Changes In WBZ Radio's News Presentation

[Mark Watson]

   I've noticed over the past few days that WBZ radio has changed how they 
start off the top and bottom of the hour, at least during the all news 
portion of the day. For example, After the J.J. Wright ID, the anchor starts 
off with "WBZ news time is 5 o'clock. I'm Diane Stern, here are some of the 
stories we're following in the WBZ news room, top stories teased with audio 
from a newsmaker along with a tease of the story from a WBZ reporter. 
There's also a weather tease from the Accu Weather meterologist and a sports 
tease from the sports anchor. All this takes up close to, if not, 60 
seconds. Traffic on the 3's and weather on the 10's still in their righful 
places. I haven't had a chance to listen after 8 PM when the talk shows 
begin, so I don't know if they do the new top of hour opening then either. 
Overnights they run CBS news, followed by traffic and recorded local news 
brief, so the new top of hour opening probably won't run those hours.

   These changes put them more in line with co-owned WINS (1010 New York), 
who for many years have had a similar top & bottom hour opening. Is WBZ 
adopting these changes as a result of a mandate from Infinity or to try to 
freshen things up to boost ratings? (They've dropped out of first place in 
recent times).

Mark Watson