NEW SPORTS STATION

[OhioMediaWatch]

No kidding. All of you radio experts are going to look pretty silly whan none of this happens.

Considering all that I've heard in the past week or so, I'm now willing to go on the record: THIS WILL HAPPEN. I don't know if it'll be on 92.3 or 98.5, and I don't know exactly when, but it WILL HAPPEN.

There is far too much behind the scenes activity going on for it NOT to happen.

For one, there'd be one really disappointed sports radio PD who left his stable, long-time job in another market to come to Cleveland.

Part of this is my fault. I am hearing a LOT, and am not sharing most of it. Some of it is because some stuff isn't final or nailed down yet. Some of it, I've been asked not to share right now (like the incoming PD's name).

Each day, I learn more and more from new sources. If you saw what I'm seeing, you'd be convinced.

But this will all become rather clear sometime between now and Labor Day.

I, too, believe 98.5 would be the better home for the new format. But I have not actually heard any rumors about the frequency.

CBS registered 923TheFan.com right around the same time they registered CBSClevelandSports.com, a few months ago, which prompted the most recent rumors. But that's no guarantee of anything.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

I will note that one major Cleveland FM was, a few years ago, within like 3 days of flipping format, and changed its mind over the holiday weekend in question.

But there are too many balls in the air (so to speak) for a turnaround-on-a-dime on this one. Too many people, and it seems the entire CBS sports talk radio firmament is involved in this flip.

My gut tells me that an already busy preparation period goes into overdrive say, tomorrow or Tuesday, whenever the NFL players sign the CBA. That would put training camps open on Saturday, from the reports I've heard, and this new station may not want to wait to launch.

 

[almaniac27]

Cleveland is a PPM market. PPM monitors measure actual listening across markets metro survey area, at the very least...if not their TSA/DMA.

In Cleveland, the metro area is 5 counties (Medina, Lorain, Cuyahoga, Lake, & Geauga). Maybe it's easy for the PPM monitors to hear encoded signals, but why would people tune into and try to listen to a station they have trouble hearing?

92.3 has spotty coverage in about half the Cleveland metro...even in mono.

If you can't hear the station adequately, you can't score the ratings you'll need to help drive advertising revenues.

If CBS wants to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars a year+ in multiple live local personalities, and other start-up expenses...and get a marginal return, so be it. It's their company, obviously.

Hey, I may be totally wrong. But, I think CBS is smarter than that.

Do it right, or why bother?

I know it's not a huge deal for them, but 92.3's signal is fairly poor in most of the Akron area, and WKNR's night signal is severely lacking in the northeast area. If CBS wants to make a ratings dent in both markets, the 98.5 signal would be the better choice, WKNR would be dead meat. My guess is that CBS will just see how the 92.3 signal works out for a year or so and make a decision then.

 

[74WIXYGrad]

All I know is that it's close to the last of the month and Nostradamus should be predicting Maxwell being fired again. ;D

 

[1sttimecaller]

I would love to see this not happen. Then I'd ask OMW (Last weeks news today or when I get around to it! TM) what about those sources?

Meet thinks it would be too funny if all these rumors were put out there just to F with the boards.

For what its worth my CBS sales rep gave me a full color sheet last week about the numbers MWL had in the last PPM.

 

[Dave Sarnoff]

No kidding. All of you radio experts are going to look pretty silly whan none of this happens.

Considering all that I've heard in the past week or so, I'm now willing to go on the record: THIS WILL HAPPEN. I don't know if it'll be on 92.3 or 98.5, and I don't know exactly when, but it WILL HAPPEN.

There is far too much behind the scenes activity going on for it NOT to happen.

For one, there'd be one really disappointed sports radio PD who left his stable, long-time job in another market to come to Cleveland.

Part of this is my fault. I am hearing a LOT, and am not sharing most of it. Some of it is because some stuff isn't final or nailed down yet. Some of it, I've been asked not to share right now (like the incoming PD's name).

Each day, I learn more and more from new sources. If you saw what I'm seeing, you'd be convinced.

But this will all become rather clear sometime between now and Labor Day.

I, too, believe 98.5 would be the better home for the new format. But I have not actually heard any rumors about the frequency.

CBS registered 923TheFan.com right around the same time they registered CBSClevelandSports.com, a few months ago, which prompted the most recent rumors. But that's no guarantee of anything.

: Get over yourself already.

 

[vjm]

I would love to see this not happen. Then I'd ask OMW (Last weeks news today or when I get around to it! TM) what about those sources?

Meet thinks it would be too funny if all these rumors were put out there just to F with the boards.

For what its worth my CBS sales rep gave me a full color sheet last week about the numbers MWL had in the last PPM.

Yeah...I'm sure CBS Corporate has nothing better to do than sit around and say "Ya know what would be funny...if we threw out a rumor about an FM sports staion in Cleveland, just to see how they'd react!"

And there's a reason why OMW and Nathan Orbal are the Primary and Secondary editorial voices (tm)...they actually know their stuff.

 

[Tim L]

I would love to see this not happen. Then I'd ask OMW (Last weeks news today or when I get around to it! TM) what about those sources?

Meet thinks it would be too funny if all these rumors were put out there just to F with the boards.

For what its worth my CBS sales rep gave me a full color sheet last week about the numbers MWL had in the last PPM.

Yeah...I'm sure CBS Corporate has nothing better to do than sit around and say "Ya know what would be funny...if we threw out a rumor about an FM sports staion in Cleveland, just to see how they'd react!"

And there's a reason why OMW and Nathan Orbal are the Primary and Secondary editorial voices (tm)...they actually know their stuff. 

Absolutely..You naysayers are going to look pretty bad when this does happen..That's whay OMW and Nathan get the scoops they do..They have trust with at least some of the movers and shakers in the business..If they told everything they knew, those sources would dry up so fast..

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

I would love to see this not happen. Then I'd ask OMW (Last weeks news today or when I get around to it! TM) what about those sources?

Low blow. I've always noted that Real Life(tm) has to take precedence over the blog, which is not a paying job. If you'd like me to post everything on time and regularly, please start paying me.

Meet thinks it would be too funny if all these rumors were put out there just to F with the boards.

Meet?

I know I said this before, but trust me on this, this is not a rumor campaign to mess with either the boards or me.

For one, as I've said repeatedly, I've heard virtually NOTHING out of either CBS Cleveland building. This is not being put together locally. The station only has a PD as of this week, this very morning (unless he's taking a week off between jobs or something).

The initial word of the new PD came far from outside Cleveland - in Tom Taylor's Radio-Info newsletter. What, they're trying to mess with Tom, too?

Since the bulk of the legwork on this has come elsewhere within CBS Radio, it makes a lot of sense that we haven't heard anything locally.

Look, I say it all the time.

I COULD BE WRONG. I am far from infallible, and remind folks of that on a number of occasions...and have repeatedly over the years.

Local radio types have tried to scam and play me. Heck, a certain programmer in Jackson Township/North Canton even created a website for a new country station and E-mailed me using a fake name trying to play with my head, for the station which became "My 101.7".

I bit...for a day or so. But I dug into the headers of the anonymous E-mail, and found out someone claiming to be "in Michigan" was E-mailing from his Northeast Ohio base from a Time Warner Roadrunner account.

I was wrong, even though I questioned the information from day one (my item had a pretty prominent question mark in the subject header).

But this is not like that. The information I'm getting is coming from far too many places, and is consistent with other information from folks I know not to be connected.

As I said earlier, if you saw what I am seeing, you'd say the new station is coming.

For what its worth my CBS sales rep gave me a full color sheet last week about the numbers MWL had in the last PPM.

For what it's worth, I've heard absolutely nothing about Maxwell's fate in all this. Nothing. So no, I'm not Becker5.

 

[Tim]

Unless CBS changes its mind at the last minute, the rumors appear to be true.

 

[Rusty Muck]

For what its worth my CBS sales rep gave me a full color sheet last week about the numbers MWL had in the last PPM.

I've also seen and looked at the 150+ page PPM book. Needless to say, I don't even think Maxwell is a slam-dunk for morning drive on "92.3 [98.5??] The Fan."

He might end up there, but it would be closer to the two-month stint that "Demitiski and Doyle" had when they were carried over to WXYT-FM "The Ticket" in Detroit. At the very least, they need to burn off the last three months of Max's contract, and it's impractical to fire him at this point (despite what becker5 says).

 

[Rusty Muck]

I would love to see this not happen. Then I'd ask OMW (Last weeks news today or when I get around to it! TM) what about those sources?

Meet thinks it would be too funny if all these rumors were put out there just to F with the boards.

Tough.

I'm sitting on a lot of stuff deliberately because it is very sensitive material. Same with OMW. Only about 25% of what we know has been published on here and on my respective Twitter account.

Quit burying your head in the sand and connect the dots. Some major shoes are about to drop.

Yeah...I'm sure CBS Corporate has nothing better to do than sit around and say "Ya know what would be funny...if we threw out a rumor about an FM sports staion in Cleveland, just to see how they'd react!"

And there's a reason why OMW and Nathan Orbal are the Primary and Secondary editorial voices (tm)...they actually know their stuff.

Exactly (and thanks).

This isn't CBS Cleveland. This is CBS Corporate in New York. And they have better things to do than throw untrue BS just to rile up a small percentage of people on radio chat boards. THEY don't mess around.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

Oddly enough, I shot down this rumor as recently as May 26th, in this very thread. "The chances are between slim and none, and slim just left town," I said.

Early in the thread, John Baylor said he was hearing the rumor from sales reps, or something.

We're now reversed.


And why did I move? Well, things started happening. CBS corporate decided to go for it, after a long evaluation, then started scouring the country for talent and a programmer (h/t to TANK1, who started this thread and said they were looking for a PD first).

They have their programmer. He had his last day at his former station (NOT a CBS station, by the way!) on Friday. He's on the job now, unless he took a week off between gigs.

Meanwhile, here's Tom Taylor's latest, in today's TRI:

"The Cleveland Board's been kicking around the all-sports rumor about CBS Radio since May 10, and some of the market's current morning shows are part of the speculation. TRI wonders – does CBS have a hard-and-fast date for the flip, maybe August 1?"

Oddly enough, the discussion icon links to the Maxwell on 92.3 thread, not this one, which was indeed started back in May. I'm not sure why he did that.

We've brought up the potential of August 1st here, but I'm not sure that's where his "TRI wonders" is coming from.

Sometime tonight, the NFL players will have signed the CBA, and the Browns are officially back in business, with camp starting as soon as Saturday or Sunday.

What day is August 1st? Monday. A day or two after Berea starts humming in earnest.

It just makes too much sense.

Now, I don't know who they've actually signed for this, or if those people would be ready for a week from today. But I've seen enough potential names kicked around to fill a M-F lineup. I still think it'll be difficult to launch this in a week...but the target of the Return of Browns Post-Lockout may be too big to ignore. And they've certainly been working on this before the PD arrived.

To my detractors...again, I COULD BE WRONG.

But it feels right to me, and remember, I have been a skeptic on this (a rather large one!) until a week ago.

 

[zrl]

Andy Roth just left his gig at WGR (Entercom) in Buffalo. From what I've heard it hasn't been announced publicly where he's headed.

 

[vjm]

Oddly enough, I shot down this rumor as recently as May 26th, in this very thread. "The chances are between slim and none, and slim just left town," I said.

Early in the thread, John Baylor said he was hearing the rumor from sales reps, or something.

We're now reversed.


And why did I move? Well, things started happening. CBS corporate decided to go for it, after a long evaluation, then started scouring the country for talent and a programmer (h/t to TANK1, who started this thread and said they were looking for a PD first).

They have their programmer. He had his last day at his former station (NOT a CBS station, by the way!) on Friday. He's on the job now, unless he took a week off between gigs.

Meanwhile, here's Tom Taylor's latest, in today's TRI:

"The Cleveland Board's been kicking around the all-sports rumor about CBS Radio since May 10, and some of the market's current morning shows are part of the speculation. TRI wonders – does CBS have a hard-and-fast date for the flip, maybe August 1?"

Oddly enough, the discussion icon links to the Maxwell on 92.3 thread, not this one, which was indeed started back in May. I'm not sure why he did that.

We've brought up the potential of August 1st here, but I'm not sure that's where his "TRI wonders" is coming from.

Sometime tonight, the NFL players will have signed the CBA, and the Browns are officially back in business, with camp starting as soon as Saturday or Sunday.

What day is August 1st? Monday. A day or two after Berea starts humming in earnest.

It just makes too much sense.

Now, I don't know who they've actually signed for this, or if those people would be ready for a week from today. But I've seen enough potential names kicked around to fill a M-F lineup. I still think it'll be difficult to launch this in a week...but the target of the Return of Browns Post-Lockout may be too big to ignore. And they've certainly been working on this before the PD arrived.

To my detractors...again, I COULD BE WRONG.

But it feels right to me, and remember, I have been a skeptic on this (a rather large one!) until a week ago.

OMW--

Remember, there's a reason why people gun for you...you're where they wanna be.

 

[Rusty Muck]

Andy Roth just left his gig at WGR (Entercom) in Buffalo. From what I've heard it hasn't been announced publicly where he's headed.

Other reports (including NERW) are saying Roth's being promoted within Entercom corporate.

 

[Rusty Muck]

Oddly enough, I shot down this rumor as recently as May 26th, in this very thread. "The chances are between slim and none, and slim just left town," I said.

Early in the thread, John Baylor said he was hearing the rumor from sales reps, or something.

We're now reversed.


And why did I move? Well, things started happening. CBS corporate decided to go for it, after a long evaluation, then started scouring the country for talent and a programmer (h/t to TANK1, who started this thread and said they were looking for a PD first).

They have their programmer. He had his last day at his former station (NOT a CBS station, by the way!) on Friday. He's on the job now, unless he took a week off between gigs.

Meanwhile, here's Tom Taylor's latest, in today's TRI:

"The Cleveland Board's been kicking around the all-sports rumor about CBS Radio since May 10, and some of the market's current morning shows are part of the speculation. TRI wonders – does CBS have a hard-and-fast date for the flip, maybe August 1?"

Oddly enough, the discussion icon links to the Maxwell on 92.3 thread, not this one, which was indeed started back in May. I'm not sure why he did that.

We've brought up the potential of August 1st here, but I'm not sure that's where his "TRI wonders" is coming from.

Sometime tonight, the NFL players will have signed the CBA, and the Browns are officially back in business, with camp starting as soon as Saturday or Sunday.

What day is August 1st? Monday. A day or two after Berea starts humming in earnest.

It just makes too much sense.

Now, I don't know who they've actually signed for this, or if those people would be ready for a week from today. But I've seen enough potential names kicked around to fill a M-F lineup. I still think it'll be difficult to launch this in a week...but the target of the Return of Browns Post-Lockout may be too big to ignore. And they've certainly been working on this before the PD arrived.

To my detractors...again, I COULD BE WRONG.

But it feels right to me, and remember, I have been a skeptic on this (a rather large one!) until a week ago.

My guess is that CBS makes the announcement regarding the launch of 92.3 [98.5???] The Fan on August 1. Which coincides with an established spoken word station in this market suddenly having to record new liners and IDs after losing their main imaging voice.

By my own impressions, the announcement will give CBS enough time to set up the station. It's purely impractical to see the station launching outright on Monday. But in a week or two? Definitely. Throw 92.3 in stunt mode, and away you go!

Also consider that if CBS is indeed aiming 98.5 for "The Fan," with WNCX scooting over to 92.3, such an announcement will give NCX enough time to re-do all imaging and promotion. That's again IF CBS plans on 98.5 The Fan - when WBMX "Mix 98.5" in Boston was bumped to 104.1FM as part of "98.5 The Sports Hub"'s launch, there was a two to three week lead time. As well as time for rocker WBCN (who was being extinguished in the process) enough time to say goodbye.

It wouldn't be THAT difficult because both 92.3 and 98.5 are in the Halle Building, and only one or two engineers need to switch a few wires. Plus CBS would be moving a remarkably stable format/station. AND the one constant would be Maxwell in the morning, should CBS elect to retain him.

Even though some estimations have it at Labor Day (Sept 5) or the Monday beforehand (August 29) I wouldn't be shocked if The Fan goes live on August 15.

 

[Tim]

We may consider launching such a station this coming weekend, or next week, or in the next week or so "too soon to happen"...consider a couple things:

CBS is an international entertainment/tv-radio corporation with similar sportstalk stations all over the country. This is a part of what they do.

And, it's not likely they just started planning this last week or the week before....especially if most of the work on the Cleveland project has happened at the corporate level. I'll bet they've been planning this for months.

Just my guess.....

 

[Rusty Muck]

We may consider launching such a station this coming weekend, or next week, or in the next week or so "too soon to happen"...consider a couple things:

CBS is an international entertainment/tv-radio corporation with similar sportstalk stations all over the country. This is a part of what they do.

And, it's not likely they just started planning this last week or the week before....especially if most of the work on the Cleveland project has happened at the corporate level. I'll bet they've been planning this for months.

Just my guess.....

Playing devil's advocate, "The Fan" still needs to fill out their airstaff. And will need to do a massive promotional blitz beforehand. I don't think they are that close to starting up... heck, I don't think anyone beyond Tom Herschel (or even Dave Popovich) at CBS Cleveland knows the exact story just yet!

Then there's this angle. Let's say that CBS corporate has decided that 98.5 will be the new home for "The Fan" - and WNCX as a result will be moved to 92.3, replacing "radio 92.3." WNCX will need to have enough time to let all of their advertisers know. Not to mention all of the imaging and liners that need to all be redone to reflect "92.3 NCX." Then there's the obvious promotional campaign both WNCX will need to unleash as well, since they are a stable station that is so identified with 98.5.

My guess: CBS makes the announcement next Monday that "92.3-or-98.5 The Fan" will launch the last Monday of August. At the very very latest Labor Day. Or maybe as early as August 15.

 

[johnbasalla]

Should we take this to mean that CBS has resigned itself to believing they are going to be here for awhile, or have they decided that they truly want to be here for awhile?