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WSB Radio's network carousel keeps on spinning…

deejaywestbrook

deejaywestbrook

I've noticed recently that WSB radio is using the CBS network for news bites again. Didn't they just switch from CBS to ABC just about a year ago to match WSB-TV? Now they're back to CBS. Is it normal to flip back and forth in such a short time?
 
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As the only viable radio news operation in Atlanta, they can choice just about any "radio news" network they want. The commercial clearance on a top rated station in market # 8 should be of great value to syndication operations. iHeart even gave Cox Rush when they "gave up" on 640 several years ago. I will bet a cup of Burger King regular coffee that WSB got a deal favorable to them.
 
When 95.5 WSB flipped affiliations from CBS News Radio to ABC News Radio, it was in response to Entercom making it mandatory for CBS News Radio to air strictly on their stations. Apparently, Entercom has since reversed course. A non-Entercom station that airs CBS News Radio is WNEG Radio in Toccoa.
 
I had never heard of CBS yanking the affiliations of every non-Entercom affiliate


AMFMRadFan said:
When 95.5 WSB flipped affiliations from CBS News Radio to ABC News Radio, it was in response to Entercom making it mandatory for CBS News Radio to air strictly on their stations. Apparently, Entercom has since reversed course. A non-Entercom station that airs CBS News Radio is WNEG Radio in Toccoa.
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NBC News Is Carried By...

WAOK (1380), Entercom's Black talk station in Atlanta. They carry the Al Sharp Tongue show is the afternoon.
 
RoddyFreeman said:
Entercom does not own the CBS Radio Network.
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Correct, but there may have been a clause in the sale agreement between CBS and Entercom that the Entercom news stations would continue their affiliation with CBS News Radio for a certain period of time following the sale. Not sure how that affects this discussion however. It was more about keeping CBS TOH news on the major market all news stations. It wasn't an "Entercom mandate."
 
Oddly enough, when WAOK was a CBS O&O, they carried AP Radio news. Go figure.
 
TheBigA said:
Correct, but there may have been a clause in the sale agreement between CBS and Entercom that the Entercom news stations would continue their affiliation with CBS News Radio for a certain period of time following the sale. Not sure how that affects this discussion however. It was more about keeping CBS TOH news on the major market all news stations. It wasn't an "Entercom mandate."
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Understood, but my interpretation of what the poster was saying was he thought Entercom owned the network.
 
TheBigA said:
Correct, but there may have been a clause in the sale agreement between CBS and Entercom that the Entercom news stations would continue their affiliation with CBS News Radio for a certain period of time following the sale. Not sure how that affects this discussion however. It was more about keeping CBS TOH news on the major market all news stations. It wasn't an "Entercom mandate."
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CBS News Radio was a Westwood One product.

When CBS spun off Westwood One it ended up being bundled into Cumulus.

If memory serves, that all happened before CBS sold the radio division to Entercom. So the radio network affiliation wouldn't be part of the trademark discussion.

There are terms of the sale where Entercom has to stop using certain CBS trademarks like the "CBS Eye" after a certain amount of time, but I'm not aware of anything about remaining a CBS Radio News affiliate one way or another. If anything, CBS would like for Entercom to use less CBS branding since they no longer control the stations.

Now, if you want to go back to when Group W was bought by CBS, yes, stations like WBZ and WINS switched from ABC to CBS because at the time CBS owned the network. Also, as has been pointed out upthread, both ABC and CBS radio news are now Skyview products and Westwood One has no news network of its own now that it has killed off its unbranded top of hour news service.

Anyway, since WSB has always been a CMG station (either under family ownership or Apollo), perhaps they decided they liked the ABC product better and switched back?
 
johndavis said:
CBS News Radio was a Westwood One product.

Now, if you want to go back to when Group W was bought by CBS, yes, stations like WBZ and WINS switched from ABC to CBS because at the time CBS owned the network. Also, as has been pointed out upthread, both ABC and CBS radio news are now Skyview products and Westwood One has no news network of its own now that it has killed off its unbranded top of hour news service.
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WINS, even when owned by Infinity/CBS, was never a CBS affiliate. This was by design; a way to prevent brand dilution of both WINS and WCBS. Infinty/CBS understood both stations had their rabidly devoted fans and airing any kind of CBS News mention on WINS would be confusing to listeners.

WBZ was a different story. It added CBS affiliation alongside it's ABC affiliation. Boston didn't have the NYC dynamic of WINS/WCBS. Few cities really do.

I dunno about now, in the Entercom era, what WINS' affiliation deals area. But back then, CBS wasn't one of them.
 
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