AND THE WINNER IS....

[radioguy39nj]

Miami's #1 talker for the last twenty-some years is totally live and local with zero syndication.

What station is that? ???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WAQI

Which is in Spanish, which for many of you means that it doesn't count.

Thanks!

 

[radioguy39nj]

This is really an opportunity for anyone who has a struggling full-market coverage signal on either AM or FM to launch a truly NY oriented live local talker, for almost the same cost as a music station with a single live host in all 6am-midnight dayparts (and that's most of the music stations in any given top-10 market including NYC, because no one's crazy enough to run a jockless format long term and hope for success after the Jack fiasco).

CBS has two struggling, though still somewhat profitable, candidates at 92.3 and 102.7. Clear Channel's FMs are making money, but at least one of them in the cluster could make more by filling a big unfilled and unduplicated niche---maybe Power 105.1?

And of course, what next for 94.7 once the expected sale happens?

Meanwhile on AM, a re-tool/makeover of WOR is still possible, and now that sports has moved off 1050, that signal could once again become a talker with an FM translator somewhere in north Jersey to fill in the null.

Any of these signals could become more profitable by emulating the model of KFI and becoming a younger, more local talker than anyone else in town. Frankly it still shouldn't shock anyone to see 101.9 move in that direction after a few months of automated rock that'll cleanse the market's palate and allow a total startover. If you don't hear about live voices and new hires for 101.9 in the next month or two, you'll know the format wheel hasn't stopped turning.

I agree with most of this, but I don't see anyone having the stones to do it. The only spoken word CBS will put on FM in NY will be WFAN Sportsradio. I don't think CC will blow up Power 105.1, whose sole purpose has been to fragment Hot 97, which it has done since signing on in 2002. The other question is can Emmis hold on to 97.1?

I'm not sure 94.7 will be sold, since it cannot be moved to ESB or any other location in Manhattan. No major operator will want it if they can't build it out to reach listeners east of the Hudson River.

1050 is out, since it will flip to ESPN Deportes Sept 1. A re-tool or WOR? Not as long as Buckley owns it! CC would've done the makeover of WOR if they had been able to acquire it back in the late 90s.

There you have it in MHO. I'm not optimistic that New York will ever get a mostly local tak station.

 

[davideduardo]

... no one's crazy enough to run a jockless format long term and hope for success after the Jack fiasco).

Jack was not a fiasco. It got better 25-54 than the oldies format it replaced. What actually happened was that the PPM arrived in Philly well before NYC, and CBS could study the adjustments they made to WOGL and they found that classic hits was a killer PPM format... so, despite the improved 25-54 Jack was delivering, they felt they could not allow another operator to use the format they had developed in Philly.

CBS has two struggling, though still somewhat profitable, candidates at 92.3 and 102.7. Clear Channel's FMs are making money, but at least one of them in the cluster could make more by filling a big unfilled and unduplicated niche---maybe Power 105.1?

The cost of changing any music station that is currently profitable to talk is extreme. All the revenue is lost, and it can take a year or more to build back up if the new format is successful. In the meantime, there are losses. And no guarantee... as Merlin just learned.

And of course, what next for 94.7 once the expected sale happens?

That signal can't compete in a major format category.

...and now that sports has moved off 1050, that signal could once again become a talker with an FM translator somewhere in north Jersey to fill in the null.

It would take several translators. But it won't happen as Disney corporate is committed to expanding ESPN Deportes using 1050, as has been widely announced. One thing ESPN is not going to do is a format other than sports... the whole ESPN radio thing is about branding, anyway.

If you don't hear about live voices and new hires for 101.9 in the next month or two, you'll know the format wheel hasn't stopped turning.

More likely we hear about Merlin calling it a day and spinning the signals.

 

[davideduardo]

Which is in Spanish, which for many of you means that it doesn't count.

But since the Miami MSA is 50% Hispanic, it means that a Spanish language talker will work while an English one is not likely to do very well.

Just imagine talk radio in NYC if the market were 50% Hispanic and 22% African American; what base would a traditional talker have besides the 25% non-Hispanic white population?

 

[mets18]

The Redskins are simulcast on FM elsewhere in the DC area, but the main frequency is on AM. Kinda like how 1050 was simulcast on 107.1 on the east end. And the Bills were on FM recently but don't appear to be at this point.

Notice how the flagship FM stations for the whole AFC North are on long-running rock stations.

Sorry for the derail.

The same can be said for the Carolina Panthers. Their flagship is WBT-AM which is simulcast on WBT-FM but the FM signal is in South Carolina and not a local signal in Charlotte.