Re: ratings

["Dan Strassberg" <Dan.Strassberg@att.net>]

I think Mel said to himself, "This is a total no brainer. In New York we
have the top-billing AM in the US. It's sports talk and it's on 660 with 50
kW-U ND. We've got to divest one station in Chicago because of the merger
with Viacom. Our poorest facility in Chicago is 1160, so that's what has to
go. But the sports format and the WSCR calls did well even when they were on
820--a 5 kW DAYTIMER for Heaven's sake. We've got 670, which is doing
news/talk and is underperforming. Besides we've got an established news
station on 780 that kinda competes with 670. The WSCR format--on the right
signal, that is, on 670 with 50 kW-U ND--should eat Chicago alive.
Underperforming WMAQ has to go; WSCR moves to the 670 spot." I'll bet it
took Mel less time to make the decision than it took me to write the
preceding paragraph.

My #1 question: Imus is the cornerstone of 660 in New York and if you take
out the revenues from the Mets (which next season won't go directly to
WFAN), Imus bills more than everything else on 660 put together. So who
holds the rights to Imus in Chicago right now and how long does the contract
run? There are differences in markets, of course, and Imus's brand of talk
probably plays a lot better in New York than it ever will in Chicago, but I
imagine that unless WSCR has Imus, the station isn't going to live up to its
potential. Also, what sports teams does WSCR hold the rights to? I forget
which New York teams besides the Mets WFAN has, but WSCR needs an equivalent
lineup. With the 1160 signal (even though it's 50 kW-D, it's only 5 kW-N and
it's DA-2), WSCR could have had quite a difficult time competing against
Chicago's other five 50 kW powerhouse AM signals in securing PBP rights. If
the teams have signed long-term contracts with WGN, WLS, or WMVP, it may be
a while before WSCR has the PBP lineup it needs. Mel is out for the quick
killing; it's not like him to think long term, but maybe that's what he was
doing when he moved WSCR to 670.

--

Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net
Phone: 1-617-558-4205, eFax: 1-707-215-6367

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Shneyder <bostonradio@yahoo.com>
To: dan.strassberg@att.net <dan.strassberg@att.net>; Sven Franklyn Weil
<sven@gordsven.com>
Cc: Don MacMillan <DMacMillan@mailandnews.com>;
boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org
<boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
Date: Friday, October 27, 2000 8:33 PM
Subject: Re: ratings


Viacom's WSCR at the new AM 670 spot as of August actually overtook ESPN's
WMVP 1000 among 12+ and men 25-54 in the Summer book. The numbers are still
lousy for a big sports market like Chicago --WSCR(1.5) did a fraction better
than WMVP(1.2) in the 12+ compared but the numbers are better than they used
to be in the Windy City. Maybe Mel saw some revenue potential in the
50,000watt frequency when he moved sports to AM 670....