Changes At KB

[Element9]

"Ed Schultz moves to noon to 3pm. Starting a week from Monday - which is fast. It's the move we speculated about yesterday - that "Big Eddie" covets the midday time period long dominated by Rush Limbaugh. Product 1st exec Stu Krane says 'noon to 3 is prime real estate in syndication.'"

Leslie Marshall can't get arrested going up against Rush and it's doubful she'd draw more listeners doing afternoon drive against Beach, who'e very live and local. Will Entercom move Big Ed on KB to go head to head with El Gasbag on WBEN?

Then again, if a tree falls in a forest and nobody hears it... well, you know the rest.

-9-

 

[Bob1370]

This bears watching. Schultz won't get parity with Limbaugh in Buffalo or anywhere else, and I'm sure he knows it too. But he may well eat into El Rushbo's numbers a bit, and that's enough to make him a more lucrative show for Jones Networks nationally (not to mention getting him more carriage, since a lot of potential affiliates prefer to go local in afternoon drive but happily use syndication middays).

If Schultz gets any, repeat ANY, traction at all against Limbaugh in Buffalo, look for WBEN to do what other big signal talkers like KSTP in the Twin Cities and WBAL in Baltimore have done--dump him to go local. It can boost their numbers and save them money over Rush's "confiscatory" (by his admission) carriage fees at the same time. If I were them I'd bring back the Newsday noontime news hour (which was one of their most popular draws from 1978 to the mid-1990s) and hire a new local host for 1-3...or move Bauerle there and bring in someone new for 9-noon.

 

[Debaser]

Hmmm...Entercom is moving a guy whom they consider strong (I'm assuming) into a slot to take on a syndicated guywho has lost a lot of his credibility and ratings in the last year. My source at WBEN tells me that Rush is now their lowest rated show.

Sounds like a very sound move to me.

 

[anoldguy]

Ed Shultz show is going live 12 - 3 nationally. Not just on KB. Good luck Ed (and good luck too, to my future wife Stephanie Miller).

 

[Radknowski]

Whoa! E9 appeared to be speculating about what Entercom might do with Ed Schultz on WWKB. It's still an unknown DB... unless your sources have confirmed that Ed's going up against Rush, head to head.

Seems like it would be kind of risky to move Ed straight up against Rush. Although Rush has much better ratings than what's on KB from noon to 3 p.m., Schultz would probably pose a greater threat to his dominance than Leslie Marshall.

It seems safer to delay-playback Ed and everything the way it is on KB rather than jeopardize what's on WBEN from noon to 3 p.m.

It could be argued that there are two separate audiences for Rush and Ed, so any conflict would be minimal if they went head to head. I guess we'll just have to see/hear what happens.

 

[SirRoxalot]

I'm sure that WBEN is quaking in their boots over KB's 1.0 share 12+...

 

[rdcuffpa1]

I'm sure that WBEN is quaking in their boots over KB's 1.0 share 12+...

Why should they care? They're both Entercom-owned, aren't they?

Richard in Allentown, PA (formerly East Aurora)

 

[ThePickleReport]

I'm sure that WBEN is quaking in their boots over KB's 1.0 share 12+...

Why should they care? They're both Entercom-owned, aren't they?

Yes, but there has been a well-founded perception over the years that Entercom would never put another talk format on one of their stations because it could compromise WBEN's numbers.

The 1.0 share proves they have nothing to worry about!

 

[rdcuffpa1]

Yes, but there has been a well-founded perception over the years that Entercom would never put another talk format on one of their stations because it could compromise WBEN's numbers.

The 1.0 share proves they have nothing to worry about!

But in this day of cluster management, let's say that WBEN is at 4.0 (a made-up stat) and KB is 1.0. After the switch 'BEN goes to 3.6 and KB goes to 1.5. Isn't that a net gain for Entercom? Or do other metrics like demographics make more of a difference in situations like that?

Richard

 

[Steven21]

Yes, but there has been a well-founded perception over the years that Entercom would never put another talk format on one of their stations because it could compromise WBEN's numbers.

The 1.0 share proves they have nothing to worry about!

But in this day of cluster management, let's say that WBEN is at 4.0 (a made-up stat) and KB is 1.0. After the switch 'BEN goes to 3.6 and KB goes to 1.5. Isn't that a net gain for Entercom? Or do other metrics like demographics make more of a difference in situations like that?

Richard

The conventional wisdom is that it's better to have one station that is supremely dominant in demo rankings, than to have 2 stations floating in the middle--even if the cumulative share is greater with the two in the middle of the pack.

A number 6 & number 12 station will not get as many national buys together as just one station would if ranked in the top 3 or 5.

 

[rdcuffpa1]

The conventional wisdom is that it's better to have one station that is supremely dominant in demo rankings, than to have 2 stations floating in the middle--even if the cumulative share is greater with the two in the middle of the pack.

A number 6 & number 12 station will not get as many national buys together as just one station would if ranked in the top 3 or 5.

Ah, now I Understand! Many thanks.

Richard