Doc should never have said anything about the Babe which resulted in us getting off topic.
OK, it was me. I will agree to disagree with Doc on the Babe. At least he's not like some of the people I've had to deal with on the subject of talk radio, many of whom (thankfully) don't post here anymore.
But I feel some historical perspective needs to be put on Phenom's comments:
Rush Limbaugh's debut in Columbus was indeed on AM 1230 in 1992, when it was owned by Great American Broadcasting.
When Rush moved to WTVN on January 3, 1994, it was the beginning of the end for WTVN as it evolved from a full-service adult contemporary station to news/talk to pretty much talk with little news to speak of, regardless of how it promotes itself. Rush's move was shortly before Nationwide Communications (owner of WNCI) bought WCOL-AM (now WYTS) and WCOL-FM. (Nationwide would eventually sell the stations to Jacor which became part of Clear Channel.)
It was in September of 1994 that WBNS-AM went from the satellite standards format now on WMNI to all sports, and The Fabulous Sports Babe was the only nationally syndicated show on the schedule during peak listening hours. To me, a person who normally doesn't follow sports, the Babe provided a very entertaining alternative to Rush Limbaugh. With the exception of non-peak hours (such as late-night), the talk was pretty much local. Terry Smith, the voice of the Clippers and Ohio State at the time, had his own talk show right after the babe. And 10TV's Dom Tiberi had a show as well.
As it celebrates its 13th anniversary as a sports station, 1460 The Fan has shown one thing: consistency. It gets the right blend of listeners and ad dollars. It remains locally owned and locally programmed. While hosts like Chris Spielman may not necessarily be as polished as some would like, these guys know their stuff. And unlike WTVN with the firing of longtime Sports Director George Lehner, the Dispatch Media Group is not one to give the heave-ho to anyone with extensive knowledge of sports (especially local) and broadcast experience under their belt. One of those experts, OSU basketball commentator Ron Stokes, is a friend of mine.
Bringing us back to WTVN and WYTS. The news operation is a shell of its former self, and the sports operation is in the same boat. Munch is now heard locally on a competitor. As for the news department, the experience of the likes of John Remy (who I also know personally through my church), Sherry Fisher, Robert Bauer, Dave Clayborne (not sure of the spelling), Don Alexander and the late Sally Wagner is pretty much gone. And with nationally syndicated talk shows taking up more than half the broadcast schedule, the only reason WTVN still has better ratings than it deserves is that it's the only game in town as far as news. I find it laughable that WTVN now has to rely on WBNS for its weather. (Nothing against Chris Bradley, who is real nice guy.)
As for WYTS...in a flash its ratings went back to where they were before becoming a progressive talk station in 2004. Jim Rome is not getting anywhere near the ratings he had when he was on 1460. That's where he started before Jacor/Clear Channel got greedy and took him from 1460 and placed him on 1230. And Bill O'Reilly is about to lose his radio show. Whether Clear Channel will admit it or not, progressive talk generated the most listeners to 1230 in years. And unlike a lot of hard-core liberals who were just as upset with the Reds, the Cavs and even Bowling Green football interrupting programming, I wasn't. Because I knew even sports with few listeners were still a cash cow which carried the rest of the programming which was popular for listeners but not for advertisers.
At least that's how it's supposed to work. But apparently the sports programming wasn't getting enough advertisers either.
Frankly, Phenom, I'm glad Savage is being pre-empted by the Reds and soon the Cavs. Because as a gay man, I do not find amusing any talker who says gay men should get AIDS and die. But unlike those posters that no longer appear on this board (again, thankfully), I have no qualms with you or your listening habits.
I do have some homework for you, though: A little arithmetic. Look at the latest listing by Talkers Magazine of the top talk radio audiences when the new numbers come out very soon. If you divide the number of listeners by the number of affiliates, you might be surprised at who gets more listeners per station. During the period of last measurement of talk show audiences, Stephanie Miller was beating the pants off Glenn Beck as far as number of listeners per station. And the numbers between Rush Limbaugh and Ed Schultz should prove just as interesting.
Of course, I could bring WTDA into the discussion as to why Clear Channel is slowly shooting itself in the foot and, in the process, firing en masse some top-notch air staff in Columbus (along with other markets), but the discussion is supposed to be about 1460 The Fan. And it's my opinion that out of all the different types of talk radio available on commercials stations in Columbus, WBNS is the only station which has its act together.
And just to let you know...since WTPG went off the air, the time I spent listening to the radio is now spent listening to podcasts of Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz (Jones Radio, not Air America). Between the two of them, I get insight on the day's news (Big Eddie) and lots of comedy (Steph), and both elements I found with the Babe when it came to sports.
And once I've finished listening to the podcasts, I tune in to WBNS...FM (Mix 97.1).
And Doc...before Stephanie Miller came along in 2004, the last talk host I listened to regularly was The Babe. And she went off the air in 1999.
If only Keith Olbermann had a radio show again...