OT: Audacy to Shutter All-News WCBS-AM, New York; GKB to Lease Signal for ESPN New York

[Source]

"...Audacy announces that it is ending the all-news format on WCBS-AM, New York and will lease the signal to Good Karma Brands, which will begin airing its sports talk... Audacy plans to change the call letters to WHSQ-AM."

Audacy to Shutter All-News WCBS-AM, New York; GKB to Lease Signal for ESPN New York | TALKERS magazine

Audacy announces that it is ending the all-news format on WCBS-AM, New York and will lease the signal to Good Karma Brands, which will begin airing its spor ...

talkers.com

On May 27, 2022, Rutgers Athletic Department announced that starting in the fall, Rutgers football would transfer its flagship station from WOR-AM (710 AM) New York to sports radio WFAN (660 AM, 101.9 FM). New York and on the Audacy.com radio app and website from the New York market. The station would also be accessed on social media via Twitter (now X), Facebook and Instagram. Football coverage would include 30-minute pre and post-game shows. In addition, WCBS (880 AM) New York would become the flagship station for Rutgers men’s basketball and Audacy.com in the New York market. Rutgers football would still be carried on WCTC (1450 AM) in New Brunswick as it has since 1947.

 

[RUPete]

Damn, they must really be hemorrhaging over there.

 

[AntiG]

I don't understand the technicals at all, perhaps someone could explain better from a radio tech and business perspective, but why is AM radio still a thing and why would you relinquish 98.7 FM to lease the AM? Its older technology that always has the buzzing interference and less range/power, is it that its much cheaper to run? WFAN's broadcast quality improved immensely once it moved from 660 to 101.9. Rutgers on 710 before and Mets nowadays on 880 signal sucks even worse than it did on 660 and I'm only 20 mins from NYC.

 

[rutgersdave]

I don't understand the technicals at all, perhaps someone could explain better from a radio tech and business perspective, but why is AM radio still a thing and why would you relinquish 98.7 FM to lease the AM? It’s older technology that always has the buzzing interference and less range/power, is it that it’s much cheaper to run? WFAN's broadcast quality improved immensely once it moved from 660 to 101.9. Rutgers on 710 before and Mets nowadays on 880 signal sucks even worse than it did on 660 and I'm only 20 mins from NYC.

The cost is the same to run an AM or FM station. I worked at WTOP AM in Washington and after I left they started broadcasting the AM signal on one of the FM station that we owned. Everyone knows that there are less and less listeners on AM than FM. I’m sure the younger audience may never have listened to a AM station. The news format even though it cost more was extremely profitable since they ran double the number of commercials. I believe almost all of the CBS news stations simulcasted their format to a FM station. I also worked for CBS radio stations for over 15 years. All decisions are made solely on revenue and profits.

 

[RU848789]

Well, this sucks for people who listen to WCBS News Radio at 880 AM and, of course the employees of the station. Been a listener for 40+ years, especially for big news, traffic, and especially weather (big Craig Allen fan). I get that people often get their news/info from other sources now, but it's a shame to lose this source.

https://radioink.com/2024/08/12/journalism-headwinds-cause-format-flip-on-nycs-wcbs-880/

 

[Tango Two]

Well, this sucks for people who listen to WCBS News Radio at 880 AM and, of course the employees of the station. Been a listener for 40+ years, especially for big news, traffic, and especially weather (big Craig Allen fan). I get that people often get their news/info from other sources now, but it's a shame to lose this source.

https://radioink.com/2024/08/12/journalism-headwinds-cause-format-flip-on-nycs-wcbs-880/

1010WINS better anyway, but yes it stinks

 

[AntiG]

The cost is the same to run an AM or FM station. I worked at WTOP AM in Washington and after I left they started broadcasting the AM signal on one of the FM station that we owned. Everyone knows that there are less and less listeners on AM than FM. I’m sure the younger audience may never have listened to a AM station. The news format even though it cost more was extremely profitable since they ran double the number of commercials. I believe almost all of the CBS news stations simulcasted their format to a FM station. I also worked for CBS radio stations for over 15 years. All decisions are made solely on revenue and profits.

what would be the logic of dropping your FM and going only to AM, especially when you are shuttering the famous news format?

 

[rutgersdave]

what would be the logic of dropping your FM and going only to AM, especially when you are shuttering the famous news format?

Audacy owns both WCBS-AM and WINSAM/FM which are both all news stations. I would assume when they shut down WCBS AM news, most of their listeners will migrate over to WINS AM/ FM and they will lay off almost all the employees at CBS news. Leasing the signal to GKB, laying off the CBS employees and news listeners migrating over to WINS will be more profitable to the company base on someone analysis. Not always right though. WCBS AM might not have been profitable

 

[HPNJRUfan]

Somewhat off-topic but - I have no idea why the Jets need to be on q104.

 

[Brisket and Bourbon]

Good karma brands…🤭

 

[RUPete]

Somewhat off-topic but - I have no idea why the Jets need to be on q104.

Weren't they on K-Rock back in the day - 92.3? I seem to remember that.

 

[RU#1fan]

That really sucks.
Liked their all news format…and Traffic reports ( which included NJ unlike 1010 WINS).

 

[ScarletDave]

Anyone who doesn’t pay like $3 a month for Sirius XM to have 300 stations including almost every live sporting even including college football, and never listen to a commercial again, is a fool

 

[Knight Shift]

That really sucks.
Liked their all news format…and Traffic reports ( which included NJ unlike 1010 WINS).

Aren't you in Vegas? Do they do traffic on the radio there?

 

[rucoe89]

The cost is the same to run an AM or FM station. I worked at WTOP AM in Washington and after I left they started broadcasting the AM signal on one of the FM station that we owned. Everyone knows that there are less and less listeners on AM than FM. I’m sure the younger audience may never have listened to a AM station. The news format even though it cost more was extremely profitable since they ran double the number of commercials. I believe almost all of the CBS news stations simulcasted their format to a FM station. I also worked for CBS radio stations for over 15 years. All decisions are made solely on revenue and profits.

Out West in the Bay Area, KCBS is on AM and FM. If AM withers away they still have a good presence on FM. There are quite a few commercials so I can see it as not being a money sink.

 

[rucoe89]

Anyone who doesn’t pay like $3 a month for Sirius XM to have 300 stations including almost every live sporting even including college football, and never listen to a commercial again, is a fool

I dunno. About 90% of the stations are mediocre to junk. To each there own.

 

[Knight Shift]

"...Audacy announces that it is ending the all-news format on WCBS-AM, New York and will lease the signal to Good Karma Brands, which will begin airing its sports talk... Audacy plans to change the call letters to WHSQ-AM."

Audacy to Shutter All-News WCBS-AM, New York; GKB to Lease Signal for ESPN New York | TALKERS magazine

Audacy announces that it is ending the all-news format on WCBS-AM, New York and will lease the signal to Good Karma Brands, which will begin airing its spor ...

talkers.com

On May 27, 2022, Rutgers Athletic Department announced that starting in the fall, Rutgers football would transfer its flagship station from WOR-AM (710 AM) New York to sports radio WFAN (660 AM, 101.9 FM). New York and on the Audacy.com radio app and website from the New York market. The station would also be accessed on social media via Twitter (now X), Facebook and Instagram. Football coverage would include 30-minute pre and post-game shows. In addition, WCBS (880 AM) New York would become the flagship station for Rutgers men’s basketball and Audacy.com in the New York market. Rutgers football would still be carried on WCTC (1450 AM) in New Brunswick as it has since 1947.

"Audacy hands the heritage station to Craig Karmazin’s Good Karma Brands"

Craig is the son of Mel, who was Howard Stern's long time boss at Infinity and Sirius/XM. Craig is a chip off the old block:

 

[Knight Shift]

I dunno. About 90% of the stations are mediocre to junk. To each there own.

$3/month? We get it for $5-6/month, but agree that most stations are worthless. However, the major news channels have audio feeds, which are useful to listen to when there is breaking news when in the car. The rock stations Boneyard, Hair Nation, Turbo, Octane and Lithium are great for harder rock and metal, while 1st Wave, Tom Petty, E Street Radio and Classic Rewind are great for regular rock.

Not sure or don't care if Howard Stern is no premium. Nothing going on there. Tom Petty station is really fantastic. Petty made a lot of great radio shows playing artists who influenced him. E Street Radio is good for full Springsteen concerts.

But if the price goes past $6/month, we will dump it. Plenty of radio to listen to locally with 104.3, 107.1 The Boss, 95.9 WRAT, 101.1 CBSFM, 105.7 The Hawk, 89.5 WSOU and 90.5 WMCX (Monmouth College). Plus there are some great internet radio stations such as KKLD The Cloud out of Arizona and Crucial Velocity Radio out of Canada Sabbath-influenced hard rock.

 

[RU#1fan]

Aren't you in Vegas? Do they do traffic on the radio there?

Moving back to somewhere in Northern New Jersey next summer…. Had it with the 120 degree heat out here. Traffic is actually not that bad other than rush hour.

 

[Mr_Twister]

Does this mean that The Paul Finebaum Show (and SEC sports talk) will be available in drive-time on AM radio in the NYC market?

 

[Knight Shift]

Moving back to somewhere in Northern New Jersey next summer…. Had it with the 120 degree heat out here. Traffic is actually not that bad other than rush hour.

Northern Arizona around Flagstaff/Sedona is not bad. Problem with Flagstaff is that it can get a LOT of snow. Sedona sees many days around 105 F in the summer, but if you adjust your schedule to be inside by noon or 1 p.m. until about 7 p.m., it's not bad. Get stuff done in the morning and then the evening. Take a nap in the early afternoon, or read, or do something indoors.

 

[rucoe89]

Moving back to somewhere in Northern New Jersey next summer…. Had it with the 120 degree heat out here. Traffic is actually not that bad other than rush hour.

Yeah, but its a dry heat! Which I never thought made it any better. I will say Atlanta at 100 degrees and humid was just as bad!

 

[bac2therac]

Grew up on 880..traffic and weather on the 8s so its a sad day. They had the best broadcasters including former Rutgers PA announcer Harvey Hauptman plus many WCTC alums like Marla Diamond and Pete Haskell

WINS sucks

 

[LETSGORU91]

Anyone who doesn’t pay like $3 a month for Sirius XM to have 300 stations including almost every live sporting even including college football, and never listen to a commercial again, is a fool

Some might say the fool is the one who pays the $3+ a month to have an additional 300 stations added to the fold in this digitally distracting media world.

 

[29PAS]

Grew up on 880..traffic and weather on the 8s so its a sad day. They had the best broadcasters including former Rutgers PA announcer Harvey Hauptman plus many WCTC alums like Marla Diamond and Pete Haskell

WINS sucks

Scott Stanford on WINS in the morning is really fun to listen to.

 

[Knight Shift]

Some might say the fool is the one who pays the $3+ a month to have an additional 300 stations added to the fold in this digitally distracting media world.

Music soothes the savage beast. Or something like that. Commercial free music on SiriusXM is still a good deal. The DJs on the rock stations, especially the hard rock stations (Eddie Trunk, Jose Mangin (sp?), Strigl, Keith Roth, Shannon Gunz, Dangerous Darren and others) share interesting tidbits and stories, the way radio used to be. For $5-6/month, well worth it. But certainly understand if that's not everyone's thing.

 

[29PAS]

$3/month? We get it for $5-6/month, but agree that most stations are worthless. However, the major news channels have audio feeds, which are useful to listen to when there is breaking news when in the car. The rock stations Boneyard, Hair Nation, Turbo, Octane and Lithium are great for harder rock and metal, while 1st Wave, Tom Petty, E Street Radio and Classic Rewind are great for regular rock.

Not sure or don't care if Howard Stern is no premium. Nothing going on there. Tom Petty station is really fantastic. Petty made a lot of great radio shows playing artists who influenced him. E Street Radio is good for full Springsteen concerts.

But if the price goes past $6/month, we will dump it. Plenty of radio to listen to locally with 104.3, 107.1 The Boss, 95.9 WRAT, 101.1 CBSFM, 105.7 The Hawk, 89.5 WSOU and 90.5 WMCX (Monmouth College). Plus there are some great internet radio stations such as KKLD The Cloud out of Arizona and Crucial Velocity Radio out of Canada Sabbath-influenced hard rock.

I appreciate the station suggestions here. Been in a music funk for the last couple of months and have tried and dumped Premium Pandora and Apple Music recently. A 3 month free trial of Sirius will be my next attempt. Was liking streaming KDAN and KJIV for a while but they've gotten too weird (or I've gotten tired of them).

 

[retired711]

I don't understand the technicals at all, perhaps someone could explain better from a radio tech and business perspective, but why is AM radio still a thing and why would you relinquish 98.7 FM to lease the AM? Its older technology that always has the buzzing interference and less range/power, is it that its much cheaper to run? WFAN's broadcast quality improved immensely once it moved from 660 to 101.9. Rutgers on 710 before and Mets nowadays on 880 signal sucks even worse than it did on 660 and I'm only 20 mins from NYC.

One small correction: AM signals travel farther than FM signals, especially at night. There are still several clear channel AM stations that can be heard far outside their local listening area. WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia, is an example I remember from my days of dx'ing AM stations as a teen-ager. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear-channel_station# That said, you are entirely correct that FM has far better sound quality than AM.

 

[Knight Shift]

I appreciate the station suggestions here. Been in a music funk for the last couple of months and have tried and dumped Premium Pandora and Apple Music recently. A 3 month free trial of Sirius will be my next attempt. Was liking streaming KDAN and KJIV for a while but they've gotten too weird (or I've gotten tired of them).

There are a lot of great choices on SiriusXM, from acoustic (coffee house) to very loud and raucous. They have a fairly decent classical station too. Listing here (there is a dropdown box to select different genres):

Channel Lineup & Guide | SiriusXM

SiriusXM's full channel lineup. Search by plan, category or genre. Find your favorite station and start listening today.

www.siriusxm.com

 

[fsg2]

Anyone who doesn’t pay like $3 a month for Sirius XM to have 300 stations including almost every live sporting even including college football, and never listen to a commercial again, is a fool

Not paying for something you get for free is being a fool? In a world where plenty of people don't even listen to the radio much or at all?

I enjoy a good overconfident opinion, but it has to vaguely approach consensus popularity to work.

 

[fsg2]

Does this mean that The Paul Finebaum Show (and SEC sports talk) will be available in drive-time on AM radio in the NYC market?

You are the only one here who would know this.

 

[LETSGORU91]

Scott Stanford on WINS in the morning is really fun to listen to.

He's starting to annoy me a little. I dont need to hear him sing songs during my 22 minutes to get the World.

 

[angmo]

No Rush. No Bob Grant. No Art Bell. No AM.

 

[iReC89]

"BMW, Mazda, Volvo, Volkswagen and Tesla, among others, have either already removed or plan to remove AM radio from at least some electric models. Ford is going even further, reports the Detroit Free Press, and ditching AM in all new cars – gas or electric."
source

Should AM be required in cars? Can it really add more then a couple bucks if FM is installed?

 

[e5fdny]

Scott Stanford on WINS in the morning is really fun to listen to.

He's starting to annoy me a little. I dont need to hear him sing songs during my 22 minutes to get the World.

While I don’t listen to the radio while driving, all Spotify all the time, I thought he was very good on TV. First saw him on Channel 4 and then when he moved to WPIX.

And not sure if he still on but there was an evening guy on WINS who was really good too. Larry C. Mullins.

 

[Kbee3]

Not paying for something you get for free is being a fool? In a world where plenty of people don't even listen to the radio much or at all?

I enjoy a good overconfident opinion, but it has to vaguely approach consensus popularity to work.

I rarely listen to the radio.

 

[RU848789]

Music soothes the savage beast. Or something like that. Commercial free music on SiriusXM is still a good deal. The DJs on the rock stations, especially the hard rock stations (Eddie Trunk, Jose Mangin (sp?), Strigl, Keith Roth, Shannon Gunz, Dangerous Darren and others) share interesting tidbits and stories, the way radio used to be. For $5-6/month, well worth it. But certainly understand if that's not everyone's thing.

I think I pay more than that, but haven't checked in years, lol, but we're 100% aligned on SXM. A bunch of great channels I love and all of them have actual DJs that are quite knowledgeable about the music and share lots of great tidbits and stories and specials (interviews, sessions, concerts, etc), but without any commercials. There's something much better about hearing a song you like (either old and known or new) serendipitously, rather than via you playing it or some algorithm guessing you'd like it. At least for me. I'm a flipper, so I'm constantly flipping channels from indie to folk to punk to country to classic rock to pop to blues to metal to dance to 80s and 90s alternative, etc., etc.

 

[Knight Shift]

I think I pay more than that, but haven't checked in years, lol, but we're 100% aligned on SXM. A bunch of great channels I love and all of them have actual DJs that are quite knowledgeable about the music and share lots of great tidbits and stories and specials (interviews, sessions, concerts, etc), but without any commercials. There's something much better about hearing a song you like (either old and known or new) serendipitously, rather than via you playing it or some algorithm guessing you'd like it. At least for me. I'm a flipper, so I'm constantly flipping channels from indie to folk to punk to country to classic rock to pop to blues to metal to dance to 80s and 90s alternative, etc., etc.

Pro tip on subscription cost. Let the subscription lapse, or let them know you are canceling. They will call (or maybe now just start a chat) you, and hold firm. Tell them you can't afford the current rate anymore. They will keep coming down in price. The plan I am on (which is not a premium plan (no Howard Stern) is normally more than $20/month, which I would never pay.

SiriusXM is what I listen to when driving. Most of my time, when at home or in the office, I listen to Altrok 90.5HD2 from Brookdale Community College, which is a fantastic station to hear new rock music--think you said you know the guy who programs that station- Sean Carollan (sp?). Also listen to the hard rock station out of Canada, and the local radio noted above, flipping between WRAT, The Hawk and 107.1 the Boss.

With all of the above, it's a good mix. Not a huge fan of morning news or talk radio. Can see how a lot of people are sad about the end of an era though.

 

[RUDave_01]

This is the station that my dad listened to nearly all of the time when driving around town or going to work. It became the station that I would flip to in order to get traffic/weather updates (knowing that they were "on the 8s") and occasionally for top of the hour news.

My parents retired down south and when he'd make a visit, he'd want to hear if the same people were still reporting on there (often they were). The station gave me memories of him. It is a sad day for people who got some of their information through that channel.

 

[e5fdny]

This is the station that my dad listened to nearly all of the time when driving around town or going to work. It became the station that I would flip to in order to get traffic/weather updates (knowing that they were "on the 8s") and occasionally for top of the hour news.

My parents retired down south and when he'd make a visit, he'd want to hear if the same people were still reporting on there (often they were). The station gave me memories of him. It is a sad day for people who got some of their information through that channel.

That was WOR in our house.

“Rambling with Gambling” every morning.

Joan Hamburg

Dr. Meltzer - “Give him a t-shirt”