ESPN New York is preparing to move to the 880 AM signal previously occupied by WCBS. Michael Kay has mixed feelings about the situation.
Kay rejoined The Michael Kay Show earlier this week after a brief time away, which included the news that Good Karma Brands had struck a deal with Audacy to lease the 880 AM signal leading to the demise of all-news WCBS, which had operated the format since 1967.
In his first show back on the air, Kay mentioned his excitement that the station would be heard on such a powerful signal, he did feel for those affected by the end of the venerable news brand/
“Although we’re thrilled for our station to go on 880 we are not thrilled that so many people lost their job, and it’s a terrible part of this business,” Kay said. “I’ve always been a big proponent of if you don’t do your job and you lose your job, I don’t really feel that badly for you. But those people are the best at what they do, and that station has been around for six decades. It’s heartbreaking that the business is what it is right now.
“It’s great for our station that we’re going to be on 880 but is it great for the people that work at 880 and give you the news for all these years and you tune to them in the biggest moments in this country’s history, in the city’s history? No, it’s terrible, and our hearts go out to them,” Kay continued. “Good for us, bad for the business, certainly terrible for those people. There’s nothing we can say to make them feel better. They’re losing their jobs. But it does not go without us knowing that it’s an awful part of this.”
Co-host Don La Greca echoed similar sentiments of Michael Kay but was more pragmatic about the decision from the ESPN New York standpoint.
“There have been people there that have been there for decades doing a great job, that are out of jobs,” said La Greca. “We do feel bad for them, but at the same time, I’m happy for us. We were prepared to go to 1050 ready to do it. But this is a better signal.”
La Greca added that the situation was kept so tight-lipped that it was the first time in his nearly 23 year history with ESPN New York that he did not know an announcement was going to be made of such magnitude.
As s listener to WCBS for many decades and a former radio news director I am saddened by the loss of WCBS as an all news station. Many is the night I listened to the station in many locations where I lived. I also followed the Mets for many years via WCBS 880. In many ways my decision to go to college for Journalism had something to do with following the example of the great news staff there.