As Entercom prepares to begin operating Country “Nash-FM 94.7” WNSH Newark NJ/New York on Friday, March 1, the company is publicly stating to not expect a format change.
Entercom Country Format Captain Tim Roberts told Country Aircheck Weekly that Entercom has no intent to drop the format and wants the music industry to know it plans on supporting the brand in New York.
“That was immediately communicated to me,” Roberts says. “We were definitely staying with the format and, if anyone asked, it was important to make sure it was known we’re staying Country. We already have an incredibly strong Country programming group, and this makes it even stronger.”
Roberts adds that the company will do research on the “Nash” brand that Entercom would have to license from Cumulus should they decide to retain it. There will be some time before WNSH is moved into the Entercom facility in downtown New York and fully integrated into their systems, which will give the company time to reevaluate later this year.
The full interview with Tim Roberts about WNSH joining Entercom can be read here.
Nathan Obral
This is very good news for the station.
One thing that has been pointed elsewhere is that Entercom’s country stations are heavily live/local, with almost no syndication to speak of. Kelly’s morning show will have far more resources put in, and a live host in the evenings is not out of the question.