The Boston Globe has announced that it will launch an online radio station featuring a group of former WFNX staffers.
The station which will launch later this summer has hired former WFNX Program Director Paul Driscoll, Henry Santoro, Julie Kramer, and Adam 12 to round out the on-air team along with Promotions Director Mike Snow and Johnny L Lavasseur from the sales team.
WFNX which was sold to Clear Channel in May will sign-off on July 22 before flipping to a yet to be announced format.
Boston.com is the online home of The Boston Globe and is owned by the New York Times Company.
Meanwhile the Phoenix/WFNX says they will continue the station as a webstream–so you have the former WFNX jocks working for boston.com while WFNX’s int. property, music, etc. will be at wfnx.com . For the record the Phoenix did not, to the best of my knowledge, acknowledge the Globe’s project on its site. So, two streams…?
I would have to say yes. Looks like Phoenix is trying to go the tired automated Rock/Alternative loop, where Boston.com is looking to cash in on a void that Phoenix left when they sold the station and laid off the staff. The fact that Paul Driscoll joined the Boston.com group just shows to me that the Phoenix is giving up on WFNX as a relevant music source. Also, the Phoenix and Globe are two separate entities, so I don’t see a joint venture. I woldn’t see the Globe wanting to go into business with a company that’s best known for adult personal ads.
The solution, which I think Boston.com will attempt, is to buy the intellectual property and music library of WFNX.
And I think outgoing ‘FNX owner Steve Mindich will accept the offer—-if it’s seven figures.
Otherwise, so much “bad blood” between Mindich and Boston.com may exist that those former FNXers who have signed on with Boston.com’s web station probably won’t be allowed to be part of WFNX’s week of farewell broadcasts (Jukly 14th-21st).
There is no way the New York Times Company (OR ANYBODY FOR THAT MATTER) will pay over a million dollars for the intellectual property of what amounts to a dead radio station with no competitive reason to do so.
By hiring much of the on-air staff of WFNX, Boston.com has basically rendered the WFNX brand useless come July 21. They may not have the archives or the name, but they have everything they need to move the brand forward. With social media and the newspaper/website connection anybody who wants access to Boston.com’s project will know about it by the time it launches.
I personally wouldn’t value what’s left of the WFNX brand now at anything north of $25,000.
I don’t think the New York Times Company would be able to get the intellectual property and music library of WFNX for anything less than a lot of money.
I think Steve Mindich may be demanding a lot of $$$. Certainly more than $25,000 were a deal to be made now.
But the longer a deal is not made between the two, the less money Mindich will get and the less money the NYT Corporation will have to pay.
Besides, imagine if both Mindich’s online “FNX” and Boston.com’s online version of “FNX Without The FNX Name” were to compete against each other. I doubt either would succeed.
But if Boston.com gets the intellectual property of WFNX, there is a slight chance they can make it work.