How would you save WPTT?

[petey99]

If Renda really wants to cut costs, then just turn the lights off and turn the license in. That's always the best way to save money!

 

[Parttimer]

Maybe we should all stand back and watch the entire AM band die off. Wonder how long it will be before the FCC decides that AM works better in the hands of some new technology and pulls it out from under its present tenants??

They need to shut off all the daytimers and shrink it down to a handful of viable, 24-hour non-directional signals.

Unfortunately the commission's direction is 180 degrees opposite of that, as on AM and FM they seem intent on putting a 10-watt interference maker on every frequency and rendering the entire band useless.

 

[undressedmonster]

Here's what I'd do-

Cullen comes in from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. I actually think this would benefit her- she could get local newsmaking guests for a morning show.

Oh, ick. Just my opinion, but when I download Cullen's show podcast, I usually skip the hours when she has guests on (unless it's Joann Rogers/Sally Wiggin/Kit Ayers). I think she's at her worst (read: most boring) when she has on guests.

I think she is at her best just being a regular person - mistakes and all. Other talkshow hosts I used to listen to regularly (Randi Rhodes, Charles Goyette here in Phoenix, even Uncle Dougie sometimes) turned me off when it felt like their show was too scripted.

Others may (and probably do) disagree, but Lynn Cullen being "past her prime" is actually an appealing characteristic. I find myself smiling and sometimes laughing out loud when I'm driving down the highway in the morning listening to a recording of her show and for the 562nd time she accidentally knocks a caller off the show because of that infamous "Line 1." It's endearing. And her Tuesday mornings' second hour with her sister, Susan, is a highlight of my week.

But... to answer the question "What would you do to save WPTT?" I would fill the schedule with progressives - not necessarily all Air America, though. Keep Lynn there for the local touch, but add Randi Rhodes and a few other syndicated liberals.

And why would I do that? I don't listen to Pittsburgh radio as much anymore, living here in Arizona, but as far as I know, the Air America niche is one that hasn't been occupied yet in that market. Right now, WPTT has NO brand whatsoever. They're just a mishmash of local and syndicated shows with no real theme. If they truly mean to be "talk radio for America's other 50 percent," then they need to actually DO that. They can't try to reel in KDKA's listeners - that's like RC Cola trying to beat out Coca Cola. It doesn't work in the beverage industry and it won't work in radio, either.

The best thing for WPTT to do is position itself and differentiate.

 

[undressedmonster]

WPTT is representative of a hare-brained notion that there is a large audience out there for a bunch of extremely different radio talk personalities all strung together on one station. Sort of like a music station featuring Korn, Barry Manilow, the Staples Singers and... Kellie Pickler.

My thoughts exactly.

11P-6A Whatever--who really cares? How about repeats of Miller & Schultz?

Or Mike Malloy. Of course, that won't happen because he's a little too controversial and angry. But I think it would be a pretty ballsy move and he just might get a few listeners. Again, it's about differentiation.