New York’s WFAN, the station where sports-talk radio was born 25 years ago, is moving to the FM dial.
WFAN’s owner CBS Radio said Monday it has purchased WRXP (101.9 FM) from Merlin Media, for $75 million, and will begin simulcasting WFAN’s 660 AM programming there “in late fall.”
CBS Radio President and CEO Dan Mason said the move is simply good business.
“This is an extremely exciting opportunity to expand our radio presence in the nation’s largest market,” he said. “Sports is a very popular format and a huge growth category.”
ESPN Radio has added listeners since it moved to FM in New York, but WFAN has remained comfortably ahead in the ratings — including among the 25- to 54-year-old men who form the core of the sports-talk audience.
CBS senior vice president Don Bouloukos said the exact date for the launch of the WFAN-FM simulcast depends on the speed of the regulatory process. He said he expects it will happen by the end of the year, with some speculation CBS has a mid-November goal.
He added the company would simulcast on both bands “for as long as we can.”
AM signals carry much farther than FM signals.
CBS has the Mets on WFAN and the Yankees on sister station WCBS-AM (880). There has been speculation ESPN will make an aggressive play when their contracts expire.
“We’ve had no coverage problems with either team,” said Bouloukos. “I don’t think a simulcast adds any value for the rights holder.”
ESPN kept broadcasting on 1050 AM for two months after its 98.7 FM simulcast launched. Recently it dropped the simulcast and turned 1050 AM over to ESPN Deportes, a Spanish-language talk radio network.
The WFAN simulcast does mean rock music fans will once again lose the alt-rock format at 101.9.
