This may be nothing more than a negotiating ploy by The Writers Guild of America on behalf of workers at 1010 WINS and WCBS-FM. The New York Daily News is reporting that Entercom wants to “cross-utilize” talent and one 1010 WINS editor is quoted in the story saying Entercom plans to fire staffers, “in essence making it one newsroom.”
Although Entercom did not respond to our request for a comment, a company spokesperson did tell The Daily News it had no intention of merging workforces. “The premise that we are seeking to consolidate newsrooms into a single one is incorrect. We have never proposed that and do not intend to operate these separate brands in that manner.”
1010WINS and WCBS are consistently in the top ten billing radio stations in the country, according to BIA. The 2018 numbers are not out yet, however back in 2017 1010WINS was 7th on the list and WCBS-AM was a close 8th, both taking in about $40 million in revenue for the year.
The Daily News report says Entercom and the Writers Guild of America East are fighting over a new contract
1010 WINS editor and writer Phil Pilato contradicted Entercom’s denial about merging the two staffs telling the paper that wages have been stagnant since the last contract expired in 2015 and Entercom won’t talk about anything until its “cross-utilization” demands are met. “Most people don’t know that WINS and WCBS radio are owned by the same company. Over the years we’ve maintained our independence because we all felt New York deserves two separate unique voices in radio news. However, Entercom now wants something that would allow them to cut the staffs of both stations and water down the news New Yorkers get by having the same people work at both stations — in essence making it one newsroom.”
Writers Guild spokesman Jason Gordon told the paper the union doesn’t favor any news and worker consolidation, however the union would be open to discussing Entercom’s plans if the company produced a written proposal. “We have no idea what will happen. We have repeatedly asked the company to give us a plan detailing how it intends to use cross-utilization at the two stations and it has refused to do so. It has also refused to assure us it won’t result in job losses, saying layoffs are a possibility.”
24 hours after this story was first published we received the following comment from an Entercom spokesperson: “I can confirm that we do not have plans to consolidate the #1 most listened to all-news station in the country, 1010 WINS, and sister station WCBS 880, New York’s trusted source for news and information, into one newsroom. We are incredibly proud of the work these iconic stations do every day that has established them as the trusted, go-to sources New Yorkers depend on. We are negotiating with the WGAE to reach fair agreements for both stations, with the ultimate goal of keeping these brands among the most respected in the country.”
I am back again- years later. WCBS is now a replay tape- no times on traffic reports. And WINS has nearly jettisoned the “Long Island Big 3”. It is painful to listen to these guys during my various insomnia attacks, so I have moved over to WABC- Curtis Sliwa and the other midnight guy- Frank Morano.
Back again. Another thing that drives me crazy re WINS is the inauthentic traffic reports- especially “Long Island Big 3”. Fine to mention any one of them if there is a slowdown or an accident, but it is beyond lamest scripting/ poor excuse for “branding” if the reporters mention the “Big 3” like automatons. Just sayin’
Slow race to the bottom with WINS now having an “entertainment report” to further dilute its value.
Am I wrong or is the history of radio over the past few years been mostly about cutting costs?
Not speaking of which, WCBS seems to have dropped HD from its 880 signal: a big value-subtract in our electrically noisy Manhattan apartment. WINS still has HD and sounds great. Betcha Entercom will kill HD on WINS soon too.
There is no HD for AM at this time. You can listen to WCBS-AM on the HD2 channel for WCBS-FM.