Sports radio in Cincinnati

[wjf82]

We had two new sports radio networks launch today....CBS with just hourly updates with a full launch in January, and NBC with 178 affiliates, with what appears to be a Monday-Friday 7pm-5am program lineup. Would either of these succeed here? They can't do any worse than Clear Channel's ESPN 1530 (0.7 rating for July, on a 50,000 watt signal) or Clear Channel's Fox Sports 1360 (a 0.2 rating at least three months straight). And WLW can thank the Reds for what I'm sure will be a 13+ rating for August when Cincinnati's PPM book comes out Thursday.

I miss the old 1160 BOB from the late nineties. They had the Bengals broadcast rights, Ohio State, local programming from morning till evening, and some on weekends. Not sure what their ratings were but I know they took WLW down a few notches.

 

[microbob]

If you could upgrade one of the weaker AM's like 910,1320 or 1480 then it may work. I agree, 1160BOB was great in the 90's but they had an owner who spent the money on local programming and getting the Bengals game rights from Jacor, who partially lost those rights because Mike Brown didn't like Andy Furman's commentary on how bad they were at that time.

 

[jry]

If you could upgrade one of the weaker AM's like 910,1320 or 1480 then it may work. I agree, 1160BOB was great in the 90's but they had an owner who spent the money on local programming and getting the Bengals game rights from Jacor, who partially lost those rights because Mike Brown didn't like Andy Furman's commentary on how bad they were at that time.

\\

I saw some old arbitron on WBOB. A 2 share or a little better than that. I never got a peek at anything from the 90's though.

Wasn't that during the "Chancellor" years?

We have examined the engineering on the three stations you list. None of them can upgrade. 1480 works as a Non D from our 1050 site but, at reduced power.

 

[microbob]

If you could upgrade one of the weaker AM's like 910,1320 or 1480 then it may work. I agree, 1160BOB was great in the 90's but they had an owner who spent the money on local programming and getting the Bengals game rights from Jacor, who partially lost those rights because Mike Brown didn't like Andy Furman's commentary on how bad they were at that time.

\\

I saw some old arbitron on WBOB. A 2 share or a little better than that. I never got a peek at anything from the 90's though.

Wasn't that during the "Chancellor" years?

Yes, it was during that time. Chancellor later became AM/FM before their merge with Clear Channel, which resulted in 1160 being sold to Salem. They tried sports as ESPN1160 but failed because the local shows were eliminated execpt for a local Midday show. I believe they averaged a 2.0 for most of the Bob years and that was with Imus in the morning who replaced Bob Trumpy who moved to Homer 1360.

It sounds like 1480 probably wouldn't benefit much from your 1050 site. I know 1320 is or was for sale but they are essentially a daytimer with little or no night time signal.

 

[wjf82]

If you could upgrade one of the weaker AM's like 910,1320 or 1480 then it may work. I agree, 1160BOB was great in the 90's but they had an owner who spent the money on local programming and getting the Bengals game rights from Jacor, who partially lost those rights because Mike Brown didn't like Andy Furman's commentary on how bad they were at that time.

\\

I saw some old arbitron on WBOB. A 2 share or a little better than that. I never got a peek at anything from the 90's though.

Wasn't that during the "Chancellor" years?

Yes, it was during that time. Chancellor later became AM/FM before their merge with Clear Channel, which resulted in 1160 being sold to Salem. They tried sports as ESPN1160 but failed because the local shows were eliminated execpt for a local Midday show. I believe they averaged a 2.0 for most of the Bob years and that was with Imus in the morning who replaced Bob Trumpy who moved to Homer 1360.

It sounds like 1480 probably wouldn't benefit much from your 1050 site. I know 1320 is or was for sale but they are essentially a daytimer with little or no night time signal.

Trumpy actually replaced Imus on 1160 mornings, but I don't think he moved to 1360 after the merger. I know Lance McAlister and the Two Angry Guys definitely moved over to 1360. Angry Guys moved to morning drive on 1160 after Trumpy left in January '99.

 

[wjf82]

Imus moved to 1230-AM after Trumpy began at 1160 mornings in early '98.

 

[microbob]

That's right, I know we had 2 sports stations at that time with 1360 Homer coming on a year or two later after 1230 was sold to their current owner.

 

[jry]

If you could upgrade one of the weaker AM's like 910,1320 or 1480 then it may work. I agree, 1160BOB was great in the 90's but they had an owner who spent the money on local programming and getting the Bengals game rights from Jacor, who partially lost those rights because Mike Brown didn't like Andy Furman's commentary on how bad they were at that time.

\\

I saw some old arbitron on WBOB. A 2 share or a little better than that. I never got a peek at anything from the 90's though.

Wasn't that during the "Chancellor" years?

Yes, it was during that time. Chancellor later became AM/FM before their merge with Clear Channel, which resulted in 1160 being sold to Salem. They tried sports as ESPN1160 but failed because the local shows were eliminated execpt for a local Midday show. I believe they averaged a 2.0 for most of the Bob years and that was with Imus in the morning who replaced Bob Trumpy who moved to Homer 1360.

It sounds like 1480 probably wouldn't benefit much from your 1050 site. I know 1320 is or was for sale but they are essentially a daytimer with little or no night time signal.

Daytime, 1480 from that 1050 site is almost a home run. Nighttime was the deal killer.

 

[Ken Tucky]

If you could upgrade one of the weaker AM's like 910,1320 or 1480 then it may work. I agree, 1160BOB was great in the 90's but they had an owner who spent the money on local programming and getting the Bengals game rights from Jacor, who partially lost those rights because Mike Brown didn't like Andy Furman's commentary on how bad they were at that time.

\\

I saw some old arbitron on WBOB. A 2 share or a little better than that. I never got a peek at anything from the 90's though.

Wasn't that during the "Chancellor" years?

Yes, it was during that time. Chancellor later became AM/FM before their merge with Clear Channel, which resulted in 1160 being sold to Salem. They tried sports as ESPN1160 but failed because the local shows were eliminated execpt for a local Midday show. I believe they averaged a 2.0 for most of the Bob years and that was with Imus in the morning who replaced Bob Trumpy who moved to Homer 1360.

It sounds like 1480 probably wouldn't benefit much from your 1050 site. I know 1320 is or was for sale but they are essentially a daytimer with little or no night time signal.

Daytime, 1480 from that 1050 site is almost a home run. Nighttime was the deal killer.


Jon: Just curious as to what power 1480 would have been allowed from your site; it's hard to imagine their nighttime signal being much worse than it is now!

 

[jry]

Man, Ken, i think the night power was 30 watts or something even more ridiculous than that. Crazy low. I'd have to pull out the report from Munn Reese.

Daytime was something between 750 and 1KW. The 5 MV actually covered the market from that site. It was pretty choice.

 

[microbob]

What is 1050's night power? I can't get them at all at night due to CHUM in Toronto.

 

[Ken Tucky]

Man, Ken, i think the night power was 30 watts or something even more ridiculous than that. Crazy low. I'd have to pull out the report from Munn Reese.

Daytime was something between 750 and 1KW. The 5 MV actually covered the market from that site. It was pretty choice.

30 watts, huh? That would give great coverage to the Brent Spence Bridge...

 

[wjf82]

What is 1050's night power? I can't get them at all at night due to CHUM in Toronto.

1050-AM is 1,000 watts daytime and 279 watts at night
1480-AM is 4,300 watts daytime and 300 watts at night
1320-AM is 500 watts daytime and 430 watts at night

 

[secondchoice]

Just a question. Could 1320 (with out regards to COL or price of land) be moved the North and east side of the market for a night pattern? I figure it would most likely have to be a little "tighter" to the East. But just looking at the night time pattern:

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WCVG&service=AM&status=L&hours=N

A site near US 50 and I 275 would cover a lot more of the market.

 

[jry]

What is 1050's night power? I can't get them at all at night due to CHUM in Toronto.

1050-AM is 1,000 watts daytime and 279 watts at night
1480-AM is 4,300 watts daytime and 300 watts at night
1320-AM is 500 watts daytime and 430 watts at night

Bob must be a ways out from the tower site. It might be time for a little tune up as well.

 

[microbob]

I am located a ways south of 1050's tower site about 40 miles so that 279 watts doesn't reach me. The daytime signal at 1000 watts does however.

 

[microbob]

Just a question. Could 1320 (with out regards to COL or price of land) be moved the North and east side of the market for a night pattern? I figure it would most likely have to be a little "tighter" to the East. But just looking at the night time pattern:

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WCVG&service=AM&status=L&hours=N

A site near US 50 and I 275 would cover a lot more of the market.

Especially if you could get a daytime power increase say 1000 watts. 5000kw would be better though if its possible.

 

[microbob]

They can't do any worse than Clear Channel's ESPN 1530 (0.7 rating for July, on a 50,000 watt signal) or Clear Channel's Fox Sports 1360 (a 0.2 rating at least three months straight).

I have to wonder what 1530 Bills? I would imagine ESPN pays Clear Channel to clear their programming in Cincinnati on a 50,000 watt signal. They have Brother Stair and The God Squad on at night as well.

 

[wjf82]

They can't do any worse than Clear Channel's ESPN 1530 (0.7 rating for July, on a 50,000 watt signal) or Clear Channel's Fox Sports 1360 (a 0.2 rating at least three months straight).

I have to wonder what 1530 Bills? I would imagine ESPN pays Clear Channel to clear their programming in Cincinnati on a 50,000 watt signal. They have Brother Stair and The God Squad on at night as well.

Yep they've been airing religious programming overnights as far back as the 1970's.

 

[MTHBSTR]

#1. WBOB-AM in Cincinnati NEVER got a 12+ 2.0 share. The highest it ever got was a 1.0 in Fall '98. It averaged a .7 the entire time is was "1160 BOB." It did score 2s, 3s, and even a 5 one time in 18-34 Men, and did 2s in 25-54 men. The only time this station ever got above a 2.0 share, it was on AM 1180, as a daytimer called WMLX doing Standards in the late 80s-early 90s. It would really be interesting to see what it would do in a PPM world.
#2. WCIN-AM 1480 was on the then-WTSJ stick in the 90s. Signal was terrible. Daytime was terrible. Nighttime was non-existent.
#3. Why woul dyou even bother upgrading WCVG? You'll never get your investment back. Best thing to do is find a translator for it.
#4. What is the future status of the WCVX tower site? Brent Spence Bridge construction is likely to make it history.
#5. The new NBC Sports Network is mainly nights and hourly updates. Hardly an upgrade from ESPN Radio or even FOX.