This one has picked up so much attention, it's on the AP wire today.
The Wisconsin State Journal in Madison reports that Clear Channel news/talker WIBA/1310 in that Wisconsin city has sold the naming rights to its newsroom. After the first of the year, WIBA reporters and anchors will be heard from the "Amcore Bank News Center".
No, we're not making this up.
And it's not even the first station in that state to do so. According to the article, sister Clear Channel news/talker WISN/1130 Milwaukee sold the naming rights to its newsroom last year to Pyramax Bank. (Banks seem to be the thing.) This part of the story has a Northeast Ohio connection, of course, as WTAM/1100 Cleveland anchors handle the bulk of WISN's non-drive time updates via the company's WAN. So, somewhere in the CC World Domination HQ on Oak Tree in Independence, even as you read this, an anchor may be delivering a report "from the Pyramax Bank News Center".
A local professor in Madison tells the paper he's not concerned, as it harkens back to the 1950's when companies title-sponsored newscasts all the time...even at the network level. And for its part, Clear Channel/Madison notes that a fully staffed newsroom is expensive.
Monday, December 12, 2005
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6 comments:
I'm curious about the "3WE" phase of WTAM's history. When did 1100 drop WKYC in favor of WWWE, and what were the station's formats? I've heard everything from Top 40 to adult contemporary to country, and wanted to get specifics. Also, when did the change to news/talk happen? I first started listening regularly in 1992 when it was still 3WE; if I'm not mistaken, the flip back to WTAM happened in July 1996. Been curious about this but all of my internet searches turn-up references to the old call letters without much detail.
WKYC AM-FM were sold by NBC in 1972 to Ohio Communications (Nick Mileti and Tom Embrescia). At the same time, the decision was made to change call letters: the AM changed to WWWE (3WE); the FM to WWWM (M105). 3WE had an AC-ish format then, and changed to country a little later; M105 had easy listening, soon to change to a pseudo-rock/AC format (and compete with WMMS and WGCL).
The news/talk change was around 1985-86.
WPGB-FM 104.7 touts its talk shows as coming from "the Lexus studios of the next generation of news-talk," a moniker paid for by two automobile dealers in the Pittsburgh area, Rohrich Lexus and Lexus of North Hills.
from gr8oldies...WLW's studios are sponsored by John Morrell (meat). An anouncement runs every hour that says "From the John Morrell sponsored 700 WLW studios". The sentence is never completed. Bob and Tom now originates from the NAPA studios
There's got to come a point where all those sponsorships become so much buzzing in the listeners' ears.
There was a time - don't think it's still the case - when WBZ's "Traffic on the Threes" became the "Subaru Dealers of New England All-Wheel Drive Traffic on the Threes."
And, so help me, there then came a time when the poor schnook at Metro had to tag out with, "The Subaru Dealers of New England All-Wheel Drive Traffic on the Threes, brought to you by your Greater Boston Ford Dealers."
Say that every ten minutes and you start running out of room for actual news.
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