All News All The Time?

[Stuart]

Could this area (along with the Triad) support an all NEWS station? There would be NO talk shows, just news, sports, traffic, weather, etc...

I do not know if this is possible...Could the station partner with CNN, FOX, or MSNBC News to broadcast a few hours a day and possibly overnights???

Has this been tried?

 

[goatboy]

When WXII-TV owned 830 AM, they ran an AP news service all the time (except for simulcasts of TV 'casts) and it was quite good. They got ZERO ratings, but they were using it as a promotional tool for TV. TRN has that "America's News" thing, which is ok (I hear), but it's not 24 hours (yet). I'm not sure if the Triad has the advertising dollars to support it. Maybe the Triangle

 

[robbie roundhouse]

Could this area (along with the Triad) support an all NEWS station? There would be NO talk shows, just news, sports, traffic, weather, etc...

It's coming. Seriously, ask yourself "how long can Curtis keep throwing money into the sinking ship that is WPTF?". Doesn't a news wheel on that station make a lot more sense? I truly and fully believe that it is coming.

 

[turkeydance]

+1 for RR....Headline News on radio? of course it would work.
it works for these last few years that broadcast radio does.

 

[RadioDaze]

When WXII-TV owned 830 AM, they ran an AP news service all the time (except for simulcasts of TV 'casts) and it was quite good. They got ZERO ratings, but they were using it as a promotional tool for TV. TRN has that "America's News" thing, which is ok (I hear), but it's not 24 hours (yet). I'm not sure if the Triad has the advertising dollars to support it. Maybe the Triangle

When Capitol Broadcasting LMAed WDNC in Durham from the Herald-Sun in the mid-1990s, they briefly did the AP service all news format with WRAL-TV newscasts, but they weren't successful with it and Curtis took over the LMA in 1997, buying the station outright in 2000 (only to have CBC buy it in 2009)

 

[quadraphonic]

If all-news is gonna work on radio in Raleigh, it's going to have to involve WRAL or maybe some kind of WTVD-Disney combination of forces.
[How long] did Curtis try State Government Radio on 570?

 

[chrish]

If no one will do it in Atlanta chances for Raleigh-Durham zero to none.

 

[stafferman]

It would make sense, also incorporate another random Curtis Media holding, The North Carolina News Network, you could also use WSJS as part of the network because they are beyond a sinking ship. That ship has sunk.

 

[markwooldridge]

WXII-AM may have never been a top contender in the past for ratings but I remember them consistently getting a 2.0-2.5 share. WTRU these days is getting about a 0.6-0.8 share.

The sale of WXII-AM was all about money and it being not a core part of their business at WXII.

As for WSJS and WPTF and stuff like that... well it could be a solution but news costs money.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

You have to ask yourself in this day of the internet is news radio still needed? As long as I'm not driving I can punch up the latest news anytime.

 

[radioguy39nj]

The top billing station in the country is all-news WTOP DC on 103.5 FM. WTOP bills higher than powerhouse blaster AMs in NY, LA and Chicago! All-news, talk and sports has a future and it's on FM!

CBS' all-news simulcast in San Francisco on 740 AM & 106.9 FM is the #1 station in the Bay Area. Music moved to FM because it sounded better. Spoken word's time to move to FM has come.

 

[stafferman]

Spoken word is also radio's last hope.....if there isn't spoken word than there's nothing.

Music on the radio is the new vaudeville....News, Information, Sports, Local Personalities, Comedy, etc etc That's what radio has left to hang there hat on. It CAN BE DONE....just have to have local people willing to pay and get talented people on the air.

 

[vchimpanzee]

You have to ask yourself in this day of the internet is news radio still needed? As long as I'm not driving I can punch up the latest news anytime.

If you're not driving.

I do remember the day RJR #256 burned. I turned on the radio and heard some story about a big fire, but didn't think too much about it. Then I saw all this smoke. I think WSJS even bumped Rush for special reports. But WXII-AM was all over the story, as I recall. This was one of the biggest fires in Winston-Salem's history. And so sad, because those old tobacco factories were such an important part of the skyline, and they were just about to finish the renovations that would make them useful again. But the sprinklers weren't ready yet.