WGN-AM in Chicago has been carrying Chicago Cubs baseball since the beginning – Tribune owned both the Cubs, WGN and the Tribune newspaper (and WGN TV). \u00a0It made no difference if the cubs had zero chance of winning the season – the media hype of Tribune kept people buying tickets.<\/p>\n
About 5 years ago, Tribune was the subject of a hostile takeover. \u00a0 Sam Zell took over the company and immediately landed in bankruptcy. \u00a0Very early in the process, the Cubs were sold off, splitting WGN from the Cubs. \u00a0WGN agreed to pay $10 million a year through 2014 for the rights to the game (but they can’t stream the games).<\/p>\n
Tribune is now out of bankruptcy and they can’t afford this. \u00a0 Ratings of the games are down, the people who still listen to baseball on AM are dwindling – they’re losing their butts.<\/p>\n
When Cumulus was deciding what to do about Limbaugh (and Hannity), I observed that WGN was the logical landing spot – except that a large portion of the Cubs home games are still played in the afternoon due to limits on night games at Wrigley field.<\/p>\n
As comparison, KDKA (CBS) in Pittsburgh had the deal that they let the team hire the announcers, keep all the ad revenue and the station got free programming and the prestige and ratings boost of having the games.<\/p>\n
In 2007, CBS decided that free was too expensive, and let Clear Channel’s WPGB-FM have the rights with its smaller footprint.<\/p>\n
When that deal expired, the Bucs returned to KDKA-FM, which is an all sports format in 2012. \u00a0WJR in Detroit similarly decided the Tigers weren’t worth it and left for WXYT.<\/p>\n
I almost thought about going to a Cubs game until I looked at the ticket prices. \u00a0Despite having dropped prices, a seat in the bleachers is still over $50, the highest in the country. \u00a0Attendance is at a 15 year low.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WGN-AM in Chicago has been carrying Chicago Cubs baseball since the beginning – Tribune owned both the Cubs, WGN and the Tribune newspaper (and WGN TV). \u00a0It made no difference if the cubs had zero chance of winning the season … Continue reading