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WBCN THE ROCK OF BOSTON?

FM sports talk in Boston--and it's not on an Entercom station!

So...what becomes of ESPN 890 and what's left of sports on 1510?
Would WBZ-FM move to take over ESPN radio affiliation?
 
I bet this move is gonna want to make Entercom buy about five or six stations in or around the Boston metro and suburbs and turn them into even more satellite stepchildren of WEEI.
 
aaronread said:
Speaking of which, this is bad news for WEEI; they've enjoyed a death grip on sports-talk in Boston for years...and with the Sox games they'll continue to be a market-leader but this will no doubt take a sizeable bite out of their revenues. Not unlike what WTKK did to WRKO, I'd imagine. I'll bet this also bodes ill for WMKK, or even WAAF/WKAF, since if WEEI's booking slips far enough I have little doubt Entercom will start simulcasting 850AM on an FM outlet to compete. It's a logical move, albeit only if the booking slips quite a lot. WMKK bills well for a near-zero-cost operation, and WAAF has a chance to pick up a sizeable audience with WBCN out of the picture.
Click to expand...

Good argument, but if you're WEEI, why wait?
 
raccoonradio said:
If the ratings at Mike weren't half decent at low cost, how about WBEI (or something)-FM 93.7?
97.7? Beat them to the punch..?
Click to expand...

WOW! With all of the "EI" stations around, I'm sure the former (and late) operators of the original WEEI (Edison Electric Illuminating Company) would be pleased on how their old namesake has grown over the years to MANY stations throughout New England! ;)
 
I mentioned WMKK getting half decent ratings with low cost jockless radio. But...isn't flipping the switch to
simulcast low cost too? Mr Wolfe, will we be hearing WEEI simulcast on Mike and/or on 97.7 to beat
CBS to the punch?
 
It's a tough and tragic day for all WBCN fans! I listened to WBCN over the years, growing up with Chuck Laquidara and the Big Mattress, Ken Shelton and the Lunch hour, Bradley J. and Carter Allen...Nocturnal Emissions, Heavy Metal from Hell, the Boston Sunday Review...I think the day they started their downhill spiral was when they brought in Howard Stern!
After 4 decades, the Rock of Boston is about to become a thing of the past! What a shock!
 
Stern IS NOT coming back to an FM signal near you..if Sirus XM dies or he doesn't like the terms on a new deal..Howard can always use his current website and sell subscriptions on his own, and live a nice life on his own terms..Rush Limbaugh would be the only other talent that could do the same if Clear Channel decides it can't afford him..
Click to expand...

Wait, I'm confused...if Stern doesn't sign a deal with XM/Sirius, how could he sell his own subscriptions on satradio? They're the only game in town. If he doesn't sign with XM/Sirius, either he's web-only or he's going back to terrestrial radio...or he retires. Or he goes TV-only, which I suppose is a viable alternative, actually. Although...does Stern still HAVE a TV show? He was on E! for ages but wasn't that killed off a few years back?

Good argument, but if you're WEEI, why wait?
Click to expand...

Admittedly, the last time I talked to anyone with direct knowledge about this was over two years ago...but I've heard that WMKK actually has very good ROI. It's mostly because it costs so little to operate...but any way you sliced it, the station brought in solid ad revenue. That's revenue likely lost if the format changes, and there wouldn't be a corresponding increase in ad revenue from a WEEI simulcast. Not enough of an increase, anyways. Now things may have changed...in fact, I'd be surprised if they haven't given the malaise in ad revenue these days. So maybe it WOULD make more sense to kill off "Mike" and go for a WEEI simulcast...I don't know for sure.

But I wouldn't be surprised if there's enough of question mark that it makes sense for Entercom to wait a bit and see if the new 98.5 Sports format actually does take away listeners from WEEI...there's no guarantee it will; even with a superior coverage signal AND having FM quality over AM, it's entirely possible 98.5 could flop hard if the content isn't good.

As for WAAF, I don't think Entercom invested all the cash in buying WKAF to change formats so (relatively) soon. Not when there's a decent chance WAAF could really cash in on WBCN's demise. However, if a year from now, WAAF ratings are down and WFNX is up? That's another story. The wrinkle then would be whether to go whole-hog and move both 107.3 and 97.7 to WEEI simulcast, or just 97.7? My instinct would be to just move 97.7 since moving both makes 850AM suddenly very redundant, and Entercom Boston is left with another so-so Class B AM signal that they don't seem to know what to do with (sound familiar WRKO fans?).
 
rockcaptain said:
Of the remaining alt/rock stations on the air who will benefit the most?
Click to expand...

Probably all three remaining rock stations, WAAF, WFNX and WBOS. Although WFNX still doesn't have a full market signal, there's a good chance they might not benefit much, but their playlist is now adding more classic rock, maybe FNX saw this coming?
 
According to his facebook blog, Oedipus will be on WGBH tonight.
 
Doesn't 103.7 do pretty well to the south? So why shift sports to 97.7? Maybe // WEEI on 93.7 and put
Mike on 97.7. Those to the south could get WEEI on 103.7
 
I am saddened by this. I grew up listening WBCN and while I know it is not what it once was, it is sad to see a landmark station go.

Given that I am a sports fan, I welcome a station that could actually give WEEI a run for its money and improve the market's sports talk, I just hope it works. I just wish it was not at the expense of WBCN.
 
I don't know if anybody necessarily benefits from the loss of WBCN. PPM has not been as kind to the alt-rock formats as we all thought it would. Down here in Atlanta when 99X went off the air the thought was that the two other rock stations (Project 96.1 as the heavy-rock station in town) and Dave (the Triple-A in town) would benefit... a few weeks later when Rock 100.5 came on the air it was thought that old 99X listeners would migrate there as well. It turns out that, as far as the PPM was concerned, no body really went anywhere. The Alternative audience, for the most part, disappeared with their station.

WBCN has been a sinking ship for some time now, but have those people been moving to WAAF and WFNX? Not really. WBOS has thrived (comparatively), but I'm not sure how much they overlap with WBCN's audience. A lot of these listeners likely going to evaporate... the older ones drifting away from "alternative rock" altogether (in my own experience, I'm finding the local classic rock station so much more appealing nowadays) and the younger ones finding the music they want in different places and drifting away from radio a whole.

Whereas I'm sure Entercom and The Phoenix are pleased that it wasn't their station that went down, I doubt they are counting it as a victory yet. Winning simply by outliving your competitor does not a success make.
 
Could this move revive the rumored LMA of WEEI-AM on Nassau's WCRB-FM 99.5? Nassau is in deep doo-doo with its creditors, who now have partial ownership of the South street Snoozer. They might be willing to go along with a lucrative leasing arrangement or outright sale.
 
Congrats to FNX for holding on. I hear your listener ship has gone up this year, and now it should go a lot higher.

Bigger question is, with BCN gone, will FNX or AAF change there playlist at all? On FNX I have noticed them playing a lot more older stuff like Rolling Stones and some Zepplin.
 
Please allow me a minute on my soap box...I grew up listening to music on Boston radio stations, first on WRKO in the early 70s, then WBCN. I started to listen to college radio in the early 90s when BCN began to change their style. I'm sad to see what is happening but in one way I was not to surprised. For a large commercial music radio station to do well, it must be not be controversial and be somewhat bland.
This is why I listen to college stations, internet stations or satellite stations. You just can't be freeform on the big stations and expect to survive.
Long live the rock of Boston
 
WRKOLD said:
Congrats to FNX for holding on. I hear your listener ship has gone up this year, and now it should go a lot higher.

Bigger question is, with BCN gone, will FNX or AAF change there playlist at all? On FNX I have noticed them playing a lot more older stuff like Rolling Stones and some Zepplin.
Click to expand...

Actually FNX is on life support in terms of audience. This is a badly needed shot in the arm for them. However how many people have FNX in their consideration set? WBOS could very well be the winner here, particularly if WBOS adds some personalities.
 
WRKOLD said:
WBOS could very well be the winner here, particularly if WBOS adds some personalities.
Click to expand...

One would guess that they won't do it, as their numbers have proven that they don't need to have any personalities to be sucessful. Why mess with something that ain't broken?
 
My guess is that WBOS will remain pretty much in tact the way it is, but may perhaps pick up a specialty show or two, or maybe even an airshift from a former WBCN personality. I'd like to see what WFNX would do, especially since I feel that their musical approach has been pretty lackluster, in my opinion, in recent months.

Jacko
 
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