Entercom announces what it plans to keep

[Sean Smyth]

I'm one of those sentimental fools that would be saddened to see 1030 drop
96-year-old call letters. I also realize, as you wrote, that most people
probably don't care -- as long as it's still in the presets.

On Fri, Oct 13, 2017 at 8:03 PM Scott Fybush <scott@fybush.com> wrote:

> Of the groups that already have active TV newsrooms in town, only one -
> Cox's WFXT - is a serious contender. (Hearst has retained only one of
> its radio holdings, WBAL/WIYY in Baltimore, and appears to have no
> interest either in growing radio or selling WBAL; there's been no reason
> to think Ed Ansin's WHDH-TV or Comcast's NBC Boston have any interest in
> radio.)
>
> If Cox were to buy 1030, it would probably have as little interest in
> keeping its competitor's callsign as CBS would have in transferring that
> callsign to its competitor.
>
> And while it would be odd indeed to hear 1030 as "WFXT Newsradio" or
> "Boston 25 Newsradio" or whatever branding Cox would put there, I think
> in the end that people don't listen *because* of the calls. They listen
> because they're habituated to hit 1030 for local news and traffic and
> sports, and as long as those elements are still there, a quiet "WFXT
> Boston" at the top of the hour isn't going to change those habits as
> much as one might think.
>
> (The challenge then comes in when Cox tries to do what it's done in
> Atlanta and Jacksonville and Orlando, moving habituated AM listeners
> over to the FM dial. That's somewhat easier to do when you can use a
> familiar brand like "WSB" or "WDBO" to pull them along to FM. But even
> so, "Newsradio 1030 is now also Newsradio 97.7 FM" isn't an impossible
> transition to make.)
>
> Another consideration: CBS is unloading the CBS Radio division to get
> money. If they can get more money by selling the 1030 facility with the
> WBZ calls, they have little reason to withhold the calls and reduce
> their income. Whatever 1030 is doing - even if it's cross-promoting
> Boston 25 News - it's a business unit CBS has already decided not to
> continue. It is, after all, equally possible that Entercom could partner
> WCBS(AM) with Fox's WNYW as a TV news partner, or KNX(AM) with ABC's
> KABC-TV. Once CBS has sold it, CBS forfeits any further control over
> what happens on radio, and CBS management is apparently OK with that.
> It's a strange new world.
>
> s
>
> On 10/13/2017 5:15 PM, Sean Smyth wrote:
> > And I doubt CBS would approve 1030 keeping those calls if it was bought
> > by a group that already has an active (TV) newsroom in town. How much is
> > 1030 worth without those call letters? A helluva lot less, IMO, even
> > with the massive signal.
> >
> > On Fri, Oct 13, 2017 at 4:54 PM Scott Fybush <scott@fybush.com
> > <mailto:scott@fybush.com>> wrote:
> >
> >     The rights to the base call stay with the owner that's had them the
> >     longest. CBS keeps "WBZ" and the others.  There's a contractual
> >     provision
> >     giving Entercom a license to keep using WBZ on radio and (with
> approval
> >     from CBS) to transfer that license to a new owner.
> >
> >     On Oct 13, 2017 1:58 AM, "A Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross.com
> >     <mailto:joe@attorneyross.com>> wrote:
> >
> >      > For some years now, it has been possible for separately-owned
> >     stations in
> >      > different services to have the same base call letters. It was
> >     once noted in
> >      > this forum that there is a WKLB (AM) somewhere, under different
> >     ownership
> >      > than the local WKLB-FM.  I think the station which had the call
> >     first has
> >      > to give consent.  So I imagine that WBZ (AM) can control whether
> >     anyone
> >      > else gets to be WBZ-xx. Any necessary consents may be part of the
> >     terms of
> >      > the sale.   I suspect if WBZ-FM is sold separately from the AM,
> >     it may be
> >      > required to change the callsign.
> >      >
> >      >
> >      > On 10/12/2017 2:43 AM, Sean Smyth wrote:
> >      >
> >      >> I'm curious about the WBZ calls -- especially if Cox buys, as
> >     Scott and
> >      >> Lance floated on their podcast. (Wasn't Cox considering
> >     unloading 25 about
> >      >> 10 minutes ago? I don't see a 25/1030 marriage going smoothly.)
> >      >>
> >      >> On Thu, Oct 12, 2017 at 2:35 AM Doug Drown <ashboy1951@gmail.com
> >     <mailto:ashboy1951@gmail.com>> wrote:
> >      >>
> >      >> "You can be sure if it's Westinghouse."   Uhh . . . Not any more.
> >      >>>
> >      >>> Rob is right.  Westinghouse put WBZ on the air in 1921, bought
> >     CBS in
> >      >>> 1995,
> >      >>> and *became *CBS two years later, the tail having wagged the
> dog.
> >      >>>
> >      >>> I haven't been attentive as to what will be happening with KDKA
> >     and KYW,
> >      >>> which are in similar circumstances.
> >      >>>
> >      >>> Robert Wright, the former CEO of NBC, once made the remark that
> >     getting
> >      >>> the
> >      >>> network out of radio was the worst mistake he made during his
> >     time at the
> >      >>> helm.  A legacy disappeared.  The same thing happened with
> >     ABC's historic
> >      >>> O&Os.  Sadly, I expect it will here, too.
> >      >>>
> >      >>> In addition, what will become of WBZ's close working
> >     relationship with
> >      >>> Channel 4?
> >      >>>
> >      >>>
> >      > --
> >      > A. Joseph Ross, J.D. · 1340 Centre Street, Suite 103 · Newton, MA
> >     02459
> >      > 617.367.0468 · Fax:617.507.7856 · http://www.attorneyross.com
> >      >
> >
> > --
> > Sent from my iPhone
>
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