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WNSH 94.7 to Carry Some Sports Play by Play

B

Barry

Star Participant
New York's Country is airing spots tonight stating that they will be occasionally carrying Nets basketball games. There is one scheduled for Monday night. This will apparently be done when sister Entercom stations such as WFAN are carrying other sporting events at the same time.
These interruptions of the regular country format are an unfortunate consequence of the the pending sale of the station to Entercom. Current owner Cumulus Media never cut into the country music programming in this manner, probably because they don't offer much or any sports play by play in this market.
I wonder whether the station will also have to air some games from other local teams during various parts of the year.
 
Barry said:
Current owner Cumulus Media never cut into the country music programming in this manner, probably because they don't offer much or any sports play by play in this market.
Click to expand...

However, Cumulus has the rights to the Atlanta Braves, and they just announced their play by play will now be heard on their rock station in that city.

So we are now seeing more places where a music station is breaking format for sports play by play.

This particular move might have made sense when the Nets played in the Meadowlands. Less sense now they they're in Brooklyn.
 
TheBigA said:
However, Cumulus has the rights to the Atlanta Braves, and they just announced their play by play will now be heard on their rock station in that city.

So we are now seeing more places where a music station is breaking format for sports play by play.

This particular move might have made sense when the Nets played in the Meadowlands. Less sense now they they're in Brooklyn.
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This is the dreaded sports overlap period, with MLB, NBA, NHL and MLS all playing regular season games. (Not sure about MLS radio in NYC; I know the soccer teams do air on sports radio in some markets.) Scheduling conflicts are often inevitable, and you find sports play-by-play breaking format on music stations. The NBA and NHL seasons are ending in the next week or two and the only NYC area team going to the playoffs is the Islanders, whose games are on a college station. A couple of Nets games that only a few dozen diehards will be listening to, aired in a daypart in which only a few more country music fans would be likely to be tuned in, will have no lasting effect on the station's popularity, advertising or anything else worth fretting over. The bottom line here is the bottom line: You put the games anywhere, run the spots the advertisers have paid for regardless of whether anyone is actually listening to the irrelevant event being broadcast, and fulfill your contractual obligation. Inconveniencing a few Florida-Georgia Line fans for 2 1/2 hours on a few nights is nothing for anyone at Cumulus or Entercom to be losing sleep over.
 
1997 the last year the Hartford Whalers hockey team existed. WTIC 1080-AM (news/talk/sports)had the rights along with the rights to UCONN Huskies Men and Women's basketball. I remember one night UCONN Men were on WITC AM, UCONN Women were on WTIC-FM 96.5 (HOT Adult Contemporary), and The Hartford Whalers were on WZMX 93.7 FM which at the time was doing a 70s based Classic Hits format.

I also remember back in the 90s when 98.5 WDRE in Westhampton, Long Island would interrupt their simulcast of 92.7 WLIR in Garden City to carry New York Islander's hockey. We had a stereo receiver with rabbit ears hooked up to it in our downstairs rec room at our house in Bristol, CT and 98.5 used to come in like a local.
 
The Islanders and Devils are on the Radio.com app, but the Nets are normally carried on WFAN. The regular NBA season is almost over and I doubt if the Nets will advance past the first round in the playoffs. so only a few games would be on 94.7 FM. It is obvious that WFAN AM and FM will never air different programming.
 
I get it that carrying a few remaining Nets games during the evening hours is not a big deal.
But in the course of a year, the station may have to carry overflow games from other teams, and not just at night. And of course Nets games again once their next season starts. That could be rather disruptive, especially since it is difficult for the average listener to know when these interruptions will occur.
 
Barry said:
That could be rather disruptive, especially since it is difficult for the average listener to know when these interruptions will occur.
Click to expand...

That's why they're announcing it on air and on line. Think of it from the point of view of Nets fans, who will wonder what happened to their game one night when it's not where it's been all season. Any change in format is disruptive. It's disruptive to interrupt news with the Mets. On the other side, there are probably a lot of people who have never tuned in 94.7. They don't even know the station exists. So this forces them to go there for a night, and maybe discover something they didn't know existed.
 
For more rural-oriented sports followers, there doubtless will be lots of available things for the Nash programmers .... NASCAR, rodeos, steer-roping, tractor pulls, etc.

I don't know well it would go over, though, for a NYC listener who had set the clock radio to wake up to Country and instead have to get their A out of B at dawn to a bullfight from Madrid. There is a limit.

But stations have to do whatever is necessary in 2019. Especially when a station, despite its licensing as an official 'New York frequency' has been treated through the decades as a second-class Class B.
 
Steve Green NEPA said:
I don't know well it would go over, though, for a NYC listener who had set the clock radio to wake up to Country and instead have to get their A out of B at dawn to a bullfight from Madrid. There is a limit.
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I don't think that's what's happening here though.
 
TheBigA said:
I don't think that's what's happening here though.
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I hope he's only exaggerating when he posts about tractor pulls and bullfighting on 94.7. There is no national broadcast of tractor pulling; it is strictly a local, county-fair-type activity and radio play-by-play would have zera appeal anywhere, let alone in New York City. Bullfighting is not a rural American pastime, period. Dogfighting, yes, but the demographics are wrong, the most famous dogfighter, Mr. Vick, is no longer in the game, and, ummmm, it's illegal.
 
Some years ago some New York Giant football games were aired on WCBS-FM due to conflicts. I think that 94.7 FM is the overflow station since it is cheaper to keep it in the Entercom family rather than buy time on an AM station like 930, 970 or 1130.
 
WNSH carried its second Nets basketball game tonight. I thought that would be the last one for the season, but it is possible they will have to broadcast more over the next few days. The team has made it to playoffs.
 
Brooklyn Nets vs. Philadelphia 76ers 1st Round Playoff Schedule:

Game 1: Sat, April 13 Brooklyn at Philadelphia, 2:30 ET, ESPN - probably on WCBS 880 as Mets play at 7:20 PM
Game 2: Mon, April 15 Brooklyn at Philadelphia, 8 ET, TNT - probably on WFAN 660/101.9 as Yankees are off
Game 3: Thu, April 18 Philadelphia at Brooklyn, 8 ET, TNT - probably on WCBS 880 as Mets are off
Game 4: Sat, April 20 Philadelphia at Brooklyn, 3 ET, TNT - probably on WNSH 94.7 as Yankees and Mets play in afternoon
*Game 5: Tue, April 23 Brooklyn at Philadelphia TBD, TBD - probably on WNSH 94.7 as Yankees and Mets play at night
*Game 6: Thu, April 25 Philadelphia at Brooklyn TBD, TBD - probably on WCBS 880 as Mets are off
*Game 7: Sat, April 27 Brooklyn at Philadelphia, TBD, TNT - probably on WNSH 94.7 as Mets play at 7:10 PM and Yankees at 4:05 PM
- (unless Nets start time is early enough in afternoon, then could be on WCBS 880)

* = if necessary

All subject to change due to baseball weather delays and/or postponements
and length of basketball series.
 
InsideRadio reports that the swap involving WNSH has closed. Entercom is now the owner of the country station.
They are apparently acquiring it at a good time. Their overall ratings have been on the rise, and have now reached 2.8. That 's the highest I recall seeing for them.
Perhaps they have been boosted by the switch to a local morning show earlier in the year, which includes an hour of continuous music every weekday.
 
Barry said:
Perhaps they have been boosted by the switch to a local morning show earlier in the year, which includes an hour of continuous music every weekday.
Click to expand...

I agree. More music always translates to more listeners. I think they'll reach a 3 share by the summer.
 
I have completely ignored that spot on the dial not so much that I am not a big fan of new country, I would be willing to getting used to something diifferent, but the audio on 94.7 was always the worst in NYC. Like listening to music on AM. Out of curiosity will give it a shot tomorrow and see if it has changed any.
 
Signal still sounds the same as I remember it here in Rockland. Losts of co-channel, same channel interference and static, unlike all other NYC stations that boom in. Audio is vary narrow, just a step above AM. With the money they are spending you would think they would make some improvements there. Perhaps when they move to NYC?
 
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