DIALING UP SPECULATION
Big names bandied about as buyers in radio selloff
Colossal changes are in store up and down Boston’s radio dial come the new year as five Hub stations brace for new ownership and possible format flips under the mega-merger of radio behemoths CBS and Entercom.
Company brass has been tightlipped about who’s buying — or trading — the five Hub stations, including storied news station WBZ-AM (1030), legendary talker WRKO-AM (680) and the popular “Sports Hub,” but we’ve got the goods on some scenarios being bandied about.
Radio execs plan to finalize the deal by year’s end and they had to shed some stations to comply with FCC regulations. Two other Boston stations being ditched are classic rock station WZLX-FM (100.7) and WKAFFM 97.7, which flipped its format earlier this year to urban music and a new lineup of on-air personalities.
One scenario has Comcast making a play for WBZ radio as a boon to NBC Boston (Channel 10), which debuted earlier this year and has been struggling in the ratings. WBZ-TV (Ch. 4) and its sister radio station have been broadcast partners for years.
Comcast may also be interested in 98.5 The Sports Hub. The sports station’s morningdrive duo Fred Toucher and Rich Shertenlieb and afternoondrive’s Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti are simulcast on NBC Sports Boston.
“No one tells me anything but there are good, smart people at NBC Boston and they’d be good at whatever they did,” Felger said yesterday.
When the radio giants announced the merger earlier this year, there was speculation that the rival Sports Hub and WEEI talk jocks would be under one roof. “We’re just glad we’re not merging with WEEI,” Felger said.
But last night, an NBC Sports Boston spokeswoman sought to dampen speculation, saying in an email, “We have no current plans to buy The Sports Hub. We’re always looking to expand our reach and deliver the best sports content to NBC Sports Boston consumers, across all platforms.”
Another NBC Boston spokeswoman said in an email, “This isn’t anything we are working on at our three properties.”
Then there’s the Educational Media Foundation, a nonprofit organization that owns Christian music radio stations. Last month, EMF bought three of Entercom’s FM stations in Los Angeles, San Diego and Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and may have its eye on WKAF. They could be in the market for an AM station like WBZ, which has a powerful signal that reaches most of the country.
Hubbard Radio, which owns an all-news station in Washington, D.C., could also be eyeing WBZ.
Bloomberg is another possibility. Since July, Bloomberg Radio has been heard on three Boston radio stations owned by the Beasley Media Group, according to Radio Ink.
I reached out to Bloomberg but all I got was a short statement from Al Mayers, global head of Bloomberg Radio and Television, that said: “Bloomberg is very happy with our radio strategy in Boston.”
So stay tuned.