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Des Moines Radio

T

trix

There haven't been any comments regarding the latest book of the states largest radio market. A few things...

1) How much longer can Star hang-on to their advertisters with such poor ratings? I don't know the breakdowns, but it can't be rosey. Its too bad they didn't begin a morph into a AAA before Capital came on air. With their local focus, Star could have put together a quality AAA station.

2) Congrats to the Citidal group for turning things around after the Wilks butchering. They have done a great job reviving KGGO and the country stations.

3) If you look at the ratings - there is a line for KDRB. Is this the old 106.3 The Bus still? If so, where is KMXD? If not, where is KPTL? There is a CC station missing from the book - can anyone explain?

Discuss...
 
trix said:
There haven't been any comments regarding the latest book of the states largest radio market. A few things...

1) How much longer can Star hang-on to their advertisters with such poor ratings? I don't know the breakdowns, but it can't be rosey. Its too bad they didn't begin a morph into a AAA before Capital came on air. With their local focus, Star could have put together a quality AAA station.

2) Congrats to the Citidal group for turning things around after the Wilks butchering. They have done a great job reviving KGGO and the country stations.

3) If you look at the ratings - there is a line for KDRB. Is this the old 106.3 The Bus still? If so, where is KMXD? If not, where is KPTL? There is a CC station missing from the book - can anyone explain?

Discuss...
Click to expand...

1) Yeah...so? Star will have to find another way to win. (Few mainstream stations morph into boutique formats anyway, and even fewer AAAs win. But with 106.3's limited signal, going for a loyal core makes sense. And there are some accomplished AAA braintrusts behind the Capital. Plus, it chips away at Star that much more. But the move makes little sense for a cume-driven station like Star.)

2) That wasn't hard to do.

3) The Bus was (being driven) on 106.3 and 100.3 for quite awhile.
 
1) I agree that STAR needs to reload but AAA probably is not the answer. It will be interesting, even with Des Moines fairly extensive history of Alternative & Progressive programming, to see if CC can sell it. So far, the Capitol is not very exciting and the midday guy is a big YAWN.

2) Not so fast with the Citadel lovefest......insiders say that the current conditions are only SLIGHTLY better than the Wilks era. The current surge in Country product has really helped JJY & the Hawk while GGOs heritage is their biggest ally. The music is STALE ,the morning show is broken, and Clutch is clearly misguided.

3) KMXD is the station missing from the last ratings

4) How bout that Steve Dace move on WHO? HELP!
 
So the question still stands - why isn't KMXD in the latest book? (or is this just an omission on the RR posting).

Steve Deece - blah - just another right wing loud-mouth full of hate. At least he isn't a criminal like McCoy over on 98.3. I wonder if all his fans are aware of the money he embezzled from KJJY in the 80s...

Just an idea - Saga could put Air America on KSPZ?
 
KMXD is listed on the Arbitron web site ratings, with a zero. I'm not sure that would be right, maybe the simulecast and change of the bus to KMXD's frequency has Arbitron really confused.

Saga could put Air America on 940 if they wanted to, or anything else for that matter... but I think it's highly unlikely they will make any changes. Most of the day is sold out to preachers and the programming expenses must be as low as it gets, nobody has to go out and sell any spots. You don't need ratings for time-brokered religion. Saga does religion on at least one other AM (Milwaukee), I don't think they have any stations with Air America.

Is Deace the main problem with WHO? The line up (except afternoon drive) hasn't changed in years, but that isn't bad if the audience is still there. Rush has gotten pretty stale, but that's been the case for several years, and there still probably isn't another show out there that would get better numbers.
 
I would like to see the adult female numbers for Des Moines. While Star may not have the 12+ numbers I am guessing that Star still has HUGE female numbers to sell. Ad agencys LOVE female numbers since they make most of the buying decisions in the household. Also, about a year ago I saw a post here that Star was one of the biggest billing stations in the Des Moines market. I don't see anything in the 12+ numbers that would change that.

I predict that WHO will be back up to the top after the fall numbers come back. People tend to tune into news more in the fall months than they do in the spring plus the Hawkeye football team should be good this year.

It would be GREAT to hear AIR AMERICA in Des Moines. Let's get that crook/windbag McCoy off the air. I am shocked that he keeps getting back on the air in Des Moines after all the dubious things he has been involved with.
 
I remember the last time that J Michael McCoy was escorted by law enforcement from his radio employ ( the 3rd or 4th time) , most local broadcasters opined that "only an idiot would hire him again."

It speaks very poorly of the kind of industry we have become.
 
"It would be GREAT to hear AIR AMERICA in Des Moines. "

Only if the station doesn't mind not making money and having to run a telethon to cover expenses-kinda like public radio without the class
 
Yeah what a terrible concept....a station being funded by the people who listen to it.

I would gladly donate a few duckets to get an air america in my market...whether they had spots and making money or not...Until its a ratings success to sell, is there really anything wrong with asking support from those who support the format/station?
 
There's nothing wrong with it except that it isn't viable in a commercial environment. Privately owned stations have to make a profit to stay in business and you need advertisers.

The audience for AAR isn't there. It is dying in the large markets.
After you eliminate folks that listen to conservative radio you aren't left with a large audience for talk radio.
Folks that consider themselves "intellectual" listen to NPR for news and talk (which I thouroughly enjoy) and they put their money there.
The other part of the untapped market tends to listen to music and has no interest in talk radio (regardless of political feelings).

Conservative talk radio has a large and loyal audience and advertisers tend to like them. Big national companies don't tend to want to advertise on stations whose programming has a slant against them (let's face it the liberal point of view tends to view big corporations with suspicion and derision). Regardless of local advertising you need big national sponsors to keep a network alive.

AAR also requires that the stations give themselves wholely over to their programming- no picking and choosing, again not a popular choice with owners.
 
Just to play "devil's advocate"

have you seen/watched anything about WCPT AM in Chicago?

Daytime only AM station...only covers 1/4 of northern chicago suburbs....

Is BEATING WIND (salem brand conservative) and almost beating WCKG (free fm)...both HUGE full market signals

This argument that the format is dying is BS!!

Most AA stations were doomed before sign on....signals aren't near as big as their "conservative" competitors...

Don't give the blanket "its dying everywhere"...I'd go with "it doesn't WORK everywhere.

I would say Des Moines might be a good market for it.....but wouldn't be my first choice
 
WCPT's signal isn't that bad, and it had considerably higher ratings several years ago when it ran standards. It isn't beating WIND in 12+ numbers, either, it's slightly behind, with less than a share. It did tie WCKG in the spring book, but still with less than a share.

A more fair comparision to Des Moines might be the Quad Cities, where Air America/Ed Schultz/Stephanie Miller are on WKBF, 5000 watts fulltime on 1270. Nothing wrong with the signal, it was the #1 station years ago with country. It still gets less than a share.
 
Without turning this into an AA thread, they just lost their station in Chattanooga TN market #106- due to lack of advertisers, WLIB in New York City dropped it and it was forced to go to a weaker station. The shaky finances of the network are making station owners nervous, Carl Ginsburg, one of the founders of the network left on 8/4/06, ratings are down in Portland, Seattle and Denver which had been three key markets for AA.

Things started going downhill publicly when they got involved in a financial mess with a Harlem charity and allegations of missappropriated funds from that charity.

I hope AAR can survive, everyone needs a voice, but so far they aren't hitting the right buttons for success.
 
jh said:
KMXD is listed on the Arbitron web site ratings, with a zero. I'm not sure that would be right, maybe the simulecast and change of the bus to KMXD's frequency has Arbitron really confused.

Saga could put Air America on 940 if they wanted to, or anything else for that matter... but I think it's highly unlikely they will make any changes. Most of the day is sold out to preachers and the programming expenses must be as low as it gets, nobody has to go out and sell any spots. You don't need ratings for time-brokered religion. Saga does religion on at least one other AM (Milwaukee), I don't think they have any stations with Air America.

Is Deace the main problem with WHO? The line up (except afternoon drive) hasn't changed in years, but that isn't bad if the audience is still there. Rush has gotten pretty stale, but that's been the case for several years, and there still probably isn't another show out there that would get better numbers.
Click to expand...

Saga owns at least three AAR affiliates out east.

wmtbites said:
There's nothing wrong with it except that it isn't viable in a commercial environment. Privately owned stations have to make a profit to stay in business and you need advertisers.

The audience for AAR isn't there. It is dying in the large markets.
After you eliminate folks that listen to conservative radio you aren't left with a large audience for talk radio.
Folks that consider themselves "intellectual" listen to NPR for news and talk (which I thouroughly enjoy) and they put their money there.
The other part of the untapped market tends to listen to music and has no interest in talk radio (regardless of political feelings).

Conservative talk radio has a large and loyal audience and advertisers tend to like them. Big national companies don't tend to want to advertise on stations whose programming has a slant against them (let's face it the liberal point of view tends to view big corporations with suspicion and derision). Regardless of local advertising you need big national sponsors to keep a network alive.

AAR also requires that the stations give themselves wholely over to their programming- no picking and choosing, again not a popular choice with owners.
Click to expand...

Not so. Almost all of AAR's affiliates air other programming, including local shows and product from other syndicators. Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller, both syndicated by Jones, are on many AAR affiliates.

And conservotalk, or any political talk for that matter, doesn't exactly get the highest regarded advertisers. Local stations may do well based on heritage, but syndicated talk shows tend to get some pretty suspect sponsors (air mattresses, get-rich-quick schemes, obscure websites - not exactly the 'A' list of advertisers). Many major sponsors tend to shun controversial programming.
 
As they also would Air America...

But from what I hear, they've got plenty of time to fill...mostly PSA's.

Name some sponsors...please. Anything. Any company that actually makes a product to sell other than issue advocacy...anything.
 
Type in Air America in google and you will get a raft of stories concerning an imminent bankruptcy filing (not proven yet) but also a confirmed story that Al Franken, the biggest gun, hasn't been paid in awhile. Franken himself has confirmed this. AAR is not doing too well financially. Conservo talk still does better than Libero talk. As for highly regarded sponsors... Who cares, so long as they pay the bill?
 
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