WCBS to go all sports. WWJ next?

[n8fnr]

Well this is just sad. If Audacy us doing this to their flagship station I wonder if WWJ is next.

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/277824/277824/

https://talkers.com/2024/08/12/audacy-t ... -new-york/

Zack S

[Rate This]

Well this is just sad. If Audacy us doing this to their flagship station I wonder if WWJ is next.

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/277824/277824/

https://talkers.com/2024/08/12/audacy-t ... -new-york/

Zack S

They appear to be consolidating 2 stations into one and keeping the one they already had as the news brand and it has higher ratings if you believe them. So it makes sense. That option isn’t available here. So there’s no way WWJ would vanish.

[Graham Wellington]

Well this is just sad. If Audacy us doing this to their flagship station I wonder if WWJ is next.

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/277824/277824/

https://talkers.com/2024/08/12/audacy-t ... -new-york/

Zack S

WCBS is far from their flagship station. Audacy owns WINS as well, with the same format and much better ratings. There was no way they were going to keep this scenario running.

[CD 94.7]

WWJ to flip? No way, why would they do that? in fact, I wouldn't mind seeing WWJ get a FM simulcast eventually. Chances don't look too good at this time though.

[SolarMax]

Well this is a real bummer. I frequently listen to WCBS 880 at night. Levon Putney is the best newsradio anchor; I really will miss hearing his unique style.
I can rarely if ever hear WINS 1010.

[n8fnr]

WWJ to flip? No way, why would they do that? in fact, I wouldn't mind seeing WWJ get a FM simulcast eventually. Chances don't look too good at this time though.

WWJ is also on 97.1 HD2. That is how I always listen to it.

[edj]

The only thing WWJ would even consider switching to under current ownership is talk and I don't see that happening at all.

[billmich88888]

Well this is a real bummer. I frequently listen to WCBS 880 at night. Levon Putney is the best newsradio anchor; I really will miss hearing his unique style.
I can rarely if ever hear WINS 1010.

all stations are easy to stream.... the days of the ionosphere bounce listening is LONG gone

[FredLeonard]

Audacy is headquartered in Philadelphia, so if any station could be considered a "flagahip," it would be KYW. Of course, a "flagship" is defined as a station that originates shows to a network and Audacy does not operate a network. WCBS has been a very weak performer in recent years, especially compared to WINS. Back in the day, WINS (then owned by Group W) used to do better in the city; WCBS in the suburbs but that is no longer the case. Maybe WCBS would be more viable if it were available on FM (which WINS is). I'm surprised it's taken so long for Audacy to make a change to WCBS but going all sports in questionable. The company already owns WFAN and it's performance with all sports hasn't been that great. The all news format is in decline everywhere. It's expensive to program and it doesn't get the audience numbers (or revenue) it once did.

[edj]

It makes me wonder if Good Karma would eventually purchase WCBS. ESPN radio with some local hosts is their forte, see Cleveland, Chicago, and Milwaukee as examples in our region.

[Newsman123]

As others have stated, Audacy was supporting two identical stations, competing for market share. Thats not an issue here.

Second, Audacy Detroit and WWJ make a lot of money. No need to mess with it.

As for moving to talk. Absolutely not. WWJ doubles
WJR in the ratings. They have no interest in doing anything remotely similar to them.

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

I don't think even Audacy is that stupid.

[CD 94.7]

880 will be LMA'd to Craig Karmazin's Good Karma Broadcasting, which will relocate the programming currently found on 98.7 WEPN-FM in New York to 880.

Good Karma assumed ESPN's obligations under an absurdly expensive lease with Emmis as to 98.7. Good Karma was paying $12.5 million a year to lease 98.7. That deal expires later this month, the lease is not being renewed, and Emmis will need to find new programming for 98.7.

I do not know the terms of the LMA between GKB and Audacy for 880. It has been reported Audacy will continue to produce the Mets baseball broadcasts, meaning it will retain that revenue stream. GKB will be required to air the Audacy-produced Mets baseball programming on 880.

I completely agree with your remarks about WCBS vis-a-vis WINS. WCBS was already slumping when WINS got the FM simulcast, and in 2024 so far, 880's AQH share has been awful.

Regardless of one's sentiments or fondness toward WCBS, this is the right move for Audacy business wise. The retain their biggest income source from 880 (baseball), will receive a nice rental payment from GKB, and will be able to enhance their listenership (and revenue) at WINS even further.

Yeah.. it's hard to let go of things but sooner or later everything comes to a close. For a long time, I've always found the arrangement strange with 2 basically the same formats under the same ownership in the same market. When WINS got a full market FM signal, I was kind of thinking 880 might not be long for this world.

Many people get sentimental about things but at the end of the day but he need for WCBS just isn't there anymore, so totally the right move on many levels.


On the question of WJR, they are becoming more and more irrelevant. So eventually something will have to give way but that's another talk for another thread.

[Ben Zonia]

If AMs on HD-2s are such a hot commodity, then why does New York City have three AM FM simulcasts? There's about the same number of local Class B FMs in Detroit. And only one commercial Talk format on FM. The truth is, there still aren't that many IBOC receivers, and the reception limitations of those signals have compared to analog signals. And streaming and HD-2s rarely have decent ratings. People don't have streaming and HD-2 receivers in every room. Should we go back to NuTone intercom systems?