Rush gone from WRKO

[Scott Fybush]

On 5/22/2015 1:36 AM, A Joseph Ross wrote:
>
> On 5/21/2015 1:09 PM, Garrett Wollman wrote:
>
>> We're talking about clearance in "the Boston market", not whether
>> anyone in Boston can actually hear it.
>
> I see, so clearance is entirely fictitious.
>

Not entirely.

There's "clearance for the sake of claiming to look big in trade 
publication ads," and for that purpose, the industry seems to have 
standardized on the use of TV DMAs, which is why Gardner or Laconia 
count as "Boston." If you're a third- or fourth-tier network trying to 
look impressive, every little bit counts, and in any event, everyone's 
wise to the game that's being played anyway.

But then there's the game iHeart/Premiere is trying to play, which is 
"avoid losing too much more money on a $50-million-a-year contract." 
THAT game needs more than a rimshot clearance to keep the bubble from 
bursting, and everyone's wise to that as well. As I've been saying all 
along, the real Rush story isn't what happens with WRKO or WMEX. It's 
what happens when renewal time comes around on his national contract 
with Premiere next year and we find out what he's really worth at that 
point.

As for Garrett's Worcester question, it's my understanding that 
Worcester County is split - the northern part, including Fitchburg, is 
Boston market (so WPKZ would continue to count as a Rush clearance in 
"Boston" for at least PR purposes), but most of southern Worcester 
County is its own radio market.

s