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KYW newsradio on FM?

The basic problem is that it takes a second frequency, but doesn't necessarily make twice as much money. So until the AM drops out of the Top 10, they're better off running another format on the FM.
 
TheBigA said:
The basic problem is that it takes a second frequency, but doesn't necessarily make twice as much money. So until the AM drops out of the Top 10, they're better off running another format on the FM.
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Sports stations seem to be transitioning pretty quickly, some of them putting all their local programming on the FM and running the AM out of a closet with syndicated programming. Is that possible with news? Are there any options for a 24/7 generic radio news feed off the birds or would it have to be something like what Sirius XM does: simulcasting of TV audio, complete with frustrating "As you see here..." bits?
 
Jul said:
What are the chances of this finally happening?
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50/50. A definite maybe. Don't be surprised if they do; don't be surprised if they don't.

But if they do, Julius, you can start a whole series of threads here about what will/should happen to 1060.
 
CTListener said:
Are there any options for a 24/7 generic radio news feed off the birds or would it have to be something like what Sirius XM does: simulcasting of TV audio, complete with frustrating "As you see here..." bits?
Click to expand...

KYW is a very well established 24/7 local news station. They don't even run national news at the top of the hour. So I doubt they'd run generic news.
 
FredLeonard said:
50/50. A definite maybe. Don't be surprised if they do; don't be surprised if they don't.

But if they do, Julius, you can start a whole series of threads here about what will/should happen to 1060.
Click to expand...
I would keep the simulcast on 1060 with some local play by play like Temple basketball.
but if this happens, the news format needs a total revamp as I stated many times here, including the TOH news from CBS and airing 60 Minutes on Sundays.
 
As we speak, they're working desperately to find a working teletype machine to record the sound in stereo... :)
 
It likely depends on what their modeling tells them about trends over the next few years. Do they have convincing research that says a move (or simulcast) to FM will either improve their overall situation, or at least stave off a longer decline? Does the concept of radio news even have a viable long-term future that makes it worth sacrificing other opportunities? How will streaming change things in the next two, five or ten years?

Contemplating a music format also means looking at a similar set of questions, of course. Regardless, a move, whatever it will be, won't be made as a knee-jerk reaction, and will be based on the dynamics as they play out here, not what they have or haven't done elsewhere.
 
HGN2001 said:
As we speak, they're working desperately to find a working teletype machine to record the sound in stereo... :)
Click to expand...

They've got a secretary who has been there a long time and there's an old IBM Selectric typewriter in the storage room. They are going to give the secretary a lot of coffee - maybe some pills that the guy who covers the Phlls got a hold of - and record her typing very, very fast.
 
FM will not be the savior for KYW. They need a hell of a lot more than an FM signal. The sound of the station needs some serious updating. And yes, I agree with TheBigA, unless they are going to get some serious revenue from the simulcast that they are not getting from the AM, CBS wont do it.

Think of it like this. Take the current revenue from 96.5 under Beasley. Add that to the current revenue of KYW-AM. If the simulcast of KYW on FM can top that combo, then they will. If not, they wont.
 
AMRocks said:
Think of it like this. Take the current revenue from 96.5 under Beasley. Add that to the current revenue of KYW-AM. If the simulcast of KYW on FM can top that combo, then they will. If not, they wont.
Click to expand...

They need to track the decline in KYW revenue - not just look at current revenue. Revenue is not static.
 
I read with interest the posts that say KYW won't or shouldn't go to 96.5 FM. So, here's an opposing point of view: why it should and might.

We keep reading (sometimes on this board) how music radio is getting all this competition from online, listening on your phone, Sirius/XM, etc. And we also know that local content on music stations is evaporating thanks to voice tracking from one market to another.

What is more local than KYW newsradio? Many people say local will help save broadcast radio. There's no better format than all news for local.

Also: All news is slowly moving to FM. For the failures (Radio One in Houston; Cumulus cutting back the news format to drive times only in Atlanta; Merlin Radio) there are successes. CBS in Chicago and San Francisco. WTOP in Washington DC. KOMO in Seattle (it's simulcast on FM). Not to mention that Morning Edition and All Things Considered on NPR are news programs on FM.

CBS is into TV-radio synergy these days. The reason it's swapping stations with Beasley is to get rid of the radio markets where it doesn't have a TV station. What format is best positioned to have synergy with a TV station? All news.

Having said all that, if offered to bet on whether KYW will go to 96.5 very late in 2014 or sometime in 2015, I'd bet on it ... but only a small amount of money. If nothing else, the actions of corporate radio owners can be unpredictable. But I do think, as I've listed, there are a number of good reasons why KYW is moving to FM ... and soon.
 
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