CFMJ (Talk 640 Toronto) Changes/Where will the Maple Leafs 11/12 Radio Rights Go

[alebowgm]

Figured this should be its own thread. The rumor is that 640 Toronto will announce at the start of next week when TSN Radio launches that they will be shutting down its sports division and subleasing the final year of its deal with MLSE for radio rights to the highest bidder. The question is, where will it land. If it goes to Fan 590, it may displace the Raptors. If it goes to TSN Radio 1050 it gives them a major building block.

Thoughts?

Also, per TSM

Second, and perhaps more importantly, the rumored desire of 640 Toronto to rid itself of Toronto Maple Leafs hockey games.

Think the last year has been busy? If half of what I am told comes to fruition between now and the 13th your heads will be spinning. Now this, everyone is talking as if the only thing that has kept the Leafs on Jonas’s station is the run the Leafs have been on. Now that the run is over, and TSN Radio is coming…. LOOKOUT!

By April 13th I am fully expecting to hear that the Leafs radio rights have been moved. I’m not a betting man but I’m liking 590 in the race. What happens as a result, let’s just the talk is BIG and far reaching.

http://torontosportsmedia.com/sports...m-rumack/10379

[Emerald_Boar]

Does 640 own TSN 1050? This story only makes sense if 640 is in the same ownership as TSN 1050.

Or unless of course, ML Radio does not make them any ca$h and their trying to reduce its loses.

read ya l8r,
Al

[alebowgm]

Let me try to rephrase it for people who haven't been keeping up on this...

Bell Media (formerly CHUM Radio) is relaunching CHUM-AM (1050 CHUM) as all sports starting April 13 (no more CP24 simulcast), which is direct head-to-head competition to CJCL (Fan 590 Toronto). The ongoing changes/tinkering with Fan 590's lineup as a result of TSN Radio 1050 being launched is being discussed at

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=135102
and
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=126246

As a result of TSN Radio launching, the word/rumor/train of thought is CFMJ (AM 640 Toronto) is going to drop it's sports programming (they already dropped Leafs lunch and the weekend Leafs show they were running, Marek left and went to CBC, Brady went to CJCL). That means The Bill Watters show will be gone, as well as the Leafs radio rights. Also lots of speculation that Bryan Hayes may be in play to jump ship to either CJCL or CHUM. So instead of trying to provide partial competition against two full time sports stations, they are just going to fully shift to a news/talk format and compete with CFRB 1010.

Now CFMJ's contract for MLSE for the the Leafs radio rights runs through the 2011/2012 season so it's rumored that they are looking to CJCL and CHUM and saying, who want's to pony up the most and buy/sub-lease the last year of the deal from us. Note that after the '11/'12 season, MLSE will have the lay of the land to choose who they want to partner up with, so even if CJCL or CHUM pony up for one year, they will need to negotiate with MLSE for subsequent years (although wisdom suggests they will probably have a window of exclusive negotiations). This is relevant since MLSE's majority interest being for sale from the Pension Fund and both Bell and Rogers are considered to be potential bidders.

Many are speculating that Rogers is going to make a big play to get the Leafs radio rights for CJCL, which they haven't had for more than a decade. BUT, they also control the Raptors and Jays radio rights, plus TFC, Bills, etc. So it will cause a logjam for sure unless they give up the Raptors.

The Star and The Globe have had articles penned in the last few months briefly discussing the matter, as has TSM. But looks like it is about to come to the forefront.

[reidw]

Are the Leafs radio rights still worth that much? With all the games now on TV in one way or another, how large is the radio audience anyway? Who listens to radio these days? Especially AM?

[alebowgm]

To answer user reidw question...

CFMJ is the Maple Leafs radio rights holder and is in the third year of a seven-year deal paying MLSE $1.5-2M per year

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/D...adio-Host.aspx

Ignore the dates since the article is very old, but looks as if the rights must be valuable.

[alebowgm]

And so it begins...

Bryan Hayes is moving over to TSN radio to host a show from 10-1pm.

http://torontosportsmedia.com/sports...sn-radio/10397

[alebowgm]

And it's offical... Hayes is gone per TSN...

TSN Radio 1050 continues to ramp up its radio lineup with the addition of Bryan Hayes, new host of a weekday sports talk show from 10am to Noon ET.

The first edition of his show airs Wednesday, April 13, the launch date of TSN Radio 1050.

Hayes joins TSN Radio 1050 from AM640, where he hosted two sports talk shows, interviewing major sports personalities from the NHL, CFL, NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, UFC, and NCAA.

http://tsn.ca/other_sports/story/?id=361377

[reidw]

Wonder if Bowen, Bayak and Frost will have anything to say about this on their last broadcast of the season tomorrow night?

[alebowgm]

Bryan Hayes makes the move from AM 640 as it prepares to jettison its experiment with the Maple Leafs rights. Hayes is getting 10-noon after Mike Richards.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...rticle1976782/

[alebowgm]

For years AM640 Toronto was plagued with an identity crisis. Having just one sports show in the middle of some unrelated news talk shows made little sense.

So Bryan Hayes tells the bosses at 640 that he is leaving the station. No this isn’t a joke, but it has a punch line never the less. What do they do? Ask or tell him that he needs to go on the air for the last 2 days of the week. Not that Bill Watters can do a show solo, but did it really matter that Watters is away? I mean, they couldn’t have found anyone else to host those two shows this week and let Hayes go? Watters, I am told, isn’t going to be back this week either. Who’s going to host next week? Won’t happen, but would love to see Jolly Jonas host.

http://torontosportsmedia.com/sports...590-more/10405

[alebowgm]

I am told that Jim Ralph will be hosting the Bill Watters Show tomorrow. No offense to Ralph, but WOW does that ever tell you what 640 thinks about the drive home show. Ralph does colour on Leafs games. He’s not a radio show host. If ever there was a clear sign of the white flag being waved this has to be it.

http://torontosportsmedia.com/sports...-mondays/10416

[DanJ]

Dennis and Jim hosted Monday. I only tuned in just after 800pm, so I assume this was a replay. I assumed it was some kind of Leafs season post mortem but I didn't listen for very long, as I tuned over to 1010.

edited to add: I just read the article and notice the time it was posted probably means it refers to him actually hosting on Monday. Wonder what the plan is for the rest of the week.

[alebowgm]

Is opening another front in the Rogers-Bell war something TSN will ultimately regret?

There wasn’t room 10 years ago when the Team 1050 sank in 15 months trying to launch a Toronto-based national sports radio network. AM640 has had a tough time trying to be a quasi-sports station and there are rumblings that it’s getting out of the sports business.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/tvradi...n-sports-radio

[alebowgm]

Jim Ralph will fill in some gaps left at AM640 with Bryan Hayes leaving. Ralph will host the Bill Waters Show.

http://www.milkmanunlimited.com/tunedin.htm

[rob50312]

AM 640 signal has a much better coverage thru out Ontario than 1050.