Entercom announces what it keeps, what it doesn't

TheBigA said:

First of all, no one said anything about WBZ becoming a "clone of WLW." You said iHeart fires local talent, and WLW is an example of how that's not true.

But secondly, neither WLW nor KFI have syndicated talk. They are both all live and local talk stations. So once again, that disproves your false statement that iHeart replaces local with syndicated.

iHeart also bought WRKO, which IS a talk station. So why would they change WBZ to compete against WRKO? It makes no sense at all.



No one is defending iHeart. I'm saying you're wrong when you say they replace local with syndicated. They haven't replaced local with syndicated at lots of their stations, and they haven't replaced local news with syndicated talk at WBZ. You're running around like Chicken Little, and you can't accept someone telling you you're wrong.

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You're cherry picking what I said
And lying at other times.
I am more concerned about the news format being dropped. I don't want WBZ to be strickly a talk station with headlines at the top of the hour.
It is common knowledge that Cheap Channel did attempt to make all
on air staff reapply for their currently held jobs. They were stopped.
We're you paying attention in the late fall?
The real shenanigans may begin when they move in to the Cheap Channel gulag in Medford this year.
I'll repeat...
The TV reporting from channel 4 were dropped, and reporters roundup disappeared around the time of Cheap Channel taking over.
Also, I'll add that Radio Mojo was dropped from WZLX HD2 for a typically cheap channel relay of WRKO

TheBigA said:

So why not have WBZ-AM make a strategic relationship with WCVB? And have the folks at ABC News Radio assist in that process?

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Here's why I think not.

Before we learned about iHeart's purchasing WBZ, there was speculation that Cox, owner of WFXT 25, might buy WBZ. However, several posters noted that if that were to happen, either WBZ-TV or CBS would probably insist that AM 1030 get new call letters, since WBZ RADIO would be pairing with WFXT(TV), which is an outright competitor of WBZ-TV. Make sense?

Ditto if AM 1030 were to strike a deal with WCVB.

You do recall correctly. And even shortly after WBZ became part of CBS, they would still carry ABC News TOH starting at 7:00 PM each weeknight.

TheBigA said:

Both parties have to WANT to have this kind of relationship. You assume TV wants to share its information with a competing medium. Remember: CBS sold radio. TV got rid of radio, not the other way around. If TV benefited from owning WBZ radio, they wouldn't have sold it. Perhaps the TV people don't want to play ball with radio any more.

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We do know that CBS Corp. wanted no part of radio anymore.

I, for one, would not assume that WBZ-TV wanted no part of WBZ Radio. WBZ-TV very likely had no say as to whether WBZ AM and FM should be sold, much less to whom.

nowradioguy said:

CBS would probably insist that AM 1030 get new call letters, since WBZ RADIO would be pairing with WFXT(TV), which is an outright competitor of WBZ-TV. Make sense?

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There's a lot of speculation in your speculation. The fact that WBZ-AM continues to use those call letters tells me there is some agreement between CBS and iHeart already. Otherwise the radio station would have to change. Same with the FM. Under the Entercom deal, the radio stations are allowed to use those call letters for a pre-determined period. I suspect that deal passed on to iHeart.

nowradioguy said:

WBZ-TV very likely had no say as to whether WBZ AM and FM should be sold, much less to whom.

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But the GM of WBZ-TV has a lot to say about continuing a relationship. What indication do you have that he would want his stations resources shared with this radio station?

TheBigA said:

There's a lot of speculation in your speculation. The fact that WBZ-AM continues to use those call letters tells me there is some agreement between CBS and iHeart already. Otherwise the radio station would have to change. Same with the FM. Under the Entercom deal, the radio stations are allowed to use those call letters for a pre-determined period. I suspect that deal passed on to iHeart.



But the GM of WBZ-TV has a lot to say about continuing a relationship. What indication do you have that he would want his stations resources shared with this radio station?

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Yes, I've read that there was an agreement for the spun-off CBS Radio O&O's, particularly those who had shared call signs with a TV outlet, to retain use of those call signs for some length of time (20 years, maybe?). But I would suspect this would not be allowed were one of those radio operations be bought by, say, a Cox, who has a TV operation in the same market.

I don't know the GM of WBZ-TV (or of any broadcast operation for that matter but), but the decision to maintain a close coupling between WBZ-TV and WBZ Radio, or between KYW-TV and KYW Radio, just to name two, would have to be between CBS Corp and either iHeart for WBZ or Entercom for several of the other former CBS Radio O&O's.

nowradioguy said:

Yes, I've read that there was an agreement for the spun-off CBS Radio O&O's, particularly those who had shared call signs with a TV outlet, to retain use of those call signs for some length of time (20 years, maybe?).

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The length of time WBZ-AM can retain those call letters is "in perpetuity," according to Inside Radio:

"It’s a long list that includes everything from the famous CBS Eye Design, CBS, CBS Radio and CBS Sports Radio to WCBS, KCBS and the seven other all-news radio stations that share call letters with CBS television stations. Those are KDKA Pittsburgh, WBBM Chicago, KYW Philadelphia, WWJ Detroit, WBZ Boston, WCCO Minneapolis and WJZ Baltimore. CBS is being more generous in its licensing terms for these seven station brands, allowing Entercom to keep their call letters and branding intact “perpetually.”

So there was a consideration given to all news radio stations that share their call letters with CBS TV stations as far as branding is involved. But NOT in terms of sharing content. If it was, it would have been mentioned in the contract.

nowradioguy said:

I would suspect this would not be allowed were one of those radio operations be bought by, say, a Cox, who has a TV operation in the same market.

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Which is why I doubt your speculation about Cox wanting to buy WBZ. Cox is a company that has been selling, not buying radio stations. So I have no reason to believe Cox was ever considering buying WBZ.

inorm99 said:

I am more concerned about the news format being dropped. I don't want WBZ to be strickly a talk station with headlines at the top of the hour.

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Maybe you missed where I said that iHeart already owns a talk station in Boston, known as WRKO. So why would they want to create two talk stations in the same town, especially when the all-news station has FAR BETTER RATINGS!!!!!

Let me repeat this. WBZ has FAR BETTER RATINGS than it's co-owned talk station. They have no reason to blow up the news station to create a competitor to its lower rated talk station. So as long as WBZ ratings are good, the all news format is safe. If people like you stop listening because of some personally created dislike of the station's new owners, then you will cause the ratings to drop. If the ratings drop, then they'd have no reason to continue a low rated format. Understand?

Yes, iHeart required all staff to re-apply for their jobs. As many posters told you then, that is common when a company is sold. But I guess you missed that. They re-applied and all got hired, and the union was retained, although it was not under the exact same contract that CBS had signed. But none of that has anything to do with the fact and the reality that as I write this, WBZ is still doing as much news as it did before the sale. Am I right? So how am I lying? You appear to be the one who is playing lose with the truth. Et tu, Chicken Little? The sky is falling, I felt it on my head. Yes changes were made because the TV reporters work for another company. But the news format continues on WBZ.

WBZ-AM is one of the top billing stations in the country - iHeart will want to keep the money coming in. That doesn't mean they won't make changes; they do need to keep the station moving forward and try to bring in younger listeners over time. Also have a path to streaming (which iHeart has a big presence in) should that take prominence on car dashboards.

Cutting reporters roundup - I don't really see that as a cost saving move; more of a formatting decision. Maybe people want to tune in at noon and get the normal news wheel on their lunch break.

Is moving to Medford bad? From what has been said on the air it sounds as if they are working to give the station some more room and a talk studio that can hold a small studio audience. They can meddle just as well regardless of where the station is so if they wanted to they could right now. On Soldiers Field the TV side probably took priority for space. WBZ is the top dog for the iHeart Boston cluster so that may be an advantage in the new building. For that matter, WRKO and WBZ can share talk studios since WRKO is local talk during the day and WBZ local talk at night.

Looking at all the uncertainty with CBS going on and a possible merger with Viacom, the radio stations are now out of the fray.