more questions too. Again, interested in hearing about people think. Exciting times in Boston radio. Guess anything could happen. Let the speculation begin! : )
 
Krazy K0000000nah can tell people he works for CBS ... and IS GOING NATIONAL!
 
Also wondering if EMF will make a move for a leftover signal. 93.7 maybe? 100% guess on my part.

Sure would miss the WBZ calls if that changes!! Hoping they stay forever. There are some radio/TV call letter sharing between unrelated companies I've noticed.
Sinclair owns WKRC-TV Channel 12 (Local 12) in Cincinnati, and co-exists with iHeart's WKRC 550KHz in Cincinnati for example, without any cross branding.
I do think about a reverse result with WOR 710 / WWOR Channel 9 however.

I especially wonder what will happen with 850KHz as well as 97.7 and 107.3 too. Again 100% guessing, but it would be really odd to suddenly have WAAF on 104.1 (Not a radio industry person, just thinking out loud.)
 
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Entercom Boston is gonna keep both 93.7 and 98.5, giving it a sports duopoly that won't be beat. I'm thinking that 97.3 and 107.3 will be bought out by EMF, with 97.3 going to K-Love and 107.3 going to Air1. Unless they take out one of the IHeart stations.
 
blackgold said:
Entercom Boston is gonna keep both 93.7 and 98.5, giving it a sports duopoly that won't be beat. I'm thinking that 97.3 and 107.3 will be bought out by EMF, with 97.3 going to K-Love and 107.3 going to Air1. Unless they take out one of the IHeart stations.
Click to expand...

Is Boston fertile enough ground for a Christian music format that it will justify the money EMF will need to spend on those two stations? It was a stunner when they bought WCCC Hartford, a full-power signal in Market 52. Market 10 (with Worcester as a throw-in) is a huge step up, and it's an area with a significant recent history of indifference and even outright hostility to evangelical Protestantism.
 
Yes, it makes sense to perhaps sell 97.7 to EMF, but if Entercom were to sell 107.3 & 97.7 to EMF, would it be worth blowing up one of the other fine Boston area signals for WAAF programming in 2017 & beyond?

I'm most curious about the 93.7 signal out of Peabody, is that really adequate enough for full market coverage? It it listenable enough in downtown or around the Needham antenna farm? Would it be feasible to move one of the other formats to 93.7 and take WEEI to a Pru or Needham signal, especially if Worcester's 1440 WVEI had to be sold also? I always thought 93.7 was the only choice Entercom had to move WEEI off AM 850, but it would seem they have a buffet in front of them.

Very interesting times indeed!
 
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Stormdesk said:
Also wondering if EMF will make a move for a leftover signal. 93.7 maybe? 100% guess on my part.
Click to expand...

Guess again. 93.7 is the second highest billing radio station in the market, and the highest billing FM.
 
MarcB said:
Boston had a Christian Music station many years back. J-Light 1060 WJLT.
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Wasn't WRYT ("The RIGHT Sound") 950 Christian format, too??
Dating myself....I remember 1060 as "Thoroughly Modern" WEZE....Studios were in Copley Square -- wrap-around "windows-on-the-street" studios (the drapes were drawn much of the time, IIRC...!!)
 
Oldie919 said:
Wasn't WRYT ("The RIGHT Sound") 950 Christian format, too??
Dating myself....I remember 1060 as "Thoroughly Modern" WEZE....Studios were in Copley Square -- wrap-around "windows-on-the-street" studios (the drapes were drawn much of the time, IIRC...!!)
Click to expand...

Actually, 1260 WEZE, "DEPENDABLE NEWS IS EZ-E TO FIND!" During the days when Boston radio was actually interesting to listen to, both AM, FM and suburban!
 
Oldie919 said:
Wasn't WRYT ("The RIGHT Sound") 950 Christian format, too??
Dating myself....I remember 1060 as "Thoroughly Modern" WEZE....Studios were in Copley Square -- wrap-around "windows-on-the-street" studios (the drapes were drawn much of the time, IIRC...!!)
Click to expand...
Yes, 1260 was the original WEZE, Boston from the mid-1950's to the mid-1990's, not 1060.

1060 was always licensed to Natick. It came on the air in 1972 as WGTR owned by John H. Garabedian with a hybrid Top 40 and popular AOR cuts format. It went through several format and call letter changes both before and after Garabedian sold it in the mid '80s. The WJLT Christian incarnation mentioned above was in the mid-late '90s. It's now Catholic WQOM.
 
Citing WJLT and WRYT hardly supports the argument that EMF should be looking at buying an FM stick, even if it is a Worcester/rimshot Boston combo like 107.3/97.7. Certainly not 93.7. It's difficult to imagine there are enough Bostonians willing to open their checkbooks to buy whatever feel-good musical pap K-Love and Air1 are selling.
 
blackgold said:
I'm thinking that 97.3 and 107.3 will be bought out by EMF, with 97.3 going to K-Love and 107.3 going to Air1.
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97.3? Are you thinking 93.7 or 97.7?

Blackgold...you seem to be on this EMF/K-Love kick...are you hoping they come into the market?

Are they buying major market FM's? Do they have the bucks that it would take to enter the market?

Can they get enough in donations in return to make it worthwhile?

I don't know if you have Evangelical roots Blackgold.....but, remember, this is the great Liberal Northeast.
 
Wimmmex said:
Are they buying major market FM's? Do they have the bucks that it would take to enter the market?.
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They bought KPRI in San Diego fairly recently. And they paid a competitive price for it.
 
Spin-offs can include trade nationwide. This is an excellent opportunity for iHeart to get stronger in Boston. Trade off some of their stations in markets Entercom may not have a presence in. I bet you see 97.7 and 107.3 go to iHeart, BUT the brands still stay around just on different signals. I predict the AMP brand goes away, and probably mix too. WEEI/The Hub can compliment each other, ZLX and AAF can do the same, just as BZ and RKO can. The new R&B format has the potential to be a cash cow.
 
Wimmmex said:
97.3? Are you thinking 93.7 or 97.7?

Blackgold...you seem to be on this EMF/K-Love kick...are you hoping they come into the market?

Are they buying major market FM's? Do they have the bucks that it would take to enter the market?

Can they get enough in donations in return to make it worthwhile?

I don't know if you have Evangelical roots Blackgold.....but, remember, this is the great Liberal Northeast.
Click to expand...

I'm a Catholic man...I'm not too hot about EMF/K-Love, but anything is possible. Besides, I prefer EWTN and Catholic TV to the K-Love/EMF duopoly myself. I'm not hoping that they come into the market, but you never can tell.
 
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