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How Many Audacy AM Sports Stations Will Get FM Simulcasts?

G

Gregg.

In the last few weeks, Audacy has flipped two FM music stations to sports. In Miami, it gave up Alternative WSFS "The Shark" to become a simulcast of long-time AM sports station WQAM 560. The station now calls itself WQAM 104.3 Sports. AM 560 went from being the only spot on the dial to hear its Sports format, to now unmentioned.

In Portland, it sacrificed Hot AC KRSK "Bella 105" to become a simulcast of long-time AM sports station KFXX 1080. The station now calls itself 105.1 The Fan. As far as I can tell, the same thing happened in Portland as happened in Miami... no references to AM 1080, even though until a few days ago, 1080 was the only on-air place to hear the station.

And remember this spring something similar happened to a News - Talk station. Audacy flipped an FM urban station to a simulcast of KMOX 1180 St. Louis. So who's next as Audacy continues ending FM music stations to simulcast an AM outlet?
 
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> How Many Audacy AM Sports Stations Will Get FM Simulcasts?

All of them, eventually. I only count 3 Audacy sports stations that fit the category:
WSCR/Chicago
WGR/Buffalo
KILT/Houston

There are several others that run Infinity Sports, BetQL, or other syndicated content around the clock, and one or two others where Audacy already has a sports station on FM (I'm thinking specifically of WTEM/Washington here).
 
PTBoardOp93 said:
KILT/Houston
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We’ve talked for years on the Houston board about one of our two AM sportstalkers (the other being iHeart’s KBME 790j moving to FM. Problem is, we can’t see what format would be blown out to make such a move.

Purchasing KROI would have been the perfect choice, but Radio One spun it off to SBS when they acquired the local Cox cluster.

Right now Audacy has Hot AC, Adult Hits, Country and Spanish language Confemporary on FM in Houston.

The Country station (KILT-FM 100.3 The Bull) is one of only two of that format with a full market signal and isn’t going anywhere despite some recent ratings struggles.

The Adult Hits station (KKHH 95.7 The Spot) has sunk a bit after Audacy screwed with a successful playlist, but I also don’t see them getting rid of it.

Dumping the Spanish Language Confemporary format (KLOL Mega 101j would mean abandoning Audacy’s local Hispanic targeted effort.

The Hot AC (KHMX Mix 96.5) has often lagged in the cluster but I also don’t see Audacy abandoning those demographics.

The wild card: There is much speculation about Audacy acquiring Cumulus’ market stand-alone CHR KRBE through a merger, swap, or single purchase. Were that to happen, Audacy might be more willing to blow up KHMX in favor of sports.

With consolidation on the horizon I suppose anything is possible, though.
 
At what point do the FMs targeting YOUNGER listeners become the main targets for conversion to sports talk? Are we at that point already? There's evidence that 18-34 is increasingly abandoning radio for music in favor of streaming and other forms of distribution. Are sports stations immune from that erosion in the money demos, or are younger sports fans switching to podcasts and the like and aren't likely to follow their local Ancient Modulation sports talker over to FM? Maybe dumping an alt or even a CHR for sports will be the most logical thing to do in the near future.
 
CTListener said:
Are sports stations immune from that erosion in the money demos
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Not really. The median age for sports talk is 51, with the bulk clustered between 45 and 65.

The main push for FM is coming from the teams. That appears to be the reason for the flip in Miami.

Stations benefit from brand association with the pro teams in their towns. It's similar to the music DJs posing for trade pictures with current artists. The stations get business because they're associated with popular local teams. That brand association gets them access to exclusive content that they can use for digital content that is sold outside the Nielsen world.
 
CTListener said:
Maybe dumping an alt or even a CHR for sports will be the most logical thing to do in the near future.
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Alt 96.5 KRBZ in KC flipped to a simulcast of 610 Sports last year. A lot of sports teams have been on FM classic rock or rock stations as their flagship (The Chiefs were on KCFX for years before moving to The Wolf, the Ravens on 98 Rock, the Commanders have been on Big 100 for a few years, etc.) This is also happening with college sports - the Iowa Hawkeyes Quad Cities flagship station just was changed to some FM station in Illinois when it had been WOC-AM for years.
 
I realize publicly held corporations live quarter to quarter but someone is going to figure out how to bypass the expense of aquring or blowing up an FM and strongly promoting their streaming and skipping FM all together for their AM programming.

IMHO: The only way OTA radio survives another 100 years is if cellphone expenses make streaming costly or the industry develops dynamic entertainment that folks can't get anywhere else. Since Napster people don't want to pay for their entertainment. Also if some influencer can make a case that OTA radio has better entertainment even with commercials than their phone it wouldn't hurt.
 
secondchoice said:
I realize publicly held corporations live quarter to quarter but someone is going to figure out how to bypass the expense of aquring or blowing up an FM and strongly promoting their streaming and skipping FM all together for their AM programming.
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Someone has.

Home - Good Karma Brands: Sports Media & Marketing Experts

Good Karma Brands is a leading sports media & marketing company empowering brands through radio, audio, digital & more. Partnering with fans for 25+ years.
goodkarmabrands.com goodkarmabrands.com

They operate AM sports stations in NY, LA, and Chicago, and mainly aim content to streaming and social media. A big part of what makes it work is their association with the ESPN brand.
 
secondchoice said:
I realize publicly held corporations live quarter to quarter but someone is going to figure out how to bypass the expense of aquring or blowing up an FM and strongly promoting their streaming and skipping FM all together for their AM programming.

IMHO: The only way OTA radio survives another 100 years is if ...
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At this rate, survival for 50 years seems a pipe dream, 25 years a long shot.
 
secondchoice said:
The only way OTA radio survives another 100 years is if cellphone expenses make streaming costly or the industry develops dynamic entertainment that folks can't get anywhere else.
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I think I’m more concerned with potential increases in internet service and having unlimited internet be unaffordable for some.
 
TheBigA said:
Someone has.

Home - Good Karma Brands: Sports Media & Marketing Experts

Good Karma Brands is a leading sports media & marketing company empowering brands through radio, audio, digital & more. Partnering with fans for 25+ years.
goodkarmabrands.com goodkarmabrands.com

They operate AM sports stations in NY, LA, and Chicago, and mainly aim content to streaming and social media. A big part of what makes it work is their association with the ESPN brand.
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This sort of arrangement may be where perennial basket case sportstalker KFNC ESPN 97.5 in Houston might be headed. Stuck on a bad FM signal, the station routinely pulled numbers in the low zeroes for years before dropping the book early in 2024. I doubt that situation has changed.

Chatter is that the main 97.5 signal will be flipped to another format (more appropriate for its actual coverage area) while the sports format continues on a couple of translators, a full market FM HD-2, and especially a heavily promoted suite of online platforms.
TheBigA said:
The main push for FM is coming from the teams. That appears to be the reason for the flip in Miami.
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In Houston the Texans have SportsRadio 610 KILT as their flagship, but the games themselves are also simulcast on Audacy sibling KILT-FM The Bull, while the AM also has the games and all the ancillary programming. Wonder if the Texans would want everything on FM?
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Wonder if the Texans would want everything on FM?
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I doubt it. They get great ratings on KILT, and the association has helped KILT become the top biller in the market.

The LA Rams just extended their deal with Good Karma on KSPN-AM, with the games simulcast on Audacy's KCBS-FM.

The push in Miami seemed to come from the Heat, and the NBA plays more games than the NFL. The Dolphins are on iHeart.
 
lanceventa said:
If I were a betting man, I'd say odds are good that one of these is on FM by the start of the NFL season...
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I’ll bite: Buffalo most likely. Keep in mind this could include translators.

Chicago only if Audacy wants to blow out WBBM-FM. Besides the Bears are on WMVP.

Strongly doubt Houston. Audacy would only kill KHMX if they were able to acquire KRBE, which is still a possibility in a consolidation scenario.
 
lanceventa said:
If I were a betting man, I'd say odds are good that one of these is on FM by the start of the NFL season...
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It's got to be WGR. The question is are they blowing half of The Wolf, all of The Wolf, or Classic R&B.

If I had to take a guess, I'd say they would split The Wolf with 104.7 going to WGR.
 
TheBigA said:
The LA Rams just extended their deal with Good Karma on KSPN-AM, with the games simulcast on Audacy's KCBS-FM.
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This should be the de facto tactic for FM sports broadcasting in markets where there's no room for a dedicated FM sports outlet without blowing anything up. Just simulcast all games on FM and AM, plus 15 or 20 minutes of the post-game show. Then advise FM listeners to switch to the AM to hear the rest of the post-game coverage. The AM would get promoted in the process, and people who've never experienced listening to games on radio (because they've never explored AM) will discover that world via the FM presence itself
 
TheBigA said:
Do you really think that's much of a draw?
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For really dedicated fans, particularly those at work who can't watch TV or scan the web, this is a good draw. For anyone else, I share your skepticism.
 
davideduardo said:
For really dedicated fans, particularly those at work who can't watch TV or scan the web, this is a good draw. For anyone else, I share your skepticism.
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This might be a "thing" in some parts of the country where college football is really big too. There was a University of Tennessee fan that had her shrubs in the UT logo shape. I bet she would listen to any Volunteer content on FM, AM or even CB.
 


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