NERW Update: CBS Adds in Philly

After days of rumors, CBS Radio has made it official this morning: in a memo to employees, Dan Mason says the company is filling out its Philadelphia cluster with the addition of Beasley’s country WXTU (92.5) and rhythmic top-40 WRDW-FM (96.5) to its existing two FMs, classic hits WOGL (98.1) and sports WIP-FM (94.1), as well as AM news KYW (1060) and talk WPHT (1210).

Beasley will keep its Philadelphia AMs, leased-time WWDB (860) and religious WTMR (800 Camden NJ), and it will add CBS’ WIP (610) to its cluster there. CBS will trade its clusters in Tampa and Charlotte to Beasley in exchange for WXTU and WRDW, along with Beasley’s Miami radio cluster.

NERW hears that CBS will move quickly to replace the “Wired” top-40 format on 96.5 with an FM incarnation of KYW, which has been struggling in the ratings on its not-quite-full-market AM signal in recent months. Country will stay in place on WXTU, one of the top-rated stations in the market.

Much more on the implications of this move, and the fallout, coming Monday in NERW – and come discuss it with us on the RadioInsight Community!