Big Jump For WTOP Newsradio After Move To FM

[fred flintstone]

WTOP showed a 68% increase in 12+ audience share after cutting the cord to its heritage dial position of 1500 and moving to FM. 1500 now programs a joint news venture with the Washington Post (WTOP's previous owner) featuring interviews on the day's news with Post writers and others.Clear Channel has moved Rush and other talkers to FM in a handful of markets. If FM gets bigger numbers and better demos for news, talk and sports formats, look for more to follow.

 

[jcolletta275]

Wouldn't surprise me. In a lot of markets, FM stations have much better coverage than AM stations (great example: Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, NC). The fact that there's less interference certainly doesn't hurt, either. If more stations were to follow WTOP's lead (where possible... obviously there are some markets where the dial is just too full), we'd probably see a very significant jump in news and talk listenership.

 

[4dude]

Thats pretty sad to hear!!!1500 was a good news station!!!

 

[codered]

You guys are jumping the gun. WTOP couldn't cover the entire market on AM, so they took a full signal FM to News. That doesn't mean it will happen in most markets. There is no reason for it. Besides in many markets you have low frequency AM blowtorches that simply get to places no FM could cover. A whole lot of talk about nothing.

 

[imho]

Moving any successful AM n/t station to FM has HUGE upside for some rather obvious reasons:-A much better ability to be received at-work-majority of available audience is FM-onlyThink ahead, with HD coming, being on FM gives WTOP a "satellite" channel (and a data channel) that can be used for all sorts of cool companion audio.Sure WTOP is giving up "regional" listeners outside the metro, but the ratings are metro D.C, so do they really care what happens to listeners in rural Virginia, Maryland, or PA?

 

[codered]

HD is not proven, in fact most consultants I know are secretly very skeptical of its impact.Like I said, All News on FM is more of a regional solution to an inadequateAM signal, than anything else. Try it in San Francisco, Denver, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Diego,Portland, and dozens of other markets, and you would die a slow death. You are quick to write off the impact of losing reception of WTOP to outlying areas, but remember radio doesn't exist in a vacuam.Many of the TSA listeners, work in Washington DC area. Where do they make their purchases?, justbecause they aren't in the metro, doesn't mean its not important for the station's depth of image, sales, marketing, & ultimately ratings.

 

[spark gap]

Get over what is appropriate for Am and what is appropriate for FM. It is all about delivery system. Look at it this way; would you rather own a store in a stip mall with 10,000 cars going by daily, where your fellow merchants were things like a small chinese restaurant, a gun store, a dry cleaner, and a few empty stores. Or would you rather be in an outdoor lifestyle center with 200,000 cars going by daily and you have retailers like Orvis, Circuit City, Bed Bath and Beyond, Barnes and Noble surrounding you and bringing shoppers to the mall?It's kind of like AM vs. FM. The AM strip mall in many markets has seen it's better day. WTOP and WMAL are great radio stations in DC...the rest are down on their luck really. Same is true in most other markets. Couple that with WTOP's directional signal and high dial position...they need to find better distribution. Too bad about the TSA. Should have kept 1500 and simulcast on the FM signal that covers DC....not the reverse where the FM covered the TSA.The interesting experiment to watch will be their sister station KSL in Salt Lake City. WHile they don't have a signal problem on their AM station....the AM band out there is pretty poor. They now simulcast on a full power FM in metro.