Not a wise choice. (Re: Herald Inside Track: Might Sox buy 99.5?)

[Peter Q. George]

Like John said, the BoSox would be crazy to change the
current situation.  WEEI/850 has a fantastic signal in
the area where it really counts, the Metropolitan
Boston area (which INCLUDES Fenway Park!).  A good
amount of people bring their radios into the park to
follow the play-by-play while it's happening. (Yes, I
know the AM's pattern is pretty weak in the Metro
West, but for the most part, 850 does a great job.  

What could the Red Sox accomplish by buying a
semi-suburban FM'er (99.5) who's signal is (more than
likely) awash in intermod from the Pru? And what would
they plan to program during the "off hours"? The
Boston  market is already inudated with sports talk
stations up the wazoo. The Red Sox are not exactly
filthy rich with dough to buy an FM station to
broadcast their games anyway.  

WEEI (both AM and FM) are a perfect fit and are very
successful in what they do.  I know that the FM side
down in Rhode Island will eventually carry the Red Sox
games once the contract says so. 

IMHO: 99.5 would not be a wise choice for the Red Sox.
I could see 99.5 carrying the day and/or night games
to fill out the areas of the Metro West and Southern
New Hampshire and Southern Maine.         


Who knows?

Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
Whitman, Massachusetts

--- John Francini <francini@mac.com> wrote:

> >
> >
> > It is certainly audible at Fenway.  I drive by
> there into the  
> > Longwood area
> > every day and can pick up WPLM and WKLB easily.
> 
> It doesn't matter if it's audible *outside* the
> park; it only matters  
> if it's audible *inside* the park -- inside the
> metal-and-concrete  
> partial-Faraday cage of the park superstructure,
> that is.
> 
> >
> > I seem to remember a year(?) when WPLM and carried
> the Sox.
> > (Jack Campbell was adamant that WPLM was enough to
> cover Boston.   
> > And WKLB
> > has a better downtown signal than WPLM.)
> 
> And how long did that last? I lived on the South
> Shore (Randolph) and  
> worked in Quincy when that was going on. Picking up
> that signal, even  
> there, was a royal pain in the butt.  It was much
> better when they  
> started simulcasting on the old WWEL (now WXKS)
> 107.9.
> 
> >
> > When the Bruins were on WPLM...they chose to
> supplement the  
> > coverage with a
> > small Boston AM (1150AM) as their Boston
> affiliate.
> 
> The Sox get so many benefits from being on a 50kW
> station with a  
> large reach, and with a sports-talk format with
> hosts and guests who  
> really know how to keep the pot stirred, and
> therefore keep the Sox  
> on everyone's tongues, the whole year long.  It's a
> combination that  
> has enormous real synergy, and provides an enormous
> amount of free  
> publicity for the team.
> 
> Frankly, I think the Sox would be utter fools to
> move from WEEI.
> 
> >
> > Do you think Fenway Park could offer the same
> thing within the  
> > stadium?  A
> > rebroadcast of the radio call on some low powered
> AM frequency?
> 
> If they stay where they are, this is an expense they
> wouldn't need to  
> take on.
> 
> Memo To Jason Wolfe and Larry Lucchino: GET THE DEAL
> DONE. BEFORE THE  
> START OF THIS SEASON.
> 
> (Not that either of them read this list, but you
> never know...)
> 
> John Francini
> Nashua, NH
> 


Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
Whitman, Massachusetts
                           "Scanning the bands since 1967"
radiojunkie1@yahoo.com
radiojunkie3@yahoo.com
***********************************************************

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