and from Herald (Note: Entercom’s WEEI 850 and soon to be 93.7 has the Red Sox and Celtics. CBS’ WBZ-FM 98.5 has the
Pats, Bruins, and Revolution, but both stations are sure to talk various sports no matter what.)
WEEI amps up ratings battle
Launching FM station to compete with 98.5
By Jessica Heslam | Thursday, September 8, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com
In a desperate bid to break its fall from the graces of Hub sports fans, one-time jock talk titan WEEI-AM is set to air on Boston’s FM radio dial after getting battered in the ratings war with rival upstart “98.5 The Sports Hub.”
Entercom execs plan to simulcast WEEI-AM (850) on its disc-jockey free, popular music station WMKK-FM (93.7), otherwise known as “Mike FM,” sources told the Herald yesterday.
The move — which means a better signal for WEEI on the Hub’s airwaves — starts Monday, with the Patriots season opener and when quarterback Tom Brady makes his weekly appearance, sources said.
Station honchos refused requests for comment.
The CBS-owned Sports Hub has been on a meteoric rise since its launch two years ago and now trumps WEEI-AM in the ratings war.
New figures released yesterday show the Sports Hub once again beating WEEI-AM in the top three male listener demographics, including 18- to 34-year-old men, 18- to 49-year-old men and 25- to 54-year-old men.
Entercom’s move to replace FM music with sports reflects a national trend toward news and sports talk formats in hopes of attracting younger listeners and wider audiences, said Tom Taylor, news editor of Radio-Info.com. It’s also another death knell for AM radio.
“There’s a significant percentage of people who don’t normally listen to AM radio of any kind,” said Taylor. “In this case, Entercom must have decided they finally had seen enough and they had to compete in FM.”
WEEI morning duo John Dennis and Gerry Callahan, a Herald contributor, are expected to make the “major announcement” at 8 a.m. today.
Back in December, WEEI program director Jason Wolfe shot down speculation that Entercom was moving WEEI programming over to the lucrative 93.7 FM. The station, which plays a broad range of rock and pop tunes, is a low-cost money-minter.
’EEI has undertaken sweeping changes to fend off the challenge from the Sports Hub. It axed longtime midday co-host Dale Arnold and paired up-and-comer Michael Holley with ‘EEI power-hitter Glenn Ordway on “The Big Show,” the station’s once dominant afternoon drive program.
In an effort to blunt The Sports Hub’s rising ratings, ’EEI had resorted to counting some listeners who tune into WEEI-FM (103.7) in Providence in the overall Boston ratings.
The controversial practice has drawn fire from some media observers, as well as former ’EEI personality Pete Sheppard, who complained the station didn’t include those listeners in calculating ratings bonuses.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1364210
Is this part of a larger trend of talk radio on FM? Orlando FL had ESPN on FM for a while (95.9) but now WDBO is simulcasting their talk format on 96.5, what used to be the premier rock station on FM.