Lowell Spinners Owner Angry Over WCCM Sale

["Mark Watson" <markwats@mediaone.net>]

  An article in today's (10/6) edition of the Lowell Sun states that Drew
Weber, owner of the Lowell Spinners baseball team is very upset by the
announced sale of WCCM to the Archdiocese of Boston. WCCM has carried Lowell
Spinners games for the past 3 seasons. Weber said that he wanted to buy the
station but was told when he spoke with station co-owner Pat Costa in
February that the station was not for sale. The article states that the
Archdiocese of Boston and Costa/Eagle Broadcasting were in talks to sell
WCCM since February.Weber also stated he was ready to pay more that the 1.5
million being paid by the Archdiocese.

   Weber also wants to know how Costa/Eagle will honor the last year of the
3 year contract to carry Spinners games. The article states that the
Spinners now have the option to have it's broadcasts transfered to  one of
Costa/Eagle's 2 remaining stations: WNNW or WHAV. Legally, night games won't
be able to be broadcast on WNNW (1110 Salem NH) and WHAV"s (1490 Haverhill)
night signal doesn't exist far beyond downtown Lawrence on a good night.

   That leaves only one station left to pick up the Spinners games: WCAP.
But will  WCAP owner Maurice Cohen bend to the Spinners' demands that the
team chooses it's game announcers? Or will Drew Weber make an offer to buy
WCAP? And can Drew Weber seek any legal recourse against Costa/Eagle if they
can't honor the last year of the contract? Should be quite interesting to
see how this plays out.

BTW:This article does not appear on the Lowell Sun's website unfortunetly.

Mark Watson