DC Radio: Newser WNEW Shifts Focus To Balt/DC Corridor

WNEW 99.1 FM, a CBS Radio Washington-oriented station, is repositioning itself as a Maryland station focused on Baltimore, Annapolis and Washington as of 5 a.m. Monday, according to Steve Swenson, senior vice president and market manager for CBS Radio in Washington.

Media writer Davisd Zurawik at The Baltimore Sun wonders if the change really means more and better information for listeners in Baltimore, which does not have a 24/7 all-news station? Or is it mainly a matter of rebranding by a Washington station with a big signal that has failed in its two years as an all-news outlet to put a dent in WTOP’s dominance in the D.C. market?

On air, the change will include “Beltway to Beltway” traffic reports every five minutes from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, as well as weather reports covering Washington and Baltimore, along with Howard, Anne Arundel, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, every four minutes, Swenson said.

There will also be a shift in the way anchors address the audience. Instead of “D.C.” this and “D.C.” that, anchors will be referencing “Baltimore, Annapolis and Washington” in their introductions to weather and traffic. Each weather report will end with current temperatures in the three cities.

Swenson and Bob Phillips, senior vice president and market manager for CBS Radio in Baltimore, characterize the changes at WNEW as a logical reaction to demographic shifts in the region, as Washington and Baltimore become more like one major metropolitan market.

“The Baltimore-Washington corridor is one of the fastest-growing areas in the country,” Swenson says. “It is where a lot of people are moving to, and their commutes are getting longer. And that’s where we’ve got to be.”

“You think about the traffic between the two markets now, and it’s just gotten ridiculous,” Phillips says. “We have the ability to allow commuters who are going from Baltimore to Washington and vice versa, to not have to change back and forth between the two markets on radio stations as they go. … The signal reach of this station is about 5.3 million listeners. This is a large, large signal.”

WNEW 99.1FM (45kw) 54dBu Coverage

Swenson’s explanation: the contour of its signal.

“Our transmitter site is located near Annapolis, while most D.C. radio stations are further west in the District,” Swenson wrote in an email Friday. “As a result, those stations’ signals cover more geography in the DC metro than WNEW.”

According to Swenson, the portion of WNEW’s signal that can be easily heard in a car and in a building “only reaches 38 percent of the DC metro population while it covers more than 75 percent of the Baltimore metro.”

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