WFAN to 101.9

[reelyreal]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! NO! WE HAVE NO OTHER STATION PLAYING ROCK IN NEW YORK CITY! CBS AGAIN KILLS ROCK FOR A SECOND TIME! NOW FM is useless! Don't they get that talk and sports DO NOT BELONG ON FM IT FAILED BEFORE! Someone better bring rock back to NY! This is the worst news in history!

You seem to have the same problem that many in this industry have... An insistence on looking backwards or trying to stay the course, and an inability to look forward and to see where the industry is headed. Time marches forward. AM listenership will never increase. Ever. It had a great 90+ year run. Radio needs to provide a service that isn't readily available in many other places. The money-making spoken word formats will migrate to FM. There are more music choices than you could ever conceivably imagine available online, and through music storage.

This is the future.

 

[davideduardo]

I think CBS can argue that channel 55 is in a separate television ADI since its OTA signal doesn't really cover NYC proper but just puts a grade A signal over Suffolk and Nassau counties....so it may not enter the equation at all.)

There are no ADI's any more. ADI's were Arbitron's Areas of Dominant Influence, and died with the Arbitron TV ratings.

The criteria for radio is the Arbitron MSA (with the "S" standing for "Survey"), and Nassau and Suffolk counties are fully contained in the MSA.

The TV DMA is established by Nielsen, and is considerably larger than the radio metro: http://www.newportmedia.com/maps/countyinfo.php?m=1 has a map of the existing DMA.

Stations with only partial coverage of the MSA count against the market cap, as the Aloha Trust stations show... they put Clear Channel over the cap under the redefined standards following the removal of grandfathered status upon the CC sail to private equity interests.

 

[Rick Rose 2.0]

Since Cbs and cumulus struck a deal to air cbs sports radio i could see cbs spinning 1010 to cumulus to air cbs sports radio. WINS 660 seems to be a lock.
..

 

[XCountry285]

so basically this kills any chance of us ever having a rock station coming back to NYC. it's like they killed a station that just started literally just started. this isn't right! why couldn't merlin sell their station in philly it wasn't worth it anyway there it's like radio paradise there!

 

[casual observer]

As Clear Channel has shown, stations can exist in a trust for years and years without being sold. However it does hamper operations somewhat because only select functions (e.g. business office, IT, engineering) can be directly shared. Programming and Sales are out of bounds.

CBS-FM ain't goin' nowhere. You do not mess with the #2 station in the market.

A full WFAN simulcast means a lot of lost inventory. And as CBS has seen, simulcasts don't always = improved ratings/revenue. CBS News simulcasts in Chicago (market 3) and San Francisco (market 4) have not been accretive.

CBS could follow the Cumulus example in San Francisco where KNBR broadcasts on 680 and is also branded on 1050. Sometimes they simulcast events. Most of the time they are separate. They could maintain the WFAN brand on both frequencies (FAN AM / FAN FM) and pick up a second signal to run extra programming. That way, you can run Francesa on the FM and carry the Mets on the AM at the same time. It helps the WFAN Sales folks spread out inventory while creating new FAN-branded opportunities on a second signal.

How about this divestiture scenario?

1. NOW nuked. It's never going to beat Z100.
2. WINS News format moves to 92.3 (FM News done right)
3. 1010 signal sold to Cumulus
4. Cumulus runs the new joint sports network on 1010 or develops a Talk flanker for WABC that can help compete against CC's WOR. Cumulus adds an asset to their New York cluster with no cap concerns.

 

[nickp]

it's not CBS's fault blame Merlin Media They're in financial trouble and needed to sell off assets.

 

[XCountry285]

Why couldn't Merlin sell their Philly station?! They just brought it yet they decide to sell this one to a company that HATES Rock! They've killed off almost ALL of their rock stations!

 

[Giacomo Siffredi]

Why couldn't Merlin sell their Philly station?! They just brought it yet they decide to sell this one to a company that HATES Rock! They've killed off almost ALL of their rock stations!

When shopping the station, Merlin Media specifically indicated in the terms they would only sell to a company that hates rock music.

:

Seriously, don't be so sure that WWIQ Camden isn't available for the right price. At this point, it's safe to say that ALL the Merlin Media stations can be had for the right amount of money.

From the rather smarmy Merlin press release signed by "Randy":

Merlin is not for sale, and is looking at possible additions to our portfolio. Let’s focus building the Chicago and Philadelphia stations into great, profitable brands and great places to work.

First, Merlin is NOT hiring, so a great place to work isn't necessary. He proved that by running WRXP on a skeleton crew with all talent based out of Chicago. And second, we have learned that with just about everything "Randy" says, the truth is usually the exact opposite. He might be a great salesman, but that's about all that can be said. Remember, Merlin is bankrolled by GTCR, and without them or another revenue source, there is no Merlin. Michaels has demonstrated he is incapable of running one station let alone four. His credit with GTCR has run out and bills are coming due. As far as their holdings in Camden-Philadelphia and Chicago?

Tick-tock, tick-tock...

 

[davideduardo]

And as CBS has seen, simulcasts don't always = improved ratings/revenue. CBS News simulcasts in Chicago (market 3) and San Francisco (market 4) have not been accretive.

In 25-54, it certainly has. And that's really all that matters.

 

[stationless listener]

Why couldn't Merlin sell their Philly station?! They just brought it yet they decide to sell this one to a company that HATES Rock! They've killed off almost ALL of their rock stations!

You might as well start a conspiracy theory about Merlin being a front organization whose only purpose is to make it easier for CBS to get more FM stations. That's just as plausible. And that may not be so crazy as CBS has looked at adding another FM in Philly.

And, yes, it does suck that 101.9 was sold and not 94.7 but I knew that it was going to happen the minute I read that GTCR was looking at selling station. The fact is 101.9 has a better signal in the city than 94.7 and the radio business has been sucky for quite some time. Formats like smooth jazz have been dropping like flies. There will never be enough stations for every consumer musical taste. Some formats will always be favored over others until conditions change.

 

[casual observer]

@DavidEduardo: I don't believe 105.9FM in Chicago and 106.9FM in San Francisco contribute much if any numbers to the combo totals. Both 780AM (Chicago) and 740AM (San Francisco) produce the lion's share of the 25-54 shares contained in these simulcasts. Do you know the individual shares for each frequency in these markets?

 

[XCountry285]

But we are in a market that is oversaturated with pop and urban stations and female oriented stations and NONE for males! This is extremely unfair!

 

[davideduardo]

@DavidEduardo: I don't believe 105.9FM in Chicago and 106.9FM in San Francisco contribute much if any numbers to the combo totals. Both 780AM (Chicago) and 740AM (San Francisco) produce the lion's share of the 25-54 shares contained in these simulcasts. Do you know the individual shares for each frequency in these markets?

Not even the stations know the audience levels of each component of a simulcast. SLR produces combined results.

But we can look at a broad period of time prior to each simulcast in both San Francisco and Chicago, and see the extent to which the 25-54 increased... in San Francisco it was huge, while in Chicago it was simply "quite significant."

 

[davideduardo]

But we are in a market that is oversaturated with pop and urban stations and female oriented stations and NONE for males! This is extremely unfair!

You are saying that men don't listen to pop or urban stations?

Odd.

 

[XCountry285]

No they do but there are too many stations with those types of formats that it's oversaturating and targeting after the same group. Not a very smart idea.

 

[pjc1961]

Since Cbs and cumulus struck a deal to air cbs sports radio i could see cbs spinning 1010 to cumulus to air cbs sports radio. WINS 660 seems to be a lock...

Or CBS spins 660 off to Cumulus to carry the CBS Sports Radio Network (along with WFAN game conflicts) while leaving 1010 alone.
(660 would be better than 1010 for game broadcasts.)

Unless CBS is hell-bent on keeping the simulcast on 660 and 101.9...then another scenario would have to play out, such as 1010 being sold off with the news format moving to 660. "Six-Six WINS"/"Sixty-Six WINS" - doesn't quite have the same ring to it, ya think?

Or a two- or three-way swap with Family Stations (94.7) and (for example) Cumulus involving 94.7, 660 and 1010.

On the premise that WFAN stays at 101.9, the day will likely come (many years from now) when:
WCBS-AM moves to FM (101.1?-not likely soon as the classic hits station is seeing billing increases; 102.7 or 92.3);
WINS moves to FM (102.7 or 92.3, if it doesn't occur sooner at another frequency);
the remaining FM frequency keeps the most profitable format remaining, whether it be musical or spoken word.

I prefer the "keep it simple" approach, rather than swapping frequencies all over the AM/FM bands.
Why alienate listeners of successful stations by making them "get up and move" if it can be avoided?
Although in these cases above it may be unavoidable.

 

[RBRadioWaves]

But we are in a market that is oversaturated with pop and urban stations and female oriented stations and NONE for males! This is extremely unfair!

What about Q104.3? It's more gender neutral then other rock stations, but the station still targets the male demographic.

 

[Hardrocker9]

The Fan will fail on FM, ESPN isn't lighting up in ratings at all, what a joke. They will regret dropping the alternative rock on 101.9. Not too mention all that fringe coverage that's lost.

 

[crainbebo]

Agreed. WFAN's signal on 660 is FINE. We are having this fail right now with WEPN-FM. Look at their ratings! A 1.6 isn't going to do you any good.

My solution?

Get ESPN off of FM. If WFAN fails get that off FM too. Top station in NY is a music station-WLTW.

-crainbebo

 

[liradioisbad]

The head of the dentist board says that he's heard to keep CBS within the cap they're gonna sell the license/transmitter of WLNY but keep it on as a cable station.

Looks like I was wrong concerning keeping WLNY. Then again, iirc WLNY shut down it's analog transmitter a few years before the actual deadline.