WAPI-FM to be Rebranded as ESPN Sports Station

[rtc]

Not a surprise but a real shame:

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/07/birmingham_news-talk_station_1.html#incart_river

 

[passtheword]

What happens to WAPI-AM??

 

[rtc]

Update:

At 4:18 p.m. today Richard Dixon confirmed they

are moving to WAPI-AM 1070 khz .

They will continue online.

 

[tomservo]

If ESPN was basically a 0.0 on 97.3, what makes Cumulus think they'll do any better on 100.5's fringe signal?

With this, Cumulus will own sports in Birmingham. Local talkers and Finebaum on 94.5, ESPN on 100.5 and CBS Sports on 690.

 

[Nate Wesley]

"ESPN 1070" seemed to make more sense and accomplish the same thing without essentially demoting WAPI's news/talk format.

Thinking about it some, perhaps putting ESPN Radio on 100.5 + Finebaum was done partially with Tuscaloosa in mind. Is anything stopping them from going after Tuscaloosa-area advertisers? Cumulus sold its Tuscaloosa stations to Townsquare, one of which was WDGM 99.1 "The Deuce" (formerly relying on WJOX local programs).

 

[Charles1]

Makes sense. Ratings-wise, WAPI-FM has been a failure as a talk station, ranking 17th in the market during the most recent ratings survey. Heck, it was outdrawn by two low-powered FM translators. WERC draws nearly three times as many listeners as WAPI. And don't forget that WAPI-AM has a 50 kw daytime signal that covers as much real estate as any AM station in the state except for maybe WJOX-AM.

Now, if they could only do something to improve WYDE...

 

[duncanalausa]

Now, if they could only do something to improve WYDE...

what is wrong with WYDE?

I am resetting my car radio without a button for 100.5. sports radio is the absolute wrong answer for wapi.

classic country would make much more sense in the ratings/dollars consideration.

 

[Charles1]

Something must be wrong with WYDE. Since Crawford took over the station ten years ago it has consistently been one of, if not, the lowest rated station in the Birmingham market. Sure, the signal is a partial detriment to their success, since their tower is >40 miles north of downtown. However, several stations on both the FM and AM dial have overcome weak signals to have at least middling success (i.e, WATV in the late '70's, WAGG prior to its move from 1320 to 610, WQEN before it began broadcasting from Red Mountain...I could add a few others, but you get the idea).

 

[duncanalausa]

Something must be wrong with WYDE. Since Crawford took over the station ten years ago it has consistently been one of, if not, the lowest rated station in the Birmingham market.

or could it be the programming is derided constantly by the left leaning elitist in charge of the politics of Birmingham as well as the anti-Christian coalition in media in general.

 

[Nate Wesley]

"ESPN 1070" seemed to make more sense and accomplish the same thing without essentially demoting WAPI's news/talk format.

Thinking about it some, perhaps putting ESPN Radio on 100.5 + Finebaum was done partially with Tuscaloosa in mind. Is anything stopping them from going after Tuscaloosa-area advertisers? Cumulus sold its Tuscaloosa stations to Townsquare, one of which was WDGM 99.1 "The Deuce" (formerly relying on WJOX local programs).

Extra thoughts:

• ESPN Radio 100.5 should be an easier regional/national sales buy if Cumulus' own corporate stated news/talk woes have merit
• As Zach noted, Cumulus 'owns' sports radio in Birmingham by default: People wanting alternatives to the local WJOX hacks will still have to listen to nationally-syndicated shows on other Cumulus stations. One step further though...
• If Cumulus maintains CBS and Fox Sports Radio affiliations, that's local control of all the major national sports talk services except for fledgling NBC Sports and the circular draining dregs of Yahoo Sports Radio--which means no serious local competitor will be on the horizon, perhaps for the forseeable future.
  

 

[passtheword]

If ESPN was basically a 0.0 on 97.3, what makes Cumulus think they'll do any better on 100.5's fringe signal?

With this, Cumulus will own sports in Birmingham. Local talkers and Finebaum on 94.5, ESPN on 100.5 and CBS Sports on 690.

I believe Cumulus' decision behind the WAPI-FM format change was done as a preemptive measure to protect WJOX and as a means to prevent any other stations that might have ideas of filling in the gap left by WZNN (not that there was that much of a gap to fill, anyway, given WZNN's performance). Cumulus knows, too, that WAPI-FM's signal is far from optimum, and any format they choose for 100.5 that is already duplicated by one of the local FMs is going to put the station at a disadvantage. So, why not use 100.5 in conjunction with WJOX to lock down the sports audience here and discourage other stations from moving in on their territory?

Since WAPI-AM will continue to do talk, does anyone think the WAPI-FM calls will be changed on 100.5, in order to reflect their dissociation, format-wise, with the AM?

 

[Nate Wesley]

Since WAPI-AM will continue to do talk, does anyone think the WAPI-FM calls will be changed on 100.5, in order to reflect their dissociation, format-wise, with the AM?

There's probably no great need to, although this was the same local outfit that once thought 690 needed separate 'WSPZ' calls.

 

[Charles1]

And don't forget that for nearly 40 years the AM and FM (at that time on 94.5) had the same call letters, despite having wildly different formats at times.

 

[Louis_009]

Im listren to WAPI 100.5 online still playing newstalk rather than ESPN Radio