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Entercom announces what it keeps, what it doesn't

DavidZ said:
And would they move the format of WKAF to 107.3 as well?
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I doubt it, because the 107.3 signal is poor in the urban Boston neighborhoods where many of WKAF's listeners are. The Blue Hill transmitter is a prime location for the format.

Not only is the 107.3 signal weak and shadowed there, it also has adjacent interference from inner city pirates on both 107.1 and 107.5.
 
I see a couple of possiblities, at least for WRKO and/or WKAF.
What about Bloomberg for either WRKO—which would pretty much cover the areas of, and need of, all of the patchwork HD-# stations and xltr.s they are using—or WKAF, to add to the South Shore coverage, instead of WXKS (or in addition to, keeping in mind they are using both the radio and TV feeds).
Another—albeit, remote—possibility for either WRKO or WKAF is Raycom Media, which recently bought the parent of The Salem News.
As for the AM institutions, I would like to see Cox snatch up WBZ and WHDHʼs Sunbeam Television expand to radio with WRKO (or vice-versa), though I realize the latter is highly unlikely. :cool:
 
Uncle Kaimbridge said:
I see a couple of possiblities, at least for WRKO and/or WKAF.
What about Bloomberg for either WRKO—which would pretty much cover the areas of, and need of, all of the patchwork HD-# stations and xltr.s they are using—or WKAF, to add to the South Shore coverage, instead of WXKS (or in addition to, keeping in mind they are using both the radio and TV feeds).
Another—albeit, remote—possibility for either WRKO or WKAF is Raycom Media, which recently bought the parent of The Salem News.
As for the AM institutions, I would like to see Cox snatch up WBZ and WHDHʼs Sunbeam Television expand to radio with WRKO (or vice-versa), though I realize the latter is highly unlikely. :cool:
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WRKO has a poor signal beyond 128 after sunset
 
ScottBurns said:
Can someone explain the "whys" here:
1. Why not keep WBZ instead of WEEI? Doesn't the former's signal have better reach?
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At the risk of sounding like John Madden, when both you and the group you're acquiring are at or near the 40% revenue cap the DOJ imposes, you're going to have to get rid of some good stuff.

2. Why keep 107.3, with its signal limitations, rather than WZLX, which is actually a Boston station?
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See above. Swapping 107.3 for WZLX would likely have put Entercom over the 40% revenue cap.

3. Will the local sports hosts be consolidated at 93.7?
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We'll likely find out more after the final press releases from Entercom and the DOJ, but it's not likely. When stations are divested to satisfy the DOJ, the settlement typically prohibits the parties involved from poaching each other's staffs for a certain period of time if the DOJ was concerned with certain stations and/or programs affecting competition and/or revenue concentrations.

4. Why keep 93.7 when 98.5 has the better signal? Or might WEEI's programming be consolidated at 98.5?
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WEEI-FM has higher ratings and bills more than WBZ-FM. Plus, WEEI gets some good money from its network programming. Again, at this point, we don't know if WEEI-FM might find itself on a better signal after the merger is complete. There's a good chance it won't, but the only people who know for certain work for the DOJ or in Bala-Cynwyd, PA. Sometimes, the DOJ requires divestitures based on signal coverage. Sometimes, it doesn't.
 
dhoule said:
And doesn't ESPN pay them money to run it on 850???
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ESPN doesn't have a reputation for paying people to run its programming unless it operates the station. Unless it's operating 850 for Entercom (which I don't believe it is), Entercom is likely paying ESPN. Even in a large market, ESPN is more valuable to an AM signal than the AM signal is to ESPN.
 
Thanks for your responses. In terms of the buyers, despite its awful financial status, what about Cumulus? Perhaps they would consider selling assets in order to land some Boston properties?
 
ScottBurns said:
Thanks for your responses. In terms of the buyers, despite its awful financial status, what about Cumulus? Perhaps they would consider selling assets in order to land some Boston properties?
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Entercom’s statement that it expects to get 11 stations in 3 markets that have billed $19-20 million in the first half of this year plus $207 million in addition to the $57.8 million it’s getting from EMF would seem to rule out Cumulus in Boston. There’s a slim chance it could do KRBE in Houston for a San Francisco property, but it seemed more likely Cumulus would’ve gone after KSWD with KRBE as bait.
 
Can two stations have the same calls if owned by different companies? So would WBZ-TV or WBZ Radio be forced to change their call letters when they end up with different owners?
 
dhoule said:
Can two stations have the same calls if owned by different companies? So would WBZ-TV or WBZ Radio be forced to change their call letters when they end up with different owners?
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Yes, but WBZ is too much of a brand name for CBS to let it go , I would bet they get to retain the calls and may park them, as they did with WBCN somewhere a thousand miles away
 
MRBIboredop said:
Yes, but WBZ is too much of a brand name for CBS to let it go , I would bet they get to retain the calls and may park them, as they did with WBCN somewhere a thousand miles away
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Can a three-letter call be parked? I don't care either way, because I realize that these days call letters largely matter only to old folks and radio geeks, but it would be very odd to see WBZ become a 1-kilowatt right-wing talker somewhere in the South. I'll leave the outrage for others.
 
MRBIboredop said:
Yes, but WBZ is too much of a brand name for CBS to let it go , I would bet they get to retain the calls and may park them, as they did with WBCN somewhere a thousand miles away
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No. For example, KIRO (Seattle) and KIRO-FM (Tacoma) are owned by Bonneville, while KIRO-TV (Seattle) is owned by Cox.
 
KXA said:
No. For example, KIRO (Seattle) and KIRO-FM (Tacoma) are owned by Bonneville, while KIRO-TV (Seattle) is owned by Cox.
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But none of those are/were CBS stations, and CBS has already demonstrated that they park calls rather than let them get scooped up.

According to The Charlotte Observer, CBS decided to park the WBCN call letters in Charlotte to keep another Boston station from picking them up and trading on their 51-year heritage in Boston (including 41 years as a rock station). Bill Schoening, CBS Radio manager for Charlotte, said, "It's very common in the business. It was a major signal with call letters that still have value and heritage
 
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raccoonradio said:
Beasley now has WBCN 1660 via a trade with CBS.
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Correct, but nobody in Boston got them when they were "worth" something... ( by the time BCN was done the calls were worthless).

Now here is a question...

WBZ-A has a back up transmitter and studios at the WBZ-TV building right, ZLX and 98.5 are in the old TV-38 building, RKO and WKAF are over in the "shoe building" correct?

There are a lot of stations that are going to need studio space, and stuff that is going to get moved around.

Any guesses who gets shuffled where in all of this?

Unless CBS TV works some synergy arraignment with the new owners of the 1030 license that requires them to be co located... the AM will have to go, and if they do will the backup AM be dismantled?

How much is that transmitter site in Hull worth? That will drive the price up.
 
and then there are the union issues....

Entercom IIRC is non union, while the CBS stations are...

the CBS stations have a warm body at the board 24/7 by contract, Entercom has Otto Mation asleep at the switch for most of the day.

CBS uses a different traffic service than ETM, A lot of folks that stayed with BZ by way of the new traffic provider must be worried ( Kristen, Nichole, Rob H, etc) while some that got shuffled down to 680 from 1030 (Lori Grande), since RKO uses IHrts news/traffic from over in the old KISS108 must also be worried about their futures too

damn all these people worried about jobs, and we have not had the usual Evil Empire end of year slaughter yet....

https://www.indymedia.org/media/2005/12//830350.mp3
 
MRBIboredop said:
https://www.allaccess.com/net-news/...re-stations-to-be-spun-off-from-entercom-cbs-

CBS dumps WBZ AM and 98.5 the Sports Hub ( WBZ-FM), Entercom dumps WRKO and WKAF

I wonder if Howie Carr will buy WRKO....

The only reason to keep WEEI 850 is to move WRKO's programming there....
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Entercom has let the WRKO signal deteriorate to such a degree that it is nearly impossible to hear anything but white noise....Then again, it might reflect the current programming.
 
Tilden said:
Entercom has let the WRKO signal deteriorate to such a degree that it is nearly impossible to hear anything but white noise....Then again, it might reflect the current programming.
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So...is that a racist comment against white people? Racism is racism...you can't have it both ways.
 
KXA said:
So...is that a racist comment against white people? Racism is racism...you can't have it both ways.
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White noise is the noise you hear on a vacant TV channel when the screen is full of "snow." By extension, it could be applied to the noise of a radio frequency on which the dominant sound is manmade and atmospheric hash. It's a well-known term and has nothing to do with race. Don't be a snowflake.
 
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KXA said:
So...is that a racist comment against white people? Racism is racism...you can't have it both ways.
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I don't even know how to respond to this one

it is either really bad sarcasm, or the dumbest thing I have ever read on an internet forum geared towards people who are supposed to know something about radio.

Either way, here is your trophy, thanks for participating


here, read and learn: http://science.howstuffworks.com/question47.htm
 
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I think it was the “....Then again, it might reflect the current programming” appendage—rather than “white noise”—that awoke the racism claim.
 
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