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Any more SC talkers going to FM?

C

carolinaradio

There was a discussion on here briefly yesterday about AM stations going to FM (I believe it was something about WVOC simulcasting on 96.7).

It made me think, will any AM talk stations in SC move to FM any time soon? There is tons of discussion about it on here lately...aging demographics, falling revenues, poor signals for a lot of AM's are driving broadcast companies to simulcast their AM talkers on FM and it has been very successful in a lot of cases. You just can't get many new/younger listeners on AM anymore. It's been done in Raleigh, Greensboro, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Vegas, San Fransisco, Dallas, Greenville etc. and I don't see the trend stopping any time soon.

Here in SC, 1330/950 in Greenville started simulcasting on 106.3 a couple of years ago and it has been very successful, making their ratings much higher than they were just on AM. There's WSCC in Charleston at 94.3, and WRNN at 99.5/1450 in Myrtle Beach as well, and you can count 107.5 in Columbia I guess, they're talk on FM.
What about the others, such as WTMA, WISW, and maybe WVOC? They certainly won't be immune to the problems facing AM. Any thoughts or predictions?
 
It really needs to make good financial sense to simulcast on FM. In Columbia, Clear Channel would need to feel they could make more money by charging a little more for the inventory of WVOC by having an FM signal than they would make from the additional stand-alone inventory of The Beat or Steve FM. I cannot imagine that would be the case (especially since Steve FM has zero overhead). It made sense in Greenville because 106.3 has never made significant money. Another thing to look for would be if there are major cost increases due to a new artist royalty fee. That might make it easier for some companies to flip their music stations to talk.
 
I would definately support news/talk on FM in the Columbia area. I don't see 96.7 or 100.1 flipping though. Although if 100.1 were to flip it wouldn't hurt my feelings. ;D
 
I agree with Bugz on this one. They would probably simulcast if they had difficulty with coverage with WVOC. 56 still has all the important areas covered even on Night pattern. If they perceived that billings and audience are declining, they probably would simulcast in a heartbeat. WVOC's big problem is crappy harsh tinny audio. But that is a result of lowering the analog bandwidth for IBOC.
 
Yeah, maybe mentioning WVOC was a bit much, especially since CC hasn't been too eager to move talkers to FM, except the cases in Raleigh and Greensboro, which were different.

Might be a different story for WISW and WTMA at some point, though. I don't think they have any badly underperforming FM's in the Columbia market, so it might not make sense now, but Citadel at this point would probably be glad to cut costs when possible. Eventually, though, I see it. Technology, demographics, revenue, poor coverage (with some) are all killing AM.
 
carolinaradio said:
Yeah, maybe mentioning WVOC was a bit much, especially since CC hasn't been too eager to move talkers to FM, except the cases in Raleigh and Greensboro, which were different.

Might be a different story for WISW and WTMA at some point, though. I don't think they have any badly underperforming FM's in the Columbia market, so it might not make sense now, but Citadel at this point would probably be glad to cut costs when possible. Eventually, though, I see it. Technology, demographics, revenue, poor coverage (with some) are all killing AM.
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That's a good point. I didn't think about WISW going to FM. But as you said, Magic, Kiss, B, and The Game seem to be holding steady. If there was any contenders, it would be 98.5.
 
WTMA could do that. Charleston is a very FM dominated market, with the top twelve stations FMs. WTMA is 13th. The problem is that none of Citadel's FM are doing very poorly. 96.9 would be the best candidate, but they have a 3.5 and they use it to protect Z-93. Without 96.9 as country, WEZL would probably get a 10 share every book.

In fact, in the summer phase 1 ratings, WEZL is #1 by .3 over Z-93.

Columbia would do it, but amazingly, that tiny 103.1 signal is up to a 5.5 now, third in the market behind WCOS and the Big DM. WISW should go to FM. That would make sense, as 98.5 would serve a market that doesn't get a very clear signal from WVOC, especially at night. However, they have a 3.7 now.

They could also make WTCB older, and they could get a bigger rating from there.
 
Al Timiter said:
The 98.5 signal has problems in northeast Columbia. That's a bad place to have a signal problem.
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Not really. It's oldies and 102.7 has that covered. Of course, that's bad for 98.5.

If you want a badly underperforming FM, I predict WWNU will be it in no time.
 
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