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WCBS and WINS

F

Field_strength

Both are all news stations owned by CBS, right? So can someone explain to a New York outsider how/why CBS came to have two all news AM powerhouses completing against eachother? Are they somehow different, each filing a different niche?
 
WINS is faster-paced with the teletype sound in the background while WCBS is slower paced and sometimes starts sounding like an NPR station. I think this post from a pervious thread sums it up nicely:


Gregg said:
I think WINS's 20 minute news cycle is better for today's fast-paced world than the KYW/WCBS 30 min. cycle. If you tune in to KYW or WCBS at :05 or :35, you've missed the top stories of the day. You have to wait 25 minutes to hear the biggest news items again. At least at :15 & :45, KYW does several top headlines, while WCBS just does a tease for the next couple of stories or features.

WINS also seems to have crisper writing and more up-tempo delivery, again better to sound a bit more contemporary and youthful. You can also tell that WINS lets the tabloid newspapers (NY Daily News, NY Post) dictate their top stories. Baby left in subway, Brittany at the MTV Awards. WCBS is more guided by the NY Times.

WINS and WCBS, even before they were co-owned, divided the news audience. WINS went more for the five boroughs with more crime stories. WINS traffic reports often mention the subways. WCBS went more for the blue chip crowd. Features on tennis and golf. Traffic more oriented to the suburbs, Westchester and Connecticut.

And it pays off for both stations. WINS (like KYW) is its market's #1 AM station and often is #1 among all stations in morning drive. WINS is usually the #2 billing station in NYC (behind WLTW). One-third of all WINS listeners is black or Hispanic, important in the NYC market where whites only make up a little more than half of all listeners. But WCBS is usually the #3 biller with its high income audience.
Click to expand...

Hope that explains it!
 
One can't help but notice the amount of medical type sponsers WCBS has lately.
 
Field_strength said:
Both are all news stations owned by CBS, right? So can someone explain to a New York outsider how/why CBS came to have two all news AM powerhouses completing against eachother? Are they somehow different, each filing a different niche?
Click to expand...

CBS came to own NewsRadio formatted WINS, KFWB, and WBZ when they Merged with Westinghouse/GroupW. In markets like Los Angeles and New York, where both companies owned all-news stations this created a duopoly. However, it is correct that the formats are different, as the GroupW stations have a faster paced, more localized formatic, whereas stations like KNX, and WCBS AM have more emphasis on longer segments, cut-ins from CBS News correspondance, plus network news at the top of the hour, which WINS, KFWB and WBZ generally stay away from during the day. Also, WINS, KFWB and WBZ also share elements not used at KCBS, WCBS or KNX.

That's all I know about the subject, hope that helps.
 
So basically CBS benefits from both styles, the fast and slow. If listeners like the faster news, then they listen. If they like the slower news, then they'll listen to that. So CBS hits both corners and wins.
 
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