Countdown to 92.3 going KA-BOOM!

[fmradio1]

A couple of things here...

If WFAN makes the move, they will be "all-in" with their best programming on the FM, since that's where the battlefield is with ESPN.  660's reach means nothing.  92.3 hits the entire metro, as does 98.7, and that's what's important.  Competing for ratings WITHIN THE METRO!  I can't see a scenario where the Yanks are on AM and the Mets on FM. That won't fly.  My guess is that one station will have the Yankees and the loser of that bidding war settles for the Mets...and BOTH will be on FM.

[Steve Green NEPA]

It's anyone's guess if Merlin is dancing in the aisles or being sedated right now.

See,  if WFAN reacts by going to 92.3 as a simulcast,    then a big New York City signal on FM becomes unavailable for CBS to put either WINS or WCBS should the need arise.    At this point,    everybody with a broadcast license in NYC seems to be on the diving board but doesn't know if it's at the shallow or deep end of the pool.

WEMP,  somewhat committed to issues-talk in the near future,  now  may find themselves having to go to a Plan E,  or whatever alphabet letter they're up to now.     

Interesting maneuvering,   all around.    Radio story of the year for certain.                     

[TimeIsTight]

If WFAN makes the move, they will be "all-in" with their best programming on the FM, since that's where the battlefield is with ESPN.  660's reach means nothing.  

You're absolutely right that for ratings and advertising sales the battle will be on FM which reaches the full market, with the exception of Eastern Long Island.

However, there are lots of Yankees fans, who live in adjacent radio markets, who follow the team closely and go to games.  And those fans may not get the primary FM signal.  And then there is the Yankees fan diaspora which is spread all over the country, and includes countless former New Yorkers who now live in the Eastern half of the country and spend a lot of summer nights catching the Yankees game, while sitting on the porch, or driving in the the car, on the big AM skywave signals.

The team itself, needs to keep these out of radio market fan bases in mind when it makes its next radio deal, not for the sake of advertising and ratings, but for maintaining the value of the franchise.

[fmradio1]

To be honest, I don't think the Yankees care if their games reach their far flung fan base via a 50K clear AM.  They would like to be on FM in the metro, and they certainly don't want to be stuck on AM and watch the Mets make a deal with 98.7.  That would be a nightmare.  Out of market fans have a variety of ways of getting the games...MLB.com, Sirius/XM etc.  I'm sure whoever gets the rights will seek out affiliates surrounding the NYC metro that the local FM doesn't reach.  It's all about the Benjamins, and being where most of their audience is...on FM.

[XCountry285]

I think 101.9 should go back to playing Rock, 94.7 should go country. 92.3 should go Sports but have some way to keep people's jobs though, move them to other stations. I don't like how 98.7 people lost their jobs.

[DougBroda]

To be honest, I don't think the Yankees care if their games reach their far flung fan base via a 50K clear AM.  They would like to be on FM in the metro, and they certainly don't want to be stuck on AM and watch the Mets make a deal with 98.7.  That would be a nightmare.  Out of market fans have a variety of ways of getting the games...MLB.com, Sirius/XM etc.  I'm sure whoever gets the rights will seek out affiliates surrounding the NYC metro that the local FM doesn't reach.  It's all about the Benjamins, and being where most of their audience is...on FM.

The issues that would seem to matter to the Yankees (or Mets) in signing a radio deal would be (a) money, and (b) ability, via primary or affiliates, to reach their markets from which they sell tickets and have fans watching games on YES or SNY increasing the value of advertising and price of carriage. Closer markets with high disposable income mean more.

The Yankees have a very strong network. They may want a Suffolk County signal, and may want a Central/South Jersey signal, in order to compensate for an FM with less reach than WCBS-AM, but they wouldn't have any trouble finding stations with their popularity in those areas. (The Yanks are already chock full of Connecticut stations.) The Mets, however, who once had a decent network, rely almost solely on WFAN. Further -- and this pains me as a Mets fan for 50 years -- as NY's second team, which isn't likely to compete for a pennant anytime soon, they will have a tough time reaching parts of their market that are weak on an FM signal that include a serious percentage of fans. The Mets are going to get the station that doesn't land the Yankees, and they are more screwed if they land on an FM-only than the Yankees would be. (Of course, this is the team that won a World Series broadcasting on WJRZ (now WNYM) when the signal was so bad I had trouble getting it in my childhood part of Brooklyn at night.)

[radioguy39nj]

The Mets are no stranger to FM.  In 1967, their flagship was WJRZ which had trouble reaching parts of the five boroughs.  In 1968, they added WABC-FM (95.5) which could reach out to Suffolk County.  When ABC-FM got further into the rock format, Mets' games moved to WNBC-FM (97.1) in 1970 before returning to WHN in 1972.

Now back to the future!  IMHO, CBS has no choice but to simulcast WFAN on 92.3 FM and blow up NOW.  IMHO, they can't afford to wait two years like they did in Philly, especially with both the Yankees and Mets deals expiring after this season.  If NOW is going to be sacrificed, it has to be done soon. 

As much as the Yankees like reaching their fan base on a 50 kW blowtorch, they want to be on FM in NYC.  A WFAN simulcast can offer that.  When football season arrives, the Yankee games can air on 660 AM and the Giant games on 92.3 FM.  When the Yankee season ends, Giants games can be simulcast.  This is done in other markets.  CBS will probably let the Mets go to 98.7. 

I'm in Ocean County, NJ and 92.3 and 98.7 are receivable and listenable in my car.  Not so much at home.

[DToTheJ]

This.

CBS has no choice but to simulcast WFAN on 92.3 FM and blow up NOW.  IMHO, they can't afford to wait two years like they did in Philly, especially with both the Yankees and Mets deals expiring after this season.

The AM station can also broadcast Yankee games "in real time" with the FM simulcast using the 7-second delay, much like how the WIP-AM/FM combo broadcasts Phillies games.

[Mark Jeffries]

I think 101.9 should go back to playing Rock, 94.7 should go country. 92.3 should go Sports but have some way to keep people's jobs though, move them to other stations. I don't like how 98.7 people lost their jobs.

The two daily local jocks on Kiss will be at BLS.  Everything else on the daily schedule was syndicated.

[pjc1961]

Rather than start a new thread...AllAccess reporting that WXRK 92~3 Now imaging director Chris Cole exits the station. He also handled the same duties for CBS Radio's AMP Radio Detroit.

The exodus continues...besides the new PD from Phoenix (Rick Gillette).

There is precedence for bringing in a new PD shortly before a format switch at CBS Radio: in San Diego, PD Charese Fruge was brought in to Sophie 103.7 (Hot AC/modern AC) a few months ago. Then a little over a month ago the format was changed to CHR (Energy 103.7) and Fruge (after a month with the new format) has since gone back to Las Vegas where she had been already overseeing 2 stations through the whole process.

Could it happen again?