ESPN-Boston problems?

[Scott Fybush]

Kevin Vahey wrote:
> Was talking to a freiend who works at ESPN in Bristol and he says the
> network is looking very hard at the new owner of 1510 to possibly move
> ESPN Radio there.
> 
> Problem is a nutshell is the 890 nightime signal and they have
> received many complaints from would be listeners of World Series and
> other sports playoffs that they simply can not hear the station.
> 
> It is rare that someone would look at 1510 as an option for a better
> signal but it certainly is at this point.
> 
> This might explain why the new owners sent out a release saying they
> would stay sports.

I suspect anyone switching from 890 to 1510 in search of a significantly 
better night signal is going to go home disappointed. Neither is a 
full-market night signal, nor can it ever be one. It all comes down to 
what portion of the metro you're most interested in serving. 890 is, as 
you'd expect from the Dedham COL, most potent along a line from its 
Ashland transmitter site through the southwestern suburbs of Boston. It 
doesn't have the raw signal strength to be very useful in Boston proper, 
and its pattern doesn't favor the northern suburbs at all. It also 
suffers a lot of incoming interference from WLS and WCBS.

1510, by contrast, is most effective along a line from its 
Waltham/Belmont transmitter into downtown Boston, and is decent in the 
northern suburbs. It's lousy to the south and nonexistent to the west, 
and suffers massive incoming interference from WLAC.

Neither signal is useful in the growth areas of the market - southern 
NH, west of Framingham, the South Shore.

> BTW maybe Scott knows for sure but are the Spinners just going to be
> on 1400 and not 890?

As best I can tell, yes, that's the case. I expect the ESPN network feed 
would continue on 890.

s