WBAI on Station Watch

[TheBigA]

If that fequency goes on the market I'd be surprised if it ends up going to anyone other than CBS for all-sports.

The catch for CBS is they have to sell something in order to buy. Contrary to general opinion, there still are FCC ownership rules, and CBS is at the limit in NYC. So is Clear Channel.

That's why someone suggested a trade. But any talk of trade or sale is unrealistic given the mindset of the folks at Pacifica. I'm sure their main focus right now is to find a donated space for the studio. I seem to recall the old church studio was a donated space. So something like that would go a long way towards solving their immediate issues.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

Well yes CBS would have to sell or deal away one of its AMs to buy it but given the value of the FM signal I think they'd probably make it happen.

At this point it's anybody's guess as to whether Pacifica can find a way to solve their issues before it comes to something like that.

 

[tgmorg]

This is out in left field, BUT NBC and Dial Global have no O&O station base for its NBC Sports Radio. MAYBE, NBC Universal and Dial Global could jointly buy WBAI and use it as its new sports network flagship. CBS (and Cumulus) have O&O's for CBS Sports, Clear Channel has O&Os for its FOX Sports Radio. NBC and Dial Global: Zilch.

 

[TimeIsTight]

Well yes CBS would have to sell or deal away one of its AMs to buy it but given the value of the FM signal I think they'd probably make it happen.

The question is: Which AM would CBS be willing to sell?

Both WFAN and WCBS-AM are among the best AM licenses in the country, being non-directional 50-kw, at the low end of the dial and on clear channels. And they use the same transmitting facility, which makes them more efficient to operate together.

More importantly, they get respectable ratings and generate high billing numbers.

Meanwhile, WINS doesn't have that perfect AM signal but it is a valuable legacy brand. Of the three, 1010 would likely be the frequency to sell, and the WFAN Sports talk format would be the one to move to FM freeing 660 for the WINS format.

This may be CBS's best long-term chance to get another NYC FM, but Cumulus is not facing any ownership limit problems and could just buy BAI outright.

BAI could concentrate on making its programs available online.

 

[TheBigA]

The question is: Which AM would CBS be willing to sell?

The answer is: None of them. They would really prefer the FCC to revise the ownership rules to allow AMs to not be counted against the ownership caps. And the chance of that happening, especially under a Democrat-led FCC, is about as likely as Pacifica selling, trading, or doing anything different with WBAI.

 

[tgmorg]

Pacifica should sell the station and stream WBAI's programming online.

 

[WNTIRadio]

The answer is: None of them. They would really prefer the FCC to revise the ownership rules to allow AMs to not be counted against the ownership caps. And the chance of that happening, especially under a Democrat-led FCC, is about as likely as Pacifica selling, trading, or doing anything different with WBAI.

Let's all remember that one of the most popular Democrat presidents signed into law the 1996 bill that got rid of the national ownership caps.

 

[TheBigA]

Let's all remember that one of the most popular Democrat presidents signed into law the 1996 bill that got rid of the national ownership caps.

Yes I know. That was a long time ago. The last time the FCC attempted to loosen ownership rules, under Kevin Martin, the Democrats in Congress overruled his proposal, and chewed him out. The current President isn't very sympathetic to broadcasters. In fact, neither party is.

 

[badjef]

The answer is: None of them. They would really prefer the FCC to revise the ownership rules to allow AMs to not be counted against the ownership caps. And the chance of that happening, especially under a Democrat-led FCC, is about as likely as Pacifica selling, trading, or doing anything different with WBAI.

Let's all remember that one of the most popular Democrat presidents signed into law the 1996 bill that got rid of the national ownership caps.

Popular? only because of Newt Gingerich...

Deregulation was started under Reagan. It continued under your Commander-in-Heat.

It is Congress that oversees these things, anyway, and usually continue under a different President because of the amount of time involved.

Life is not, and never has been, 22 minutes.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

 

[nd2023]

Could CBS trade 660 + cash for 99.5? That way, CBS could get WFAN on FM and WBAI can reach liberals all over the northeast with 660

 

[radioguy39nj]

The question is: Which AM would CBS be willing to sell?
WINS doesn't have that perfect AM signal but it is a valuable legacy brand. Of the three, 1010 would likely be the frequency to sell, and the WFAN Sports talk format would be the one to move to FM freeing 660 for the WINS format.

Moving WINS to a 50 kW non-D or full-market ESB B FM presents another problem. On directional 1010, WINS superserves NYC. Move it to 660 AM (50 kW non-D) or 99.5 FM (class B ESB) in its current format and IMHO, it would fail. WCBS-AM's strength has always been in the suburbs, WINS' has always been NYC.

If WINS were to land on a full-market AM or FM, the format would have to adjusted to serve listeners in areas they don't reach on 1010. A news-intensive (news blocks in AM Drive, Midday and PM Drive) talk format, similar to classic KGO comes to mind as a possibility.

Even if CBS were able to acquire 99.5, I don't think they'd put WFAN there, right next to 98.7 ESPN. If WFAN goes to FM, it'll be on 92.3 or 102.7.

 

[badjef]

Could CBS trade 660 + cash for 99.5? That way, CBS could get WFAN on FM and WBAI can reach liberals all over the northeast with 660

I don't understand why CBS couldn't lease the 99.5 freq.

They would not be over the ownership rule, since they wouldn't legally own the license, and they would have the ability to move one of the blasters for the FM simul.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

 

[davideduardo]

I don't understand why CBS couldn't lease the 99.5 freq.

The FCC counts LMA's and JSA's against the market cap. If you control it, it counts.

That's why Clear had to get out of its leases for several Mexican FMs that served San Diego, where they had the maximum allowable US licenses.

And that is why Clear had to end a JSA on "Indie," an alternative rock FM in LA... they were over the market cap with the JSA in the cluster.

 

[reelyreal]

This is out in left field, BUT NBC and Dial Global have no O&O station base for its NBC Sports Radio. MAYBE, NBC Universal and Dial Global could jointly buy WBAI and use it as its new sports network flagship. CBS (and Cumulus) have O&O's for CBS Sports, Clear Channel has O&Os for its FOX Sports Radio. NBC and Dial Global: Zilch.

NBC got out of the radio business 24 years ago, and they shank their TV ownership. I don't think they have any interest in owning stations... just producing the content.

 

[TimeIsTight]

I don't understand why CBS couldn't lease the 99.5 freq.

The point of the limit on multiple station ownership in the same market is to assure a variety of voices and sources of programming are heard on the rare, and limited, public spectrum available.

The limit is not "really" about "ownership" it's about content control, and allowing one company, or individual, to cross that limit by "leasing," and thereby controlling content on, an additional "over the limit" station is a loophole that is not allowed.

CBS is maxed out in NYC, and will have to unload an AM if it wants a new FM in the market.

 

[badjef]

I don't understand why CBS couldn't lease the 99.5 freq.

The point of the limit on multiple station ownership in the same market is to assure a variety of voices and sources of programming are heard on the rare, and limited, public spectrum available.

The limit is not "really" about "ownership" it's about content control, and allowing one company, or individual, to cross that limit by "leasing," and thereby controlling content on, an additional "over the limit" station is a loophole that is not allowed.

CBS is maxed out in NYC, and will have to unload an AM if it wants a new FM in the market.

I would have thought that Clear Channel Tampa was maxed out, but they now have a translator on 105.9 for 970WFLA.

There are translators in NYC that could certainly fit under the same idea. We are not talking about new transmitters, since NYC is about as maxed as anyplace. But, the existing translators are there.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

 

[davideduardo]

I would have thought that Clear Channel Tampa was maxed out, but they now have a translator on 105.9 for 970WFLA.

Commercial station translators, which only operate to reinforce the coverage of an already approved operation, don't count against market caps.

This is part of why stations need an attorney before the FCC.

In some cases, where translators are used to "make an FM station" out of an HD-2 or HD-3 channel, this is a rather strange extension of the intent of the translator rules.

In other cases, where a translator makes an AM, particularly a daytimer, more viable, it's a good use IMHO.

 

[badjef]

I would have thought that Clear Channel Tampa was maxed out, but they now have a translator on 105.9 for 970WFLA.

Commercial station translators, which only operate to reinforce the coverage of an already approved operation, don't count against market caps.

This is part of why stations need an attorney before the FCC.

In some cases, where translators are used to "make an FM station" out of an HD-2 or HD-3 channel, this is a rather strange extension of the intent of the translator rules.

In other cases, where a translator makes an AM, particularly a daytimer, more viable, it's a good use IMHO.

We aren't talking about a signal problem other than the main signal originating from an AM station.

610WIOD in Miami has been doing the same thing on 100.3.

In both cases, the "city grade" coverage of the translators is not in an inhibited area of the City-grade signal of the AMs they are supposed to be filling in.

How many translators can they use? If Clear Channel has three AMs, can they then lease out a translator for each one?

With both WFLA and WIOD, the translators are being used as an FM presence, not filling in any kind of signal shortage outside of the limitations of the AM signal.

Then, what is stopping any AM from doing the same thing? How about NYC with 660, 880, or 1010?

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

 

[WNTIRadio]

There are translators in NYC that could certainly fit under the same idea. We are not talking about new transmitters, since NYC is about as maxed as anyplace. But, the existing translators are there.

Of what translators do you speak of? The only existing translator that puts a signal anywhere near NYC is W276AQ 103.1 in Fort Lee. I know the owners aren't inclined to sell (I work for them). There is the 106.3 debacle, but that translator has been relegated through all of the downgrades to near useless. Other than that, you're imagining things that aren't there.

Also, even if a translator *were* somehow to be shoehorned into the dial on NYC and transmit 99 watts from 4 Times Square, it still won't cover a good portion of the market. Because the NYC metro is so geographically large, it's impossible for a translator to cover the 50% of the market, much less all 5 boroughs of NYC. It's a long way from Pehlam bay to the southern tip of Staten Island. It's different in a smaller city, where a 250 watt translator can cover a good chunk of the market.

 

[TonySantiago]

Guys, take CBS out of the equation. They have the rare AM's that actually turn a profit and ever since purchasing WLNY-TV, they cannot purchase any other radio property, as agreed by the FCC.

Somehow, Pacifica manages to find a way to exist. This isn't the first time that they were near the brink of bankruptcy and throughout all of their dramas and ordeals, have managed to find a way to exist. And the only company in New York City that CAN purchase, I would think, would be Cumulus.

I won't get into what I would hope for.......I'll just say that if it doesn't happen for the fans of the music I love, but fills a format hole for another group that hasn't had their musical void represented, I would be happy