The New York radio scene is about to undergo a drastic change.
The time of WCBS news radio 880 AM is coming to an end as its parent company Audacy has reached a deal to license the frequency to Good Karma Brands’ ESPN New York, the companies announced on Monday.
ESPN New York will be moving over to 880 from its longtime frequency 1050 AM.
The 880 frequency has greater reach, and ESPN New York will move there beginning Monday, Aug. 26.
The news is particularly noteworthy given that Audacy and Good Karma are competitors.
ESPN New York and Audacy-owned WFAN are decades-long rivals who have fought bitterly through the years on the airwaves and in the boardrooms.
This was especially the case when “The Michael Kay Show” and Mike Francesa were vying in the afternoon drive ratings battle.
“New York has always been proudly unique in supporting two all-news radio brands, but the news business has gone through significant changes,” Audacy’s New York market president Chris Olivero said in a statement.
“The headwinds facing local journalism nationwide made it essential to strategically reimagine how we deliver the news for the most impact. WCBS-880 has been one of the most respected radio stations in history, with a legacy cemented by the hundreds of world-class journalists, on and off the air, who willed it into existence over the decades.”
Audacy continues to own the news talk station 1010 WINS, which was somewhat redundant with WCBS.
Former Post columnist Andrew Marchand previously reported that ESPN New York is abandoning its FM frequency, 98.7, and focusing its distribution on AM and streaming, at the end of this month.
ESPN has been paying Ennis Broadcasting about $12.5 million a year to license the frequency.
At the time of the report, Good Karma founder and CEO Craig Karmazin said that the company’s research indicated that about 60 percent of ESPN New York’s listeners were digital, and of the remaining 40 percent about 8 in 10 were expected to listen on the AM dial.
