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No More ABC News on Former ABC O&Os.

F

FredLeonard

Guest
LATimes.com said:
Cumulus to stop distributing ABC News Radio at the end of 2014

ABC News Radio's distribution deal with radio giant Cumulus Media is coming to an end.

In a note to employees Thursday, recently appointed ABC News President James Goldston said the Walt Disney Co.-owned radio news organization will handle its own distribution and marketing to stations starting in January. ...
READ MORE
http://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...ct-abc-news-radio-cumulus-20140807-story.html
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Cumulus recently announced a radio distribution deal with CNN, which previously had a distribution deal with Westwood One. When the previous radio deal ended, CNN fired its radio people. Possibly they will be hiring again.

It's expected Cumulus stations will drop ABC news, including the two with "ABC" in their calls. Stranger things have happened: The WABC calls used to belong to the CBS flagship. WABC's original calls now belong to CBS.

Of course, if Murdoch acquires Time-Warner and spins-off CNN, all bets are off, especially if CBS picks up CNN.
 
Makes sense. Will WABC outsource their "more local" TOH news or operate in house?
 
TheBigA said:
Who knows? Depends on a lot of things, including if WABC remains news/talk in 2015.
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I suppose it doesn't make much difference. In the era before "the music died" (05/10/1982) many music format stations also had outstanding local news departments. WABC was not one of these.

Ironically, when top 40 ended on WABC, its cume was more than four times what it is now.
 
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Colliano claims Cumulus and Clear Channel both have low-cost formats ready to go to replace talk, but since I don't subscribe I don't know his thoughts and can't imagine what, unles it's brokered or all-infomercials, all-the-time
 
FredLeonard said:
I suppose it doesn't make much difference. In the era before "the music died" (05/10/1982) many music format stations also had outstanding local news departments. WABC was not one of these.

Ironically, when top 40 ended on WABC, its cume was more than four times what it is now.
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Actually during it's Top 40 days, WABC was one of those. From what I have read, WABC's news department. during it's Top 40 days, won awards as the best local news in NYC. IIRC, I read that at MusicRadio77.com.
 
Al Timiter said:
Actually during it's Top 40 days, WABC was one of those. From what I have read, WABC's news department. during it's Top 40 days, won awards as the best local news in NYC. IIRC, I read that at MusicRadio77.com.
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In his book, Rockin' America, WABC's PD Rick Sklar was not very kind about any break in the music format, so I doubt very much that they had much of a news department, especially by 1968. Sklar was the guy who insisted they run news BEFORE the top of the hour, and ultimately got rid of all news and sports (they once ran Howard Cosell's Speaking of Sports).
 
I remember at least one station airing news before the top of the hour. Top 40 61 Big WAYS in Charlotte would advertise news at :55 (or whenever it started) and music on the hour.

And it has been years but one or more stations would air North Carolina Network News before the top of the hour followed by ABC News or whatever network.
 
vchimpanzee said:
And it has been years but one or more stations would air North Carolina Network News before the top of the hour followed by ABC News or whatever network.
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As I recall, WABC recorded the ABC TOH news and ran it 55 minutes later. Then when ABC Radio divided into four networks in 1968, they had a live newscast at :55, basically for Sklar. They named it the American Contemporary Network, and WABC, WLS, and KQV were among its affiliates.
 
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TheBigA said:
They named it the American Contemporary Network, and WABC, WLS, and KQV were among its affiliates.
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I remember that well, because at 5 minutes to before the hour, I always hit the button for WMCK, 13-Q, or some other station.
 
TheBigA said:
As I recall, WABC recorded the ABC TOH news and ran it 55 minutes later. Then when ABC Radio divided into four networks in 1968, they had a live newscast at :55, basically for Sklar. They named it the American Contemporary Network, and WABC, WLS, and KQV were among its affiliates.
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ABC didn't have top of the hour news until the split in 1968. The old ABC was "live at :55" going back into the late 50s.
 
JRH said:
ABC didn't have top of the hour news until the split in 1968. The old ABC was "live at :55" going back into the late 50s.
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You're right; I think their slogan then was something like "News first and five minutes faster on ABC."
 
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