So UM is bailing on WREC and Rock 103? And other than Bongino, who else are they taking from 600? I only listen to 600 for Tiger sports, so the rest means nothing to me, but does this mean WREC shifts to a different format?
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Cumulus To Flip 98.9 The Bridge Memphis To Conservative Talk; Adds University Of Memphis Sports
- Thread starter sjs1959
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So UM is bailing on WREC and Rock 103? And other than Bongino, who else are they taking from 600? I only listen to 600 for Tiger sports, so the rest means nothing to me, but does this mean WREC shifts to a different format?
I thought iHeart wasn’t taking Bongino and hadn't announced its plans for replacing Limbaugh.
My first thought was, “This failed once before. Let’s try it again!”
Unless i mis-read, it'll be the Cumulus station taking Bongino.
Cumulus is distributing and repping Bongino. From what I've heard, corporate is mandating every market with a talk station clear him.
Yes, including our own WOKI in Knoxville, which probably would have kept that slot local (as they had done for about a month after pulling dead Rush) were it not for a corporate cramdown. I was confused because you mentioned an iHeart station clearing Bongino and I didn't think that was the case.
I think the original poster was thinking Bongino was an iHeart product. As I mentioned, far as I know, iHeart hasn’t announced what it plans to do with Limbaugh's slot other than continue to air his reruns. That some operators are apparently signing three year contracts to air Rush reruns shows how bad the state of political talk radio is.
I had heard Berner was trying to get rid of the corporate cramdown after the Dickeys left. They were notorious for that. Mandating Bongino seems like an about face to me. Plus, I can’t see how Bongino will help those talk stations grow their audience. He might be able to sustain the dwindling older die hard audience those stations currently have, but talk radio's problem would seem to be that it has no answer for how to move beyond that. I rarely listen to talk radio, especially of the political variety, but I heard Bongino's debut yesterday was underwhelming.
My understanding is this guy has never done a radio show. Podcast yes, Fox News guest, yes, but live radio show, no. Talk radio can't get out of a mindset it has had since Limbaugh came on the scene..."if we can't get Rush (either a competing station or for another daypart), we get a guy who says the things Rush says.". I agree the cramdown of Bongino is an about-face. I can remember News-Talk 98.7, WOKI, Knoxville being able to add more local programming and drop some cramdowns after Dickey left. Left to its own devices, I think WOKI would have stayed local. Some Cox stations have a guy from Jacksonville....all MAGA all the time....hail DeSantis and spread COVID
3 years of Rush reruns....wow. Premiere told us their plans the day Rush died, we just didn't want go believe them. They'll get every dollar out of Rush's corpse and not worry about introducing another show...maybe ever.
Did Cumulus decide to switch 98.9 to news talk to get U of M sports and Bogino? That sounds like another waste of an FM frequency. They had that format on 98.9 a few years back and it didn't last. But then does any format stay on there for long? I'll admit I didn't listen to them much other than when they were doing Christmas music.
I would have rather seen them go to sports talk with U of M sports if they weren't going to do another music format. I know that's another waste of FM, but it isn't as bad as more conservative talk.
I would have rather seen them go to sports talk with U of M sports if they weren't going to do another music format. I know that's another waste of FM, but it isn't as bad as more conservative talk.
Remember it's called the radio business. Emphasis on business.
Right now, the money is in conservative talk. The wackier, the better. That's what this is all about.
But is there that much money if you're third in the format? I imagine the bulk of the revenue for this will be from the sports. The talk stuff will likely be low rated filler between games.
There can be if you do it the way they're doing it, as a national format, no local hosts, integrated with podcasting and web content. I'd expect to see more of this moving forward. If you're a DJ, start thinking of podcasts and other content you can create beyond the air shift. Because the air shift is just the publicity for the rest of the package.
If you look at the trade publication Talkers, probably half of the ad space currently is for shows that are live during the Limbaugh time slot. Cumulus probably thinks they can get a leg up by creating critical mass for "their guy".
The difference between the flips to support Bongino and the Dickey "cramdowns" is that they are paying attention to the numbers now. WKIM as an AC station was a non-factor in the ratings, so they aren't losing much. Or for that matter in Buffalo, or NYC where they have also flipped stations to the conservative talk format.
The difference between the flips to support Bongino and the Dickey "cramdowns" is that they are paying attention to the numbers now. WKIM as an AC station was a non-factor in the ratings, so they aren't losing much. Or for that matter in Buffalo, or NYC where they have also flipped stations to the conservative talk format.
Not a good idea if they want to make money
Because CHR has tanked musically, or because in a market like Memphis the urban stations gobble up any potential CHR listeners that the ACs haven't already?
According to 98.9's Wikipedia page at WKIM - Wikipedia there have been 8 format changes on the station since it moved to Memphis in 2001. That's a change about every 2.5 years. Any guesses on how long this one will last?
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