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Fwd: Boston Radio Watch 05-22-1998



In case some of you haven't seen this yet.....


Dave



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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.


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visit http://www.radiodigest.com/
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 Dave in Boston  

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