I've heard in many talk markets people say "Let's get a Progressive Party slanted station." The problem? The format doesn't work. I'd love to hear about a market where a lib station puts up even the numbers that WAEB-AM puts up consistently. People tend to think that the right-leaning station only serves the right. Wrong! The lefties will tune in as well, often to hear the opposite viewpoint. The numbers may not be equal, but the number of people who tune in and HATE Rush isn't completely dwarfed by those who love him. CC-Allentown would be fracturing their audience on 790, and wouldn't be adding much on the left side of the isle.
I do agree that dropping the oldies format was a mistake...I don't have the numbers to back this up, but I'd have to imagine that while the demo leans quite old, the TSL has to be HUGE. You don't turn off an oldies station...because every song is good in a listeners ear. It becomes non-offensive background noise at worst. Salespeople not selling a station!?! NO! Too bad nearly all of them anymore are literally hired off the street to collect the 3 months draw, and then realize they can't do the gig. Plus, most of them are 21-24. Oldies to them include Aerosmith, Flock of Seagulls, and Duran Duran.
Question: Does locally produced programming "work" on WSAN? A local sports talk show in the Lehigh Valley? While FSR leaves a lot to be desired, can a local show be sold talking Eagles and Phils, when WIP gets into the market? Seems to me that station would be best served with the pot to the satellite open 24-7 (with the exception of HS football & basketball and Iron Pigs baseball or something.) Does the effort equal the output, both in listeners and $$$? Thoughts?