• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

CBS Radio Cuts Could Silence WNEW

frankberry

frankberry

Administrator
Staff member
DCRTV hears from an always-reliable DC radio source that big cuts are coming to CBS Radio which could result in the end of money-draining all-newser WNEW, 99.1 FM. "There's going to be a bloodbath in DC and Baltimore and elsewhere in the country," we're told. The newly-installed president of CBS Radio, Andre Fernandez, who has a banking and financial background, is "the polar opposite of [former president] Dan Mason. He's all friggin' business. He wants to see growth, even though most of the stations are making money." And we hear, "There's talk of dumping WNEW all together because it's still costing way too much money" with its large staff of reporters and editors. That station was launched three years ago and, regarding ratings and revenue, has yet to come anywhere near top-performing rival all-newser WTOP, which is owned by Hubbard. "People will be cut left and right. It's going to be terrible, terrible," we're told about the coming CBS Radio changes. "Not just Washington, but all markets. The business department at DC has already been completely reorganized." In DC, CBS owns WNEW, WPGC, WLZL, WIAD, and WJFK-FM/AM. In Baltimore, CBS owns WJZ-FM/AM, WWMX, and WLIF. More soon.....
 
chrocket87 said:
It sounds like the nationalization of CBS (a la Cumulus or iHeart) is coming. So long, local radio.
Click to expand...

And yet neither of those companies have actually "nationalized" anything. For example, while WMZQ in DC runs a syndicated morning show, IHeart's co-owned WPOC in Baltimore runs a local morning show. Nothing national there. And the rest of their stations in the area are local. And the fact is the other CBS stations in the DC and Baltimore area are doing just fine. This one particular station has been a disaster since they launched it, and part of the problem is the signal. I think before we jump to conclusions here based on a rumor, we wait for some actual facts to come out.
 
So Premium Choice isn't nationalized programming? And Bobby Bones isn't a national program? I guess the word I should have used was 'syndicated', now that I think about it.
 
chrocket87 said:
So Premium Choice isn't nationalized programming? And Bobby Bones isn't a national program? I guess the word I should have used was 'syndicated', now that I think about it.
Click to expand...

Are we talking about Washington DC? I said Bones is on WMZQ, but he's not on WPOC. Still all local there with the veteran Laurie DeYoung.

But regardless, this thread is about this particular station, and it's further proof that no all-news station launched in the last 5 years has succeeded. That includes NYC, Houston, and Atlanta. The format is the issue, not the company.
 
Last edited:
Has there even been a successful all news launch in the last 20 years? I'll grant you that there wasn't a huge push for all news formats until about five years ago, but I lived in Dallas in '96 when KEWS 94.9 launched, and it barely lasted 6 months. I'm hard pressed to think of an all news launch since then (other than 99.1) that's still around.
 
There are lots of stations which identify themselves as "NEWSRADIO ****" but are not all news.
Before I moved to Michigan, I worked and lived in the Tampa Bay market.
One of the stations: http://www.970wfla.com/main.html calls themselves NEWSRADIO. If you click on the On-Air button, you can see their program schedule.
They are not all-news.
 
frankberry said:
There are lots of stations which identify themselves as "NEWSRADIO ****" but are not all news.
Before I moved to Michigan, I worked and lived in the Tampa Bay market.
One of the stations: http://www.970wfla.com/main.html calls themselves NEWSRADIO. If you click on the On-Air button, you can see their program schedule.
They are not all-news.
Click to expand...

The "Newsradio" tag was even used on Full Service/AC stations before they evolved to News/Talk. Again, KOMO Seattle would have to be considered a successful launch, even though their numbers aren't what they used to be.
 
I really hope they don't cut WNEW. When I travel through Maryland and stop in Baltimore, WNEW's signal comes in much stronger and the news is more reminiscent of KYW, a favourite of mine.
 
atrainradio said:
I really hope they don't cut WNEW. When I travel through Maryland and stop in Baltimore, WNEW's signal comes in much stronger and the news is more reminiscent of KYW, a favourite of mine.
Click to expand...

Reminiscent of KYW in more ways than one. This is not the first time CBS, filled with hubris, decided it owned all news radio and could just knock off somebody else's all news station. Almost 40 years ago, Bill Paley figured he could knock Group W's KYW. And more recently, Mason figured he could knock over WTOP. Forget that it is THE highest rated, highest billing spoken word station in the country. Arguably more successful than any CBS station. Forget a rim-shot signal. Forget even that CBS dumped WTOP because, like W.C. Fields, they'd rather be in Philadelphia - in order to buy the station they later ruined in their failed attempt to hit KYW. Maybe CBS' failure in trying to sneak back into DC is Godfrey's Curse.
 
Oscar Madison said:
Mason figured he could knock over WTOP.
Click to expand...

I don't know if his intent was to "knock over" anyone. In point of fact, WTOP is still a customer of CBS Radio, carrying their TOH news. Mason benefited from having WTOP as a successful station, even if his company doesn't own it.
 
TheBigA said:
I don't know if his intent was to "knock over" anyone. In point of fact, WTOP is still a customer of CBS Radio, carrying their TOH news. Mason benefited from having WTOP as a successful station, even if his company doesn't own it.
Click to expand...

Maybe, but they'd benefit more from knocking over WTOP. WTOP makes a lot of money. Compared to that, what CBS gets from them running TOH news spots is a pittance. Maybe somebody with inside info but I would not be surprised if WTOP generates more revenue and profit than the CBS Radio Network.
 
Oscar Madison said:
Maybe, but they'd benefit more from knocking over WTOP. WTOP makes a lot of money. Compared to that, what CBS gets from them running TOH news spots is a pittance.
Click to expand...

Given the market rank and size of WTOP, I suspect CBS pays Hubbard network compensation in some form. WTOP adds a great deal of tonnage to the CBS network.

Since WNEW is not targeting the DC market anyway, having WTOP on the radio network is a major win with no downside.

Maybe somebody with inside info but I would not be surprised if WTOP generates more revenue and profit than the CBS Radio Network.
Click to expand...

And even if that were true, how does running CBS news on a DC station affect a CBS news station serving Baltimore?
 
Probably, WTOP does pick up some change from CBS. Point is the incremental revenue to CBS from spots carried on WTOP is nothing compared to revenue expected from a successful O&O. Only problem is the O&O wasn't successful (before or after changing targets).

OK, it's a rim shot in two markets and given the lack of listeners in either, it's "serving" neither one.
 
The biggest problem with WNEW is its signal. It is originally an Annapolis station trying to serve Washington and Baltimore; now only Baltimore. The signal cannot be improved anymore than it is already is in DC due to second adjacent protection to WMZQ 98.7. It is possible the tower can moved closer to Baltimore, possibly with a COL change which, if implemented, will give 99.1 a much better competitive advantage in Baltimore.

Regarding other newly launched all-news outlets and their ultimate demise; by way of example WEMP "FM News" New York did not offer a real all news format. While there was some news in its content, the majority of its programming was lifestyles oriented targeted towards females which isn't news at all. News is objective, fact reporting. Lifestyles is subjective and opinion based. There is a big difference between the two and there is no real comparison between the former FM News and stations such as WCBS and WINS.
 
Last edited:
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.
Back
Top Bottom