AllAccess is reporting Cumulus gets WFME. Price has yet to be disclosed. Read about it here: http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/111440/cumulus-buys-wfme-new-york
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Cumulus buys WFME 94.7
- Thread starter Kent
- Start date
Dr. Chuck said:
Or maybe the best of the AM's current syndicated shows moving to 94.7 along with new local shows in morning and afternoon drive, with 770 being left to B-list conservatives, self-help/investment scammers and assorted brokered-time programs.
I'm thinking with Cumulus, it MAY be a music format coming.
They have many stations with various musical formats. That I think will most likely happen than a "WABC-FM" scenario. At least with sports radio there's guaranteed money when you think of the various leagues/teams that want the media coverage. That won't happen with a WABC FM. But of course with radio lately you can't totally rule anything out.
They have many stations with various musical formats. That I think will most likely happen than a "WABC-FM" scenario. At least with sports radio there's guaranteed money when you think of the various leagues/teams that want the media coverage. That won't happen with a WABC FM. But of course with radio lately you can't totally rule anything out.
With Cumulus, the most likely candidates are, in order: WABC-FM (no need for explanation), Country (Cumulus runs a lot of Country stations and it would be a nice pairing with PLJ), Alternative (Cumulus runs a few of these, as well, expect a more Active direction if they pursue this option). Just my .02.
chrocket87 said:
Country does make some sense for the reason you mention.
CBS Sports Radio makes sense from a "corporate branding" perspective -- getting carriage in Market #1 for the fledgling network...but THREE sports stations on the NYC FM dial? Really? At this point, nothing would surprise me!! But with Cumulus at the helm, you can be sure that whatever they do, it will be on the cheap, cheap, cheap!!
Doesn't NBC also have a sports-talk format in the works? Maybe it winds up on 94.7. As previously mentioned, so many sports stations in one market doesn't look like it makes a lot of sense, but advertisers buy national sports radio on the number of markets a given network is in, not the number of listeners in any one market. Potential ears rather than actual ears, which works when the ears that are going to be listening all hit a Madison Avenue demographic sweet spot the way sports listeners do.
I think country and/or active rock make the most sense. Do we expect a major morning show or will it be a "more music" type of format?
If it's country, I'd expect a morning show. Any sort of rock will likely be a syndicated show or all music mornings. That's what I've found from Cumulus stations of the two formats.robbie roundhouse said:
Sports on 770, current WABC on the "new" FM and WPLJ stays the same (for now).
I say Alternative has to be the way to go. RXP has to return or some form of it
It's easy to speculate what Cumulus would do with 94.7 FM. Some off-the-cuff options...
A. Country: not a chance in heck.
B. Rock -- active, alternative, or anything current: see above.
C. a WABC AM/FM simulcast: a possibility, but with the struggles that Cumulus has with the WMAL AM/FM simulcast down in Washington, not to mention the trend away from conservative talk, I'm not sure about that one.
D. CBS Sports Radio: an even bigger possibility. Perhaps that talk about 660 breaking away from the WFAN AM/FM simulcast to run the new network was nothing more than a smokescreen. This implies that perhaps CBS knew something was in the air, thus spurring them to make the move to buy 101.9 when they did.
Now, for the fallout...losing Family Radio programming on FM is no huge loss, but what if they plan to use the cash and look for an AM station to replace WFME, like they did recently in Philadelphia? Someone mentioned perhaps WLIB or WWRL, however I think a sale of either will cause a bit of an uproar in the African-American community. What about, say, WSNR or any of the Multicultural stations (WPAT, WZRC, or WNSW)? Or, here's a really wild wild-card - WNYC?
Furthermore, what happens with WFME-TV, which is now even more of a stand-alone operation as Family's only television station and (pending final approval of the FM sale) the ministry's only NYC property. Then again, with 1) no NYC cable presence; 2) an OTA signal that is practically invisible in the city; and 3) less-than-compelling programing, it's like they don't exist anyway.
No matter what happens, it is obvious that Cumulus will have to do some major improvements to the 94.7 signal in order to make it worth the cost.
All eyes are now focused on WBAI, the last independently-owned commercial FM in New York that hasn't changed hands in the past half-century. If the Pacifica Foundation wants to get the most bang for their buck while they still can, they'd better make moves soon.
A. Country: not a chance in heck.
B. Rock -- active, alternative, or anything current: see above.
C. a WABC AM/FM simulcast: a possibility, but with the struggles that Cumulus has with the WMAL AM/FM simulcast down in Washington, not to mention the trend away from conservative talk, I'm not sure about that one.
D. CBS Sports Radio: an even bigger possibility. Perhaps that talk about 660 breaking away from the WFAN AM/FM simulcast to run the new network was nothing more than a smokescreen. This implies that perhaps CBS knew something was in the air, thus spurring them to make the move to buy 101.9 when they did.
Now, for the fallout...losing Family Radio programming on FM is no huge loss, but what if they plan to use the cash and look for an AM station to replace WFME, like they did recently in Philadelphia? Someone mentioned perhaps WLIB or WWRL, however I think a sale of either will cause a bit of an uproar in the African-American community. What about, say, WSNR or any of the Multicultural stations (WPAT, WZRC, or WNSW)? Or, here's a really wild wild-card - WNYC?
Furthermore, what happens with WFME-TV, which is now even more of a stand-alone operation as Family's only television station and (pending final approval of the FM sale) the ministry's only NYC property. Then again, with 1) no NYC cable presence; 2) an OTA signal that is practically invisible in the city; and 3) less-than-compelling programing, it's like they don't exist anyway.
No matter what happens, it is obvious that Cumulus will have to do some major improvements to the 94.7 signal in order to make it worth the cost.
All eyes are now focused on WBAI, the last independently-owned commercial FM in New York that hasn't changed hands in the past half-century. If the Pacifica Foundation wants to get the most bang for their buck while they still can, they'd better make moves soon.
Rollo-Smokes said:
Well CBS might have to get rid of a station in NYC*. 1010?
*They might have found a loophole, but if not either a sale or trust is coming soon for one of the NYC properties.
M
Marckd
Guest
Maybe True Oldies Channel on 94.7??? Enabling CBS to shut down CBS FM 2 the Sequel?
WABC on FM would be stupid. Is conservative talk really viable enough to put on FM on that signal? I don't think so.
It would be interesting if, whatever the format may be, the station could have the WABC-FM calls.
It would be interesting if, whatever the format may be, the station could have the WABC-FM calls.
As much as I hate to agree with Mark Daniels, he has a good point.
I'm sure Scott Shannon has been itching for a full-power New York clearance for True Oldies, and perhaps Cumulus is buying 94.7 for that purpose. But, again, it comes down to economics: can Cumulus make more money running True Oldies (even though it's their own program service) as opposed to, say, CBS Sports Radio?
I'm sure Scott Shannon has been itching for a full-power New York clearance for True Oldies, and perhaps Cumulus is buying 94.7 for that purpose. But, again, it comes down to economics: can Cumulus make more money running True Oldies (even though it's their own program service) as opposed to, say, CBS Sports Radio?
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