A very good article has again been posted by SDRadio.net regarding FREE FM. And, for the most part, I agree with his comments.
Here's the problem though: Whether on FM or AM, Estereo or Emono, Talk, is just Talk. You don't need high fedelity to talk about infedelity, or any delity for that matter. To quote a certain San Diego Biker formerly of KOGO, and now on 'LSD: "Radio is just another kitchen appliance, much like your toaster; people leave it tuned to their favorite level, and never change it." In that way, talk radio listeners are trained - to listen to AM. Take a market like San Diego, the impulse is to turn to 1090 for Baseball and Sports talk, 600 for Rush or Roger, 760 for Rick or 1360 for more left leaning rants. And don't forget KCBQ or KFI. It's force of habit. Notice that every one of those is on the AM band. And while it's nice to have talk in clear dual audio FM, for all intents and purposes, FREE FM is, well, just another talk station. In a market that already has 3 conservative talkers and a progressive talker, what room is there for another talker? Not even a 3rd rail (more like a 6th one), FREE FM is the outlet for what other stations have taken a pass on.
That not saying that FREE FM is a bad talker, just an extra one. If we were talking about Top 40 or any music format, it would be no surpirsed that 6 stations could not all compete in the same format. So why is it such for Talk? Probably because it is the only FM talker in San Diego (unless you count 105.7, but considering that 105.7's sole purpose is to extend 1090's reach, let's not for now).
Add to that a name and image that isn't exactly distinct: The name FREE FM was a poor choice of imaging. It says little about San Diego, and gives listeners the idea that CBS sees San Diego as just another market with an out of the box format a la JACK FM. (Compare that to the "very independent images of FM 94/9, or 91X). Instead, what you have left is a very undesirable station, an also ran that has nothing but potential, and potential sure does not pay the transmitter bill, the engineers, or the production staff. So while the station may indeed have "a nice little lineup," I am afraid that this station will quite likely be spinning some sort of music within the next few weeks. It is just a simple fact of the business we radio lovers have learned to come to terms with: If it does not make money, it doesn't survive. Tell me that 103.7 does ok with billing, and my prediction would be different. However, I highly doubt that this station's bottom line is in the "win" column.
Comments?
Here's the problem though: Whether on FM or AM, Estereo or Emono, Talk, is just Talk. You don't need high fedelity to talk about infedelity, or any delity for that matter. To quote a certain San Diego Biker formerly of KOGO, and now on 'LSD: "Radio is just another kitchen appliance, much like your toaster; people leave it tuned to their favorite level, and never change it." In that way, talk radio listeners are trained - to listen to AM. Take a market like San Diego, the impulse is to turn to 1090 for Baseball and Sports talk, 600 for Rush or Roger, 760 for Rick or 1360 for more left leaning rants. And don't forget KCBQ or KFI. It's force of habit. Notice that every one of those is on the AM band. And while it's nice to have talk in clear dual audio FM, for all intents and purposes, FREE FM is, well, just another talk station. In a market that already has 3 conservative talkers and a progressive talker, what room is there for another talker? Not even a 3rd rail (more like a 6th one), FREE FM is the outlet for what other stations have taken a pass on.
That not saying that FREE FM is a bad talker, just an extra one. If we were talking about Top 40 or any music format, it would be no surpirsed that 6 stations could not all compete in the same format. So why is it such for Talk? Probably because it is the only FM talker in San Diego (unless you count 105.7, but considering that 105.7's sole purpose is to extend 1090's reach, let's not for now).
Add to that a name and image that isn't exactly distinct: The name FREE FM was a poor choice of imaging. It says little about San Diego, and gives listeners the idea that CBS sees San Diego as just another market with an out of the box format a la JACK FM. (Compare that to the "very independent images of FM 94/9, or 91X). Instead, what you have left is a very undesirable station, an also ran that has nothing but potential, and potential sure does not pay the transmitter bill, the engineers, or the production staff. So while the station may indeed have "a nice little lineup," I am afraid that this station will quite likely be spinning some sort of music within the next few weeks. It is just a simple fact of the business we radio lovers have learned to come to terms with: If it does not make money, it doesn't survive. Tell me that 103.7 does ok with billing, and my prediction would be different. However, I highly doubt that this station's bottom line is in the "win" column.
Comments?
