98.7 News Talk

[jmtillery]

Regarding WINK-AM, before I can make any informed recommendations, I would first need to research the Fort Myers market to determine what format may best fit a 1kw-U class C AM. I can say that whatever format is chosen, it is imperative that the format is predominantly local, filling a market void, and catering to the needs of the residents of Fort Myers. It is equally imperative that the new station format is heavily promoted so the market is made aware of the new station. One thing that WINK has to its advantage is a set of heritage, recognizable call letters which will help greatly in maintaing station stability and credibilty. I agree that eventually the AM simulcast with the FM should come to an end.

Apparently, the owners appear to toss that WINK "heritage" aside and concentrate on the "Fox News" brand on the FM side - in fact, only the FM side of the simulcast, and rightly so. I can't think of another format that would be appropriate for an AM station that wishes to uphold the "WINK" name, other than perhaps classic country. And chances are that will be as less of a "live and local" format that you can get.

That's largely due to the fact that the WINK-FM call letters are well established and in place on 100kw 96.9, so the WINK calls cannot be used on the new 92.5 frequency. Also, Fox radio is hot right now, so by re-positioning the WINK-AM news-talk format on FM as Fox News gives the market the image of a brand new cutting edge radio station - which it is. News-Talk is number two overall in most markets across the U.S., so the format is hot in addition to Fox Radio News.

However, regarding identifying a market void that WINK-AM can fill, a market analysis will need to be completed first to determine the market void(s) and which one(s) is(are) in the most demend. Once said void has been identified and placed on WINK-AM, managment would do well to take advantage of those recognizable heritage call letters and exploit them to the max while heavily promoting the new format.

In one of my previous posts I had suggested a new variation of talk radio -such as The Talk Station - different from the existing news-talk format that is now available on Fox News 92.5. The main difference is news and political talk would be the focus on Fox News 92.5 while Lifestyles, Health and Personal Finance would be the focus on WINK-AM. Once again a detailed market analysis report would need to be completed first to determine if this kind of format would be the highest and best use of WINK. I'm suggesting a talk format as a viable option because history has proven to us that this type format is what usually works best for AM stations in many markets. It is very rare that I ever recommend a music format for AM although there are occassional exceptions where music is perfect for an AM station.

 

[swfl]

Interesting post jm. I agree with what you are saying about WINK AM as some sort of alternative talk station. That might be indeed a good fit. Personally I would like to see more local talk shows concentrating on local issues.

A lot of people down here in Naples would like to see WNOG AM return to a local based talk station like it was before the WINK organization bought them out several years ago. WNOG use to provide a lot of local talk and locally based information shows. After WINK took over much of that went away as WNOG became nothing more than a simulcast of WINK AM. As it stands now there is virtually nothing local in regards to Naples or Collier County on WNOG. This problem is common now as most of the Naples based stations have been bought out over the years and most all of their operations are now based in Ft Myers. With a couple of exceptions there is not much local radio left in Naples.

 

[jmtillery]

Interesting post jm. I agree with what you are saying about WINK AM as some sort of alternative talk station. That might be indeed a good fit. Personally I would like to see more local talk shows concentrating on local issues.

A lot of people down here in Naples would like to see WNOG AM return to a local based talk station like it was before the WINK organization bought them out several years ago. WNOG use to provide a lot of local talk and locally based information shows. After WINK took over much of that went away as WNOG became nothing more than a simulcast of WINK AM. As it stands now there is virtually nothing local in regards to Naples or Collier County on WNOG. This problem is common now as most of the Naples based stations have been bought out over the years and most all of their operations are now based in Ft Myers. With a couple of exceptions there is not much local radio left in Naples.

Thank you for your comment. By the way, the name is Mark, not Jm. JM are my initials added to my last name for jmtillery as my user name on this board.

Regarding WINK and WNOG, I believe a seperate local talk format on WINK and WNOG catering to the needs of Fort Myers and Naples respectively will be the ticket for both stations. Economically, it will be necessary to have some national programs in addition to a continued simulcast during certain non peek dayparts. However, for the most part, both stations would have its own key daypart local programming catering to the needs of each respective community targeting a completely different demographic than the FM counterpart.

 

[smedge2006]

One possible format would be to continue with talk programming, seperate from the FM, but leaning towards business and financial news without actually becoming a business talk formatted station.

Most actual business talk formatted stations aren't really business talk formatted either. "Business" talk is usually meant as a cover for "we run infomercials and we broker time." It is one of those crutch AM formats that never gets any numbers, but that stations keep returning to because Business Talk Radio Network is always out there and because there's always some lawyer, stockbroker, chiropractor or plain old swindler who wants to jabber on radio for an hour. Business radio is one of those hammer-on-the-head things that AM stations keep doing to spite themselves. Sort of like becoming the fourth or fifth sports station in a market.

 

[jmtillery]

One possible format would be to continue with talk programming, seperate from the FM, but leaning towards business and financial news without actually becoming a business talk formatted station.

Most actual business talk formatted stations aren't really business talk formatted either. "Business" talk is usually meant as a cover for "we run infomercials and we broker time." It is one of those crutch AM formats that never gets any numbers, but that stations keep returning to because Business Talk Radio Network is always out there and because there's always some lawyer, stockbroker, chiropractor or plain old swindler who wants to jabber on radio for an hour. Business radio is one of those hammer-on-the-head things that AM stations keep doing to spite themselves. Sort of like becoming the fourth or fifth sports station in a market.

I would tend to agree with you if the station identifies itself as strictly a business, financial, or money talk station. My suggestion is to call it The Talk Station, incorporating real personal finance talk which would include the likes of Clark Howard along with lifestyles and health talk programming. The key dayparts would be programmed locally while the non-peek hours would include the likes of Howard and other national programs. There would be some informercial type local programming, but that would only be a small fraction of the total broadcast day.