Mel *QUITS*

[Dan Strassberg]

Well, WWBZ appears to be available for both AM and TV; WBBZ appears to be
available for TV. Since calls mean almost nothing on TV (and WBZ-TV now uses
its calls only in legal IDs), one would hope that CBS would relinquish the
WBZ calls from TV and let the AM have them. Since Karmazin apparently
reduces every issue to economic terms, you have to wonder whether he can
assign an economic value to the WBZ calls remaining on radio. I think the
value is huge. If WBZ 1030 were to change its calls, people would
nevertheless continue to write them into Arbitron diaries as long as
Arbitron continues using diaries. If Arbitron no longer counted diary
entries that read WBZ as meaning the station on 1030 AM, the ratings would
plummet--perhaps by 40%--and the value of the radio station's spot inventory
would decrease by a similar amount--probably NEVER to recover. That fact is
probably sufficiently tied to the state of Mel's wallet that even someone
as, umm, single-minded as he is could grasp its importance. OTOH, Sumner
probably understands the importance also and I'm sure he's not above
requiring Mel to fork over a hefty chunk of additional change to keep the
calls with the AM. Come to think of it, there are quite a few major markets
in which call signs remaining with an AM could become an important economic
issue in a spin-off of Viacom's radio properties. The Boston scenario could
certainly apply AT LEAST in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. For us radio geeks,
monitoring the fight over the economic value of the call signs  could become
a thrilling spectator sport ;>)

--
Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg@att.net
eFax 707-215-6367

----- Original Message -----
From: A. Joseph Ross <lawyer@attorneyross.com>
To: Shawn Mamros <mamros@mit.edu>
Cc: Boston Radio <boston-radio-interest@rolinin.BostonRadio.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2004 12:34 AM
Subject: Re: Mel *QUITS*


>
> It may even have WBZ radio and WBZ-TV under separate ownership.  And that
may mean a
> call-letter change, dammit!