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Fwd: Boston Radio Watch 05-22-1998
- Subject: Fwd: Boston Radio Watch 05-22-1998
- From: DAVID_BOUCHER@prodigy.com ( D BOUCHER)
- Date: Mon, 25 May 1998 03:40:06, -0500
In case some of you haven't seen this yet.....
Dave
- ------- FORWARD, Original message follows -------
Date: Friday, 22-May-98 10:16 PM
From: Shneyder, Mark \ Internet: (mshbc@bu.edu)
Subject: Boston Radio Watch 05-22-1998
* 1997 Report : Boston Radio Revenue Surges 13% to $219 Million; CBS
takes
the biggest slice of the pie in the Hub...
If there was any doubt the big boys have taken over Boston radio,
just released 1997 revenue estimates from Duncan's American Radio
Report
should put it to rest.
Since 1976, Cincinnati-based Duncan has been calculating
station-by-station revenue each year, and while the figures are not
official, it is considered the best source.
In the 1997 calculations for Boston, one thing stands out:
Passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 has resulted in a
massive wave
of ownership consolidation in the Boston radio market. CBS Corp.,
nation's
top radio group with 150 station and revenue surpassing $1 billion,
has emerged as the clear leader in the market's "new order." With 5
stations(WBZ-AM,WBCN-FM,WODS-FM,WZLX-FM and WBMX-FM) CBS now controls
roughly 43% of market's total ad dollars. Another radio giant, Texas-
based
Chancellor Media, which is nation's number two radio group is very
distant third in the Hub with a little over 15% with 3 stations(WJMN-
FM,
WXKS-FM and WXKS-AM). At second place is New Jersey-based Greater
Media
with 18.6% with its 5-station Boston cluster(WMJX-FM, WROR-FM, WSJZ-FM
,
WKLB-FM and WBOS-FM).
The biggest jump in the '97 figures was for WBCN (104.1 FM), rising
from $18.9 million to $25.7 million. Overall, total market revenue
increased by 13%, from $194 million in 1996 to $219 million last year.
According Duncan's American Radio Guid, here top10 highest-billing
stations
in Boston during 1997 :
Station Format 1997 Revenue 1996 Revenue+
Owner
(position)
________________________________________________________________________
_____
1. WBZ-AM 1030 News/Talk/Sports $26,000,000 $22,500,000 (1) CBS
Corp
________________________________________________________________________
_____
2. WBCN-104.1FM Modern Rock/Stern $25,700,000 $18,900,000 (3) CBS
Corp
________________________________________________________________________
_____
3. WEEI-AM 850 All Sports $21,700,000 $20,200,000 (2) CBS-p
________________________________________________________________________
_____
4. WXKS 107.9FM CHR/Top40 $20,700,000 $17,400,000 (4)
Chancellor
________________________________________________________________________
_____
5. WMJX 106.7FM AC $16,000,000 $13,000,000 (6)
Greater Media
________________________________________________________________________
_____
6. WODS 103.3FM Oldies $15,000,000 $11,500,000 (8) CBS
Corp.
________________________________________________________________________
_____
7. WBMX 98.5FM Modern AC $13,500,000 $12,500,000 (7) CBS-a
________________________________________________________________________
_____
8. WZLX 100.7FM Classic Rock $13,000,000 $15,200,000 (5) CBS
Corp.
________________________________________________________________________
_____
9. WJMN 94.5FM CHR/Rhythmic $12,500,000 $10,200,000 (10)
Chancellor
________________________________________________________________________
_____
10. WRKO AM 680 Talk $ 8,900,000 $10,600,000 (9) CBS-p
________________________________________________________________________
_____
a- WBMX-98.5FM will be officially acquired by CBS from ARS in the Spring
1998.
p- WRKO-AM and WEEI-AM are currently up for sale as part of condition
set by the
Dept. of Justic antirust division for CBS-ARS merger to be completed.
* Satellite snafu affects Boston's NPR affiliates..
The fragility of some modern technology was underscored by the array of
problems created by a single satellite that went awry 22,300 miles
over
Kansas last Tuesday night(5/19).
The problems in space were creating a number of unexpected problems on
Earth.
Galaxy 4's breakdown meant a temporary loss of National Public Radio
programming for local radio stations WGBH-FM 89.7 and WBUR 90.9FM.
Galaxy 4 carried all NPR programming, as well as programs from Public
Radio
International (PRI) such as BBC's NewsHour. Around 6:15pm on Tuesday
night,
WGBH-FM and WBUR-FM listeners suddenly lost All Things Considered and
other
non-local programming. Both stations managed to patch its NPR
programming
through ISDN lines and restore programming within an hour.
The Galaxy 4 satellite that malfunctioned is owned by PanAmSat, a
Greenwich,
Conn., company that has 17 satellites worldwide. In a press release,
company officials said the Galaxy 4's onboard control system and backup
switch failed, and the satellite rotated out of position. Though
technicians were
able to send commands to the craft, they could not restore its
orientation
to Earth.
Estimates of the time it will take to get the satellite system back to
normal
as far as NPR programming is concerned ranged from two to 10 days,
according
PBS officials.
FCC will also investigate Galaxy 4's failure. In a press release,
Chairman
Bill Kennard said: "After the problems are resolved, our advisory
committee,
the National Reliability & Interoperability Council, [will]assess the
cause
of the problem and make recommendations to the Commission."
* News Briefs :
- - Rick Shockley who programmed CBS-owned oldies WODS-FM(Oldies 103) for
the
past 5 years is moving on to Phoenix's KOOL 94.5FM to take over
program
director duties at Chancellor-owned oldies station. [Ed : Good luck,
Rick!
Dont forget to bookmark BRW site when you get to Arizona!]
- - The new overnight voice on WJMN 94.5(Jamn 94-5) will belong to
Chris Tyler who comes over from Top40 WERZ-FM/Exeter, NH. Tyler
was also with WPRO-FM/Providence from 1993-1996.
Speaking of WJMN, congrats to Jamn's morning man Baltazar Ibanez on
his
upcoming wedding. Baltazar and his girlfriend Michele Bravo will
exchange
wedding vows in early June. But before he heads for what he calls
"Lockdown",
Baltazar will give away $1 million to a lucky listener on Tuesday
morning(May 26) during one of biggest promotional giveaways in Boston
radio history.
- - Greater Media's VP/CEO Tom Milewski, who's currently battling some
serious
health problems. was among five media executives who this week were
named
by National Association Broadcasters to head organization's Radio
Board.
Milewski who oversees privately-held Greater Media Corp. is known in
the
industry as a champion for radio's smaller, private broadcasting
interest,
and he still embraces the spirit of broadcast diversity. In 1994,
when
most radio operators lobbied hard for broadened ownership limits,
Milewski,
who started his broadcasting career at a small Worcester, Mass. radio
station
some 25 years ago, opposed rules he feared would allow one broadcaster
to own all the stations in a single market.
Unlike groups that have built their holdings to almost 100 stations or
more,
Milewski believes New Jersey-based Greater Media never bowed to the
temptation of growing for growth's sake. The company currently owns
14 stations in Boston(5), Detroit(3), Philadelphia(4) and
New Brunswick/Trenton,NJ(2) markets.
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
For more news on Boston radio and other local markets, please
visit http://www.radiodigest.com/
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To be added to Boston Radio Watch mailing list, please E-mail your
request to mshbc@bu.edu. If you have any comments or suggestions,
please e-mail them to the same address. Thanks!
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Copyright 1998, BRW. All rights reserved, all wrongs reversed. Page is
updated
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Dave in Boston
(For E-mail, mailto:David_Boucher@Prodigy.com?subject=fromEMCsig )
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