With the CBS stations going to Entercom they will now own both 560 WQAM and 790 WAXY. It stands to reason that they'd keep one sports station and blow up the other, the question is which one stays and which one goes? I'd imagine the staffers at both stations are somewhat nervous about this. WQAM-FM 104.3, anyone?
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Entercom/CBS Merger and Miami Sports Radio
- Thread starter strangelove
- Start date
Entercom
WLYF 101.5 -- Lite FM – AC -- 6.2 -- 4th (fell from #1)
WMXJ 102.7 -- The Beach -- Classic Hits -- 4.1 -- 9th (up from 3.6)
WSFS 104.3 --The Shark – Alternative -- 1.6 -- 22nd
WAXY 790 -- The Ticket – Sports -- 0.7 -- 28th
CBS
WPOW 96.5 -- Power 96 - Rhythmic CHR -- 3.7 -- 11th
WKIS 99.9 -- Kiss Country – Country -- 1.9 -- 18th (Beat by WLRN)
WQAM 790 --Sports -- 1.3 -- 24th
Now, that big Entecom upheaval and move to DT Miami makes sense. I knew there had to be more to it than just wanting new, updated offices or be “closer” to the heart of Miami. Now, we know--they needed to make room for their three new stations and the Holly Hill Road space is at full capacity.
Power 96, WMXJ, WLYF, and WKIS Country have their little, unique niches and should be fine. Although, WLYF has slipped badly and being consistently beaten by Cox’s WFEZ 93.1, so a change could happen there. WMXJ is doing really well with their format tweaks. WKIS is the lone country station for the market (Miami).
WSFS (LOL) isn’t a “shark,” it’s a dog infested with fleas. The Shark’s staff, along with WAXY’s, sad to say, will be looking for work. That stinks. The Shark people broke their backs to make it work, but is isn't and ever will.
The lowest rated from the 5 FM and 2 AM group is WAXY 790 “The Ticket,” at 28th with 0.7. That, factored in with CBS is heavily into sports coverage (when I think CBS, I think “sports” more so than ABC or NBC, or Entercom for that matter). CBS has massive support system geared to sports. WAXY is gone. So, yeah, I see a “WQAM 104.3 FM” on the way. It’s the smart move.
Look at WSFS 104.3 The Shark. It’s flat, never moving (much) from it’s 1.4 average, in fact, its dropped from a 1.8 overall to a 1.6. It’s gone. Entercom be foolish to NOT blow up WAXY and consolidate it with WQAM and create a dominate “FM” sports outlet. It’ll completely crush iHeart’s completely redundant and useless WINZ 940. (What would iHeart and Entercom do with WINZ and WAXY, is anyone’s speculation. Obviously, weekday political syndication with weekend brokered sales.)
CBS’ 1 AM and 2 FMs should fit within the ownership cap of Entcercom’s 1 AM and 3FMs, as iHeart has 5 FM’s and 2 FM’s in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale market, so Entercom now having 5 FM’s and 2 FM’s will not be a problem, no divesting required.
However, there is chatter on other boards and industry papers this Entecom CBS deal may have an effect on Alpha’s WPB cluster.
Sacramento is one of two markets in this deal where both groups have full clusters. CBS has 1 AM and 4 FMs, while Entercom owns 1 AM and 5. One of the clusters must be spun-off to make the cap.
The speculation is Alpha, who is also in the Sacramento Market, will do a trade, possibly with their WPB cluster, to get either Sacaramento’s CBS or Entecom clusters. So, there maybe people out of work at Alpha WPB as well, not just Entercom, in this deal (at WAXY).
Alpha has (4) FM’s with WRMF 97.9, WEAT 107.9, WIRK 103.1 and WMBX 102.3. (The Jorgensen LMA’d AM of WFTL 850 and WMEN 640 don’t count.)
Wow. The market shifts again . . . . no more WAXY 790 or 104.3 The Shark . . . it seems. Who knows who will get one or all the WPB Alpha stations (if that speculation is true, on target, or off-the-wall).
WLYF 101.5 -- Lite FM – AC -- 6.2 -- 4th (fell from #1)
WMXJ 102.7 -- The Beach -- Classic Hits -- 4.1 -- 9th (up from 3.6)
WSFS 104.3 --The Shark – Alternative -- 1.6 -- 22nd
WAXY 790 -- The Ticket – Sports -- 0.7 -- 28th
CBS
WPOW 96.5 -- Power 96 - Rhythmic CHR -- 3.7 -- 11th
WKIS 99.9 -- Kiss Country – Country -- 1.9 -- 18th (Beat by WLRN)
WQAM 790 --Sports -- 1.3 -- 24th
Now, that big Entecom upheaval and move to DT Miami makes sense. I knew there had to be more to it than just wanting new, updated offices or be “closer” to the heart of Miami. Now, we know--they needed to make room for their three new stations and the Holly Hill Road space is at full capacity.
Power 96, WMXJ, WLYF, and WKIS Country have their little, unique niches and should be fine. Although, WLYF has slipped badly and being consistently beaten by Cox’s WFEZ 93.1, so a change could happen there. WMXJ is doing really well with their format tweaks. WKIS is the lone country station for the market (Miami).
WSFS (LOL) isn’t a “shark,” it’s a dog infested with fleas. The Shark’s staff, along with WAXY’s, sad to say, will be looking for work. That stinks. The Shark people broke their backs to make it work, but is isn't and ever will.
The lowest rated from the 5 FM and 2 AM group is WAXY 790 “The Ticket,” at 28th with 0.7. That, factored in with CBS is heavily into sports coverage (when I think CBS, I think “sports” more so than ABC or NBC, or Entercom for that matter). CBS has massive support system geared to sports. WAXY is gone. So, yeah, I see a “WQAM 104.3 FM” on the way. It’s the smart move.
Look at WSFS 104.3 The Shark. It’s flat, never moving (much) from it’s 1.4 average, in fact, its dropped from a 1.8 overall to a 1.6. It’s gone. Entercom be foolish to NOT blow up WAXY and consolidate it with WQAM and create a dominate “FM” sports outlet. It’ll completely crush iHeart’s completely redundant and useless WINZ 940. (What would iHeart and Entercom do with WINZ and WAXY, is anyone’s speculation. Obviously, weekday political syndication with weekend brokered sales.)
CBS’ 1 AM and 2 FMs should fit within the ownership cap of Entcercom’s 1 AM and 3FMs, as iHeart has 5 FM’s and 2 FM’s in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale market, so Entercom now having 5 FM’s and 2 FM’s will not be a problem, no divesting required.
However, there is chatter on other boards and industry papers this Entecom CBS deal may have an effect on Alpha’s WPB cluster.
Sacramento is one of two markets in this deal where both groups have full clusters. CBS has 1 AM and 4 FMs, while Entercom owns 1 AM and 5. One of the clusters must be spun-off to make the cap.
The speculation is Alpha, who is also in the Sacramento Market, will do a trade, possibly with their WPB cluster, to get either Sacaramento’s CBS or Entecom clusters. So, there maybe people out of work at Alpha WPB as well, not just Entercom, in this deal (at WAXY).
Alpha has (4) FM’s with WRMF 97.9, WEAT 107.9, WIRK 103.1 and WMBX 102.3. (The Jorgensen LMA’d AM of WFTL 850 and WMEN 640 don’t count.)
Wow. The market shifts again . . . . no more WAXY 790 or 104.3 The Shark . . . it seems. Who knows who will get one or all the WPB Alpha stations (if that speculation is true, on target, or off-the-wall).
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Some of these things are not true...
--Moving to Downtown Miami was in the works before this deal was.
--WLYF doesn't have a little unique niche. It's one of Miami's most successful stations, only .2 behind the leader in November, and #1 at various times in the last year. It may even be the revenue leader. WLYF dropped a bit in the Holiday book. But Holiday ratings don't really count because WLYF doesn't do much Christmas music, compared with other AC stations nationally.
--WAXY can stay. Entercom can own two sports AMs in Miami, if only to provide a spot for overflow sporting events that WQAM can't handle.
--I don't see 104.3 returning to Sports. It was Sports till last year. Management decided the FM signal could be better used for a rock music format. Maybe down the road, Entercom will consider putting WQAM on FM, but not for now. Maybe the Shark will get tweaked but will stay some form of Rock. Without it, Miami and NYC would be the only two large markets without a Contemporary Rock station.
--Take the ratings for stations aimed at Anglo men with a grain of salt. Sports and Rock stations can sell better than their ratings might indicate, for advertisers aiming for young Anglo men, an elusive group.
--Moving to Downtown Miami was in the works before this deal was.
--WLYF doesn't have a little unique niche. It's one of Miami's most successful stations, only .2 behind the leader in November, and #1 at various times in the last year. It may even be the revenue leader. WLYF dropped a bit in the Holiday book. But Holiday ratings don't really count because WLYF doesn't do much Christmas music, compared with other AC stations nationally.
--WAXY can stay. Entercom can own two sports AMs in Miami, if only to provide a spot for overflow sporting events that WQAM can't handle.
--I don't see 104.3 returning to Sports. It was Sports till last year. Management decided the FM signal could be better used for a rock music format. Maybe down the road, Entercom will consider putting WQAM on FM, but not for now. Maybe the Shark will get tweaked but will stay some form of Rock. Without it, Miami and NYC would be the only two large markets without a Contemporary Rock station.
--Take the ratings for stations aimed at Anglo men with a grain of salt. Sports and Rock stations can sell better than their ratings might indicate, for advertisers aiming for young Anglo men, an elusive group.
When did the rules change? LMAed stations used to count and were calculated into the local ownership caps the same as owned stations.
LMA and JSA agreements count, both against the license holder and the entity that LMA's the station.
The best reference case is San Diego, where Clear Channel LMAed several Tijuana stations. The FCC required they end the LMA agreements as the owned and LMA stations exceeded the market cap. Similarly, the Commission required Clear to end a JSA with the two 103.1 FMs in the LA MSA as they took Clear over the market cap.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article130697129.html
So far KDND has been removed and surrendered its license to FCC in able for the CBS Radio/Entercom deal to go through. San Francisco, Sacramento and Boston are the other markets where Entercom has to decide which stations they must remove for the merger to be approved.
The usual way this type of deal is done is to have contingency sales agreements for the sale of the "over the cap" stations that are filed conditional on the larger transaction being approved.
Any station not yet sold will be put in a trust to isolate it from the owner until it can be sold.
However, all knowledgeable industry folks believe that the excess stations will be traded for eligable stations in other markets. This is a generally tax-free way of disposing of the stations that need to go.
And there is one over cap in San Diego, too.
I couldn't agree more, Gregg! WAXY is good as is. Overflow in sports is very important, especially with college sports - branding one station MU or FSU and the other Gators (for example). Then you control ALL of it. iHeart isn't really serious about WNIZ. Well, just as serious as WIOD. lol
WLYF is an institution in Miami, WTF would anyone consider changing it? UGH I'm sure revenues are doing just fine there.
Sports didn't work on a full power FM in Miami, why would you go backwards?
As far as the Shark, yeah. Sucks. But what other format is there to do? Another AC? Another classic hits? Another CHR? So after that niche market but do it well.
WQAM is 560 not 790 and yeah, the sports stations don't do well around here.
I would see The Ticket go back to 104.3 FM.
I need to question where are you getting your information?
Who is MU?
What station is WNIZ?
The ratings help drive advertising rates, but both WAXY and WQAM do a lot of revenue with the low ratings. Also the low ratings are a result of over saturation of the market.
WINZ, WQAM, WAXY, WMEN and now 990 entering the market?
Now let's talk colleges:
WQAM carries UM sports, WINZ carries Florida, WAXY does not carry any college sports. I believe WIOD carries FSU (I am not a fan so I really don't care). Locally we have FIU trying to break in on one of the stations as they try to grow the program.
Pros:
WQAM has the Dolphins and the Panthers, WAXY has the Heat, WINZ has the Marlins. I don't believe any team likes to be second fiddle if there is a broadcast conflict, so each team tries to be on a station by itself. WMEN carries the Yankees, I guess they don't violate any MLB rules as they are not in the local market of the Marlins.
There needs to be some consolidation. Some of the shows are very weak with the talk show hosts. With the combined staffs we might see a good line up placed at one station, while the other may go with a National Network. So what I see is both stations existing after the merger is complete, maybe a consolidation of shows on to one station with maybe some movement of slots, and an entry of a National Network on the weaker signal. Some of the talent will be let go. The local teams' contracts may preclude them from being moved from the current station until it comes time for renewal.
I see this as a possibility.
MU actually means UM, the University of Miami (I guess) and WNIZ was probably a typo for WINZ.
Also after the merger, will the CBS stations move up the street to Entercom's studios near the "big South Florida transmitter farm" or will Entercom move to the CBS Radio studios down their street, north of I-95?
I'm guessing that talent of 560 and 790 will merge together. Then I think one of those AMs would go up on 104.3 as a FM Simulcast.
I think The Ticket will go back to where it was. Joe Rose goes back to Mornings, followed by the Dan Lebatard Show middays, and then Zaslow, Romberg & Amber afternoons.
Why I think the Ticket goes back to FM is the fact they now have the rights to the Dolphins, Heat and Hurricanes. The appeal of having all that live sports at night and on weekends makes that move smart.
560 or 790 could service well as a brokered station or a talk station with syndicated fare to compete with WIOD. That station could hold on to the Panthers, and maybe offer FIU a new broadcast home.
In the words of Lionel, please comment as you see fit.
I think The Ticket will go back to where it was. Joe Rose goes back to Mornings, followed by the Dan Lebatard Show middays, and then Zaslow, Romberg & Amber afternoons.
Why I think the Ticket goes back to FM is the fact they now have the rights to the Dolphins, Heat and Hurricanes. The appeal of having all that live sports at night and on weekends makes that move smart.
560 or 790 could service well as a brokered station or a talk station with syndicated fare to compete with WIOD. That station could hold on to the Panthers, and maybe offer FIU a new broadcast home.
In the words of Lionel, please comment as you see fit.
I imagine a staff merger of some form and WQAM doing a AM/FM simulcast on 104.3 and 560. I don't see a heritage station like WQAM being put out to pasture as a brokered station. 790 can go brokered, LMA, or far less likely, news talk. They could also just run ESPN 24/7 if they're determined to keep it a sports station. Conflicting sportscasts won't necessarily be a problem as one game could be on AM and the other on FM and if need be put on 790 no matter what format that station has. As it stands CBS will feed a conflicting game to another station such as when the Panthers end up on WKAT or even WWNN when UM is playing.
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And I hate to talk about 104.3 as though it's on death's door; it's not a bad radio station and a lot of people depend on it for their livelihood. I'd love for it to carry on as Alternative but I'm just not sure it will ever make the impact Entercom was hoping for.
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