Is WVKO AM in trouble??

[xmusicmatt]

Since "The Fan" 1460 AM is moving over to 97.1 FM, dose this mean "Progressive Talk" will appear on the 1460 AM frequency in the near future? Sean and Gary, are you listening?

At the very least, 1460 will probably drop Sports programing on the 1460 AM frequency in the near future. There
is no need to keep the format on 1460 AM because 97.1 FM has excellent coverage of the market and the AM frequency is to valuable of a signal to be wasted on a simulcast effort of 97.1 FM. Besides, "1460 The Fan" is going to be renamed "97.1 The Fan" and that makes no scene to me for them to stay on 1460 AM.

If Dispatch was smart, they should pick up some of the shows vacated by 1230 and 1580... they don't necessary have to be 24/7 Progressive Talk but say pick up Ed and Steph?

They could even hire on Gary to do high school/local sports at night on 1460 as an extention to the sports coverage already on 97.1....

 

[SeanMGilbow]

Since "The Fan" 1460 AM is moving over to 97.1 FM, dose this mean "Progressive Talk" will appear on the 1460 AM frequency in the near future? Sean and Gary, are you listening?

At the very least, 1460 will probably drop Sports programing on the 1460 AM frequency in the near future. There
is no need to keep the format on 1460 AM because 97.1 FM has excellent coverage of the market and the AM frequency is to valuable of a signal to be wasted on a simulcast effort of 97.1 FM. Besides, "1460 The Fan" is going to be renamed "97.1 The Fan" and that makes no scene to me for them to stay on 1460 AM.

If Dispatch was smart, they should pick up some of the shows vacated by 1230 and 1580... they don't necessary have to be 24/7 Progressive Talk but say pick up Ed and Steph?

They could even hire on Gary to do high school/local sports at night on 1460 as an extention to the sports coverage already on 97.1....

You and I are thinking the same thing, Matt. But how's this for a possible schedule?

5 a.m. to 9 a.m.--Non-conservative morning show, either local or nationally syndicated like Doug Stephan or Bob and Sheri (Personally, I could see Mark Dantzer doing something like this.)
9 a.m. to noon--Stephanie Miller
Noon to 3 p.m.--Ed Schultz
3 p.m. to 7 p.m.--The Matt and Ramona Show LIVE
7 p.m. to midnight--Chuck Woolery (starting April 5)
Midnight to 5 a.m.--Joey Reynolds

And, yes, 1460 is a logical new location for high school sports with Gary doing the play-by-play.

I've left a message with Ronnie Stokes, a friend of mine, in the hope I get some news on what's happening to 1460 from him. I'll pass along Gary's number to relay to the folks at 1460.

 

[gabigley1]

Talk about the ex "Progressive Talk" format on WVKO-AM won't die. Some of the old WVKO Cheerleaders are still calling into WOSU-AM's "OPENLINE" to say how upset they are with the loss of "Progressive Talk" on WVKO-AM. Ann Fisher says she supported that format but the station was not making any money with that format and that is why it was dropped by WVKO-AM

To hear that talk, click on the following link and fast forward thirty minutes into the show:

"MONDAY 1/26 10:00 AM - Local and State Issues State and local news, with Columbus Dispatch Metro Columnist Ann Fisher."
Click here to hear the show:

http://streaming.osu.edu/wosu/openline/012609aOL.mp3

When can people stop beating this dead horse?

 

[smedge2006]

When can people stop beating this dead horse?

20 years ago radio could afford to ignore its P1s, its most passionate, the people who bugged the request lines, the chronic callers, the people who started pirate stations, etc.

In its current desperation, blowing off a hard core of people like this is just contemptuous and suicidal.

It's not like radio has that many friends these days...

 

[hdtvnewbie]

20 years ago radio could afford to ignore its P1s, its most passionate, the people who bugged the request lines, the chronic callers, the people who started pirate stations, etc.

In its current desperation, blowing off a hard core of people like this is just contemptuous and suicidal.

It's not like radio has that many friends these days...

No offense to anybody, but the impression I get from most people who post here is that this doesn't appear to be a particularly attractive demographic. It's the same problem black stations used to have. Who cares what your ratings are, how can you sell time if your audience has no money? At least black stations in the past had good numbers ... you have poor numbers and poor demographics! Just my gut feel, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

When can people stop beating this dead horse?

Maybe when people like you and I finally let this thread die??

 

[smedge2006]

No offense to anybody, but the impression I get from most people who post here is that this doesn't appear to be a particularly attractive demographic. It's the same problem black stations used to have. Who cares what your ratings are, how can you sell time if your audience has no money?

There's no solid research to back that up. The "gut" in this case is entirely ideology-driven and contradictory. Either liberal talk fans are A) Bohemian, latte-drinking, Volvo-driving limousine types, who presumably have some money, or B) scruffy people who don't. People who don't like liberal talk use either stereotype as a punching bag, switching from one to the other when convenient. But there's no data to tell us who the WVKO-WTPG audience actually was/is, because the discussion around liberal talk has always been less about how to build a successful format and more about how people who don't want something on the air strangle it in the nursery.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

No offense to anybody, but the impression I get from most people who post here is that this doesn't appear to be a particularly attractive demographic. It's the same problem black stations used to have. Who cares what your ratings are, how can you sell time if your audience has no money?

There's no solid research to back that up. The "gut" in this case is entirely ideology-driven and contradictory. Either liberal talk fans are A) Bohemian, latte-drinking, Volvo-driving limousine types, who presumably have some money, or B) scruffy people who don't. People who don't like liberal talk use either stereotype as a punching bag, switching from one to the other when convenient. But there's no data to tell us who the WVKO-WTPG audience actually was/is, because the discussion around liberal talk has always been less about how to build a successful format and more about how people who don't want something on the air strangle it in the nursery.

Interesting observation, and probably very true.

 

[hdtvnewbie]

No offense to anybody, but the impression I get from most people who post here is that this doesn't appear to be a particularly attractive demographic. It's the same problem black stations used to have. Who cares what your ratings are, how can you sell time if your audience has no money?

There's no solid research to back that up. The "gut" in this case is entirely ideology-driven and contradictory. Either liberal talk fans are A) Bohemian, latte-drinking, Volvo-driving limousine types, who presumably have some money, or B) scruffy people who don't. People who don't like liberal talk use either stereotype as a punching bag, switching from one to the other when convenient. But there's no data to tell us who the WVKO-WTPG audience actually was/is, because the discussion around liberal talk has always been less about how to build a successful format and more about how people who don't want something on the air strangle it in the nursery.

Both stereotypes are true. The latte drinkers have NPR, so you lose about a 3.0 share right out of the gate. As to the "gut feel, we have one guy here who makes $42,000 a year. Not bad ... but he's a gay guy. That means he doesn't have a wife bringing in any additional coin, no kids to have to buy things for, and probably no house he has to buy furniture, appliances or paint for. Likewise with the Birkenstock-wearers, apartment dwellers and other non-nuclear family types that compose a big part of that audience (they certainly don't listen to conservative radio). What can Lowes sell them? Home Depot? Macy's? HHGregg? And no "I love you" diamonds from Zale's or Jared Jewelers?

Pick any common big radio advertiser and I think you can see that for the products they sell, advertising on a pinko-talk station isn't money very well spent. Plus, the content isn't very entertaining.

Get my drift?

P.S. You want entertaining, btw, one pinko who was very entertaining was the late Bob Lassiter in Tampa, FL. You want listeners, you can't drone them to death!

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

No offense to anybody, but the impression I get from most people who post here is that this doesn't appear to be a particularly attractive demographic.  It's the same problem black stations used to have.  Who cares what your ratings are, how can you sell time if your audience has no money?

There's no solid research to back that up. The "gut" in this case is entirely ideology-driven and contradictory. Either liberal talk fans are A) Bohemian, latte-drinking, Volvo-driving limousine types, who presumably have some money, or B) scruffy people who don't. People who don't like liberal talk use either stereotype as a punching bag, switching from one to the other when convenient. But there's no data to tell us who the WVKO-WTPG audience actually was/is, because the discussion around liberal talk has always been less about how to build a successful format and more about how people who don't want something on the air strangle it in the nursery.

Both stereotypes are true.  The latte drinkers have NPR, so you lose about a 3.0 share right out of the gate.  As to the "gut feel, we have one guy here who makes $42,000 a year.  Not bad ... but he's a gay guy.  That means he doesn't have a wife bringing in any additional coin, no kids to have to buy things for, and probably no house he has to buy furniture, appliances or paint for.  Likewise with the Birkenstock-wearers, apartment dwellers and other non-nuclear family types that compose a big part of that audience (they certainly don't listen to conservative radio).  What can Lowes sell them?  Home Depot?  Macy's?  HHGregg?  And no "I love you" diamonds from Zale's or Jared Jewelers? 

As to the "gut feel, we have one guy here who makes $42,000 a year.  Not bad ... but he's a gay guy.  That means he doesn't have a wife bringing in any additional coin, no kids to have to buy things for, or maybe even a house he has to buy furniture.

Whether your  assumption about the reality of stereotypes is right or wrong, solid research contradicts your assertion that gays aren’t a viable target, or portion of a target, for advertising. 

Look up the statistics.  Gays tend to have significantly higher education levels on average, and are a lot more likely to be professionals than the average citizen.  The fact that a gay doesn’t have kids to buy things for, or to put through college, actually means he/she has lots more disposable income to spend on beer or vacations or electronics or expensive furniture or cars or home improvement items, etc.  If it’s a couple, that ramps up the spending power even more.

Beer companies, for one, are going after that target in a big way.  (Of course, I’m not talking about those leering-at-the-babes TV commercials, although they might still have eye candy for gays of either sex, and sometimes make the product look refreshing).  This is not to say that advertising in mainstream media should have clearly gay-targeted ads, since gays are a relatively small portion of the population.  But for the reasons cited, gays can provide greater-than-average return on advertising dollars in lots of product and service categories that use radio.

 

[del_griffith]

Anyone have a SWAG at what WVKO was billing per month? 5k? 10K? 15K? 20K? Not trade, but actual billable ads.

That will give an indication of how viable lib talk might be.

 

[gabigley1]

Anyone have a SWAG at what WVKO was billing per month? 5k? 10K? 15K? 20K? Not trade, but actual billable ads.

That will give an indication of how viable lib talk might be.

Are you kidding? If Cowtown Commutations was billing only 5k, they wouldn't have been able to pay even the monthly rent payments to Bernard Ohio. I doubt Bernard Ohio was leasing the station to Cowtown for just peanuts. I think that Cowtown Commutations was paying about $20,000 a month to lease the station but
that is only a guess. Also, Cowtown Commutations was paying it's monthly rent payments, like Gary Richards
said so it safe to assume he was billing much more then 5k. He still had payroll to make. Not sure if he was responsible for the light bill. During the VERY short chance meeting with GR of Cowtown Commutations, all's he told me about his operation was that he "would have made more money working for Wendy's".
He didn't specify if that was flipping hamburgers or in management, though. Note, I have very little business
scene/knowledge but even I can figure 5k is way to low... That should include 10k and 15k, also. I don't think Gary Richards will/want's to post his business here. He would tell us "IT'S NONE OF OUR BUSINESS" and we are
all "CYBER BULLIES".

To SEAN, Its been posted here that you are a good radio sales person. "Progressive Talk" WVKO-AM ran literary millions of on air spots begging for outside sales people. Why didn't you take up the offer? You could have made the difference to Gary Richards of Cowtown Commutations. You may have been able to keep the station on the air and out of the hands of the Catholic group. Didn't you take the hint that WVKO-AM was paying the "TOP SALES COMMISSION IN TOWN" and that you could write your check? ???

Also, at least MIX107.9 sounded very good the first day on the air. It's been posted that they had less then 24 notice hours to change format but ran with the ball anyway. My point here is that WVKO-AM had major techinacal and production problems several months into their "Progressive Talk" operation. This now seems to be a lame excuse.

Have no noticed there is NO or VERY LITTLE interest in reviving the format by other radio operators in town?
It doesn't look like we will have "Progressive Talk" back on the air in 2009 here in Cbus/

Sorry, I have to continue to beat WVKO-AM's dead horse... I can't help myself. :-[ Besides, The board editor
didn't see a need to lock this thread so I guess we are still welcome to post here.

 

[del_griffith]

That's why I said SWAG. but your question to Sean is one that I had also. And that's partially why I was curious. Mark Bohach noted Sean was gifted as a seller. Sean has a passion for the format. Yes, radio is often a kill yourself to get no where business, but if you have a passion and a gift, then if this was viable I would think Sean would have jumped on it.

 

[SeanMGilbow]

I can't recall specifically talking with Gary about selling advertising for the station outside of the hours of my regular job. However, I should mention I was working different hours at the time.

 

[gabigley1]

Sean,

Why didn't you quit your job with ODT to help out Gary Richards? That is the question a few of us are asking.
You are a great Sales Rep so why didn't you use those skills to help the "Progressive Talk" format on WVKO-AM? We may STILL have that format on WVKO-AM if would have went to work full time for Gary Richards and helped him with Sales at WVKO-AM.

YOU STILL WANT THE FORMAT BACK ON THE COLUMBUS AIRWAYS:

(QUOTE)
Message #5361 of 5387 < Prev <&nbspPrev | Next > Next >
Hello, Jimmy.

My name is Sean Gilbow. Until a month ago, I was the afternoon news
guy on 1580 WVKO, and I was also an advertiser on station during its
days as a progressive talk station under General Manager Gary
Richards. Needless to say, my newscasts and my advertising dollars
went away with the turnover of programming to St. Gabriel Radio on
December 23.

You may have noticed in the recent Arbitrons that WVKO scored a 1.0 in
its final book as a progressive talker. That's not an easy feat
considering the problems the station dealt with regarding reception,
technical issues and a below shoestring budget. But thanks to a loyal
audience and advertisers, plus additional programming such as Columbus
Clippers baseball and high school sports, the station showed success
in the year it was on the air.

Much of the credit goes to two syndicated hosts who came to Columbus
last year and remained popular from their days on the former
Progressive Talk AM 1230: Dial Global's Stephanie Miller and Ed
Schultz. Stephanie's appearance in Columbus last year filled the
Makoy Center to capacity, and Big Eddie's appearance was greeted with
hundred of fans attending a live town meeting at the Plumbers and
Pipefitters union hall.

In the event 1460 becomes a news/talk/sports station similar to 610,
you have a ready made group of listeners and advertisers who are ready
to jump on board if you bring "Momma" and "Big Eddie." You will find
a full list of WVKO's advertisers at the Ohio Majority Radio website.

http://www.ohiomajorityradio.com

Ed Schultz, as you may know, is a former football player and sports
broadcaster as well as an avid sportsman. He likes talking sports as
much as he likes talking politics, if not more so.

Stephanie Miller has adopted Columbus as her first love, since it was
here that her radio show aired on the very first day in 2004.

I hope that your station will strongly consider bringing both Ed
Schultz and Stephanie Miller back to Columbus airwaves, even if it is
part of a format that is not totally progressive talk. Both hosts are
syndicated by Dial Global.

Thank you very much for considering the chance to give progressive
talk fans a new home. Further, I hope you will be in touch with Gary
Richards about bringing high school sports coverage to 1460.

Sincerely,

Sean M. Gilbow
CleanLeft.com
Executive Affiliate
(Quote)

 

[gabigley1]

Sean,

If you listened to the BOB CONNERS show last Saturday, another person was upset that "Progressive Talk" is off the air again. If you click this link here C:\DOCUME~1\TEMP\LOCALS~1\Temp\saturday7am.mp3 and go
to 11:30 minutes into this link, you will hear BC talk about the "Progressive Talk" format. He said, "In the radio business,'Progressive Talk' radio dose not do well. If the station can't pay it's bill then the format will go off the air." BC has been on the air for BC has been on the air for 40 years now so he should knows what he
is talking about. I believe him because he commands a very large audience on his Saturday morning talk show.
FOR THE BC LINK GO HERE: http://www.610wtvn.com/cc-common/podcast/single_podcast.html?podcast=bconyourpc.xml
and go to the 2nd Hour of the Jan 31 show and then 11:30 minutes into the clip for the B.C. talk on why"Progressive Talk" left the air in Columbus, Ohio.

The station in Washington DC dropped "Progressive Talk" with Big Eddie and Stephanie Miller because they couldn't pay their bills. CLICK HERE FOR MORE: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-gr...ps-its-failing-liberal-obama-1260-talk-format That is why GOOD PROGRESSIVE sales people like you are important to the the "Progressive Talk" format. So, Why did didn't you sell time for Gary Richards to help keep VKO on the air here in Columbus. You may have made a difference in sales.

There is also this letter from DougZ, one of the other WVKO-AM Cheerleaders. He is the one who called into
WOSU-AM's talk show last week complaining about the loss of the format. He is commenting about the article in last week in http://www.theotherpaper.com about "Progressive Talk" leaving the Columbus airways again. Note, he says WBNS-AM can make this a VIABLE format if they have a GOOD sales staff on board. If you were working full time for WVKO-AM, the station may have be making more money and then Grary Richards may been able to able to purchase WVKO-AM. You seen to be a very passionate about the format. The WVKO-AM ad said they were looking for sales people that need to "believe in what they are doing" and be good "Progressive Talk" sales persons. Sean, That ad seems to fit you to a tea.

This is what DouZ has to say about this in the letter he wrote to THE OTHER PAPER:

(QUOTE)
My LTE of The Other Paper

Dear Editor,

Columbus currently has a glut of sports and conservative talk radio stations. So 1460 AM would be the perfect home for Progressive Talkers such as Rachel Maddow, Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and Ron Reagan. That lineup could be supplemented with an afternoon drive-time show hosted by Dispatch columnists Ann Fisher and/or Joe Blundo, and watch out WTVN.

The Progressive Talk format got much better ratings at 1230 AM than the format before and after it. Progressive Talk 1580 AM increased listenership each ratings period until Catholic Radio bought out the lease for the station.

The Wolfe family didn't have a problem making extra cash with the Obama Inaugural Special Editon papers so maybe this isn't such a stretch. Stephanie Miller packed the Makoy Center (capacity 1,800) at $20 a head, so there's money to be made with the proper sales and promotional support.

Franklin County votes 60% Democratic even though we get nothing but Republican propaganda over the public airwaves. Is it too much to ask for some opinion shows to reflect the will of a majority of the people or is this a Banana Republic?
(Quote)

 

[SeanMGilbow]

Sean,

If you listened to the BOB CONNERS show last Saturday, another person was upset that "Progressive Talk" is off the air again. If you click this link here C:\DOCUME~1\TEMP\LOCALS~1\Temp\saturday7am.mp3 and go
to 11:30 minutes into this link, you will hear BC talk about the "Progressive Talk" format. He said, "In the radio business,'Progressive Talk' radio dose not do well. If the station can't pay it's bill then the format will go off the air." BC has been on the air for BC has been on the air for 40 years now so he should knows what he
is talking about. I believe him because he commands a very large audience on his Saturday morning talk show.
FOR THE BC LINK GO HERE: http://www.610wtvn.com/cc-common/podcast/single_podcast.html?podcast=bconyourpc.xml
and go to the 2nd Hour of the Jan 31 show and then 11:30 minutes into the clip for the B.C. talk on why"Progressive Talk" left the air in Columbus, Ohio.

The station in Washington DC dropped "Progressive Talk" with Big Eddie and Stephanie Miller because they couldn't pay their bills. CLICK HERE FOR MORE: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-gr...ps-its-failing-liberal-obama-1260-talk-format That is why GOOD PROGRESSIVE sales people like you are important to the the "Progressive Talk" format. So, Why did didn't you sell time for Gary Richards to help keep VKO on the air here in Columbus. You may have made a difference in sales.

There is also this letter from DougZ, one of the other WVKO-AM Cheerleaders. He is the one who called into
WOSU-AM's talk show last week complaining about the loss of the format. He is commenting about the article in last week in http://www.theotherpaper.com about "Progressive Talk" leaving the Columbus airways again. Note, he says WBNS-AM can make this a VIABLE format if they have a GOOD sales staff on board. If you were working full time for WVKO-AM, the station may have be making more money and then Grary Richards may been able to able to purchase WVKO-AM. You seen to be a very passionate about the format. The WVKO-AM ad said they were looking for sales people that need to "believe in what they are doing" and be good "Progressive Talk" sales persons. Sean, That ad seems to fit you to a tea.

This is what DouZ has to say about this in the letter he wrote to THE OTHER PAPER:

(QUOTE)
My LTE of The Other Paper

Dear Editor,

Columbus currently has a glut of sports and conservative talk radio stations. So 1460 AM would be the perfect home for Progressive Talkers such as Rachel Maddow, Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and Ron Reagan. That lineup could be supplemented with an afternoon drive-time show hosted by Dispatch columnists Ann Fisher and/or Joe Blundo, and watch out WTVN.

The Progressive Talk format got much better ratings at 1230 AM than the format before and after it. Progressive Talk 1580 AM increased listenership each ratings period until Catholic Radio bought out the lease for the station.

The Wolfe family didn't have a problem making extra cash with the Obama Inaugural Special Editon papers so maybe this isn't such a stretch. Stephanie Miller packed the Makoy Center (capacity 1,800) at $20 a head, so there's money to be made with the proper sales and promotional support.

Franklin County votes 60% Democratic even though we get nothing but Republican propaganda over the public airwaves. Is it too much to ask for some opinion shows to reflect the will of a majority of the people or is this a Banana Republic?
(Quote)

Bigley...I will sum up why I would never quit my job in two words: job security. That's in spite of the Governor calling us to give up as much as five percent of our pay to balance the budget.

I did ask Gary if he was actually looking for salespeople when I first met him a year ago. The response I got was he had a sales staff.

The fact that you cited an ultraconservative site called NewsBusters only hurt your case.

And as I mentioned to DougZ on the Yahoo! board, the Dispatch is not about to adopt the format. I would see the station airing Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz, but the other talkers would likely not be pursued. The Air America stigma still exists.

Let me make one thing clear, Bigley: I have no desire to go back into radio as a full-time profession, and I have my own business that I'm trying to generate sales with (the one that advertised on the station).

Bernard Media decided to go with St. Gabriel Radio's rent-to-own offer. I don't blame Bernard Media. And despite what was hinted previously in this thread, there has been nothing more said on the fate of 103.1.

Unless there is another change in the Columbus radio landscape, I have adjusted to getting my daily dose of Momma and Big Eddie on podcasts. I highly suggest before everyone gets sick and tired of you resurrecting this thread that you give it a rest.

 

[gabigley1]

What is it with Danno of Powel, Ohio and the WVKO-AM "Progressive Talk" cheerleaders? Danno called into last Saturdays highly rated "Open Phones" with BC. Apparently, Danno was upset with the letter Doug Zemmering sent that was published in last Thursdays THE OTHER PAPER.
That letter is above and is posted under 'DougZ' above.

This is what Danno told B.C. last Saturday:
"It never fails to amaze me,that Doug Zimmerman, 'Doug, I'm going to name you and your little cohorts at Ohio Majority Radio'. Your format didn't make any money, "GO AWAY". You want to go
after Jym Ganahl because he knows the truth. He knows the difference between the truth and the fraud you and your little friends are. 'GO AWAY' They, Ohio Majority radio want to shut people up." BC. then asked Danno, "What is it with you guys"?

Go to the BC Podcasts here: http://www.610wtvn.com/cc-common/podcast/single_podcast.html?podcast=bconyourpc.xml and scroll down to hear Danno's call at 7:58 into the fourth hour of BC's Open Lines for Saturday January 7.
Sean, do you know why this person, Danno is so upset with the WVKO-AM "Progressive Talk" cheerleaders like your self? You also post on the Ohio Majority Radio Yahoo group.

People are STILL beating WVKO-AM's dead horse and it's not only on this thread. It's in some of the local news media as can been seen in THE OTHER PAPER and heard on WTVN and WSOU-AM radio over the last few weeks. I don't think we have heard the last of this. So, please don't blame me for reviving this thread.

Speaking of "Progressive Talk" radio, there was a fine article in the TOLEDO BLADE on Talk radio in Toledo.
Some people seen to think "Progressive Talk " can work in Toledo Ohio as well because it voted Democratic in the last elections. One person said their needs to be and investor with deep pockets and patience to pull off
the "Progressive Talk" format in Toledo. Here is that article:

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090208/ART18/902080327

Is there any hope on getting the "Progressive Talk" back in Columbus? Has Gary Richards found any investors
with deep pockets to help him revive the "Progressive Talk" format in Columbus? People are still waiting for the
return of the format to Columbus.

 

[SeanMGilbow]

I really have no desire to hear Danno rant.

But in case anyone hasn't noticed, conservative talk took a hit in Columbus.  And as you saw in today's Dispatch, sports talk is becoming a bigger player here.  And the indication is the Dispatch Broadcast Group isn't going to do away the simulcast on 1460 any time soon.

Then, there is the talk station in Charlotte which went off the air in the past two weeks, the local affiliate for Hannity.  They couldn't sell advertising.

But one market with a tie to Columbus is Huntsville, Alabama.  Conservative talk took a real big hit as of last Friday.

One station went off the air completely along with a sister station in Dothan.  The two were under the same ownership as 104.9 The River.  They carried a mix of conservative talk such as O'Reilly and Dr. Laura and Christian shows.

That same day, the other conservative talk station, which was the local news station in the market, axed its entire news staff and its afternoon local show host.  The PD was the only one left--the same PD with whom both yours truly and Gary Richards have had words (check out the Take it Outside thread of the same name).

Bottom line:  News/talk was not generating enough money in Huntsville to keep a local staff.  Cumulus would not simply lay off the local staff of a station if the station weren't underperforming.  It would be like Macy's closing the Easton store instead of the store in Lafayette Square in Indianapolis, one of 15 underperforming Macy's stores being closed.

Simply put, conservative talk is beginning to lose it luster.

So what does the future hold for Columbus?

I still stand by my belief progressive talk won't come back exclusively.  But I do believe Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz will return.  And with Thom Hartmann moving to join them and Bill Press by having Dial Global as his syndicator, there's a chance Thom may resurface. 

The two stations likely to make a move will do so if certain factors come into play:

1.  WTDA notices a drop in the ratings, a drop to pre-Beck levels, or negative reaction to Savage in particular or the rhetoric in general makes the schedule more a liability than an asset with a low-power signal.  Hal Fish is not immune to the continued outcry from progressives, who don't care if the signal is crappy as long as their talkers return.

2.  WBNS sees the ready-made audience and the counterprogramming potential to WTVN.  As was noted previously by another person on the thread, the Wolfe family won't ignore a new audience, regardless of ideology--as long as the talkers can generate a profit (both Ed and Stephanie were profitable last year).

Now, Bigley, since your resurrected this thread it will be your job to handle any comments made by the PD in Huntsville should he resurface here.

And let me repeat:  I have no affiliation with Ohio Majority Radio.  I've had my disagreements with them also, to the point I've wanted to put some of them in a cyber room with that PD from Huntsville.     

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

We're well past deceased equine territory here.



I ask, "is WVKO AM in trouble??" At this point, do we mean the previous LMA'ed liberal talk format, the St. Gabriel Catholic Radio format, or the station's ownership?