Over the years, Entercom-owned sports station WEEI in Boston not only has built a respected reputation, as well as a following, but they've also built a "network" of radio stations across New England, stations that entered into an agreement with Entercom and dumped their old format to effectively become a regional satellite of WEEI.
The "WEEI Sports Radio Network" started with a few stations in Providence, RI and Springfield, MA, and over the last few years has picked up stations in New Hampshire and Maine, and yesterday, the former WRZE "96.3 The Rose" - a station that New Yorkers might have DXed on early Monday mornings when WQXR signed off - dropped their CHR format to become the network's tenth affiliate under the call letters WEII.
The full slate of affiliates can be found here:
http://www.weei.com/weei/shows-schedules/network-stations
This has me thinking: Will this be a venture that our own WFAN will soon embark on? After all, they already have the reputation and the following. And it's not like CBS has to buy stations to make a network happen; they can just sign deals with stations in smaller markets like Entercom has for WEEI.
I also wonder if this will be a future trend, i.e. sports radio stations building up regional networks of affiliates. Yes, ESPN 1050 does have two "repeaters" in Long Island and New Jersey, but the purpose of those is mainly for signal issues. (At least with CHUM in Toronto dropping oldies, early morning listeners no longer have to play "Name That Tune" as their signal bleeds underneath WEPN's.)
So is it possible that at some point in time, we will hear the "WFAN Sports Radio Network"? Despite its massive signal, there are plenty of areas, in upstate New York and the East End of Long Island, for example, that probably can't pull in good reception on 660 during the day. Plus, building up such a network can only help WFAN in the long run, provided the idea makes financial sense for CBS.
The "WEEI Sports Radio Network" started with a few stations in Providence, RI and Springfield, MA, and over the last few years has picked up stations in New Hampshire and Maine, and yesterday, the former WRZE "96.3 The Rose" - a station that New Yorkers might have DXed on early Monday mornings when WQXR signed off - dropped their CHR format to become the network's tenth affiliate under the call letters WEII.
The full slate of affiliates can be found here:
http://www.weei.com/weei/shows-schedules/network-stations
This has me thinking: Will this be a venture that our own WFAN will soon embark on? After all, they already have the reputation and the following. And it's not like CBS has to buy stations to make a network happen; they can just sign deals with stations in smaller markets like Entercom has for WEEI.
I also wonder if this will be a future trend, i.e. sports radio stations building up regional networks of affiliates. Yes, ESPN 1050 does have two "repeaters" in Long Island and New Jersey, but the purpose of those is mainly for signal issues. (At least with CHUM in Toronto dropping oldies, early morning listeners no longer have to play "Name That Tune" as their signal bleeds underneath WEPN's.)
So is it possible that at some point in time, we will hear the "WFAN Sports Radio Network"? Despite its massive signal, there are plenty of areas, in upstate New York and the East End of Long Island, for example, that probably can't pull in good reception on 660 during the day. Plus, building up such a network can only help WFAN in the long run, provided the idea makes financial sense for CBS.