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WFNX being sold to Clear Channel

reelyreal said:
Variety Hits 101.7 The Harbor according to Lance Venta and Scott Fybush just a few mins ago.
Click to expand...

Safe choice, given that Mike, by all accounts, was billing OK before being bumped for the WEEI simulcast. I wonder if this new Harbor will be a similar computer-in-a-broom-closet operation or if CC will staff it at least in drivetime.
 
A question for SomeoneWhoKnows:

So WFNX is soldiering on as an internet radio station. Will the call letters WFNX be "fair game" for another terrestrial radio station to use sometime down the road? And if another Over The Air station does in fact use those call letters, what happens to the "WFNX.com" website and the Mindich-run operation online? ???

I ask because I certainly think the "WFNX" branding will be a major selling point for any future sponsors down the road... if the FNX imaging goes away, then they simply become another online station that plays alternative music. (Especially since a majority of the FNX DJ's are now onboard with soon-to-be-rival Boston.com and their online venture).

Perhaps they have thought of this, and are simply taking a "we'll cross that bridge if-and-when we come to it" approach? But it is certainly worth considering.

Perhaps they plan on trademarking the name "WFNX"? Of course, I imagine THAT would be VERY expensive to do...
 
radiorama1 said:
A question for SomeoneWhoKnows:

So WFNX is soldiering on as an internet radio station. Will the call letters WFNX be "fair game" for another terrestrial radio station to use sometime down the road? And if another Over The Air station does in fact use those call letters, what happens to the "WFNX.com" website and the Mindich-run operation online? ???

I ask because I certainly think the "WFNX" branding will be a major selling point for any future sponsors down the road... if the FNX imaging goes away, then they simply become another online station that plays alternative music. (Especially since a majority of the FNX DJ's are now onboard with soon-to-be-rival Boston.com and their online venture).

Perhaps they have thought of this, and are simply taking a "we'll cross that bridge if-and-when we come to it" approach? But it is certainly worth considering.

Perhaps they plan on trademarking the name "WFNX"? Of course, I imagine THAT would be VERY expensive to do...
Click to expand...

Read this. It will answer all your questions.
http://www.broadcastlawblog.com/201...r-station-consult-a-trademark-attorney-first/
(Eg, If you go to wbmx.com you'll see that it doesn't point mix1041.com.)

Listening to WFNX.com's 'free' preview running on 101.7FM this weekend. Haven't heard any ads on it yet.
I'm sure there will be some once they officially go live whenever that happens. I'm sure Mindich and gang have been working the on-line idea way before the sale was announced and they're ahead of RadioBDC which is still in the process of building a studio.
 
DJbobo said:
radiorama1 said:
A question for SomeoneWhoKnows:

So WFNX is soldiering on as an internet radio station. Will the call letters WFNX be "fair game" for another terrestrial radio station to use sometime down the road? And if another Over The Air station does in fact use those call letters, what happens to the "WFNX.com" website and the Mindich-run operation online? ???

I ask because I certainly think the "WFNX" branding will be a major selling point for any future sponsors down the road... if the FNX imaging goes away, then they simply become another online station that plays alternative music. (Especially since a majority of the FNX DJ's are now onboard with soon-to-be-rival Boston.com and their online venture).

Perhaps they have thought of this, and are simply taking a "we'll cross that bridge if-and-when we come to it" approach? But it is certainly worth considering.

Perhaps they plan on trademarking the name "WFNX"? Of course, I imagine THAT would be VERY expensive to do...
Click to expand...

Read this. It will answer all your questions.
http://www.broadcastlawblog.com/201...r-station-consult-a-trademark-attorney-first/
(Eg, If you go to wbmx.com you'll see that it doesn't point mix1041.com.)

Listening to WFNX.com's 'free' preview running on 101.7FM this weekend. Haven't heard any ads on it yet.
I'm sure there will be some once they officially go live whenever that happens. I'm sure Mindich and gang have been working the on-line idea way before the sale was announced and they're ahead of RadioBDC which is still in the process of building a studio.
Click to expand...

You learn something new every day. Thank you! 8)
 
Some discussion of this on boston-radio-interest. It could result in some sort of legal action (if someone
got the FNX calls and challenged Mindich re domain name, "int. property")
http://lists.bostonradio.org/pipermail/boston-radio-interest/2012-July/028605.html

>>(Vahey): "Hypothetically let us say 96.9 decided to drop talk and go alternative
and were awarded the calls WFNX. In a case like that how could Mindich
argue he still owns the trademark after selling the station? CBS can
happily park calls like WBCN somewhere but the Phoenix can not.
Carry it one step further - if another station did get the calls WFNX
could they then challenge that they should own wfnx.com?
I heard tonight that CBS just might do it as WBMX means nothing to them"

This was in response to a couple posts about how some boat got the call letters WCAS!

I wonder if we will see the WFNX calls appear on FCC daily digest as "broadcast applications" somewhere.
(Picture this:WGSY 100.1, an AC station in Phenix City AL, wants WFNX calls... for "Phenix" sound alike...
I don't know if it would happen but...)
 
Hypothetically, could it been part of the deal to have CC park the call letters for them to some small obscure station?

Let me add...If CBS wanted to flip 104.1, the natural choice would be to bring back the iconic letters WBCN.
 
You can own the trademark to the name, but you can't own call letters. That's why they get parked somewhere when a company wants to keep them. Otherwise, they go back into the pot.

There is nothing that can stop another station from changing calls to "WFNX". There IS something that would stop them from calling themselves "FNX" on the air. Though I imagine that could be challenged due to it actually being the call letters and how could you prevent a station from using its official calls on the air.
 
As I understand it from news reports, CC is not buying the "intellectual property" of WFNX. Without reading the agreement I have no idea what, if anything, it says about the WFNX calls. It's possible they've agreed not to use the calls.
 
What I'm saying is that maybe part of the deal was for CC to protect the letters for Mindich by parking them on some small station in Mayberry so that no one else will take them.
 
Jimmy128 said:
What I'm saying is that maybe part of the deal was for CC to protect the letters for Mindich by parking them on some small station in Mayberry so that no one else will take them.
Click to expand...

If there was any such agreement, it was not part of the asset purchase agreement for the WFNX license.
 
The WFNX calls are seemingly there for the taking, just as WRXP was for merlin who applied to bring them back even though Emmis still has the rights to the intellectual property.
 
It's 10:30 PM ET, and after "Jerk!" by Stephie Coplan & The Pedestrians, I'm getting dead air on the stream.  Anyone tuned into the FM signal?
 
promixcuous said:
It's 10:30 PM ET, and after "Jerk!" by Stephie Copland & The Pedestrians, I'm getting dead air on the stream. Anyone tuned into the FM signal?
Click to expand...

Just checked the FM radio in the car; it's dead air too.
 
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