• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

So when do you think they will split?

F

FLjack2

It's been 2 1/2 years since the simulcast of 750 and 95.5 started. It seems like a total waste of a signal having this simulcast. (Which signal is the waste is up to your thought process.....) At some point, Cox is going to want BOTH signals to produce revenue. I cant imagine that the spot rate on the two have equaled how much a spot cost on The Beat and WSN 750 combined. (Yes, I know, the talk station can run more spots. But still ---- )

So if you were going to split the two because corporate says to make more money, what would you do? How would you program them? Which frequency would keep the WSB Radio heritage? What would you do with the other.

GO!
 
I don't have any of the links handy but when the move was made, there were several estimates ($10 to $15) of how much WsB would have to increase it commercial rateds to make up for the revenue of the old 95.5. I am sure they they were able to raise rates more than that. There still is an "application" to move WSBB to an intown tower 100 KW at 250 meters.:

http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?list=0&facid=11710

If this construction permit is granted, only then Cox will have to figure out what to put on 750. The demos south of I 20 are not exactly conservative talk friendly, but with the huge population (and number of PPM units) south of the Airport, WSB needs 750's coverage for the south side of town.
 
Or, maybe they flip 95.5 to the Other side of the River and let Steve program it, Go head to head with 105.7? A way out there thought but.. it'd be interesting.

I know it would never happen.
 
I don't know that they ever will. There's a pretty clear trend going on around the country that news and sports and talk is shifting from AM to FM. Once that happens, AM radio really isn't going to serve much purpose. Why not simulcast?

If anything, what I could see them doing is segmenting the AM and FM programming where one is 24-hour news and the other is news with some talk.
 
Look at WDUN AM & FM. Some shows are simul; some are not. If WSB simuled the news, but put a different set of talkers on AM & FM, they could smash GST before it ever got started.

(I know, there's contracts. But you get my drift... ;))
 
Why would the top rated (6+) cluster be worried about second or third tier syndicated programing on an AM? Also I believe if WSB is not a simulcast arbitron would list 750 and 95.5 separately.

I never thought I would say this but if Cox does not get 95.5 CP approval due to station ownership cap issues, or the cross ownership of Newspaper, TV, and radio:

Cox would be smart to sell or donate 750,

to get 95.5 moved to a downtown tower.
 
secondchoice said:
Why would the top rated (6+) cluster be worried about second or third tier syndicated programing on an AM? Also I believe if WSB is not a simulcast arbitron would list 750 and 95.5 separately.

I never thought I would say this but if Cox does not get 95.5 CP approval due to station ownership cap issues, or the cross ownership of Newspaper, TV, and radio:

Cox would be smart to sell or donate 750,

to get 95.5 moved to a downtown tower.
Click to expand...

I don't think 750 is going anywhere. Not sure the percentages, but most people I know that listen to them have the AM side on. Its coverage mostly eclipses the FM. The only real advantage the FM has is no storm noise and better audio quality.
 
Smash WGST? Been there, done that. WGST's "reincarnation" isn't going to amount to squat.

trusty said:
If WSB simuled the news, but put a different set of talkers on AM & FM, they could smash GST before it ever got started.
Click to expand...
 
BarryATL said:
On an ITP tower, 95.5 still will not cover the metro like 750.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I agree with you on that. 95.5 would probably have a signal similar to B98.5, which seems to cover the metro quite well.
 
with all of the news and talk programming out there, if they get that move-in for 95.5, they actually could split some of the programming. For example, simulcast the morning show on both stations. Keep their prime talkers (like Rush) on the FM. The AM could run other syndicated programming to help keep "good" shows off other potential competitors. The other think they could do is simulcast their top and bottom hour news on both stations all day long. --a mini "network" if you will. Brand BOTH WSB. WSB-AM and WSB-FM. During news or simulcast shows, they are just "WSB"
 
secondchoice said:
Why would the top rated (6+) cluster be worried about second or third tier syndicated programing on an AM? Also I believe if WSB is not a simulcast arbitron would list 750 and 95.5 separately.

I never thought I would say this but if Cox does not get 95.5 CP approval due to station ownership cap issues, or the cross ownership of Newspaper, TV, and radio:

Cox would be smart to sell or donate 750,

to get 95.5 moved to a downtown tower.
Click to expand...
Cox is NOT going to get rid of a class A clear. They would get rid of, say, WALR or even the AJC first (especially if the AJC's new paywall doesn't work out again). I wonder how much money the AJC makes these days.

I could see, though, Cox splitting the signal to offer a variety of shows and more/less news or talk on each one.
 
fussbudget said:
Smash WGST? Been there, done that. WGST's "reincarnation" isn't going to amount to squat.

trusty said:
If WSB simuled the news, but put a different set of talkers on AM & FM, they could smash GST before it ever got started.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
the new WGST will be lucky to get a 1 share.
 
FLjack2 said:
Brand BOTH WSB. WSB-AM and WSB-FM. During news or simulcast shows, they are just "WSB"
Click to expand...
What is B98.5 going to do? Who gets the WSB-FM calls and who gets WSBB-FM? The marketing would be tricky, even in a PPM market where you don't have to worry about diary entries. And what is the FCC trick for moving a heritage 3-letter call without losing it?

Speaking of Arbitron, what are Arbitron's rules for rating part-time simulcasts?
 
jabba17 said:
fussbudget said:
Smash WGST? Been there, done that. WGST's "reincarnation" isn't going to amount to squat.

trusty said:
If WSB simuled the news, but put a different set of talkers on AM & FM, they could smash GST before it ever got started.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
the new WGST will be lucky to get a 1 share.
Click to expand...

I believe they were steady at a 1.1 before they were blown up, and that's when they had Rush.
 
Even with the eventual move to an in-town stick 95.5 still wont have the market coverage 750 has. The Orlando situation is different because the FM signal was so much better than the 5kw AM station that flipped. Not saying that one day 750 wont ever split away but it is not soon.
 
jabba17 said:
FLjack2 said:
Brand BOTH WSB. WSB-AM and WSB-FM. During news or simulcast shows, they are just "WSB"
Click to expand...
What is B98.5 going to do? Who gets the WSB-FM calls and who gets WSBB-FM? The marketing would be tricky, even in a PPM market where you don't have to worry about diary entries. And what is the FCC trick for moving a heritage 3-letter call without losing it?

Speaking of Arbitron, what are Arbitron's rules for rating part-time simulcasts?
Click to expand...

IIRC it has to be a "total" simulcast for it count as one station.

In a PPM market Call letters except for branding and the FCC mandated legal ID are not a factor. B 98.5 could just as easily be WSBB at the top of the hour "buried" like it is now on WSB. WSB goes to 95.5. as for coverage if the Cox engineers have it correct 95.5 will have a sixty dBu:

https://maps.google.com/?q=http://t...q=95.5&contour=60&city=DORAVILLE&state=GA.kml

verses 98.5:

https://maps.google.com/?q=http://t...req=98.5&contour=60&city=ATLANTA&state=GA.kml

Not that much difference.

I agree about selling the newspaper, but who would pony up the mega bucks. The AJC still has a ton of inserts in the Sunday Paper. I doubt they have "negative" cash flow.

Look at New York, a market that has multiple class A AM's, and lots of salt water to help the AM signals only 3 of the top 20 stations are AM (6+)

http://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb001

same story in Chicago:

http://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb005

BTW: WBBM has a FM simulcast.

If Cox is blocked by cross ownership issues from bring 95.5 to an intown tower, IMHO 750 AM will be out of the Cox cluster as fast as the ink dries on whatever Cox's lawyers come up with.
 
For ratings to count as combined it has to be a total simulcast. WTOP in Washington, DC changed their web stream two months ago to be a 100% simulcast (no more breaking away for commercials) so those listeners would be added to their ratings. So, I am guessing that means you cannot even split the commercials.
 
There is, and for some reason it was worth it to WTOP. The articles I read at the time speculated that it might be worth it to more stations as more people listen via stream.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom