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WIBC Flip Rumor TRUE - WXLW to lose ESPN - Time for Board Apologies!

Flying-Dutchman said:
ESPN brought WXLW a .6 in ratings. Maybe WIBC wil get 4 times that for a 2.4.
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Unless WIBC just uses its sports format as an anchor for its game broadcasts, it can do a lot with sports radio. Marketing is key to any radio station and format.

Sports radio on NDE is there as bonus spots for FM buyers, with no effort, energy or resources put into it. You get JMV drive time - who the hell is HE?

Sports radio on XLW relies on ESPN, with NO local marketing, a PD (or whatever rake is) that has never worked outside being an intern at WNDE, an owner that has never owned a radio station before picking up XLW and has no clue how to run a radio station (leaving it in the hands of rake, who is simply looking for food and golf tradeouts).

Sports radio on WIBC will likey get the resources for quality talent, the resources to market, and FINALLY IN THIS TOWN - the ability to put on a top notch sports radio station like Atlanta, Chicago, and many other mid- to large cities have - and do well in the ratings.

It's like an ugly stepchild right now, do it right and it could rise above many of the music formats with good ratings.

Emmis is doing this for financial gain - they are not idiots. They will make money at this.
 
I've read several times here suggestions that WXLW should consider oldies as a format once they loose their ESPN affiliation. What I don't understand is why anyone would think that oldies would be any more viable on this frequency than the audience generated currently at 95.9FM? The AM signal does not reach north much beyond Washington Street from the south; that's certainly much worse than "Gold 95.9 FM" signal, coverage wise. In fact, if the FM is considered a "rim shot," the AM would barely be hitting the backboard.

Even with two other sports stations in town [1260 and 1070], I think XLW still has a better chance of survival, as a viable business, as a sports station. In addition to the money they receive from the Indians for clearance, they probably also were paid to clear Marian College basketball [The SID did color for the games, and the college retained a lot of time in the games for recruitment messages]. The Indiana Ice might pay for clearance; they have in the past. My point is that the other two AMs probably still won't be interested in clearing this "2nd tier sports" play-by-play. XLW would have some consistent revenue stream, not only for clearance but also sales opportunities for station-produced pre- and post-game shows. Add the Cubs local inventory to sell, and the live PM DR show, and there's probably more revenue here than clearing spot breaks in any other format. Sell the programming blocks at a premium, and throw in day time inventory for the various teams and sponsors during Sporting News programming. Look at WBRI-AM; they sell block programming all day long, guaranteeing revenue streams with little overhead. They don't concern themselves with selling spots, or with ratings for that matter. They don't care; they just monetize the business with guaranteed revenue streams.
 
pbf1 said:
Elephant said:
NOT WRONG!

Emmis put 1050 WFAN on the air in 1987. It later moved to the WNBC frequency at 660 AM.
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Yeah...and Letterman was on WNTS **loooooonnnngggg* before 1987.
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Prior to WENS . 1970's I think.
 
Emmis is rolling the dice big time with the 1070/93.1 flip. Sports in most large markets gets a sort of OK rating but the really big numbers for AM radio is from news/talk not sports.

One reported downside of WIBC-AMs ratings is their demos: they skew older than the "hot" ad types want to sell. Baby Boomers are not the cool demo any more. How flipping the WIBC format to FM might change that is not too tough to guess. Same cake under the different icing.

How do FM talkers do? WWFT has recovered "nicely" to a 1.1. KLSX in LA, a much more diversified marker has a 1.9 which is up from their last three books. WPGB-FM in Pittsburgh with a 5.3 is at the right side of the "bell curve".

WNOU, even with their latest good book, is rumored to be a tough ad sell.

ESPN radio (and sports stations in general) are typically 1 rating point stations to an asterisk in medium markets. However, WFAN in NY (a former Emmis station) is an annual top ten biller in the nation but most are like WXLW. WIBC's strong local sports presence just might break the ESPN jinx.

January is a long way off. There maybe some kind of "magic radio dust" being sprinkled around WIBC which could result in something suprising and refreshing on 93.1FM. It will be interesting to see if Santa will leave a brightly wrapped present under the 93.1 Christmas tree or a bag of switched.

But I see lower numbers for ESPN 1070. We might be seeing the end of 1070's
"good old day." Take a moment to enjoy them while you can.
 
Perhaps since Radio Ho seems to have his pulse on everything at every station, he will be able to get me a job at the new 1070 sports station since apparently he cost me my old one? I have my resume ready ;D

In all seriousness, this could be really good for Indy. Finally a chance to get some decent sports radio in this town! Emmis has the resources and know how to make this work. Now it's all about want too. I hope they go local all the time. That would be great. For the most part, nationally syndicated programming just gets boring (please keep Collin Cowherd though). And if they get the right hosts in there they could make a local sports station work. Plus with their strong ties to basically every sports team of interest in the area (Colts, Pacers, IU, Indy 500 etc) it would be a natural fit.

If 950 went to Sporting News radio, that would be an absolute disaster. This town isnt really big enough for 2 sports stations, let alone 3. JB would be smart enough for cut his loses and find a new format, be it oldies, local talk, whatever. It appears 950 is just a doomed signal. Not really Rake's fault. What are you going to do with a station that is staffed by guys with minimal experience and is run on a minimum budget? There wasn't a whole heck of a lot of options at his disposal. Wak worked at my company when he was right out of college and I know how hard he works to do a good job so I hope he lands on his feet as well.
 
I would like to see more apologies on this thread. Some of the people who attacked Spike the hardest have not eaten their crow.
 
Jay F said:
I would like to see more apologies on this thread. Some of the people who attacked Spike the hardest have not eaten their crow.
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While I was among the first to eat a partial serving of crow, I'm going to come back to the table for another helping. While Spike was correct on the event, he was off the mark on the timing. But the fact is, the event was announced & set it motion within the two week window specified. Spike deserves credit for that...allow me to increase my crow consumption from 50% to 75%...Anyone else for a trip to the all you can eat crow buffet??
 
I'd say SPIKE deserves 100% apology! Come on - WHO else would have brought this info out. If we waited on all of you 'so -called' RADIO industry insiders, who chastised spike for bringing this info to us, we wouldn't have know until the announcement in All Access.

It's not that YOU people called him out, but you did it with such POMPUS attitudes that since YOU work there, YOU would know before us.

Welcome to the REAL WORLD, where employees are the LAST to know.

Evidently YOU people that ripped on Spike aren't in the loop at yOUR OWN COMPANY! Says a lot about what your employer thinks of you that we knew about the flip before YOU did!

These sort of people NEVER admit they have to eat crow, they just go on and will be the first to RIP the next 'rumor.'

Who was it that posted everyone should 'stop spreading rumors and get back to work?' SHE should be the FIRST to apologize and admit her "i know more than you" attitude left egg on her face!

Perhaps since Radio Ho seems to have his pulse on everything at every station, he will be able to get me a job at the new 1070 sports station since apparently he cost me my old one? I have my resume ready
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Hang in there streeter, Russ is going to need jocks that can relate to the (young) female audience when he flips to WNOU's old format. I've seen your picture, you'll fit that slot. Though he may have to change his PD, given they'll actually have to have someone who knows music to stay 'in touch' with that age group. That age group isn't real 'hip' to the tie-dyed, hippie thing.
 
Timewarp said:
Do you think Russ Oasis is going to put Hip Hop on 101.9?
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He's from Miami - can't imagine he would have a problem with that music. He doesn't program classic rock very well - what is programed is copied from competitors' playlists (how easy is THAT pd's job) so he could use the latest NOU list to get started.

Russ loves dance music - word has it - so this wouldn't be a stretch. He has no major investment in his studios that would prevent him from flipping within a 24 hour period. Don't be surprised to hear it one day out of the blue.
 
Are they going to have a website to listen to the Christmas music so i can listen online when it gets closer? Because I can't get reception inside my building.
 
Radio is in a constant state of change which makes the business so fascinating to follow. The "get back to work and stop spreading rumors" mindset is wrong at it's very core because it assumes that the status quo of a radio markets landscape will continue until the end of time. This has never been true and never will be.
 
And im Surprise that with the impending Change of 1070 to ESPN radio that they would show Kevin Lee to the door pending that he was the Pre/Post host on the pacers Radio and Host of Sports talk on 1070 on non game nights. LOL i wonder if WNDE might take a plunge and bring in Kevin lee since as JMV put it on the Drive on tuesday when he mentioned that Kevin was fired that he was good buddies with Kevin lee
 
Interesting about Kevin getting shown the door. He has been there a long time. Ive seen him at many of the same football games we were covering. The quote that caught my eye was about a local afternoon show. So apparently that doesn't mean they are going all national, all the time for ESPN 1070. That is great to hear. I hope they will be focusing on giving the sports station a strong local flavor. And of course leads me to my next question: Where do I send my resume? ;D
 
[thinking out loud] Could it be that WIBC management put Lee on 9pm-11pm because it is when they are on low power, so it couldn't hurt them?? I agree, I enjoyed listening to him (when I could hear it). WIBC (and radio management everywhere) does these things to keep talent's egos in check.
 
The article did say he was staying on with the Pacers, etc. network broadcasts. Don't feel too sorry. He still has a job - in sports.
 
Nothing personal - but who is Keven Lee in the grand scope of sports? Did he play the game? What are his credentials as a 'sports' expert? No different than Rakestraw, JMV or any other number of 'wannabes' in this area.

While it sux to see anyone lose his job (repeat: part of the industry, get over it) seems Emmis may be setting the table for some quality talent - let's hope! (and please NOT REGGIE MILLER - so TIRED of that goofy 'aw shucks' laugh of his.)

At this point, Mark Boyle makes perfect sense for an afternoon show. He's credible, which means he can get quality national sports figures as guests, and not just crusty, dandruff-infested newspaper sports writers, he's done it before with very good quality (IMHO), and doesn't sound like a 20-something trying to be a sports expert.
 
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