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Two More CBS FM Sports Stations. Is 94.1 WIP-FM Next?

A

aindik

CBS announced new FM sports stations in Boston and (the worst kept secret in radio) Washington, D.C. today. Seems to be their new national format of the month. Will the flip 94.1 to sports?

I think it's a silly idea, but one they might do. Difference between Philly and the other markets that flipped is that, in Philly, CBS is already doing local sports on AM.
 
I'm betting it'll be 94.1FM With Your Sports Philadelphia!!! But hey CBS would enter a donkey in the Preakness wouldn't they?
 
aindik said:
I think it's a silly idea, but one they might do. Difference between Philly and the other markets that flipped is that, in Philly, CBS is already doing local sports on AM.
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Silly idea? Absolutely not.

WIP on FM would be extremely advertiser friendly (M25-54s) and CBS has the awesome (relative to building a sports station) ability to run any of the big four sports teams in Phila on FM. WIP-FM would be a cash cow.

And hats off to CBS for bringing three-letter call signs back to the FM side.
 
If CBS moves WIP to 94.1 FM, what do they do with 610 AM? Oldies? Like the Oldies 1210 days? Another talk station?
 
ccuphl said:
aindik said:
I think it's a silly idea, but one they might do. Difference between Philly and the other markets that flipped is that, in Philly, CBS is already doing local sports on AM.
Click to expand...

Silly idea? Absolutely not.

WIP on FM would be extremely advertiser friendly (M25-54s) and CBS has the awesome (relative to building a sports station) ability to run any of the big four sports teams in Phila on FM. WIP-FM would be a cash cow.

And hats off to CBS for bringing three-letter call signs back to the FM side.
Click to expand...

Sports on FM would do great. But how much better would it do than it's already doing on AM?

The question is, a) how much more of a cash cow would WIP-FM be, compared to what WIP-AM is now, and b) how much less of a cash cow would the new 610 be, compared to what WYSP is now. I think the move is a loser.
 
BTW, CBS brought heritage three-letter local call letters back to Baltimore when it flipped 105.7 to sports. 1300 AM and 105.7 FM are now WJZ and WJZ-FM.
 
I don't think CBS will move WIP to FM anytime soon. There's been no action to move WFAN to FM in New York City either. Here are the differences between CBS in Philly and the other cities where it's starting sports talk on FM:
1. CBS is under-radio-ed in Philadelphia compared to other groups and CBS' situation in these other major markets. It only owns two FMs and is maxed out as long as it also owns two TV stations (Ch. 3 and 57) and 3 AMs (610, 1060, 1210). FCC would not allow it to own another FM with its current Philly holdings. Therefore, if it were to flip an FM to sports, it would want to make good use of the AM signal and not just create a simulcast. Compare to other group owners: Clean Channel owns 5 FMs, Greater Media owns four FMs, even Radio One owns 3 FMs.
2. It has a successful sports talk station already on AM. WPEN hasn't made a big dent in WIP, except in one daypart. Why mess with success?

CBS might put WIP on FM if some combination of the following things occur:
1. Greater Media puts WPEN on FM (97.5) and starts to beat WIP in the ratings.
2. WPEN, somehow, starts to beat WIP in the ratings when both stations are still on AM (unlikely).
3. It's a year or more from now, and CBS is unable to program 94.1 with a viable, money-making format. I think they'd be more likely to try another music format on 94.1 before just making it a simulcast of 610 AM.
4. CBS is able to swap 610 AM for an FM in the market AND get FCC approval for that. (Might it be able to swap for 106.9?)
 
radiophiler said:
4. CBS is able to swap 610 AM for an FM in the market AND get FCC approval for that. (Might it be able to swap for 106.9?)
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Didn't CBS swap 610 for 106.9 in San Francisco...with 106.9 previously being owned by Family, as it is here?
(Cue the Twilight Zone music)
 
Lets face it, WYSP with the stale rock format is going no where, for some reason, CBS wants to keep them afloat with the lousy variety of rock, this thorn in the side station has been keeping a legit Rock format from surfacing from another ailing station. They have been blocking some other station from flipping to Rock the right way for years, they should just give in and let someone else do it....Now the reason I believe they are not flipping is, when driving down 95 south today, between the Blue Route and Naamans Road I counted 7 BRAND NEW YSP billboards with the "Rock you grew up with" logo. now why would CBS go through the trouble of advertising if a flip was in action.....
 
oasisrulz said:
Lets face it, WYSP with the stale rock format is going no where, for some reason, CBS wants to keep them afloat with the lousy variety of rock, this thorn in the side station has been keeping a legit Rock format from surfacing from another ailing station. They have been blocking some other station from flipping to Rock the right way for years, they should just give in and let someone else do it
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There's no logic to that. If WYSP is doing such a lousy job with a format that's so awful, then someone coming along and doing it better would succeed regardless of WYSP. If they're going nowhere as is, they're not blocking anyone--not that any business would have an obligation to "let someone else" take over their business.
 
I just think WYSP is doing a lousy job with the Rock format and another station would think a Rock flip would be too much in the market, so they stand back and wait. But if YSP unloads the Rock format, a station would jump on it and have their heart in it and do a much better job. Just like when WRFF filled the gap when YSP was mostly talk and excelled.
 
Then by that logic, it's WRFF keeping someone from making that move. If every business waited for the established but mediocre player in the space to maybe fail before jumping in and offering what they believe to be the better product, there would be mighty few comptetitive businesses out there.
 
CBS and it's decisions should be a regular segment on PnS's Bizarro Files. <This Is A Pre-Recorded Message>: WRFF needs to get serious about it's format. It does seem to be blocking any attempt at an Alternative/Modern station on non-HD FM radio. YSP is such a mess it's almost a moot point what CBS does with it. At least,so far,the website doesn't look like a tampon commercial.
 
oasisrulz said:
Now the reason I believe they are not flipping is, when driving down 95 south today, between the Blue Route and Naamans Road I counted 7 BRAND NEW YSP billboards with the "Rock you grew up with" logo. now why would CBS go through the trouble of advertising if a flip was in action.....
Click to expand...

If CBS does the billboard thing the same way that Clear Channel does, the reason you saw so many WYSP billboards is because CBS doesn't have any clients to fill those billboards and just puts one of it's own brands on there to fill the space until a client comes along. CBS used to fill them up with WOGL billboards but they probably figure that WYSP needs more help than 'OGL...
 
aindik said:
I don't see how WYSP could be blocking someone else from doing something else, if nobody is listening to WYSP.
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They aren't. But it's much easier to kid oneself into thinking that's the reason your 'dream' format (the 'right' way to do it) isn't being done right now rather than that no one sees it as being more viable than what they're doing now (again, at this time).
 
My question is: is it more to do with the format and personalities that 'YSP has on or is it more or less the fact that the general public basically can't trust WYSP because they don't seem to have a steady direction (active rock, talk, rock, classic rock), therefore causing listeners to tune out?
 
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