I guess classic rock is a dying brand.
I think a lot of broadcast channels need to find new means of legitimizing their existence. Yesterday's profit models don't really apply anymore. So much of the value that radio stations (for example) used to provide to their owners has evaporated due to how there are so many other distribution channels for music, including. especially, a growth in the exploitation of illegal channels of distribution. Why wait around for WBCN to play your favorite, or introduce you to a new song that you might decide to buy (the latter being one of two principle means a radio station has to deliver value to its owners), when you can just go onto some music "sharing" service, and listen to whatever you want, whenever you want? I think the future of stations like WBCN is heavily tied to how effectively the RIAA is able to secure their assets. If they are unsuccessful, then I think it will very seriously hurt traditional music radio stations.
Instead, they'll need to offer something
different: For example, HD radio offers [1] the promise of serving a greater variety of interests (because each HD radio channel can support two or three signals), for the same power output; [2] even better-than-FM fidelity (because digital tuners can better deal with multi-path issues -- when your radio receives the same signal a bunch of times, just a little off-time with each other, because the signal bounced off of different obstacles on its way to you); as well as [3] textual data (which can be used by devices to feed applications on the devices, such as a way of ordering a song you're listening to). Satellite radio offers similar advantages (but requires a subscription fee). And as it is being introduced, it fosters lots of economic activity (which radio stations may be able to share in, in some ways), because consumers need to buy new devices (however, once HD radio is the norm, and everyone has one, that advantage evaporates).
Of course, the new sports-talk radio station avoids the problems entirely. First, the talk part is (literally) cheap. No licensing fees to pay. The action takes place in a studio, so production is less expensive than a location broadcast. And there is no competing alternative channels for distribution. The sports broadcasts incur a licensing fee, of course, but I've seen sports-talk stations milk a single three hours live sporting event for practically a whole day's worth of programming!
And since, for sporting events, the product's value is highest while it is live, there is little fear that piracy will undercut its value by drawing away listeners.
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