NEW SPORTS STATION

[zrl]

Why does nobody think that WDOK will be the one to flip?

1. WDOK is solid as a rock, they are a cash cow and a big ratings grabber. Trapper Jack, Nancy Alden, and Delilah (via syndication) are institutions over there. Why blow it up?

2. I was privillaged enough to get some inside info, and without giving away my source or details, trust me when I tell you 92.3 is a lock to flip.

I'm not an insider, but I would guess if CBS gets a local PBP, I could see a 98.5 simulcast along with 92.3. Does anyone see Maxwell being a lock for Morning Drive on 92.3?

No way WDOK changes at all, its basically a turn-key station. Money pours out every month. Personally I could do without WDOK and WQAL, but I'm not female so I'm not the target market for either station- as a business decision CBS will not dump Soft AC or Hot AC in a PPM market.

As far as a dual flagship, NFL games (and NCAA football) being once weekly can be squeezed into any format, baseball & basketball (and hockey) would 'take over' a station just about every night.

But even if PBP goes on the less desirable 92.3, wouldn't that give the sports teams the ability to ask the non-flagship affiliates for more $. Since 92.3 breaks down in Stark County, more folks would listen to WHBC than they do now with WTAM as a competitor. (Not to mention a half-dozen stations that carry all the Cleveland sports PBP that 'compete' with WTAM's signal)

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

I hear the new station has already poached Westwood One's football coverage (NFL, college) from WKNR/WWGK. Not a big feat, considering WW1 and CBS are still tight.

Anything else I have to say is on the blog item I just posted...

 

[Rusty Muck]

I hear the new station has already poached Westwood One's football coverage (NFL, college) from WKNR/WWGK. Not a big feat, considering WW1 and CBS are still tight.

Anything else I have to say is on the blog item I just posted...

Considering WEEI still has WW1 PBP in spite of The Sports Hub (and if I'm correct, recently renewed) that pretty damn significant in my eyes, at least.

Judging from HOW CBS is setting this station up, it's hard for me NOT to think that CBS is seriously targeting 98.5 - but only downplaying that only to get MORE attention and MORE buzz when the announcement (and/or simultaneous flip) is actually made.

 

[Rusty Muck]

I'm not an insider, but I would guess if CBS gets a local PBP, I could see a 98.5 simulcast along with 92.3. Does anyone see Maxwell being a lock for Morning Drive on 92.3?

Maxwell on 92.3--possible, if only to finish out the contract. Bill Louis (PD/midday host) probably would prefer a more music intensive morning show.

And a 92.3/98.5 simulcast would be perfect, especially for the Browns. As I have mentioned before, just up the road the Buffalo Bills have a double FM flagship, so there's the template for CBS Cleveland.

Deminski and Doyle. All you need to know regarding mornings.

Should 92.3 become "The Fan," if they land a major PBP contract, "The Fan" will move to 98.5, and 92.3 assumes WNCX's calls and format. That alone is a no-brainer.

And of course, if "The Fan" is ON 98.5, Maxwell stays in 98.5 mornings, again, for contract purposes. Which, if the rumblings that WNCX was trying to lure back Jeff Kinzbach for a more music-centric show are actually true... well, wouldn't it be interesting to bring Jeff on board... at the same time NCX goes to 92.3?

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

Oddly enough, I'm hearing NOTHING about Maxwell in the ramp up buzz for the sports station.

Nothing.

That tells me, on its face, that Maxwell stays at 98.5 (at least through his contract end) and that the new station won't be there.

I could just not know that status based on the info I have.

I also am not ruling out either an eventual move to 98.5, or a simulcast, if they nab PBP. That's just an educated guess on my part.

 

[gabigley1]

What has been pointed out here before is that CBS has said over the last few years it wants to get out of smaller markets like Cleveland. Has CBS revered this mandate or have they had no takers for their Cleveland cluster. They have manged to sell at least one of their clusters in my home town of San Antonio.

Just trying to make sense of a new expensive Sports talk station on a CBS owned station in Cleveland. ???

 

[Rusty Muck]

Oddly enough, I'm hearing NOTHING about Maxwell in the ramp up buzz for the sports station.

Nothing.

That tells me, on its face, that Maxwell stays at 98.5 (at least through his contract end) and that the new station won't be there.

I could just not know that status based on the info I have.

I also am not ruling out either an eventual move to 98.5, or a simulcast, if they nab PBP. That's just an educated guess on my part.

The only thing regarding Maxwell was his non-sequiter afternoon slot on 92.3 last week. Yes, it all but screamed out loud that "hey, we here at CBS quality control are field-testing this 92.3 signal to see if it does okay in mono!"

AND note that while people were commenting that Maxwell's show plays off better as an afternoon show than as a morning show... he doesn't like to talk sports, last I checked. And afternoons on "92.3 [98.5???] The Fan" will be filled by someone or several people that fit the format.

It may all be because CBS is intending to just burn off the contract, get the rest of the station rolling along, and then come November, unveil the actual (and probably preferred) morning show. Again, "97.1 The Ticket" did that by burning off the rest of Deminski and Doyle's contract (inherited from "97.1 Free FM") for two months, and then hired Jay Towers and Bill McAllister.

Heck, maybe "becker5" may have been right all along... if not for the wrong month.

 

[Rusty Muck]

What has been pointed out here before is that CBS has said over the last few years it wants to get out of smaller markets like Cleveland. Has CBS revered this mandate or have they had no takers for their Cleveland cluster. They have manged to sell at least one of their clusters in my home town of San Antonio.

Just trying to make sense of a new expensive Sports talk station on a CBS owned station in Cleveland. ???

At the risk of sounding repetitive, just read what I had to say about THAT subject yesterday.

Cheers.

 

[vjm]

I hear the new station has already poached Westwood One's football coverage (NFL, college) from WKNR/WWGK. Not a big feat, considering WW1 and CBS are still tight.

Anything else I have to say is on the blog item I just posted...

That's actually huge.

Think about it...the package includes the Super Bowl, the playoffs, Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football, Sunday games which doesn't conflict with the Browns (If the Browns are at 1 p.m., then 92.3 can air a 4 p.m. game and vice versa, as well as Sunday doubleheaders for bye weeks), Thanksgiving triple headers, and Thursday Night Football later in the year.

I'd imagine they'd also snag Notre Dame football for Saturdays as well.

Losing WW1 stings at the Galleria.

 

[Capulet]

Just trying to make sense of a new expensive Sports talk station on a CBS owned station in Cleveland. ???

Me too! Niche formats mean niche reveue.
Time will tell.

 

[vjm]

On top of losing WW1, it also looks like KNR/KNR2 is losing their imaging voice.

OMW on the Mighty Blog of Fun(tm) stated we may no longer be hearing Paul Turner's booming voice anymore on 850/1540 after August 1, more than likely because he was snagged by "92.3 The Fan".

And for future reference...

Jim Rome's affiliation deal with GKB expires somewhat soon.

You just have to wonder if Craig Karmazin will bite the bullet and give him the noon hour back now that he knows he has a competitor at his heels that won't think twice about poaching him (perhaps 2 competitors if a certain station wants to invite Romey to the man cave).

 

[Tim]

We're all just guessing (well, most of us)...but: consider ad revenue when you're guessing which frequency the new Cleveland CBS sportstalk station will land on:

CBS is in business short term & long term to maximize their advertising revenue, cut costs, and eventually improve their Cleveland cluster's profitability so they may be able to sell.

The primary population growth in the Cleveland metro is to counties OTHER than Cuyahoga. It's not good enough to just cover the city and NE suburbs...which is what 92.3 has always been.

So, if making the most money is a primary CBS goal...it makes little sense to go sports on 92.3......the 5-county coverage is just too marginal.

It makes even less sense to start sports on 92.3, and move to 98.5 "later". That's insane. Make the big splash....grow the audience passion and loyalty: do it right from the beginning. Grow listener and advertiser loyalty: it's 98.5, and move the classic rock (a fading format nationwide because it's aging rapidly)...move it to 92.3 and play out the string.

 

[asterisk]

Could Kiley and Booms reunite?

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

Could Kiley and Booms reunite?

I don't know...could they? Heh!

You almost think that CBS Radio is actually orchestrating this as a publicity campaign, to pump up the buzz about the new station.

Someone told me that it has reached the airwaves of WKNR. I'm trying to remember the exact quote, but R&R's Kenny Roda was struggling with a bad caller when he told the caller "Why don't you call another station? Maybe there's a new local sports station in town that you can call."

Heh, again!

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

Losing WW1 stings at the Galleria.

So I have heard.

Got a second, more detailed confirmation of it just today. The deal is done, the die has been cast - no more WW1 package on WKNR/WWGK.

 

[vjm]

When I said losing WW1 stings, I meant it as it hurts KNR, because they viewed it as a prized property.

I think the prized property list at GKB goes like this:

1. RBS
2. OSU football
3. Browns Daily
4. Jim Rome

Within 12 months, how many of these properties will still be at the Galleria?

 

[asterisk]

Premiere will force GKB's hand at some point... give them "the option" of placing hour one back on 850 because of Jim's ties to the station. When CK gives some flack about local ad sales, they will bolt.

They would do CBS. They have in Houston, where Josh Innes now is in the regular Rome guest host slot tRBS enjoyed.

Question is this... if the K&B rumors (by the way, was just a guess - K&B was one of my favorites before Fox or Chuck's ego ended the show) pan out and it's not just something Chuck has been screaming from the top of the Innerbelt Bridge, would you let them make R&R a casualty, go after PM drive, forcing GKB to try and move tRBS? Or would you go punch right to the mouth and put them in AM against them?

A little perspective here: I'm not in the industry. It just intrigues me, so I follow it. I believe that competition in this format is needed because good shows have become really bad shows... umm, paging Tony Rizzo. (BTW, am I the only one who thinks Bruce Hooley's fill-in on tRBS is more of a try-out for an open air-shift? And hopefully he can put the board ops- Aaron and Chris, and their respective mics, in check.)

 

[natureboy88]

Hell yes Hooley was trying out for a slot w/ GKB. (my opinion)
I was actually thinking he was hoping the powers that be at CBS were listening to.

 

[asterisk]

Hooley got a raw deal in Columbus... what would happen if he criticizes the Browns on KNR?

But he is a good talent and would be a major upgrade over almost anyone there.

 

[AntDog152]

In the short term, KNR is going to be hurt by The Fan. But hopefully this will force KNR talent to step up and actually talk sports with the fans of Cleveland. They already have an established audience, but they are mostly sick and tired of them not talking enough sports and the lack of prep and effort put into the shows(Rizzo). There could be a chance that the talent lineup at The Fan is not as good as KNR once the initial hype wears off.

I think for this market, CBS would be smart to have local sports talk (not Hot talk) at morning drive. If they don't, tRBS would still be the first local All-sports show to come on the air at 9am which will give the advantage to KNR.