Re: 104.7 and the changes
> I agree with you about the cast-offs angle. However, Pintek
> might be seen not so much as a cast off but as yet another
> programming mistake made by KDKA. A good case could be made
> that KDKA made a mistake in keeping Honsberger and firing
> Pintek. One could argue that Pintek should have been moved
> to Honsberger's spot and Hosnberger moved to being grist for
> speculation about ending up somewhere else.
>
> As good as Glenn Beck is for filling the empty slot between
> Quinn and Rush economically, I think if WPGB put Pintek in
> that slot, Pintek would do better against whover KDKA puts
> in that slot that Beck would be. The problem is that if CC
> waits to see how things develop, Pintek's "loyal" listeners
> will quickly forget about him. But if CC moves quickly, and
> announces with great fanfare and hoopla that they're going
> to capitalize on KDKA's mistake and put Pintek back on the
> air in (almost) his old time slot, that'll put one more nail
> in KDKA's coffin.
>
The feeling at WPGB has always been that not enough people cared about what KD's hosts were talking about, that KD's hosts were on "Topic A" far too infrequently. Beck is a hipper, more upbeat sound than Pintek, WPGB has no need for Mike.
> > I could possibly see WPTT picking one of them up- but
> that's
> > a lot less money for the hosts to take. If you need it you
>
> > need it but I can't see WPTT GROWING with those guys on-
> > it's already filled with cast-offs.
>
> You and I might see WPTT as being filled with ex-WTAE
> cast-offs, but I doubt that many listeners remember far
> enough back to when Cullen and Hoerth were on WTAE. And,
> WPTT didn't so much take cast-off talent, they took the
> victims of cast-off programming.
I've said before Pintek would be a solid morning show for WPTT.
> True, they haven't donemuch with what they had to work with. But I'd blame Renda
> for that, not the individual hosts.
I'd blame 1360's signal first.
>
> > One station I think has potential and wouldn't be adverse
> to
> > something like this is 1550 The Edge. Now- granted- it's a
>
> > small AM and I'm sure that any host would have to bring
> his
> > own sponsors with him because they don't have the money to
>
> > pick it up- but they have lots of slots to fill and some
> > decent syndicated programming otherwise. Hiring any one of
>
> > them would create the buzz- the publicity stunt- The Edge
> is
> > looking for- and such a host could have a station built
> > around him- which you won't have at WPTT.
>
> I can't disagree with you there. There is a lot more
> potential in the AM band for good spoken word programming of
> all types if only there were more entrepeneurs willing to
> take risks in innovative and imaginative programming. Or
> even a risk at non-innovative, regular old programming
> that's done extremely well.
>
> Even the old conventional wisdom about the lack of night
> time signal should be revealed as a myth. The thing is,
> nowadays the majority of radio listeners tune in when
> they're commuting to and from work, and when they are at
> work. So what if a station has a weak or no signal after the
> listeners get home and are watching television anyway?
>
Actually it's not the lack of a night signal per se; in the winter when sunrise is late and sunset is early you lose half of each drivetime shift with facilities like that. Thus you have a station that's really only viable 8AM-5PM. Even 1080 with 25kW in critical hours and 50kW 9A-3P couldn't compete. (I'm sure even if you're old enough to remember it, you may have forgotten that as Country-formatted WEEP, during the Urban Cowboy days in the 70's it was one of the highest-rated stations in the market, and WDSY was "Daisy" the little sister station.)
Facilities like WURP really can only survive doing religion or other brokered programming as a result.
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"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P>
