Al Diamon
Sports vs. Sports
(page 1 of 3)
Who’s on first? Starting Sept. 1, Atlantic Coast Radio’s sports station in Portland will have a new rival – owned by Atlantic Coast Radio. ACR’s “Big Jab” programming, including its local morning show and Boston Red Sox games, will go up against WEEI’s Boston-based shows, rebroadcast on an ACR-licensed wavelength.
“Big Jab” will show up on the dial at 96.3 FM, a powerhouse signal heard all over southern and western Maine, as well as its current home at 1440 AM in Portland. The WEEI shows will be broadcast on 95.5 FM out of Topsham (WTEI) and 95.9 FM from Saco (WPEI), giving that programming a somewhat smaller coverage area.
But why would one company want two sports stations, splitting the potential audience and advertising revenue?
According to ACR general manager Jon Van Hoogenstyn, the move makes business sense. By picking up the Boston station’s shows, he said, the Portland station keeps them off competitors’ airwaves.
“We would much rather have WEEI with us than against us, no question,” Van Hoogenstyn said.
In addition, the move keeps the Sox games on ACR stations. WEEI’s sister station WRKO owns the Red Sox radio rights. If WEEI had signed on with another Portland broadcast outlet, it’s likely the baseball deal would have shifted to that station when “Big Jab’s” contract ended in 2011. By agreeing to carry the Boston programming, ACR is assured of having the rights to those games until 2013.
The deal may give ACR stability and sports fans more options, but it cuts back on the choices for other radio listeners. Western Mainers accustomed to hearing WLOB’s talk shows on 96.3 will no longer be able to receive them over the air. That station will only air on 1310 AM in Portland, a relatively weak signal. However, it’s morning show will still be simulcast on Fox 23 TV, and Van Hoogenstyn said the station’s Web site will soon have an audio stream available. The news isn’t so positive for fans of WRED, the hip hop station currently on 95.9. It will disappear from the airwaves on Sept. 1.
“We recognized there were people we were serving that we could no longer serve,” said Van Hoogenstyn. “Part of the overall decision where we decided what we were going to do was that music was not what we were going to be offering.”
Posted on Friday, August 22, 2008 in Permalink
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Reader Comments:
Nassau Broadcasting is apparently doing some signal rejiggering of its own. Radio-Info.com reports that Scarborough's 106.3 signal (currently classical) will rebroadcast North Windham's 106.7 The Bone (classic rock) while Kennebunk's 99.3 transmitter (currently classical) will relay Auburn's 99.9 The Wolf (country.) The loser in this shuffle is classical-formatted W-BACH, which goes from two Southern Maine signals to one, Kennebunkport's 104.7. That will likely disenfranchise some classical radio fans in Portland and particularly its northern suburbs, who have had a commercial classical radio station in their immediate vicinity since 1974 in one form or another.
Steve Thaxton's explanation of the situation at WCSH jibes with anecdotal evidence from at least one of Gannett's other TV properties. On the TVSpy Watercooler there was a mention of sister station WXIA-TV Atlanta, GA missing its Olympics revenue target by a million dollars or more. Ouch.
It would be nice to find out how WGME and WMTW are doing, as they don't seem to be laying off any news staffers or cutting newscasts. WGME just spent lavishly on a new weather graphics system, and WMTW has beefed up its online weather capabilities. Then again, both of WCSH's competitors have much smaller weekend news presences to begin with.
Looking ahead to Labor Day weekend, it seems the Love Network isn't feeling much love from Sinclair's WGME. Years ago Channel 13 used to carry all 21-1/2 hours of the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, but this year's published schedule exemplifies a trend at WGME and elsewhere around the country as the needs of the local affiliate takes precedence over Jerry's Kids and the annual quest for 'one dollar more.' This year WGME buries the Telethon Sunday overnight from 11:35PM-5:00AM, the balance of Labor Day schedule taken up with the usual weekday fare of news, syndicated reruns and, this year at least, the US Open Tennis Tournament. Southern Maine fans of tympanis, tote boards and Jerry Lewis's tearful rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" will apparently have to watch the telethon online to get the full effect.
In Bangor, WABI's coverage kicks off at 11:00PM Sunday night and concludes at the traditional 6:30PM end time.
Taking Ray & Ted off FM is one of the dumbest moves ever in radio. They are funny and tell the truth about what our government does while still allowing liberals like Ethan Strimling and John Baldacci a chance to plead their to a public that already knows better.
They have killed the only sane voices in radio in Maine so they can dumb us down a little further with sports talk.
has anyone stopped to think that maybe ACR bringing in WEEI will actually increase ad revenues? by moving the #1 sports radio station in the state to a statewide signal, they will dramatically increase their listenership. by bringing in weei, they give options. has anyone ever complained about too many sports options? do you really think that sports fans just drone on listening to WJAB all day? this will make it possible to "own" sports fans and these listeners will not be tuning in to another station like BLM or frank as often.
to me, they'll get more revenue from the expanded JAB and EEI simulcast then they would have from LOB (which got no ratings) and WRED (which had a small niche demographic).
Yeah thats just what people want to listen to, Sports all day ? Are you kidding me this was absolutly stupid. I run my own business but wouldn't think for second to put my money into an ad on the jab.
that's too bad, you're missing out on the biggest concentration of male consumers anywhere in maine. more than you'd get with a whole day's worth of tv ads on all the cable tv sports shows all day, etc. you may not like the format, but your customers do. it's the fastest growing radio format in the country.
when you're driving home from work today, try to notice how many pats, sox, celtics stickers on the vehicles. chances are they're listening to the jab.
I want my talk show hosts returned.I don't care for sports.Give me back my programming.
Maybe you should be more into whats going on the country rather thans 24 hrs. of sports, I like sports too Red Sox, Pats, Celtics, But I also want to keep up on what this country is in for. Its funny , I have talked to plenty and not one male as you call us was going to listen to your great sports show period ! Howie Carr 103.9 , Rush 96.7 , Glenn Beck 96.7, and anything else we can find.
Its all crap a li9tlle bit of it goes a long way , so 24 hrs. of it makes me sick ! I hope WLOB goes staright down and goes away completly.
WLOB is taking quite a licking over this move. I know Ray and Ted pretty well as I am a guest host from time to time. Every where I go, I am asked when they are coming back. The above ratings comment was not accurate. Their latest ratings period was way up.
With all the emails and phonecalls the station is getting, I bet they will be back on FM quite soon.
This was not a smart move by WLOB and their listeners have let them know it.