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Sports to replace KNX News simulcast at 97.1 FM

I’m woefully resigned to the belief Jim Rome will likely be on the new lineup, but I guess he has local history here. It was also interesting to see mentioned other names who have local relevance/history and would make sense to potentially host on The Fan. I’m a transplant of about 5 years at this point, so I have no reference points of LA sports talk history. Anyone have any other names that would potentially make sense on the lineup? More “former hosts sitting on the bench now or local reporters/social media names who would fit”, less “I hope this person hosts because I like ‘em”.
 
I’m woefully resigned to the belief Jim Rome will likely be on the new lineup, but I guess he has local history here. It was also interesting to see mentioned other names who have local relevance/history and would make sense to potentially host on The Fan. I’m a transplant of about 5 years at this point, so I have no reference points of LA sports talk history. Anyone have any other names that would potentially make sense on the lineup? More “former hosts sitting on the bench now or local reporters/social media names who would fit”, less “I hope this person hosts because I like ‘em”.
From the Barrett Media article that BigA posted:

Then there’s the lineup, which remains unclear. In Los Angeles, familiarity matters. The market responds to recognizable voices. Several talents with deep ties to the city remain viable options, including Keyshawn Johnson, Max Kellerman, and Marcellus Wiley.
 
From the Barrett Media article that BigA posted:

Then there’s the lineup, which remains unclear. In Los Angeles, familiarity matters. The market responds to recognizable voices. Several talents with deep ties to the city remain viable options, including Keyshawn Johnson, Max Kellerman, and Marcellus Wiley.
I did see those, and it got me wondering if anyone had perspective on any other potential names
 
This flip to sports isn't about ratings -- it's about demo, revenue, and maximizing signals.

News/Talk is now a 50+ format, market revenue is based on 25-54.

Sports won't drive a big "share" number but it brings a qualitative, passionate audience advertisers like, plus many more 'round the clock live reads/endorsements and real integration by personalities.

The revenue wildcards or advantages for The Fan that most other FMs won't be able to compete as well for is Betting, Fantasy Sports, and Las Vegas.

Remember, revene is not based on share, it's driven by rating point. The Fan, on average, will likely pull a .1 rating point in most demos, the same as many other FMs. It will be revenue-competitive, and there will be times of the year when some demos reach a .2 or even .3 in a red hot month.

Audacy has local sports properties in San Diego and San Francisco, so it's plausible the three markets could share some content and resources as part of a California Sports Network, but that's probably further down the line. I would, though, expect them to sell some national advertising like that almost immediately.

Lastly, lots of good Qs about iHeart here. They haven't moved KLAC to KRRL b/c it doesn't maximize their signals -- that's what Audacy is now undoing - two signals for one format. If iHeart ever does move KLAC to FM, it will be to KRRL, there's no other viable option business-wise. And, finally, they could do FM sports w/ Woody in the morning if it was more guy talk and sports.
 
This flip to sports isn't about ratings -- it's about demo, revenue, and maximizing signals.

News/Talk is now a 50+ format, market revenue is based on 25-54.

Sports won't drive a big "share" number but it brings a qualitative, passionate audience advertisers like, plus many more 'round the clock live reads/endorsements and real integration by personalities.

The revenue wildcards or advantages for The Fan that most other FMs won't be able to compete as well for is Betting, Fantasy Sports, and Las Vegas.

Remember, revene is not based on share, it's driven by rating point. The Fan, on average, will likely pull a .1 rating point in most demos, the same as many other FMs. It will be revenue-competitive, and there will be times of the year when some demos reach a .2 or even .3 in a red hot month.

Audacy has local sports properties in San Diego and San Francisco, so it's plausible the three markets could share some content and resources as part of a California Sports Network, but that's probably further down the line. I would, though, expect them to sell some national advertising like that almost immediately.

Lastly, lots of good Qs about iHeart here. They haven't moved KLAC to KRRL b/c it doesn't maximize their signals -- that's what Audacy is now undoing - two signals for one format. If iHeart ever does move KLAC to FM, it will be to KRRL, there's no other viable option business-wise. And, finally, they could do FM sports w/ Woody in the morning if it was more guy talk and sports.
 
Geez. KNX was 18th in 25-54, according to RI.
All news doesn't do well in the demos, but at least back in 2023, they were billing rather well. I couldn't find anything online for 2024 or 2025, but I assume the overall billing for everyone has dropped since then due to to decreased advertising revenue. KNX, however, wasn't in the top 10.

 
All news doesn't do well in the demos, but at least back in 2023, they were billing rather well. I couldn't find anything online for 2024 or 2025, but I assume the overall billing for everyone has dropped since then due to to decreased advertising revenue. KNX, however, wasn't in the top 10.

Someone on an earlier post said "all news" is aging rapidly. If this is so how does that explain San Francisco? KCBS is number one with an 8.6 yet!
 
And it was instituted successfully only in countries where the government had significant equity in broadcasting... like the BBC and RAI and the like. They pretty much forced the digital band on the industry and the public. On the other hand, where there was more private broadcasting, like Spain, DAB had much less impact. Canada tried to impose it, but DAB there was abandoned because neither listeners nor the radio industry much wanted it.

One reason it was never pushed in the US is that the major broadcasters, who held the "best" signals and assignments, suspected that those little AM daytimers suddenly were granted equal DAB signals. So DAB went nowhere in the U.S.
Thanks for clarifying. I didn't want to go off topic too much, but I remember driving through Croatia and we got the same station all the way from Zagreb to Split and there was no frequency display (like AM or FM) and I didn't know if it was satellite or a network of transmitters and repeaters.
 
Someone on an earlier post said "all news" is aging rapidly. If this is so how does that explain San Francisco? KCBS is number one with an 8.6 yet!
That's an 8.6 among all listeners age 6 and up. Tells you nothing about age (I suppose small children are not huge consumers of newsradio)

Lance posted on RadioInsight today that KCBS was 13th in the 25-54 demo, which would suggest that 70 or 80% of their audience is 55 and up in SF.
 
I read here all the time that posters feel radio companies aren't doing anything inventive or creative with formats. This article challenges that view using this new sports station as an example:


We really won't know until they announce the talent roster. He brings up Jim Rome, and while that would be great, Jim would be best served by doing a local show, even for an hour, in addition to the national show.
Jim does his own after show podcast/livestream and would be wasting time doing a one hour local LA show.
 
Here's the article from Lance Venta that's being referred to...

Great article by Lance. My view is they need to establish a TV relationship as they have for WFAN in NYC.

Boomer & Gio are on CBS Sports Channel. Perhaps switch to LA at 9AM ET. But they also need a tie in with a local TV station.

This station needs to be multi-media, not just FM. They need to be on location at major events to be in people's faces.
 
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Here's the article from Lance Venta that's being referred to...

Note that Audacy will counter program KLAC by doing live and local from 6 am to noon. And yep, Jim Rome is being eyed for 12-3 pm

In regard to the major sports franchise owner who tried to buy his own FM station in LA for his team, an obvious guess would be a particular NFL team owner who did something similar for the NHL and NBA teams he owned in Denver.

I'm sure he's fine with his team moving over to the new KNX-FM. Notice The Fan's blue and gold logo? 😉
 
Great article by Vance. My view is they need to establish a TV relationship as they have for WFAN in NYC.

Boomer & Gio are on CBS Sports Channel. Perhaps switch to LA at 9AM ET. But they also need a tie in with a local TV station.

This station needs to be multi-media, not just FM. They need to be on location at major events to be in people's faces.
They also need to secure the Rams, other than just having LA Kings hockey. Are they will end up like KJR-FM with only the Kraken franchise.
 
41 year old KNX listener.

I started listening when it flipped to 97.1. And I'll be done listening when the simulcast ends. 1070 sounds like trash where I live. And picks up noise constantly on the freeway.

"Listen on the Audacy app"

No. Once I am on Android Auto, I'll listen to something else.
Incredibly, 97.1FM had a couple of deadspots on my work commute, so weekday drive times I would be listening on 1070.

Weekends just running around town? 97.1FM.
 
Great article by Lance. My view is they need to establish a TV relationship as they have for WFAN in NYC.

Boomer & Gio are on CBS Sports Channel. Perhaps switch to LA at 9AM ET. But they also need a tie in with a local TV station.

This station needs to be multi-media, not just FM. They need to be on location at major events to be in people's faces.
They certainly need a YouTube and/or Twitch stream from day 1. I tune into the 94WIP YouTube stream relatively frequently. I don't know how much effort Spectrum puts into their Dodgers and Lakers sportsnets outside of team content, and both of those teams are aligned with The Fan's competitors. OTA... maybe KCOP? A good chunk of their day is a rerun of Good Day LA and syndie fare that is either being cancelled or could be shuffled. Or perhaps KCAL could hand over most of the day of KCAL+ on 9.6 to The Fan, though I don't know what their cable distribution situation is (I don't get it on YTTV).

As for content, I'm hoping they take more from the playbook of company stalwarts WIP and WFAN and be caller-heavy. So much of when I tune into 710 or 570 during the day is all host-driven, whether they're talking about actual teams, or seemingly just as frequently, what they had for dinner last night. WPEN in Philly has almost all but eliminated their phone line during weekdays, pretty much exclusively plugging their text line and reading comments from that. That might work for national formats like FSR or ESPN Radio, but IMO callers can really paint the station with the flavor of the city and could potentially give 97.1 a little leg up over their established rivals.
 


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