Don't Overlook WKOX-AM 1200

[Laurence Glavin]

Construction is continuing apace at the new Sawmill Brook Parkway site for WKOX-AM 1200's 50KW signal. Something tells me that CCU isn't going to all that expense (and the kerfuffle with the Oak Hill Neighborhood denizens) just to keep Radio Rumba on. I suggest they would even consider swiping Rush from WRKO and adding some syndicated shows they run on other stations, such as Glenn Beck, and possibly doing further pilfering such as Sean Hannity. That might induce WRKO to consider cherry-picking some 'lib' shows such as Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz, or Thom HarmannThom Hartmann.

 

[raccoonradio]

exactly--they could have: local host (or syndie), Beck, Rush, Hannity, et al. Whether Jason and Julie
(if they still have jobs a week from now) will grab lib shows, who knows.

 

[webcastboy]

I have it on good authority that the Rumba 1200/1430 combo has been pleasantly profitable for Clear Channel Boston. The Spanish-language market has long been under-served in this area, so I wouldn't rule out WKOX staying as it is.

Well, at least not until a rating book or two comes to pass and CC has a chance to see if the audience increases with the power increase. If it does, the only reason to dump a profitable format would be for something more profitable...and I just don't see "liberal talk" being more profitable. Especially not considering how much time and energy would need to be invested in marketing it for it to be a success. Plus the simple fact that as far as most Boston-area "liberal talk" fans are concerned, they've already got WBUR and WGBH.

Or CC might just sell WKOX, too...they've invested a ton of money and time (and remember, time is money) in WKOX and a quick sale for serious bucks would be the easy way to see ROI. Given the giant sell-off of small- and medium-market CC properties, a WKOX sale wouldn't be so unusual. Admittedly that's wild speculation, though.

 

[HHH]

Suspect the Rhumba format will stay on 1430 (perfectly fine coverage for most city of Boston Latino urban neighborhoods) and the big 1200 coverage will be reserved for something more mainstream, like a clearing point for all the Premiere shows. And yes, it is possible that CC will take this new, big signal and spin it off. They could probably get a pretty penny for it after the upgrade is done.

By the way, NPR is not actually operating in the same arena as the right wing talk shows. NPR, for all the chatter about how "liberal" it is, is actually pretty balanced. They almost always have two opposing guests represented in the news longform. Their signature talk show, The Diane Rehm Show, almost never has one guest from one side, and Diane never goes on a theatrical rant about how terrible, evil, and un-American people of a certain political point of view are. They tend to come down pretty centrist these days, with a humanistic bent (which some people think is a liberal trait). The biggest complaint is that NPR is dull, but dullness is usually a result of balance which is the very reason why commercial talk radio avoids balance and goes for vitrol and name calling. Nothing gets ratings like vitrol.

For some reason, the Liberals have never been able to match the Right-Wingers for creating the winning combination of demonizing, entertainment and synthetic patriotism on commercial talk radio. Randy Rhodes has the vitrol all right, but not the other ingredients.
Ed Shultz is the closest yet, but he needs a TV show or a cable deal (like Hannity, O'Reilly and Beck) to increase his visibility and commercial
capital.

 

[Neggy]

Premier Radio Networks.. the syndicator of El Rushbo is owned by CC. Who knows how the sale of CC's radio properties to Bain is going to fit into this, but if WKOX wants take Rush away from WRKO there isn't much Entercom is going to be able to do to stop it. Since the day WKOX filed their application for increase of power and new location there has been speculation that CC's intent was to go head to head with WKO with Rush as the draw.

Times have changed. It would seem that IF they were going to go after anyone now it would have to be 96.9, assuming that CC would give up what might be a profitable venture into Hispanic programming. I think someone pointed out in another thread recently how under represented hispanics are on the major stations, and it is a vast untapped market. WBCN is doing Brazilian on one of it HD allocations... that tells me someone thinks there is going to be an opportunity for $ to be made after the HD restrictions are lifted.

Unless hell freezes over in the next few days, and I don' think it is going to happen, RKO as a talker is done.. I predict WBIX will beat them in the fall book.

 

[Varulven]

With the Red Sox on the air, Neggy, they are going to get book action.

WBCN without Stern and while the Patriots are at summer camp, now that's a different story

 

[Neggy]

best case scenario is Baseball will run into late october. The ratings can be broken down with enough accuracy that we will be able to see what the Sox brought to the book, and what a mess the place is going to be the rest of the time.

If the Sox blow it ( my money is on them imploding any second now.. it is All Star time you know) and they are out of contention early, then the fall book is going to be a disaster. "Rebuilding" after loosing star talent may work as an excuse in basketball, but it isn't going to fly in Boston radio.

 

[Varulven]

The Sox have the best record in baseball and probably the easiest schedule of anyone in the majors.

They have great pitching and some sluggers that are just starting to come around. They have #1 locked up.

We have to see how far into October they really can go, but they've got the American League east wrapped up this year. As one sportswriter said their schedule is as soft as a sneaker full of cool whip.

they will crush the little teams just like they swept Tampa Bay, which gives 'em a chance to rest the big guns and do some serious damage in October to the opposing teams

so RKO is going to win big on the Sox. RKO will be the new sports station - what they do with WEEI remains to be seen...

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Suspect the Rhumba format will stay on 1430 (perfectly fine coverage for most city of Boston Latino urban neighborhoods)

Only in the daytime, not at night. 1430 at night does reach the lower North Shore towns well where there is some Spanish population, but it's barely audible, if at all, in Boston's urban neighborhoods after sunset.

The new 1200 would actually be an excellent signal for a Spanish format (if they decide to keep it). 50 kW from Oak Hill will carpetbomb Boston's urban neighborhoods just a few miles away, and it should still be good enough in the lower North Shore towns presently covered by 1430.

The biggest complaint is that NPR is dull, but dullness is usually a result of balance which is the very reason why commercial talk radio avoids balance and goes for vitrol and name calling. Nothing gets ratings like vitrol.

That's usually the tried-and-true talk radio formula most everywhere, but WBUR's ratings indicate that there is a significant portion of the Boston market audience who feel otherwise. Being non-comm they're not published on the public ratings sites, but I and others on this board have seen them. I haven't seen the latest non-comm breakdowns, but WBUR is always within the top ten and usually within the top five of all stations in Boston 12+, and certain dayparts have been #1 25-54 in recent years. There was one book a couple of years ago where WBUR was top 25-54 all around, beating WBZ.

I think that audience portion in Boston who seeks balance with a non-inflammatory, non-sensationalist presentation on WBUR contributed to the many reasons, along with marginal signals, poor promotion, little local content, etc... why commercial Progressive Talk didn't make it in Boston.