General Concensus for PGH radio

[MsMusicRadio]

Should I take it that the "insiders'agree:

1) Urban radio will never return in any form
2) Soft AC is a loser and would lose money for every commercial station in Pittsburgh
3) Expect no format flips of any kind this year
4) If any more signals are sold, it will be to more faith based broadcasters as the only thing that really works here is WDVE, religion, and sports.

 

[KeyTimes950]

Should I take it that the "insiders'agree:
1) Urban radio will never return in any form
2) Soft AC is a loser and would lose money for every commercial station in Pittsburgh
3) Expect no format flips of any kind this year
4) If any more signals are sold, it will be to more faith based broadcasters as the only thing that really works here is WDVE, religion, and sports.

(1) Urban radio never really left, it just gravitated elsewhere, such as the Internet or HD channels.
(2) Depends on your definition of "soft AC." Maybe my ears have grown really tone deaf, but what is the difference (much of the time) between WSHH and "soft AC" or WLTJ and "soft AC"?
(3) I expect reactive change in the coming year. I believe 2010 was an anomaly, where all sorts of activity came together like a really bad Mulligan stew.
(4) If sports REALLY worked here, ESPN wouldn't have gutted AM 1250 and then moved its network affiliation to AM 970. However, how much interest is there really in a market that is in the 20s and falling?

 

[FreddyE1977]

of course, we could change all of that in a heartbeat if we could just get a really
strong rumor percolating out there that wearing a PPM causes impotence....

 

[Pratte4Life]

I don't see where No. 4 is valid. It's like saying "if sports REALLY worked around here, then WMNY would still have the format."

 

[Talk_Dude]

of course, we could change all of that in a heartbeat if we could just get a really
strong rumor percolating out there that wearing a PPM causes impotence....

That's not a rumor.

I don't see where No. 4 is valid. It's like saying "if sports REALLY worked around here, then WMNY would still have the format."

I think that there's a big difference between sports news, sports play-by-play, and sports talk. Take that a step further, and there's a big difference between local sports talk about the home teams and generic sports talk about out of town teams, and sports that don't even have teams in town. I think play-by-play of local teams has a strong appeal, including pre-game and post-game shows. I think talk about local teams has a strong appeal. I don't think that sports talk that is often about the NBA or American League Baseball would get much traction in Pittsburgh.

I'm a little surprised that no one has tried sports talk about participant sports, like hunting and fishing. I don't know if it would work or not, but as popular as deer hunting is in Western Pennsylvania, I'm surprised no one has tried to exploit that interest with some sort of radio talk show. Or, maybe someone did try but it wasn't promoted.

 

[KeyTimes950]

I don't see where No. 4 is valid. It's like saying "if sports REALLY worked around here, then WMNY would still have the format."

If ESPN really was committed to a sports-talk station in Pittsburgh, the management in Bristol would not have gutted its O&O here.

Also, as an ESPN affiliate, I believe Clear Channel will continue to run sports talk on AM 970 the way it did as a Fox Sports affiliate, which doesn't convince me of its commitment to local sports talk any more than ESPN could convince me in its later days in this market as a station owner.

I will grant you that KDKA-FM is a rarity, where CBS is willing to put some investment in a station, where it has taken off as much as one might expect a second-tier outlet to do in a second-tier market. It certainly works much better than the MAN station did at 93.7 during that six-month odyssey.

WMNY as WIXZ was chased out of the sports talk genre by an early-in-its-day WEAE that had a night signal WIXZ/WPTT/WMNY never had and may never have beyond the Mon-Yough area.

Finally, to address your reply to my (4), I think I was addressing the concern that the only formats that would work here are WDVE, religious stations and sports stations.

I remain convinced that a format can work if a management is willing to make the investment, promote it properly, and stick with it amid the ups and downs that will happen to any format. Listeners do not stumble on stations by accident very often.

But what do I know?

 

[Jimbo713]

I think she is making fun of all of you.

 

[FreddyE1977]

I'm a little surprised that no one has tried sports talk about participant sports, like hunting and fishing. I don't know if it would work or not, but as popular as deer hunting is in Western Pennsylvania, I'm surprised no one has tried to exploit that interest with some sort of radio talk show. Or, maybe someone did try but it wasn't promoted.

That's an excellent idea. I have lived in Ohio and Michigan, where weekend shows on those
topics were very popular. Didn't WPYT sort of start out with this idea before they morphed into
.....well, whatever the heck WPYT is?

 

[Pratte4Life]

I believe quality local sports talk is going to work better anywhere (Pittsburgh, New York City, Peoria) than network is.

I thought you meant that because ESPN 1250 is no more that it was an indication the format wasn't popular here.

 

[murt225]

Looks like CBS swiped the WBZZ calls....

REQUESTED CALL SIGN WBZZ
LICENSEE/PERMITTEE CBS RADIO HOLDINGS INC.
MAILING ADDRESS 2175 K ST NW STE 350

 

[fromtheinsideout]

I'm a little surprised that no one has tried sports talk about participant sports, like hunting and fishing. I don't know if it would work or not, but as popular as deer hunting is in Western Pennsylvania, I'm surprised no one has tried to exploit that interest with some sort of radio talk show. Or, maybe someone did try but it wasn't promoted.

That's an excellent idea. I have lived in Ohio and Michigan, where weekend shows on those
topics were very popular. Didn't WPYT sort of start out with this idea before they morphed into
.....well, whatever the heck WPYT is?

I believe you are correct on that matter, they had a brief run as an outdoor sports channel, with a local morning show that I thought had potential but needed some work. I haven't listened in ages to know what is on the dial there now.

 

[FreddyE1977]

I knew the host of the show in Michigan, and at the time one of his frequent guests
was local hunting enthusiast Ted Nugent. It always made for an interesting hour! Hate
to think of the hit he must have taken when Ted picked up and moved to Texas.

 

[only1moore]

Looks like CBS swiped the WBZZ calls....

REQUESTED CALL SIGN WBZZ
LICENSEE/PERMITTEE CBS RADIO HOLDINGS INC.
MAILING ADDRESS 2175 K ST NW STE 350

I'm not sure that CBS will bring those calls back to Pittsburgh, even if they get the call letters back.

 

[KeyTimes950]

I think one of the strangest experiments ... among many strange experiments in Pittsburgh radio ... was Alexander Langer buying out-of-the-way stations and trying to get a foothold here (and in Philadelphia) with throwaway daytime outlets. One station was moved from south-central Pennsylvania to King of Prussia, while a station I knew in another time in Portage was moved to Wilkinsburg.

WPYT 660 for a time had something called "Kegs and Eggs" featuring local sports talk that included outdoor matters. It also turned up on AM 1550 in one of its recent incarnations as well as on the Internet as well as (I think) low-power WBGN-TV before disappearing off the face of the earth.

It also recently had some labor talk show which may or may not have been the one also running for a time on WKFB-770 at the noon hour.

Makes one wonder what to expect of the prospective new owner who also is bringing in a low-power FM translator.

 

[danikayser84]

Looks like CBS swiped the WBZZ calls....

REQUESTED CALL SIGN WBZZ
LICENSEE/PERMITTEE CBS RADIO HOLDINGS INC.
MAILING ADDRESS 2175 K ST NW STE 350

Think The Fan might move to 100.7 and B94 might come back again? I'd rather keep the Fan on 93.7 and put the WBZZ calls on 100.7, either keeping the Star 100.7 brand or rebranding as "B100.7" or "B101".

 

[Seasoned Vet]

The Fan isn't going anywhere. In fact, The Fan's first year is about as good a launch as any Pgh station in recent memory.

 

[Pratte4Life]

How do you compare it to 104.7?

I agree the station has been very successful.

 

[kenhawk1160]

I'm a little surprised that no one has tried sports talk about participant sports, like hunting and fishing. I don't know if it would work or not, but as popular as deer hunting is in Western Pennsylvania, I'm surprised no one has tried to exploit that interest with some sort of radio talk show. Or, maybe someone did try but it wasn't promoted.

That's an excellent idea. I have lived in Ohio and Michigan, where weekend shows on those
topics were very popular. Didn't WPYT sort of start out with this idea before they morphed into
.....well, whatever the heck WPYT is?

I believe you are correct on that matter, they had a brief run as an outdoor sports channel, with a local morning show that I thought had potential but needed some work. I haven't listened in ages to know what is on the dial there now.

WPYT launched with the OLN (outdoor life radio network). Which I believe went under, because the network owners couldn't sustain it, so they concentrated on the TV channel.