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WBZ-AM Employees must be worried

The faux NBC isn't neccesarily a given. WLW still carries ABC (switched back after Darryl Parks was dissatisfied with Fox.).



TheBigA said:
The rest of my statement was "stay all-news in morning and afternoon drive." Taking a look at WBZ's ratings and financials, I see no reason to change much of anything. The fact is that CBS already made the big change by adding talk at night. Clearly iHeart has tough decisions to make with these two stations, and it will all come down to profits. In LA and Cincy, local talk was more profitable than syndication. It doesn't matter who we're talking about: Making money wins over saving money. If WBZ is making money, and from what I can see they are, then iHeart will mostly keep things the way they are.

Although, yes, they will replace the CBS traffic people with Total Traffic at earliest opportunity, and there will likely be some engineering and secretarial riffs. Plus, as I said earlier, they will replace ABC network news with NBC.
Click to expand...
 
TheBigA said:
So are none of the other CBS stations that were sold to iHeart union shops? Is WBZ-AM the only AFTRA station in the cluster? That seems strange. Are the other stations in a different location? It's possible the WBZ-AM employees are part of the TV agreement. That may be the issue.
Click to expand...

WODS & WBMX are also SAG-AFTRA.
 
Witty Uncle Kaimbridge said said:
You mean no more CBS Evening News (x2!)/60 Minutes simulcasts?!?
Iʼm absolutely DEVASTATED!!!
Click to expand...

LOL! I am not a big believer in "TV Audio" substituting for radio programming, one of the reasons I don't like Blomberg radio in off hours.

However...I'll tell you this, if you are ever in a car on a day when there is big news going on, shootings, bombs, terrorism...the TV newscast on radio is the best news you'll find on the radio.
 
Wimmmex said:
LOL! I am not a big believer in "TV Audio" substituting for radio programming, one of the reasons I don't like Blomberg radio in off hours.

However...I'll tell you this, if you are ever in a car on a day when there is big news going on, shootings, bombs, terrorism...the TV newscast on radio is the best news you'll find on the radio.
Click to expand...

BBC World Service news -- produced for radio -- is available via streaming and as part of SiriusXM. For major world news, it's far superior to listening to TV on radio and feeling like second-class citizens when the anchors and reporters say things like "If you look off to my left, you can see..." or "As you see in this video taking moments ago ..."

Too bad AP radio is now a shell of itself. That service used to be 24/7 and a great resource during big news events.
 
CTListener said:
BBC World Service news -- produced for radio -- is available via streaming and as part of SiriusXM.
Click to expand...

As much as I love BBC_World Service**....I think they program for listeners elsewhere in the world. So, when there is a terrorist attack in NYC....I'd rather hear it from an American perspective.

Also, BBC_WS would not have the resources in NYC that CBS news in NYC does.

My point being that during a crisis...the CBS Evening News fits the bill at 6:30 & 7:30....better than anything else on the radio in Boston.


**BTW...I would LOVE to see BBC_WS on WBUR-HD2.....and gladly contribute generously if I they would feed it on HD-2 24/7.
 
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Alert_System
EAS details; began in 97 to replace EBS which had replaced Conelrad.Alerts are sent out on radio,tv, cable, satellite radio etc.Smartphones too.

>>77 radio stations are designated as National Primary Stations in the Primary Entry Point (PEP) System to distribute presidential messages to other broadcast stations and cable systems.[5] The Emergency Action Notification is the notice to broadcasters that the President of the United States or his/her designee will deliver a message over the EAS via the PEP system
 
TheBigA said:
The rest of my statement was "stay all-news in morning and afternoon drive." Taking a look at WBZ's ratings and financials, I see no reason to change much of anything. The fact is that CBS already made the big change by adding talk at night. Clearly iHeart has tough decisions to make with these two stations, and it will all come down to profits. In LA and Cincy, local talk was more profitable than syndication. It doesn't matter who we're talking about: Making money wins over saving money. If WBZ is making money, and from what I can see they are, then iHeart will mostly keep things the way they are.

Although, yes, they will replace the CBS traffic people with Total Traffic at earliest opportunity, and there will likely be some engineering and secretarial riffs. Plus, as I said earlier, they will replace ABC network news with NBC.
Click to expand...
You're missing the point.
The question is who are You? And how do
know what will happen to WBZ,when absolutely no one else does? You obviously don't know anything about WBZ's history as a NEWS station.
CBS Didn't make any changes as far as talk at night., that's been in place for decades and at least three ownership changes.
 
inorm99 said:
The question is who are You? And how do
know what will happen to WBZ,when absolutely no one else does?
Click to expand...

Where have I said I do? What I do know is all the Chicken Little talk about iHeart is hyperbole. They're not going to blow up a successful and profitable station. As others have said, just look at the number of successful heritage AM stations they own, and you get a clear picture of how they will run WBZ. And if you don't like what they do, you have lots of other options in Boston.
 
TheBigA said:
Where have I said I do? What I do know is all the Chicken Little talk about iHeart is hyperbole. They're not going to blow up a successful and profitable station. As others have said, just look at the number of successful heritage AM stations they own, and you get a clear picture of how they will run WBZ. And if you don't like what they do, you have lots of other options in Boston.
Click to expand...
I Can give you 3 examples of station that cheap channel ruined.
WMMS Cleveland. Formerly a very exciting rock station with personality, and always in top of the Ratings.
Cookie cutter now. Not even in the top 5
WOR, Broke up the Gambling dynasty, and put their syndie CRAP on it.
KLOL. lol
WBZ is in trouble, and so are we, and I really hope I'm wrong
 
inorm99 said:
I Can give you 3 examples of station that cheap channel ruined.
WMMS Cleveland. Formerly a very exciting rock station with personality, and always in top of the Ratings.
Click to expand...

WMMS fell entirely on the Malrite watch. It was at an average 14.5 share in 1986, and when Malrite sold in '93 it averaged a 5.6. Clear Channel did not buy it until late 1998.

WOR, Broke up the Gambling dynasty, and put their syndie CRAP on it.
Click to expand...

WOR was down to a mid-1's share by late 2012. Clear Channel did not take over until December of that year. The station is currently about 30% higher than when Buckley left ownership.

KLOL. lol
Click to expand...

In the period from 2002 to 2004, KLOL had been dreadfully stagnant in the two share range, and billing was dismal. It's now in the 4 share vicinity and the same format has been a major winner in the market since 2005. That was a very smart move by Clear Channel in light of the market becoming increasingly Hispanic.

WBZ is in trouble, and so are we, and I really hope I'm wrong
Click to expand...

As much trouble as KFI, WLW, WOAI, KOA, WTAM, WTVN, etc., etc.? They actually do a good job with their big signal news talk stations.
 
inorm99 said:
You're missing the point.
The question is who are You? And how do
know what will happen to WBZ,when absolutely no one else does? You obviously don't know anything about WBZ's history as a NEWS station.
CBS Didn't make any changes as far as talk at night., that's been in place for decades and at least three ownership changes.
Click to expand...

For decades... right!

That's the problem. WBZ is now 15th in 25-54 (three book average) and has lost 25% of its billings since 2010. It needs some freshening and changes or it will die... assuming that any AM can be made more attractive to 25-54 audiences.

Heritage is meaningless is nobody in the sales demos is listening today.
 
inorm99 said:
I Can give you 3 examples of station that cheap channel ruined.

WOR, Broke up the Gambling dynasty, and put their syndie CRAP on it.
Click to expand...

iHeart bought WOR in 2012. Gambling left in 2008. I really wouldn't blame iHeart for WOR. The main change was to replace outside syndication with iHeart syndication. WOR was not a local talk station when they bought it. They were running a lot of 2nd tier syndication then. Adding Limbaugh and Hannity was an improvement.

On the other hand, look at the top five stations in NY, LA, and Chicago. Mostly owned by iHeart. KFI is among them. iHeart didn't buy WBZ to kill the golden goose.

Here's the truth: If WBZ was perfect and wonderful, Entercom would have found some way to keep it, and sell something else. So obviously Entercom doesn't see the station as a "crown jewel." There has to be a reason why they're selling it, other than DOJ requirements.
 
Well WBZ Radio would have to follow a similar model to News/talk KFBK Sacramento though. Like drive time news and talk shows at non drive time hours.

KFBK Sacramento the heart owned station in the Sacramento Valley is doing ok though but these days kfbk would have to fight against Capital Public Radio 90.9fm to stay relevant in the News/talk format in that market though.
 
RadioPatrol said:
KFBK Sacramento the heart owned station in the Sacramento Valley is doing ok though but these days kfbk would have to fight against Capital Public Radio 90.9fm to stay relevant in the News/talk format in that market though.
Click to expand...

KFBK is, on average, 3rd in 35-54 in Sacramento and is overall 3rd in 12+. It is about 50% higher rated than the public station... and that despite being an AM.
 
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