CBS Radio Cuts WBCN, Adds Sports, Moves Mix from 98.5 to 104.1
104.1 WBCN - the self-proclaimed Rock of Boston - will soon be moved from terrestrial glory to the Internet graveyard, as originally reported by Adam Reilly on his media blog at ThePhoenix.com. The station’s owner CBS is moving Mix (WBMX) from its current signal 98.5 to WBCN’s. 98.5 will in turn be taken over by a brand new sports radio station called The Sports Hub (WBZ-FM) and that station starts out with quite enviable programming: The New England Patriots (from WBCN) and the Boston Bruins (from WBZ-AM).
As a bit of a metal head and on-and-off WBCN listener (a few years ago I participated in a series of focus groups sponsored by WBCN and a couple of other Boston stations) I am quite disappointed with the shake up. While WBCN’s music programming is just barely good enough it’s still better than WAAF’s and especially WFNX’s. But it’s easy to understand why CBS is pulling the plug on the storied rock station. The station’s roster of advertisers lacks in both quality and quantity and it’s not difficult to imagine a marketing director making the case for the shake up (”Look at the sports demos! Look at their purchasing habits! Look at their income!”)
Incidentally, yesterday morning morning-hosts Toucher and Rich found it “eerie” that their show being named Best something or other by The Improper Bostonian was met with “silence” by the station. No self-congratulatory emails were sent out, neither internally or externally.
But not as eerie as they may have feared because Toucher and Rich are moving to the Sports Hub where they will anchor the morning show. I really enjoy T&R on WBCN but while they do talk sports every so often I’m not sure they’ll be able to carry the conversation the morning after a close game against the New York Jets. We’ll see.
Certainly the Sports Hub has some of the ingredients necessary to go up against the regional sports-talk behemoth that is WEEI but perhaps less than one might think. Yes, The Hub has Patriots and Bruins games, but WEEI has Patriots Monday and Patriots Friday, and the former includes exclusive interviews with New England’s quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick. That’s hard to top.
There is a vocal contingent of sports fans who express severe dissatisfaction with WEEI’s style, but it remains to be seen how big that contingent is and how many of its members will find The Hub more appealing.
Finally, a memo to old-time ‘BCN fans: Yes, I’m sure the station was better 25 years ago. Everything was better 25 years ago, as people from Harare to Hällefors can attest. That was true in 1984, too.
