This is a follow up to my last post asking about David White. I am just curious being so new to this site. What do you folks think about the current state of talk radio in Columbia. I hear only three local shows in the morning. WVOC still has Gary David doing his basic, no serious stuff in the morning, yet still informative for those seeking nothing but news, weather, and sports. Then there is the show for the waiting to die crowd at WISW 1320. I was surprised to hear Tom Turnipseed was back on, now with WOIC 1230, from 8-9AM. Kevin Cohen seems to be well established as the only serious local afternoon show, but the new guy over at 1230 has a fairly decent show. I think his name is Frank Napp or Knapp(excuse the spelling). It's a shame he doesn't have more listeners but that's probably due to the fact that the Air America programming that precedes him is just not very good. I don't think that is because Air America is so liberal. I think it is because their hosts are just not very entertaining. Please catch me up on the state of Columbia Talk, particularly local talk. Thanks.
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Columbia Talk Radio
- Thread starter OnTheEdge
- Start date
I could be very wrong, but it seems to me that unless you are one of the regulars, talk radio is something that seems to be a waning fad. I think that the only serious talk show is Kevin Cohen and the times I have listened, he has basically a core audience and most people that call in are regulars. I would not consider Columbia's Morning News with Gary David talk radio since all he is doing is news weather annd sports. What is going on with WISW is a carryo ver from the old WSCQ days and it is basically for those over 60 and if you listen to them for very long, you will find that they have their core listeners too.
I guess I am one of those people that when I get up, I need to hear the news, weather and traffic and then I switch to FM where I hear upbeat music and upbeat personalities like Brent and George on WTCB or Tyler and Turner on WWNU.
I guess I am one of those people that when I get up, I need to hear the news, weather and traffic and then I switch to FM where I hear upbeat music and upbeat personalities like Brent and George on WTCB or Tyler and Turner on WWNU.
OnTheEdge said:...but the new guy over at 1230 has a fairly decent show. I think his name is Frank Napp or Knapp(excuse the spelling)...
Help me out here. I looked at the pic on their website and this guy looks awfully familiar. There was a guy who ran an ad agency in Columbia in the 90's whose name was Frank Knapp. One of his major clients was Glamour Shots (long story). Could this be the same guy? I almost never forget a face and I'm thinking it is. It's a crazy bizarro world when an ad agency guy switches to radio instead of the other way around. Somebody wake me.
That is Frank Knapp of the Knapp Agency. He is using brokered time on WOIC. He's got a pretty nice set up from his Gervais Street office (the old WNOK studios) and does the show from there.
Gotta give Frank an A for effort for doing local public affairs talk. Kinda reminds me of when Tom Turnipseed did the Seed Show local issues show.
Gotta give Frank an A for effort for doing local public affairs talk. Kinda reminds me of when Tom Turnipseed did the Seed Show local issues show.
DudeFan said:That is Frank Knapp of the Knapp Agency. He is using brokered time on WOIC. He's got a pretty nice set up from his Gervais Street office (the old WNOK studios) and does the show from there.
Gotta give Frank an A for effort for doing local public affairs talk. Kinda reminds me of when Tom Turnipseed did the Seed Show local issues show.
No Haterade hear. I just wondered if it was the same Frank Knapp. As for Turnipseed, I loved his show. You never knew what he was gonna say next. When WNOK was still on Gervais Street, Tom did his show on 1230 in the evening there. Tom's a ham, but a well informed ham...cool guy.
Well.....talk radio in Columbia. I'm going to try to not be a "hater" here but I haven't heard anything on Talk Radio that has been even marginally entertaining. Some of it is perhaps, informative but all of the local shows sounds like talk radio from 1985 to me.
Lhsh said:I think you have a point well taken. I think that talk radio is a fad that soon will fade into the sunset.
Talk Radio has never been a fad. It's been a mainstay in the radio business for as long as radio has been a part of American life. If you are refering to modern day talk, which is nothing less than propoganda, it is a solid 22%of a market that includes country, rock, soft rock, classic rock, alternative rock, oldies, easylistening, and public. It is the single largest block of radio fans in the country, and has been for ten years. Certainly- no fad. It is very seasonal however, very strong in the fall and winter and weak in the summer months. It always does much better when elections are the news. After this year's elections are finally over, it will lose a big chunk of its audience. It will also be interesting to see how well Rush, Hannity, Bill, Laura, and all of their small minded, ill-informed, undereducated, non-thinking clones do when it is obvious America has rejected their world-view. The good news is the return of local talk. Where given opportunity and time it works and makes money.
Any rating of 3.0 or better in an overal 12+ market is exceptional for the talk format. What most of you seem to ignore is that the ratings you see from Arbitron on these various websites only gives you the overall rating and pays no attention to demographics. In the 25-54 year old demographic talk is very highly rated. Radio is all about reaching the demographics that will support the sponsors of any particular format. Get hold of a Tapscan report every now and then and you can see how each show does on any station in any time slot.
A fad is by definition a short lived thing. A format that has been almost one quarter of the overall market for ten years is no fad, not even a trend. It is an established format.
WVOC is where it is for several obvious reasons. It is low on the dial so the signal is the strongest of all the three talk stations in the market. It has Beck and Limbaugh, the number one and two guys in the world. It is the longest running station, actually the original WISW. And let's face it. The programming on WISW, particularly the morning show, is just not very good and getting worse. I notice they lost the very local sport show that was on from 6-8. Their weekend programming is all canned piped in stuff. They use to have some very good local programming on the weekends. I don't think their management has a clue. If you want to fall back to sleep on a Sunday morning tune in to 1320 at 9AM. If twenty people are listening to that I'd be shocked.
How I long for someone to have the will and money to create a talk station that really was committed to quality at the local and syndicated level.
A fad is by definition a short lived thing. A format that has been almost one quarter of the overall market for ten years is no fad, not even a trend. It is an established format.
WVOC is where it is for several obvious reasons. It is low on the dial so the signal is the strongest of all the three talk stations in the market. It has Beck and Limbaugh, the number one and two guys in the world. It is the longest running station, actually the original WISW. And let's face it. The programming on WISW, particularly the morning show, is just not very good and getting worse. I notice they lost the very local sport show that was on from 6-8. Their weekend programming is all canned piped in stuff. They use to have some very good local programming on the weekends. I don't think their management has a clue. If you want to fall back to sleep on a Sunday morning tune in to 1320 at 9AM. If twenty people are listening to that I'd be shocked.
How I long for someone to have the will and money to create a talk station that really was committed to quality at the local and syndicated level.
To be very honest, I find talk radio to be boring and horribly narrow minded, and that especaially includes Rush Linbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and even all of the liberal talk on Air America.
I guess I am in the minority because if I am listening to the radio, I would rather listen to music
I guess I am in the minority because if I am listening to the radio, I would rather listen to music
Lhsh said:To be very honest, I find talk radio to be boring and horribly narrow minded, and that especaially includes Rush Linbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and even all of the liberal talk on Air America.
I guess I am in the minority because if I am listening to the radio, I would rather listen to music
I actually agree with you. An entertaining talk show that mixed in a lot of music, sort of a serious version of John Boy and Billy, might be worth someone's effort.
I think the reason that talk radio is pretty much lame is due to the fact Columbia is pretty much a city that does not have many hot button issues... I don't know what a lot of the current issues are that are taking place, but you can only talk about so many issues till they run their course. I think the biggest hot button issue for talk radio was 1990 with Operation Lost Trust... That was a topic that really got people wired up and fired up... It was an issue that really got people talking. I think the other reason is that there are no talk talent on a local level who can really get people fired up. Kevin is good on WVOC, but you put him in a market that is more talk friendly and he would tank... Here in Rockford which is a lot smaller than Columbia we have two talk stations. One has a lot of local talk while the other has the normal crew Rush, Hanity, etc. These two stations are right here in Rockford, but WGN in Chicago which is 80 miles away still beats the both of them! Why you may ask? Because WGN has compelling content that people want to listen to. CC1
CrazeeCarroll1 said:I think the reason that talk radio is pretty much lame is due to the fact Columbia is pretty much a city that does not have many hot button issues......I think the other reason is that there are no talk talent on a local level who can really get people fired up....
First of all, where the HELL have you been, Carroll? Haven't seen you online recently. Hope all is well.
Second of all, you may be right about the hot button issues, but I know you're right about the talk talent. The talent isn't bad per se(it should be noted I'm not as up to date on very recent Cola. talk radio as the rest of you), it's just that I feel like a talk radio talent should pick a side of an issue and blow the doors off supporting that particular stance. Listeners will listen to an argument, but they'll fall asleep when everyone is singing "Kumbaya" together, you know? Most of the talk talent in Columbia that I heard last sounded like mediators instead of advocates of a specific point of view. I cringe to say this, but they just sounded too damn nice. Having said that, I will admit to the world that Andy Thomas at least had the "pick a side" mentality down pat.
Hey Scott... I am around, but the Kroger Company seems to own me these days. I think you hit the nail on the head. What Columbia needs is a balls to the walls talk show host to really liven things up. I think you can be nice, but at the same time need to be aggressive. I think that radio companies are afraid they will offend people if they are to aggressive in talk radio... I think you can be aggressive without being offensive to anyone. Look at Mike church who was at WBT back in the late 90's. They were looking to skew younger and brought him in. Since I was in his target demo I really liked his show. He would talk about things that would make you go Hmmm. Remember David Paul who was on WSB... He was brought in to liven up overnights. When I was in college at the time in Spartanburg I always tried to listen to him just to see what kind of fire he would stir. That is what Columbia needs. Since Columbia is pretty much a conservative city talk show host will pretty much be what they have always been. CC1
My take on Columbia talk radio: 1) Well, let's face it. This has never been a great media market. Not for radio, television or newspaper. So....there's that...then
2)The market is overwhelmingly conservative. So, people may disagree on issues both local and national, but the overwhelming majority agree with each other. That doesn't make for interesting talk or discussion. Just my .02 worth....
2)The market is overwhelmingly conservative. So, people may disagree on issues both local and national, but the overwhelming majority agree with each other. That doesn't make for interesting talk or discussion. Just my .02 worth....
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