The venerable Boston Radio Watch blog has a post today on why the new Sports Hub 98.5 has a decent chance of succeeding:
The Sports Hub starts Boston radio war
An excerpt:
For one, CBS has already been producing lots of local sports content with Patriots on WBCN and Bruins on WBZ-AM since mid 1990’s so bringing two teams onto one signal is no-brainer. A no-brainer number two, with a clear and crisp FM signal covering the entire Boston market and beyond, the new SportsHub has a potential to reach a lot more ears than any of current and/or former WEEI challenger on the AM dial. This is more of marketing/promotional goal, but CBS will surely use the local synergy with sister TV station WBZ/Channel 4. The new SportsHub will be able to tap into WBZ-TV’s sports department for any live updates on major breaking or developing local sports stories. CBS can also cross-promote its new sports talker among its other three FM stations and one AM station.
Popularity: 10% [?]
I wonder what kind of restrictions “The Hub” will put on ‘EEI’s Patriots broadcasts. Will they ask them to be kicked out of the Gillette Stadium studio entirely and only do their Patriots Monday stuff over the phone? I know WEEI records those shows and puts them up on Patriots On-Demand. CBS is paying at least $5 million/year for the Patriots rights, right? I think with an all sports station to dump a bunch of inventory they’d require more return on their investmetn.
they got that right about the signal. I’m down here southern Rhode Island (Middletown which is right next to Newport) and 98.5 comes in loud and clear down here. Those other 2 stations, 890 and 1510?….never knew what you guys were talking about because I could not hear them AT ALL…….so this is it, if these guys fail against WEEI….well, let’s hope they don’t
Local synergy….wow.
It’s also relatively close on the dial to 96.9 which is the other FM talk station.
Chew on this: how about three FM talkers all bunched together? Don’t be surprised if Entercom flips their 97.7 station from AAF (broadcasting as a secondary frequency to 107.3) over to EEI in order to have an FM presence in the greater Boston area.
This should be fun – let the games begin!
Chew on this…I’d be surprised if the next time I farted the sounds of Mozart were beheld…usually it is Shubert, but I’ve been drinking Harpoon IPA…
Who did what now?
‘Making hay while the sun shines’ should be WEEI’s mantra, because they sure don’t make much after the sun goes down. With an impotent, peanut-whistle signal before the sun comes up and after it goes down, many commuters will have an opportunity to sample WBZ-FM…and stay there. This will hurt intelligence-challenged D&C before 8am in the winter and the ‘Big Ow’ after 4pm. Yes, I’m sure Entercom ‘welcomes’ this challenge. Anything WEEI does relative to FM will be seen as reactionary and panic-driven.
Chris,
Wait, WEEI has a weak signal after dark? But the Chad Finn’s of the world have been saying that the only reason why WEEI is successful is that it has such a strong signal after dark, especially compared to 890, 1510, etc. WEEI is a 50,000 watt day & night station, right? And we haven’t even brought up the other 8 broadcast stations of WEEI’s network, 6 of which are FM stations.
I don’t know how the signal is in the Greater Boston area, haven’t been up there much since the OLD Garden closed…but on 103.7 WEEI is Loud and Clear ALL THE TIME……..that sounds strange to me, a station that is LOCATED in the Boston area sometimes has a weak signal in the Boston area???…..then again, what the hell do I know about radio signals?
AT night, you can’t get WEEI on the Mass Pike heading West from about Framingham through Millbury. You can’t get up rt. 190 (Hudson, Sterling, etc).
Isn’t that why EEI bought the 1440 AM frequency in Worcester and created WVEI back at the time EEI first went all-sports? I believe even 103.7 FM can be picked up in spots on that stretch of the Pike.
WBZ Fm should bring in Gary Leavitt “Wizard of Stars” to do the voices on the morning show (Toucher and Rich) and the rest of the day parts. He does every sport voice imaginable Johnny Most, Marv Albert, Keith Jackson, Al Michaels, Deon Sanders, Charles Barkley, Terry Bradshaw, Bill Walton, Terry Francona. Like I said everyobdy including Family Guy voices, the Simpsons and all the political people and A-List Hollywood people as well.
T&R have Craig Gass in a lot.
And for you Rhode Island people Leavitt use to be “Bozo The Clown” on FOX 64. He also impersonates Springsteen and John Lennon. Check out his stuff on yoututbe He’s got something called Gary Leavitt’s Last Supper. He’s hilarious!!!
Gary’s name rings a bell, Scott. Has he ever been part of a morning drive radio show? I think I’ve heard some of his stuff and it was pretty good. Reminds me of Tom Doyle, a voice-man veteran of Boston radio.
Leavitt should be on the Sports Hub because he can do every Boston Politician and Boston Athlete. Gass is good but no local characters and Doyle doesn’t sound like anybody but himself. Leavitt can do cartoon characters, actors, athletes, presidents and rock stars like Springsteen, Lennon, Bono, Mick Jagger etc.
His standup is awesome!!! He use to do Robert Parish, Joe Morgan (Red Sox manager), Johnny Most, Sherm Feller and Curt Gowdy on the old WCGY. Now he does a million voices. And good material too.
Not wanting to sound like the Upton Bell clip that is played from time to time when the Whiner Line starts, but if WBZ-FM has smart, intelligent hosts who discuss SPORTS, then the station will not only succeed, but it will flourish. WEEI is really the only horse in the race right now but when the listeners who aren’t the 20-30 people who always call in to WEEI find out that it is possible to have conversations (Ok, maybe not with Felger), then they won’t turn the dial.
And I hope that the Patriots do scale back (if not pull completely) their affiliated shows on WEEI. Let the bully of the airwaves see what it’s like to be hit back.