REGIONAL SPORTS NET BASED AT WCRB?

[Oldbones]

Now Nassau and Entercom have come together, to put WEEI on 11 Nassau stations apparently. That seems like a very high number... a lot of people will be losing their jobs

I'm confused.  Are the 2 companies merging?  The part about each owning 50% of WCRB is unusual to say the least.  Has that ever been done before?

[ChrisNH]

Wow.  "DUMB and DUMBER" do it again.

That's pretty funny. D&C went from having Entercom over a barrel, to being the barrel. Tomorrow, they will essentially tell D&C, "Now, you WILL eat those brussel sprouts and you WILL like it!"

[Dark Knight]

Here's the deal for anyone who's confused. Thursday AM the Globe and Herald ran stories saying that a consortium may be putting together a deal for a regional sports network utilizing the Nassau stations. They went on to say that the flagship would be WCRB-FM in Boston and that Dennis and Callahan, WEEI's current AMD hosts, would be the anchor programming for the network. D & C are currently embroiled in a contract dispute with Entercom, owners of WEEI.

Later Thursday afternoon the speculation was rendered moot when it was announced that Entercom had instead made two separate deals with Nassau, the first to take a 50% stake in WCRB. Nassau will continue to manage the station and it will remain in the classical format. The second deal was an agreement to syndicate WEEI content on 11 of Nassau's stations covering the Cape, Portland, White River Junction, Montpelier and one or two other markets.

Entercom still hopes to reach agreement with D and C, but that is a completely different negotiation, one in which the leverage seems to have clearly shifted with this announcement.

[raccoonradio]

>>WCRB will remain a classical station..... 

but it didn't say WHERE. HD radio...? Maybe on the 106.3 from Nashua/Manchester that Nassau owns?

[Blackroc]

    a.   I doubt CRB is going HD.
    b.   "D & C are currently embroiled in a contract dispute with Entercom, owners of WEEI."   
    They are looking for a new deal. I'm not sure how much of a dispute there is. WLS did the same thing (put them on ice) with their morning team, Don & Roma.

[Ciao]

Here's the deal for anyone who's confused. Thursday AM the Globe and Herald ran stories saying that a consortium may be putting together a deal for a regional sports network utilizing the Nassau stations. They went on to say that the flagship would be WCRB-FM in Boston and that Dennis and Callahan, WEEI's current AMD hosts, would be the anchor programming for the network. D & C are currently embroiled in a contract dispute with Entercom, owners of WEEI.

Later Thursday afternoon the speculation was rendered moot when it was announced that Entercom had instead made two separate deals with Nassau, the first to take a 50% stake in WCRB. Nassau will continue to manage the station and it will remain in the classical format. The second deal was an agreement to syndicate WEEI content on 11 of Nassau's stations covering the Cape, Portland, White River Junction, Montpelier and one or two other markets.

Entercom still hopes to reach agreement with D and C, but that is a completely different negotiation, one in which the leverage seems to have clearly shifted with this announcement.

Here's the deal: Boston doesn't need to lose another format just so we can waste another frequency that duplicates already existing programming. Thank you for making the boston radio dial so boring Entercom.

[Dark Knight]

Boston isn't losing a format. WCRB stays classical instead of possibly going to sports. What's the beef? Am I missing something?

[raccoonradio]

Who's to say Entercom won't eventually take full control of WCRB and either can it or move it? They could
put class. on 97.7 or HD-2 and use that 99.5 to put WEEI on static-free FM.

[ChrisNH]

Wow.  "DUMB and DUMBER" do it again.

I wonder if they are both on a beach somewhere 'reflecting.'

[Eli Polonsky]

... and use that 99.5 to put WEEI on static-free FM.

Well, it may be static-free, but depending on where you are, there could be multipath distortion... or, if you're near the Pru, there may be intermodulation... if there's terrain or buildings in the way, there could be "picket fencing"... if you get near the adjacent-channel pirate in town, there could be splatter...  any number of possibilities can happen...