NotJimMelvin said,
Andy, give me the scoop. Is it normal for someone to own two stations in the same market with similar formats??
NJM, it is becoming more and more common for AM stations to hook-up like this with two outlets in the same market(790/980AM Triad) in an attempt to cover the entire market with a similar format. The owners don’t have the power to cover the area with one station so they link up two of their properties and try to blanket the market with at least daytime coverage.
WFNZ/610AM and WFNA/1660AM are both owned by CBS Radio in Charlotte and they are linked up trying to cover Charlotte with both frequencies working together somewhat on partial programming duplication. They both have the Sports format and they both carry The Morning Sports Page and Primetime with the Packman and this is Packman’s flagship station/stations…
WRBZ/850 the Buzz and WDNC/620 the Bull are both owned by the same people. Don Curtis of Curtis Media owns WDNC and he bought 850 for his son-in-law and that company is called NC SportsNet(aka: McClatchey Broadcasting), but both are owned by the same people in an attempt to control the Triangle Sports Radio market.
850 the Buzz has been around for 10 years and they merged the 620 with the 850 so they could form a bond and stop any takeover attempts by other AM combos, and there was one that lasted about a year, with Taylor Zazour heading up a two-station combo that his dad owned in the Triangle but they went belly-up. There is now an FM sports station in the Triangle at 99.9 and it’s called The Fan and it is owned by Jim Goodman and Capitol Broadcasting who also own the Durham Bulls. 99.9 has not been very much competition for 850/620.
The most recent ratings for the Charlotte 610/1660 were 1.5 and the Triangle ratings were 1.0 for 850 the Buzz and 0.6 for 620 the Bull…..The top-rated stations in each market draw somewhere around 8.4 to 7.8 and the ratings for the Sports stations will not get you many Ad agency buys but they do get you all the fringe buys that come with the ball games(college, pro, etc.). The sports stations also tend to do well with Sports bars/restaurants, car dealers, pizza, fitness centers, and real estate brokers.
850 the Buzz carries FOX Sports programming plus Adam Gold in the mornings, then Colin Cowherd, Jim Rome, Dave Glenn, and Morgan Patrick. Gold, Glenn, and Patrick are all local. 620 the Bull carries ESPN programming with Mike and Mike in the Mornings, Chris Clark(a local mid-day show), Mike Tirico and Scott Van Pelt, and then Primetime with the Packman(3-7pm).
You can hear both 850 and 620 in your cars, no problem, but you can’t pick up 610 until you are in the Lexington area headed down highway 85 South.
Here’s the combo programming lineup for 1660 and 610 out of Charlotte:
1660 Lineup
Monday – Friday
12:00AM-6:00AM
ESPN Radio
6:00AM-10:00AM
Morning Sports Page
10:00AM-1:00PM
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
1:00PM-3:00PM
ESPN Radio
3:00PM-7:00PM
Primetime with the Packman
610 AM Schedule
Monday – Friday
12:00AM-6:00AM
ESPN Radio
6:00AM-10:00AM
Morning Sports Page
10:00AM-11:00AM
The Power Hour with Chuck Howard
11:00AM-3:00PM
The Mac Attack
3:00PM-7:00PM
Primetime with the Packman
*****Here’s hoping this blog answered a few questions and maybe created a few new ones as well.*****