New radio home for Nats next year?
Today, Jim Williams reports in his Examiner column that the Nationals are opting out of their contract with Washington Post Radio (WTWP ,1500 AM/107.7 FM) for next season to shop around for a better deal. Previously, The Post’s Marc Fisher had written that this was unlikely, though that may have been wishful thinking on his part. Williams speculates that Redskins owner Dan Snyder’s new RedZebra radio network could be the new home of the Nats next yaer. There is only one minor problem with that though — the stations that RedZebra owns are all low powered stations that will not reach much of the area. So, in addition to not being able to watch the Nats, we may not be able to listen to them either. Hopefully, Williams will be wrong on this one, but the way everything else has gone with this franchise, I have a feeling he is right.
Just a quick note on why I speculated that Nationals may sign a deal with the Red Zebra Broadcasting group. This is very early in the game for RZ; they will by the end of the year have about 10 or more stations throughout the mid Atlantic in their group and sooner or later they will buy a stronger local station. Could be WAVA-FM, or another outlet… The key is this is a long term thing and Nationals President Stan Kasten is not going to change from a great signal like 1500AM-107FM without a strong network in place, including good coverage in the metro DC area. So, IF RZ, can provide the Nationals that along with a large group of affiliates in the Mid Atlantic area along with some marketing deals say having Nationals gear available in Redskins stores then that would be an offer that would be tough to turndown. The key is that Kasten has time to see how things shake out and he will wait till after the season, and after the pending hearing in court that will put MASN on Comcast to make his choice. IF RZ has a powerful new local station like WAVA to offer come say November look for the Nationals to take the RZ deal. If not then he has options and I think he will play them all out before he makes his final choice. As for why I said RZ, it is simply if they have a new powerful radio station in town by the winter along with the station group up and down the coast that they are adding to then it makes sense. If it is what they have now, three weak stations then he will find a deal elsewhere. I promise to keep you posted.