WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with WEEI

[fnordcircle]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

Well, hopefully they won't take 5 minute commercial breaks every 3 minutes like WEEI cause good lord everytime I go to listen to WEEI it's a 180054giant commercial.

 

[BradfordPatsFan]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

If they want my ears they're going to have to bring in some new voices and disregard the local hooch swigging opinionated dolts that think talking about sports is tossing players' names into a microphone and waiting for the phone to ring. In order for an "all sports" radio station to be successful, at least on my terms, it has to have hosts that possess knowledge on a national level so they can discuss match ups and game plans. This station will fail if it attempts to steal EEI's fan base of drooling whiner line idiots that are content listening to Ordway repeating himself for 4 hours. This station needs to break fresh New England ground and focus on knowledgeable sports oriented hosts and liberate us from the self aggrandizing egoistical pie holes that EEI has been shoving down our throats for years.

I think Frezo is on to something here. The new station has to create a new type of niche for itself and it should be for that of the informed sports fan. There are a lot of informed sports fans in this market and I cannot tell you how annoying it is when someone calls WEEI and asks a good question only to have the host say, "we'll look that up" before hanging up on the caller. This happens too often during three out of the four shifts, Dale and Holley seem to be better prepared than their cohorts. In fact, most of the weekend hosts are better prepared and can discuss sports more intelligently than the higher paid daily workers.

I want someone who can talk about the nuts and bolts of the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB AND the local teams. Someone who has some interest in college sports beyond three weeks in March and a week's worth of bowl games so when these events DO roll around, they can discuss them intelligently. I want someone who, if they are going to talk about other "niche" sports like golf, NASCAR (help us...), soccer, whatever, has an understanding of the sport as a whole.

I guess I am hopeful for a national sports type of show with a Boston slant. I know the old Sean McDonough (sp) show tried to do this to some extent, but like Felger's show, no one could hear it. Hopefully the expanded audience WBZ-FM can provide will give us this.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

I dont think that the Pats will be doing Pats monday from there, because Belichick and his friends on the big show.. More likley a Pats Friday.. I like another alternative in Boston.. And hope it works..

 

[Patriot Power]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

I want someone who can talk about the nuts and bolts of the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB AND the local teams. Someone who has some interest in college sports beyond three weeks in March and a week's worth of bowl games so when these events DO roll around, they can discuss them intelligently. I want someone who, if they are going to talk about other "niche" sports like golf, NASCAR (help us...), soccer, whatever, has an understanding of the sport as a whole.

I guess I am hopeful for a national sports type of show with a Boston slant. I know the old Sean McDonough (sp) show tried to do this to some extent, but like Felger's show, no one could hear it. Hopefully the expanded audience WBZ-FM can provide will give us this.

Then you want a show that will be off the air in 2 two years. Straight sports talk, without personality or any semblance of entertainment = failure in Boston. National sports in the VERY parochial Boston market = failure. Niche sports talk like Soccer and NASCAR = failure in Boston.

Sean McDonough's show was on the air for 2.5 years, had a strong enough signal to reach everywhere inside of 128, had some of the best guests in radio... and was an epic failure because McDonough was a boring stick in the mud on the air and lacked the ability to actually make what you were listening to somewhat fun.

As for this news... first thought... Yay ! Competition for WEEI ! Second thought... making that retread contrarian Michael Felger the cornerstone of your station... yeah, that's a great start.

 

[BradfordPatsFan]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

Then you want a show that will be off the air in 2 two years. Straight sports talk, without personality or any semblance of entertainment = failure in Boston. National sports in the VERY parochial Boston market = failure. Niche sports talk like Soccer and NASCAR = failure in Boston.

In a previous post I mentioned that Boston's parochial nature will not allow WBZ-FM to become much of a "national"-type station. I know it isn't in the post you quoted but I also mentioned that you will see a lot of local people. Also, why do "personality" and "nuts and bolts sports knowledge" need to be mutually exclusive? There are plenty of shows on other sports stations I have listened to online where this is the case.

Sean McDonough's show was on the air for 2.5 years, had a strong enough signal to reach everywhere inside of 128, had some of the best guests in radio... and was an epic failure because McDonough was a boring stick in the mud on the air and lacked the ability to actually make what you were listening to somewhat fun.

You are correct when comparing him to the more established Big Show. He tried to be the polar opposite of what Glenn and co. do (and they do it VERY well). However, he went about it all wrong. If you listen to him do a college basketball, baseball, or football game for ESPN, you will hear a guy with great personality who interacts wonderfully with his partners, in much the same humor and manner that Ordway and company do. That is what he could have been on the air at WWZN and he blew it. He also admits this. While he has said he would not want to return to local radio because he loves doing national play-by-play for ESPN, I think he has the ability to be entertaining and knowledgeable and given his connections made at ESPN, CBS, and other outlets he has worked at, he would be a wonderful cornerstone.

As for this news... first thought... Yay ! Competition for WEEI ! Second thought... making that retread contrarian Michael Felger the cornerstone of your station... yeah, that's a great start.

Yeah, Felger doesn't inspire me either, even though he has done a good job with the baseball show IMO. However, the cornerstone will be 20+ Patriots games and 90+ Bruins games (pre season, post season, pre-game shows, post-game shows). The key for this station taking off will be to use the B's and Pats as their imaging, their public face, not a guy like Felger.

 

[Frezo]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

Then you want a show that will be off the air in 2 two years. Straight sports talk, without personality or any semblance of entertainment = failure in Boston. National sports in the VERY parochial Boston market = failure. Niche sports talk like Soccer and NASCAR = failure in Boston.

Sean McDonough's show was on the air for 2.5 years, had a strong enough signal to reach everywhere inside of 128, had some of the best guests in radio... and was an epic failure because McDonough was a boring stick in the mud on the air and lacked the ability to actually make what you were listening to somewhat fun.

As for this news... first thought... Yay ! Competition for WEEI ! Second thought... making that retread contrarian Michael Felger the cornerstone of your station... yeah, that's a great start.

If the New England fans can't handle anything more than mindless gibberish from it's new sports station then that's exactly what we'll get. Do you think this station will succeed as just another EEI clone? If it doesn't attempt to break new ground, it's doomed from the start.

 

[Rob0729]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

I dont think that the Pats will be doing Pats monday from there, because Belichick and his friends on the big show.. More likley a Pats Friday.. I like another alternative in Boston.. And hope it works..

Both Patriots Monday and Friday are packages sold by the Patriots to WEEI. WEEI pays for the rights to have Brady, Belichick, and other Patriots on their station on Monday. When Felger was on 890, they owned the rights to Patriots Friday and they let the contract lapse because of money issues.

When WEEI's contract is up for Patriots Monday, I wouldn't be surprised if the new WBCN steals the rights away. They did for the broadcast of Patriots games (although both stations were owned by Infinity at the time). Considering CBS radio owns the new sports station and Kraft has other business relationships with CBS, they may have the inside track when the contract is up.

Brady, Belichick, Bruschi, etc. do not do weekly radio interviews out of the kindness of their heart. They get paid for these interviews through the fees paid for the right for Patriots Monday. Just like Channel 5 lost the rights to be the official TV station of the Patriots to channel 4 and along with it Patriots All Access, the rightst to Patriots Monday will be up for grabs at some point.

 

[Jackson 2]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

If they want my ears they're going to have to bring in some new voices and disregard the local hooch swigging opinionated dolts that think talking about sports is tossing players' names into a microphone and waiting for the phone to ring. In order for an "all sports" radio station to be successful, at least on my terms, it has to have hosts that possess knowledge on a national level so they can discuss match ups and game plans. This station will fail if it attempts to steal EEI's fan base of drooling whiner line idiots that are content listening to Ordway repeating himself for 4 hours. This station needs to break fresh New England ground and focus on knowledgeable sports oriented hosts and liberate us from the self aggrandizing egoistical pie holes that EEI has been shoving down our throats for years.

Pretty well-said. I often find myself embarrassed that I listen to WEEI. The 6:00 to 10:00 slot is unlistenable to me, I generally enjoy the 10:00 to 2:00 (particularly Michael Holley) and the 2:00 to 6:00 varies wildly to me depending upon who's on, but I consider Ordway a full-blown gas-bag. Nothing would please me more than seeing WEEI face some actual competition because they will blatantly and smugly admit that no one can touch them. But I agree with the view that if retreads such as Tanguay (aka Chief Darkcloud) are the featured competition, they'll be gone in 6 weeks, or so.

 

[Deus Irae]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

Pretty well-said. I often find myself embarrassed that I listen to WEEI. The 6:00 to 10:00 slot is unlistenable to me, I generally enjoy the 10:00 to 2:00 (particularly Michael Holley) and the 2:00 to 6:00 varies wildly to me depending upon who's on, but I consider Ordway a full-blown gas-bag. Nothing would please me more than seeing WEEI face some actual competition because they will blatantly and smugly admit that no one can touch them. But I agree with the view that if retreads such as Tanguay (aka Chief Darkcloud) are the featured competition, they'll be gone in 6 weeks, or so.

Ordway brings in enough revenue to garner him one hell of a yearly salary. That's what it's all about. The rest of this thread, when it comes to decrying WEEI, is meaningless. WEEI dominates because more people listen to it in the target audience, and the station responds appropriately. D&C are popular despite the crying of the liberals about how extreme they are (They're not) and the other shows succeed and fail based upon the same basic formula: ratings = success.

 

[Patriot Power]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

When WEEI's contract is up for Patriots Monday, I wouldn't be surprised if the new WBCN steals the rights away. They did for the broadcast of Patriots games (although both stations were owned by Infinity at the time). Considering CBS radio owns the new sports station and Kraft has other business relationships with CBS, they may have the inside track when the contract is up.

According to some google searching... the last time the Patriots re-upped with WEEI for Pats Monday it was a 5 year deal... that was two years ago. But based on when the deal was made I can't figure out if there's 3 or 4 years remaining on the deal (didn't know if the season it happened during counts towards that 5 years or not).

Either way, that's a long ways away... it's pretty hard to determine who or what will be successful in that time. The Krafts will go for the money, but I doubt they get suckered into going to another small-time station and hurts their visibility if this new venture does not succeed. Let's not forget that EEI has stations that cover pretty much all of New England right now that carry their programming full time. You can't use a play-by-play network to deliver that content because a lot of those stations on their network carry completely different, non-sports programming during the week.

I will say... WBZ/CBS Radio is the strongest company to step up to the plate so far. And that 98.5 signal is pretty damn sweet.

 

[Patriot Power]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

If the New England fans can't handle anything more than mindless gibberish from it's new sports station then that's exactly what we'll get. Do you think this station will succeed as just another EEI clone? If it doesn't attempt to break new ground, it's doomed from the start.

Nope, but I think you're fooling yourself if you believe anything but parochial, entertaining sports talk is going to succeed here. Raising the bar on sports talk radio doesn't work in this town, it's been proven from McDonough, to Rusillo, to Kevin Winter, to whomever you want to mention from the last 10 years. If your sports knowledge is coupled with a complete absence of any sort of entertaining personality, you're going to fail, and fail miserably. Sons of sam horn discussions make for great message board reading... it does not make for good radio, and that's been proven already.

Despite how badly the WEEI critics want to hide behind the signals strength of 1510 and 890 (neither of which is nearly as bad as most of you want to make it out to be... if you can reach all of and beyond 128, you've got a pretty massive base of sports fans out there to grab from) signal strength, advertising and exposure were never their problem... success was. People tried it, listened briefly, then tuned out.

When some of you talk about intelligent discourse and world views outside of Boston sports, I sit back and laugh and wonder how many times history has to repeat itself with failed entities that take on WEEI before people start to notice the pattern. Go back 8 years when 1510 went on the air... replace 'WBZ-FM' with '1510' and you'd read the exact same discussion we're having now, and how 1510 is going to be the intelligent alternative to WEEI and take them down. 4 years ago it was 890... same result. I didn't see them as 'EEI clones', I saw them as trying to distance themselves from EEI, throwing the baby out with the bathwater. You go that far, you produce boring radio and people tune you out. This time at least the new station will have some anchors to start with the Pats and Bruins rights.

But talk radio is not the internet, its not made for people to listen to all day long and dissect and analyze from start to finish, its not there to make you smarter. A message board forum does not work as a radio show. 15 minute entertaining segments do. Now the question is, can that be done in a more intelligent manner without washing out the entertainment... it hasn't yet, maybe this time will be different.

Beyond all of that, if this new venture was truly looking to be this ground breaking alternative... how exactly does hiring Michael Felger and Gary Tanguay accomplish that?

 

[efin98]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

Being owned by CBS Radio and that CBS Radio owns the rights to NFL games, Notre Dame and NCAA football games, NHL games, the Olympics, and horse racing, it's likely we could see those broadcasts moved from WEEI to the new WBZ FM once Westwood One's(the syndication distributor) contract with WEEI is up...

 

[BradfordPatsFan]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

Nope, but I think you're fooling yourself if you believe anything but parochial, entertaining sports talk is going to succeed here. Raising the bar on sports talk radio doesn't work in this town, it's been proven from McDonough, to Rusillo, to Kevin Winter, to whomever you want to mention from the last 10 years. If your sports knowledge is coupled with a complete absence of any sort of entertaining personality, you're going to fail, and fail miserably. Sons of sam horn discussions make for great message board reading... it does not make for good radio, and that's been proven already.

Despite how badly the WEEI critics want to hide behind the signals strength of 1510 and 890 (neither of which is nearly as bad as most of you want to make it out to be... if you can reach all of and beyond 128, you've got a pretty massive base of sports fans out there to grab from) signal strength, advertising and exposure were never their problem... success was. People tried it, listened briefly, then tuned out.

When some of you talk about intelligent discourse and world views outside of Boston sports, I sit back and laugh and wonder how many times history has to repeat itself with failed entities that take on WEEI before people start to notice the pattern. Go back 8 years when 1510 went on the air... replace 'WBZ-FM' with '1510' and you'd read the exact same discussion we're having now, and how 1510 is going to be the intelligent alternative to WEEI and take them down. 4 years ago it was 890... same result. I didn't see them as 'EEI clones', I saw them as trying to distance themselves from EEI, throwing the baby out with the bathwater. You go that far, you produce boring radio and people tune you out. This time at least the new station will have some anchors to start with the Pats and Bruins rights.

But talk radio is not the internet, its not made for people to listen to all day long and dissect and analyze from start to finish, its not there to make you smarter. A message board forum does not work as a radio show. 15 minute entertaining segments do. Now the question is, can that be done in a more intelligent manner without washing out the entertainment... it hasn't yet, maybe this time will be different.

PatriotPower, you keep saying that it has to be both entertaining and parochial. Why can't it be parochial yet informative with some insight AND entertaining?

I do not want my local sports station talking about a Raiders-Seahakwks match up in November but I wouldn't mind some actual knowledge behind a team the Patriots are playing beyond what is said in the papers.

You honestly think that the 98.5 FM signal, one of the strongest in the area, will not help vs a weak 1510 signal which I cannot get clearly on my car radio on 495 beyond Lowell after 5 PM? ESPN thought they had covered their bases with a simulcast on 1400, but even that fades away in the evening.

Signal strength and money caused those other two ventures to fail. CBS will be able to spend on this station. They will be able to bring in talent and sponsors for a full day of local programming. My guess is 6A-11P will be all local (obviously different on game nights). ESPN and WWZN tried to mix local drive time shows with national mid-day shows. It doesn't work that way, go all one or the other when competing with an all local monster.

I wouldn't be surprised to see CBS shuffle around some stronger on-air staff from smaller markets to come in here as the daily hosts and surround them with local media types as co-hosts and guests to help build their comfort level. That is something ESPN and WWZN could not or did not choose to do and it just might make a difference.


EDIT:
For clarity, I listen to WEEI almost daily and enjoy most of what I hear. However, I think having a second talk station can only help make WEEI better as well as give us an alternative to what is already out there.

 

[Rob0729]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

The reason why stations like 890 and 1510 failed was because they lacked the money to draw the strong personalities. The best 1510 could do was get a washed up Eddie Andelman who refused to adapt to the changing culture of sports radio which got him canned from WEEI. No one wants to give out turkey gobbles to athletes at Thanksgiving anymore which was part of the bland sports radio schtick of the 80s. 890 was able to get Felger who had a bit of a following, but other than football and college hockey, he lacks the knowledge to carry the show on other sports. Both stations relied heavily on syndicated national shows from ESPN and Sporting News Radio which doesn't really appeal to Boston sports fans who like more regional sports talk (rarely does WEEI talk about other teams around the country unless there is a big story or they are playing a local team).

This new FM entity will spend money to have their own hosts from 6AM to at least 7PM, probably midnight. If they can get strong hosts during morning drive and the afternoon shift, I think WEEI is vunerable. A lot of people (myself included) do not like the sports/politics mix of D&C and many people listen to them because they are the only ones talking Boston sports during morning drive. A stronger alternative who talk football (which is neglected on WEEI a lot until the baseball season is over) could eat away at D&C's audience pretty quickly. I think Dale and Holley are very beatable since neither are great radio personalities and tend to focus on less popular sports like hockey and basketball. The Big Show will be hardest to beat in my opinion since they have a good mix of rotational hosts that appeal to a wide variety of sports topics. Mike Adams is easily beatable since he really only appeals to a niche market of Red Sox fans.

If done right, a radio station could eat into WEEI's niche. I think that many of their shows are popular because there are lack of local sports talk alternatives. Mike and Mike in the morning isn't going to beat D&C since Mike and Mike talk about Boston sports infrequently.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

Ordway brings in enough revenue to garner him one hell of a yearly salary. That's what it's all about. The rest of this thread, when it comes to decrying WEEI, is meaningless. WEEI dominates because more people listen to it in the target audience, and the station responds appropriately. D&C are popular despite the crying of the liberals about how extreme they are (They're not) and the other shows succeed and fail based upon the same basic formula: ratings = success.

Yeah, this forum reflects the liberal political biases of the Boston area, but I think that D&C and the rest of EEI are vulnerable to a well funded (CBS) well managed (TBD) strong signal FM (98.5) alternative. A younger alternative to the stale D&C that mixes sports and 'morning' talk. Perhaps attract some folks from EEI to subtract from the Big Show's guests, etc. And outbid EEI for Patriots Friday or Monday.

 

[BradyManny]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

Well, hopefully they won't take 5 minute commercial breaks every 3 minutes like WEEI cause good lord everytime I go to listen to WEEI it's a 180054giant commercial.

5 minutes...I wish, it's more like 15 minutes, with the flash interjected in the middle. My commute used to be 15 minutes, there would literally be days where I would leave work and get home without a single instant of sports talk on EEI. It's a joke.

 

[Deus Irae]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

Yeah, this forum reflects the liberal political biases of the Boston area, but I think that D&C and the rest of EEI are vulnerable to a well funded (CBS) well managed (TBD) strong signal FM (98.5) alternative. A younger alternative to the stale D&C that mixes sports and 'morning' talk. Perhaps attract some folks from EEI to subtract from the Big Show's guests, etc. And outbid EEI for Patriots Friday or Monday.

Anything's possible, but it's not likely that a station as strong as WEEI is suddenly going to fall apart because of yet another attempted upstart. It's not as if this is the first attempt to take out EEI, after all.

 

[Rob0729]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

Anything's possible, but it's not likely that a station as strong as WEEI is suddenly going to fall apart because of yet another attempted upstart. It's not as if this is the first attempt to take out EEI, after all.

It will be the first attempt by a well funded radio station. 1510 the Zone went up against WEEI with a bunch of nobodies (and Eddie Andelman) including their afternoon host being one of their sales reps. ESPN890 went with national ESPN syndicated broadcasts except for Felger's show.

I expect this FM station to go after real talent. They will get a lot of the Globe guys to be guests since they still boycott WEEI. Guys like Mike Reiss being a regular on the show will be a boost for the station too.

WEEI isn't going to sink like a rock, but I do think their audience can be siphoned. If this new station can get some name hosts and guests that the other stations have had problems getting in the past, they can do what these other stations couldn't.

Let's also not forget 890 has such a week signal that many places couldn't even get it after the sun went down which was killer in the winter and the sun went down at 4PM. Hard to cut into WEEI's numbers when a large part of their audience can't get the radio station during afternoon drive during the winter.

 

[Patriot Power]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

PatriotPower, you keep saying that it has to be both entertaining and parochial. Why can't it be parochial yet informative with some insight AND entertaining?

Didn't say it couldn't be. Just said it can't be done without some semblance of entertainment. I'm sorry, as knowledgeable as Ryen Rusillo is on all things sports, he's one of the most dry, stale people to listen to on the air. Even when he was co-hosting with Felger on 890, listening to him was difficult for me. What he is is a national host, someone perfect for the 'mother' network, a guy that can talk sports in any market without offending people. But that's not Boston. You also have to be likeable, something Rusillo never seemed to grasp in the slightest. Mike Adams may not know his ass from his elbow, but damn if he isn't likeable on the air, and engaging with his callers. You need a little of that to succeed, I could just do without the ogling of young women and poopee jokes.

I do not want my local sports station talking about a Raiders-Seahakwks match up in November but I wouldn't mind some actual knowledge behind a team the Patriots are playing beyond what is said in the papers.

Agreed. At the same time it has to be entertaining. Mike Reiss, god love him, is an incredible reporter, writer and blogger. But he's not radio co-host material, he's call-in guest material. He's great to be on your radio and tv segment and be interviewed to break down a Pats game. But put him on the air for 3 hours to talk non stop and give his opinion in an informative and entertaining manner (like happened when he went on with Felger's show) and YEESH. It doesn't work. You have to decent broadcasting skills, a voice and a personality, or it doesn't work.

Guys like Mike Reiss being a regular on the show will be a boost for the station too.

This.

Reiss is a superb reporter, great blogger, and you couldn't find a better guy to call in and give you 20 minutes on the Pats and NFL. But the guy doesn't have the personality, voice or broadcasting skills to be an on-air co-host.

You honestly think that the 98.5 FM signal, one of the strongest in the area, will not help vs a weak 1510 signal which I cannot get clearly on my car radio on 495 beyond Lowell after 5 PM? ESPN thought they had covered their bases with a simulcast on 1400, but even that fades away in the evening.

Nope, never said that, I in fact think it gives them a tremendous leg up on those other entities. What I reject is the reasoning that the signals were the chief reasons why 1510 and 890 failed. Signals were NEVER even mentioned by either station or critics of WEEI until both began to fail. It's an excuse, not a fact. I can find you quotes from the 1510 GM boasting to the press that his signal was as strong as 850. People who bash WEEI use the weak signals as an excuse why those stations failed, they can't fathom that WEEI's product is successful for other reasons.

Signal strength and money caused those other two ventures to fail.

Couldn't disagree more. The signal is one reason, but it's about the third or fourth reason down the list, and it truly is revisionist history. Again, both had signals very comparable to the 850 signal... take out 103.7 etc, focus only on the 850 signal and they're all pretty comparable. Beyond which, you've got what? 5? 6 million people inside 128 ? You're telling me there isn't enough sports fans in that listening range to garner any sort of ratings or success ? Signal is a factor in their failure... on-air content was a much bigger factor.

And money never was a factor... both stations were very well funded when they started up, spent money on talent (Eddie and Sean / Felger) and advertised their stations in print and on tv. It takes money to do all of that. The money only dissappeared when the results weren't there after two years... you don't continue to fund a losing venture.

CBS will be able to spend on this station. They will be able to bring in talent and sponsors for a full day of local programming. My guess is 6A-11P will be all local (obviously different on game nights). ESPN and WWZN tried to mix local drive time shows with national mid-day shows. It doesn't work that way, go all one or the other when competing with an all local monster.

Agreed. And I'd put THAT reason above signal strength in the reasons for the failure. It remains to be seen if hanging on to Toucher and Rich on a sports station is a good idea. My thought is they'll be gone for a local sports morning show once their contracts expire.

And for clarity, I am a WEEI listener, and former FM radio employee who is no longer in radio. I am not a WEEI butt-boy, I know they have a lot of room to to be better - I just think they get a raw deal online, where there only seem to be bashers, led by the Bruce Allens and Dave Scotts of the world who know blogs, don't necessarily know radio. Clearly the opposition to them is not as strong as it appears online because they continue to have success and continue to crush their competition. They're doing something right, and I will always make that point when people come on and make claims that the only reason they're successful is their signal and the fact that they're the only game in town. But they're not the only game in town, they've just crushed all their competitors. Every time a new entity comes to town the online community explodes and talks about how bad WEEI is and how much the new entity will crush them. Then EEI crushes the new entity, the revisionists come out and talk about signals and budgets, never content. Maybe its partly because their competitors had weaker signals, I contend its chiefly because EEI has its finger on the pulse of radio, and this market - they're doing something right... its not dumb luck and circumstance... if it was, the Sean McDonough show would be on the air still.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Re: WBCN axes rock format - going to all sports (on 98.5 as WBZ-FM) to compete with W

Anything's possible, but it's not likely that a station as strong as WEEI is suddenly going to fall apart because of yet another attempted upstart. It's not as if this is the first attempt to take out EEI, after all.

And that's precisely why I cited what is different this time...CBS, a major backer plus a STRONG FM signal. The previous attempts faded past 128, especially in the winter. Given these differences, it's all about the management of the station as the other controlled factors have been addressed this time.