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100.3's Future: Talk, or the biggest smokescreen in Knoxville radio history?

It's for real. Why would they do anything but talk? The listeners are already trained to punch that button on the radio.
 
Two reasons I believe this may be a stunt:

1) Look at the lineup. Ed Brantley in morning drive is a strong choice. But Ed is also GM. Is the GM going to want to get up at 3AM, prep, do a 4 hour morning show, and then attend to sales and managerial duties the rest of the day? That works in small, unrated markets out of necessity. In a P2 with a 100kW stick under direct competition from a corporate giant, not so much.

Michael Savage from noon-3PM and AGAIN from 6-9PM? I personally enjoy Savage, but he's not going to beat Rush from 12-3, nor Hannity in the evening. Boortz is a good choice, but only one hour? Why not run all of Boortz's show instead of Alan Colmes for 3 hours? In my opinion, Boortz is a much stronger radio talent vs Colmes. Plus, I'm not sure Colmes' liberalism is going to go over well in East Tennessee. The schedule just doesn't add up here. Especially the inclusion of Savage in two non-overnight dayparts.

2) The combination of Ed Brantley and 100.3's signal would have made a serious dent in WIVK. It's likely the only combination that could have done so. Ed and John Pirkle are both well aware of this. That's BIG money if you can pull it off. Yes, I realize the risk and initial expenditure of mounting a serious attack against WIVK would have been much greater vs syndicated talk, but the ultimate rewards are MUCH greater if they can pull it off. I believe they would have had a very good chance of doing so.

Just my two cents...
 
Brantley in the morning is a slam dunk. This isn't 1975. He doesn't need to get up at 3am, read fifteen newspapers and then make copious notes. He can wake up at his usual time (he is a farmer), get all the needed information for his show off of the internet and let the callers dictate the flow.

Boortz is going to air in his usual live slot from 10a-noon. The only 1 hour portion will be the "Information Overload Hour" from 9p-10p, just like it's running currently on 100.3.

Savage against Rush? That's a good place holder until Rush comes back to 100.3. A blind man could see that strategy. I predict Rush will be in the noon-3 slot before everyone is packing up their oxfords for the season.
 
boogiecheck said:
It's for real. Why would they do anything but talk? The listeners are already trained to punch that button on the radio.
Click to expand...

Is there a bunch of big dollar local accounts that will deal only with talk radio? If so ignore the rest of this post.

Which Station in Knoxville has the biggest piece of the pie? WIVK. The News part of News / Talk can be expensive so which could be “cheaper” to run a Music or News talk. Music! If 100.3 is going to “pony up” some cash a have a good New Talk more power to them. (I forgot they have the power.) Does anybody know what a 30 or 60 goes for on WIVK? Is it that much less than a 30 or 60 on the News Talk 100.3? I guess the owners of 100.3 and Ed feel some loyalty (or pity) to Citadel. If it were me I would try to “derail” the 107.7 cash train. Even if you only get 30% of WIVK’s audience you could make some serious cash. Don’t get mad get even!

As for Rush leaving Citadel, EIB / CC needs WLS and WABC’s signal in their respective markets more than they need Knoxville. Sometimes a national deal will override a local deal.
 
Rush doesn't work for Citadel. He is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks (Clear Channel) and EIB doesn't exist anywhere but Rush's brain. The only Citadel connection is Rush's show is still produced and uplinked at WABC (though he is in a studio in West Palm Beach). Citadel certainly isn't going to pull Rush off WABC and WLS because of something that happens in Knoxville. Alan Colmes is a liberal that conservatives can tolerate; and "true" liberals absolutely hate.
 
secondchoice said:
boogiecheck said:
It's for real. Why would they do anything but talk? The listeners are already trained to punch that button on the radio.
Click to expand...

Is there a bunch of big dollar local accounts that will deal only with talk radio? If so ignore the rest of this post.

Which Station in Knoxville has the biggest piece of the pie? WIVK. The News part of News / Talk can be expensive so which could be “cheaper” to run a Music or News talk. Music! If 100.3 is going to “pony up” some cash a have a good New Talk more power to them. (I forgot they have the power.) Does anybody know what a 30 or 60 goes for on WIVK? Is it that much less than a 30 or 60 on the News Talk 100.3? I guess the owners of 100.3 and Ed feel some loyalty (or pity) to Citadel. If it were me I would try to “derail” the 107.7 cash train. Even if you only get 30% of WIVK’s audience you could make some serious cash. Don’t get mad get even!

As for Rush leaving Citadel, EIB / CC needs WLS and WABC’s signal in their respective markets more than they need Knoxville. Sometimes a national deal will override a local deal.
Click to expand...

100.3 is very close to being #2 for revenue in this market.

Rush and Citadel see Knoxville as a market and nothing more. If Rush were to demand out of his contract Citadel wouldn't care as long as he's still on their stations in other markets.

The biggest question is, now that 100.3 is staying news/talk, what are the suits at Citadel planning for their next format? They never expected 100.3 to remain in the same format. They can't compete with 100,000 watts and a decade long legacy. They have to be planning another move in the future. They're bean counters, not broadcasters.
 
MN Maniac said:
Two reasons I believe this may be a stunt:

1) Look at the lineup. Ed Brantley in morning drive is a strong choice. But Ed is also GM. Is the GM going to want to get up at 3AM, prep, do a 4 hour morning show, and then attend to sales and managerial duties the rest of the day? That works in small, unrated markets out of necessity. In a P2 with a 100kW stick under direct competition from a corporate giant, not so much.

Michael Savage from noon-3PM and AGAIN from 6-9PM? I personally enjoy Savage, but he's not going to beat Rush from 12-3, nor Hannity in the evening. Boortz is a good choice, but only one hour? Why not run all of Boortz's show instead of Alan Colmes for 3 hours? In my opinion, Boortz is a much stronger radio talent vs Colmes. Plus, I'm not sure Colmes' liberalism is going to go over well in East Tennessee. The schedule just doesn't add up here. Especially the inclusion of Savage in two non-overnight dayparts.

2) The combination of Ed Brantley and 100.3's signal would have made a serious dent in WIVK. It's likely the only combination that could have done so. Ed and John Pirkle are both well aware of this. That's BIG money if you can pull it off. Yes, I realize the risk and initial expenditure of mounting a serious attack against WIVK would have been much greater vs syndicated talk, but the ultimate rewards are MUCH greater if they can pull it off. I believe they would have had a very good chance of doing so.

Just my two cents...
Click to expand...
 
To MN maniac, If you really think that Savage can not beat dumb Hannity in the ratings then you have a serious IQ problem.
 
Question: Since Citadel still controls what goes over the air on 100.3 until August 1, what is to stop them from ending the simulcast one week early and putting Polka on 100.3 to purge the audience of everyone except a few Bobby Vinton fans?

2nd question: Does anyone know what time True Oldies is supposed to end tomorrow?
 
RMarino said:
Question: Since Citadel still controls what goes over the air on 100.3 until August 1, what is to stop them from ending the simulcast one week early and putting Polka on 100.3 to purge the audience of everyone except a few Bobby Vinton fans?

2nd question: Does anyone know what time True Oldies is supposed to end tomorrow?
Click to expand...

1) They'd lose their last week of decent revenue in a crappy ******bag move

2) Dunno
 
RMarino said:
Question: Since Citadel still controls what goes over the air on 100.3 until August 1, what is to stop them from ending the simulcast one week early and putting Polka on 100.3 to purge the audience of everyone except a few Bobby Vinton fans?

2nd question: Does anyone know what time True Oldies is supposed to end tomorrow?
Click to expand...

1. After reading the LMA that was linked on this forum a few weeks ago I'm pretty sure there is a clause that prevents them from doing anything like that. It's going to be 5x5 on July 31, same as it was on January 1.

2. Midnight tonight I suppose. They've been talking like someone died all day. Awful gloomy. I guess it's too soon for the over/under on when they'll switch formats again?
 
Who was talking like someone had died? Are you talking about Shannon or the folks on News Talk?

Ya know when you look at it...Citadel is not only tossing an Oldies station (only one in town and yep the folks that listened are so pissed) but they are also dropping coverage area while picking up their FIRST real talk competitor! Staff has to be kinda turning gray considering the economy, the amount of money that will instantly leave for the bigger station and the chance that in a few books they all could be selling insurance or used cars.
 
MurvleJumpUp said:
Who was talking like someone had died? Are you talking about Shannon or the folks on News Talk?

Ya know when you look at it...Citadel is not only tossing an Oldies station (only one in town and yep the folks that listened are so pissed) but they are also dropping coverage area while picking up their FIRST real talk competitor! Staff has to be kinda turning gray considering the economy, the amount of money that will instantly leave for the bigger station and the chance that in a few books they all could be selling insurance or used cars.
Click to expand...

The callers on Hal and Phil's shows. The comments on Phil's Facebook page. It's all too much. People can't understand why this is happening. They are angry with Citadel and the Citadel employees, the smart ones at least, are taking interviews and traveling to other markets to weigh their options. Well, those who haven't already signed on the dotted line with Oak Ridge Fm. You know them, WNOX NewsTalk 100.
 
RMarino said:
Question: Since Citadel still controls what goes over the air on 100.3 until August 1, what is to stop them from ending the simulcast one week early and putting Polka on 100.3 to purge the audience of everyone except a few Bobby Vinton fans?
Click to expand...

Now if I were still in station management, and these were my stations, I'd simulcast 100.3 and 98.7 for a week. Then I'd relegate news/talk to only 98.7. For the rest of the month, I'd program True Oldies on 100.3 — make a big deal about how we're bringing it back after being off the air for a week because "we listen to you", etc. etc. Also really hit the local nostalgia angle, "You heard these songs on 100.3 when they were new," to tug on the heart strings / memories. Then when True Oldies is no longer on the air Aug. 1, let Pirkle and company totally have to deal with the aftermath.

To quote the wabbit, "Ain't I a stinker!"
 
jetfli said:
RMarino said:
Question: Since Citadel still controls what goes over the air on 100.3 until August 1, what is to stop them from ending the simulcast one week early and putting Polka on 100.3 to purge the audience of everyone except a few Bobby Vinton fans?
Click to expand...

Now if I were still in station management, and these were my stations, I'd simulcast 100.3 and 98.7 for a week. Then I'd relegate news/talk to only 98.7. For the rest of the month, I'd program True Oldies on 100.3 — make a big deal about how we're bringing it back after being off the air for a week because "we listen to you", etc. etc. Also really hit the local nostalgia angle, "You heard these songs on 100.3 when they were new," to tug on the heart strings / memories. Then when True Oldies is no longer on the air Aug. 1, let Pirkle and company totally have to deal with the aftermath.

To quote the wabbit, "Ain't I a stinker!"
Click to expand...

Couldn't Citadel - starting now - just run a non-stop loop on 100.3 saying over and over "Go to 98.7 for Knoxville's News & Talk" and not run afoul of any contracts / agreements? Seems like a good branding opportunity before 100.3 re-launches.

I've only listened to the Big Talker since it moved to 100.3. I really like HHH and Dave Foulk and I am getting used to Phil, hope they all somehow land on their feet (in Knoxville).
 
jetfli said:
RMarino said:
Question: Since Citadel still controls what goes over the air on 100.3 until August 1, what is to stop them from ending the simulcast one week early and putting Polka on 100.3 to purge the audience of everyone except a few Bobby Vinton fans?
Click to expand...

Now if I were still in station management, and these were my stations, I'd simulcast 100.3 and 98.7 for a week. Then I'd relegate news/talk to only 98.7. For the rest of the month, I'd program True Oldies on 100.3 — make a big deal about how we're bringing it back after being off the air for a week because "we listen to you", etc. etc. Also really hit the local nostalgia angle, "You heard these songs on 100.3 when they were new," to tug on the heart strings / memories. Then when True Oldies is no longer on the air Aug. 1, let Pirkle and company totally have to deal with the aftermath.

To quote the wabbit, "Ain't I a stinker!"
Click to expand...

You're smarter than they are!
 
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