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KD

P

Part-timer

Guest
A few thoughts from the various posts below on KD...

I'm hearing that Steve Hansen was actually, at least to an extrent, the primary advocate of the change in direction, that he'd like to reinvent the station as "anything but right wing political talk." That apparently goes as far as having had conversations with Al Franken's people, although that doesn't now appear to be in the works. They would, however, still like to find a way to get rid of O'Reilly, but it's apparently being forced on them from the corporate level.

Personally I think a show like Marty Griffin will prove to be a mistake. Their rationale was that the phones went nuts when he was on the air, but psychics get huge phones too and you don't give them full-time shows. The problem is that only the people who are calling care. Then again, Clark Howard's advice show does great in his home base of Atlanta as well as nationally, so who knows?

They probably had their hands tied by corporate, but changing mid-days and nights isn't the answer. The station's two biggest problems are the drive-time shows. If they could somehow move the Honz to 9-noon and put McIntyre in PM drive you'd have a whole different sound and a chance to compete with Hannity on the way home, and even with DVE.

If it's true that KD wants to be rid of the Pirates next season, that's really bad for the team. No other AM signal gets out of Allagheny county after sundown. I'd ask those with access to numbers like MrMusic this question: how were the numbers for the games this year? Oner of the facts that was always cited by MLB when it was argued that the team should stay in town was that although attendance was less than stellar, the radio ratings indicated enormous interest in the teams.

Now this could just be an Infinity thing as well. They parted company this year in one market with an NFL franchise, and an Infinity manager tells me that they're happy to be done with it. Likewise a high-ranking person for another very prominent NFL team's network tells me that likely Infinity will only do that team for one more year while the team figures out how to take it in-house. Is KD not making money on baseball?

And if the Pirates have to move, the pickings are slim...I'd think the team would want to be on 3WS with that big signal, but might end up having to be on 970, WEAE or WJAS (unless Steel City jumped in with 92.9).

And finally, I wonder if Salem will make a play for Pintek, either on WORD or WPIT-AM. He'd also me a great morning show for WPTT. But an out-of-the-box note to Clarke and the boys at 620: any thoughts to trying to use that great daytime signal and put some good talk on the air 6A-6P? You've got a better signal that PTT... a nice lineup with good content could prbably pull a 2-share at least, and make a few bucks if done right.

And finally, best wishes to Chuck Brinkman, wherever your next stop takes you. It was truly an honor to for for you and with you, a sentiment that I'm sure will be echoed by many.

Happy New Year to all!!!!!

<P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Part-timer on 01/01/06 03:05 PM.</FONT></P>
 
> A few thoughts from the various posts below on KD...
>
> I'm hearing that Steve Hansen was actually, at least to an
> extrent, the primary advocate of the change in direction,
> that he'd like to reinvent the station as "anything but
> right wing political talk."
** And what does Honz classify as? There may be more Dems than GOPs in the city & Allegheny county, but the rest of the region leans more GOP.


> If they could somehow move the Honz to 9-noon and put McIntyre in PM drive
> you'd have a whole different sound and a chance to compete
> with Hannity on the way home, and even with DVE.
** From reading other posts, it seems that Honz still throws a lot of weight around 1 Gateway, even though he took it off personally. I doubt he'd sacrifice his PCNC AM gig unless KD forked over more $ to cover. McIntire at night might be a better scenario, given the success of his former TV gig.



> If it's true that KD wants to be rid of the Pirates next
> season, that's really bad for the team.
** Not just because of losing a powerful stick, but also of the rights fees the team could charge. I doubt that should KD dump the Pirates that CC would pony up the same amount of $, and forget the others (Keymarket, SCM, Renda) altogether. The loss of KD would really hurt the team more than vice versa.


> One of the facts that was always cited by MLB when it was argued that the team
> should stay in town was that although attendance was less
> than stellar, the radio ratings indicated enormous interest
> in the teams.
** When you have a region that holds onto traditon as long as this region does, then people are drawn to long-time "voices." That's what the Pirates have going for them in Lanny Frattare. The same theory could've been applied to Bob Prince & Jack Fleming (Steelers), as can be applied today to also Bill Hillgrove & Mike Lange.


> .....I wonder if Salem will make a play for Pintek,
> either on WORD or WPIT-AM. He'd also me a great morning show
> for WPTT. But an out-of-the-box note to Clarke and the boys
> at 620: any thoughts to trying to use that great daytime
> signal and put some good talk on the air 6A-6P? You've got a
> better signal that PTT... a nice lineup with good content
> could prbably pull a 2-share at least, and make a few bucks
> if done right.
** Pintek has declared himself as Libertarian on the air in the past, so WORD/WPIT may be out, and Renda would definately low-ball Mike on $ if he looked at WPTT. 620/770 probably wouldn't bite because they'd make more from brokering all of those infomercials. Better to just pull up stakes and flee Pittsburgh if you want to stay in radio.


> And finally, best wishes to Chuck Brinkman, wherever your
> next stop takes you.
** Given how rudely he was "retired" in Dallas, is there any reason why someone or others around here could honor him with more dignity? I know some former KQV & 'TAE alums still live around here, why couldn't they organize something in his honor?


> Happy New Year to all!!!!!
** And I'd like to wish all of the posters here a Happy New Year too!!!!!!
 
> A few thoughts from the various posts below on KD...
>
> I'm hearing that Steve Hansen was actually, at least to an
> extrent, the primary advocate of the change in direction,
> that he'd like to reinvent the station as "anything but
> right wing political talk." That apparently goes as far as
> having had conversations with Al Franken's people, although
> that doesn't now appear to be in the works. They would,
> however, still like to find a way to get rid of O'Reilly,
> but it's apparently being forced on them from the corporate
> level.

"Anything but ANY SORT OF NATIONAL political talk" would strike me as a better idea. Local and regional political talk might fly for a few select programs, though not as a steady diet.

Maybe they should try something very retro that many listeners don't even remember. Maybe they should try a spoken word format based on celebrity interviews, news features, comedy bits, and other such programming, updated for the third millenium. I think that the high brow format of NPR's "All Things Considered" could be watered down enough to make it popular to a mass audience on a commercial station.

If NPR's "All Things Considered" is the radio equivalent of Time Magazine, then this would be the radio equvalent of "People Magazine".

I don't know if anyone has tried doing this in the past decade.

> Personally I think a show like Marty Griffin will prove to
> be a mistake. Their rationale was that the phones went nuts
> when he was on the air, but psychics get huge phones too and
> you don't give them full-time shows. The problem is that
> only the people who are calling care. Then again, Clark
> Howard's advice show does great in his home base of Atlanta
> as well as nationally, so who knows?
>
> They probably had their hands tied by corporate, but
> changing mid-days and nights isn't the answer. The station's
> two biggest problems are the drive-time shows. If they could
> somehow move the Honz to 9-noon and put McIntyre in PM drive
> you'd have a whole different sound and a chance to compete
> with Hannity on the way home, and even with DVE.

If they keep the standard talk format, then the move you describe sounds like a good idea.

> If it's true that KD wants to be rid of the Pirates next
> season, that's really bad for the team. No other AM signal
> gets out of Allagheny county after sundown. I'd ask those
> with access to numbers like MrMusic this question: how were
> the numbers for the games this year? Oner of the facts that
> was always cited by MLB when it was argued that the team
> should stay in town was that although attendance was less
> than stellar, the radio ratings indicated enormous interest
> in the teams.
>
> Now this could just be an Infinity thing as well. They
> parted company this year in one market with an NFL
> franchise, and an Infinity manager tells me that they're
> happy to be done with it. Likewise a high-ranking person for
> another very prominent NFL team's network tells me that
> likely Infinity will only do that team for one more year
> while the team figures out how to take it in-house. Is KD
> not making money on baseball?

I don't know if KD is making money on baseball or not. But I suspect that they don't feel like they're making ENOUGH money on baseball. And, for every dollar they make on a baseball game, they probably lose a dollar on the nights when there is no game. Remember, baseball radio listeners tend to skew the same way as the rest of KDKA's audience. If they want to trade in the AARP crowd for younger listeners, baseball isn't going to accomplish that.

> And if the Pirates have to move, the pickings are slim...I'd
> think the team would want to be on 3WS with that big signal,
> but might end up having to be on 970, WEAE or WJAS (unless
> Steel City jumped in with 92.9).

The Pirates might have to start depending on their "network" much more than they currently do. Baseball fans who live south of I-70 might have to figure out how to tune from 1020 to 1450 to hear the Buccos.

> And finally, I wonder if Salem will make a play for Pintek,
> either on WORD or WPIT-AM. He'd also me a great morning show
> for WPTT. But an out-of-the-box note to Clarke and the boys
> at 620: any thoughts to trying to use that great daytime
> signal and put some good talk on the air 6A-6P? You've got a
> better signal that PTT... a nice lineup with good content
> could prbably pull a 2-share at least, and make a few bucks
> if done right.

Pintek might be a great addition to WPIT or WPTT. In fact, your idea of making him the morning man on WPTT could be the best thing that ever happened to Renda broadcasting. However, I don't know if Pintek could make the transition to Christian talk on WORD. I also don't know that he could not.

> And finally, best wishes to Chuck Brinkman, wherever your
> next stop takes you. It was truly an honor to for for you
> and with you, a sentiment that I'm sure will be echoed by
> many.
>
> Happy New Year to all!!!!!
>
 
All I know is

Though KDKA needs change- think a bit what we're saying here-

John McIntyre for the Pirates?

I think it's self-evident what is wrong there.

I can't imagine why the station would want to get rid of the Pirates. The above poster is right- baseball has always been a winner for radio, especially in the Pittsburgh market.

To tell you the truth- that sounds like an internet rumor started by someone who only knows that the Bucs have been losing and is a McIntyre fan. Hence, they put together an equasion that simply isn't there.

It's the same people who said on here Fox Sports 970 was going to Air America- they obviously don't like sports and they like liberal politics.

The only reason I even took a listen to McIntyre's Saturday show was it had the Pirates lead-in (this also would go for Chris Moore- though I appriciate the fact that he can put forth a political agenda out without being snide)- and I'm hardly a 65-something listener.

KDKA and the Pirates are an identity most stations would kill for.

Let me put it this way. There wouldn't be another station in the region that wouldn't root and root heavily for the Bucs to leave KDKA. The little affiliates would gain listeners- a sports station would love to have the contract- I can't imagine McIntyre would take listeners from music stations or arch-conservative Michael Savage- and music stations wouldn't care.

You are talking about replacing a 118-year-old worldwide identifiable entity with a guy who hosted NightTalk two years ago- a guy who might not even get a full-time gig at the station.

Think about that.
 
> A few thoughts from the various posts below on KD...
>
> I'm hearing that Steve Hansen was actually, at least to an
> extrent, the primary advocate of the change in direction,
> that he'd like to reinvent the station as "anything but
> right wing political talk." That apparently goes as far as
> having had conversations with Al Franken's people, although
> that doesn't now appear to be in the works. They would,
> however, still like to find a way to get rid of O'Reilly,
> but it's apparently being forced on them from the corporate
> level.

Steve Hansen is a real big liberal. Nice enough guy, but very liberal. And just enough ego to "do what he wants" and not "what's best for the station". I don't doubt that he was in conversation with Franken's people. That's right up Hansen's alley. Also, just so you know, he's a big fan of Garrison Keillor. (not that he's looked into that, just to let you know).

Hansen doesn't have the programming gene, and to make KD an extreme left station would be an absolute miss that will certainly sink that ship.

> Personally I think a show like Marty Griffin will prove to
> be a mistake. Their rationale was that the phones went nuts
> when he was on the air, but psychics get huge phones too and
> you don't give them full-time shows. The problem is that
> only the people who are calling care. Then again, Clark
> Howard's advice show does great in his home base of Atlanta
> as well as nationally, so who knows?
>
> They probably had their hands tied by corporate, but
> changing mid-days and nights isn't the answer. The station's
> two biggest problems are the drive-time shows. If they could
> somehow move the Honz to 9-noon and put McIntyre in PM drive
> you'd have a whole different sound and a chance to compete
> with Hannity on the way home, and even with DVE.
>
> If it's true that KD wants to be rid of the Pirates next
> season, that's really bad for the team. No other AM signal
> gets out of Allagheny county after sundown. I'd ask those
> with access to numbers like MrMusic this question: how were
> the numbers for the games this year? Oner of the facts that
> was always cited by MLB when it was argued that the team
> should stay in town was that although attendance was less
> than stellar, the radio ratings indicated enormous interest
> in the teams.

I'm on vacation this week and don't plan on going into the office, but will try to get a hold of the numbers or if I can get in touch with a friend who has access to find this out for you.

I, too, heard tht MLB argument that nubmers were high, even though attendance was low.

Let's face it, as someone said below, the Pirates/KD alliance is something any station should aspire to. The identification is so strong. It's what DVE is trying to do with the Steelers, and I think they're doing a good job of it.

CBS/Infinity has lately been doing some reallly stupid cost-effective moves, with Hansen at the helm (or kind of at the helm) it could cost them their Pirates affiliation, if his ego gets too big. And, that just may happen.

On the flip side, I understand Hansen is a big Pirate fan.

You all decide what to make of what happens. Personally, I think if they get rid of the Pirates it would be one of the biggest mistakes on KD ever. And, I would hope CC snatches the Pirates up. If not on AM970, but on WPGB. Hey, why not? DVE has the Steelers?

> Now this could just be an Infinity thing as well. They
> parted company this year in one market with an NFL
> franchise, and an Infinity manager tells me that they're
> happy to be done with it. Likewise a high-ranking person for
> another very prominent NFL team's network tells me that
> likely Infinity will only do that team for one more year
> while the team figures out how to take it in-house. Is KD
> not making money on baseball?
>
> And if the Pirates have to move, the pickings are slim...I'd
> think the team would want to be on 3WS with that big signal,
> but might end up having to be on 970, WEAE or WJAS (unless
> Steel City jumped in with 92.9).

It would be nice to see them on AM970. I listen to Tunch and Wolf most mornings, and if they had more solid sports programming, this would be a great addition during the baseball season. They have some really talented sports people, like Savran, who could make the Pirates sound really good on the AM of CC. Or, as I stated above, a move to WPGB wouldn't be bad, either. The FM talk station that took KD under grabbing their sole connection. That would be a bonus.

>
> And finally, I wonder if Salem will make a play for Pintek,
> either on WORD or WPIT-AM. He'd also me a great morning show
> for WPTT. But an out-of-the-box note to Clarke and the boys
> at 620: any thoughts to trying to use that great daytime
> signal and put some good talk on the air 6A-6P? You've got a
> better signal that PTT... a nice lineup with good content
> could prbably pull a 2-share at least, and make a few bucks
> if done right.
>
> And finally, best wishes to Chuck Brinkman, wherever your
> next stop takes you. It was truly an honor to for for you
> and with you, a sentiment that I'm sure will be echoed by
> many.

A decent man is a decent man and Chuck is such one and deserve's pats on the back. Worked with the guy years ago, too. Good guy.

Mr.Music
 
Re: All I know is

> Though KDKA needs change- think a bit what we're saying
> here-
>
> John McIntyre for the Pirates?
>
> I think it's self-evident what is wrong there.
>
> I can't imagine why the station would want to get rid of the
> Pirates. The above poster is right- baseball has always been
> a winner for radio, especially in the Pittsburgh market.
>
> To tell you the truth- that sounds like an internet rumor
> started by someone who only knows that the Bucs have been
> losing and is a McIntyre fan. Hence, they put together an
> equasion that simply isn't there.
>
> It's the same people who said on here Fox Sports 970 was
> going to Air America- they obviously don't like sports and
> they like liberal politics.

AS an unrepentant Liberal---I hope KD dumps the whole gang of neo-cons for anything else. How about 50's and 60's Oldies?
>
> The only reason I even took a listen to McIntyre's Saturday
> show was it had the Pirates lead-in (this also would go for
> Chris Moore- though I appriciate the fact that he can put
> forth a political agenda out without being snide)- and I'm
> hardly a 65-something listener.
>
> KDKA and the Pirates are an identity most stations would
> kill for.
>
> Let me put it this way. There wouldn't be another station in
> the region that wouldn't root and root heavily for the Bucs
> to leave KDKA. The little affiliates would gain listeners- a
> sports station would love to have the contract- I can't
> imagine McIntyre would take listeners from music stations or
> arch-conservative Michael Savage- and music stations
> wouldn't care.
>
> You are talking about replacing a 118-year-old worldwide
> identifiable entity with a guy who hosted NightTalk two
> years ago- a guy who might not even get a full-time gig at
> the station.
>
> Think about that.
>
 
Re: All I know is

> AS an unrepentant Liberal---I hope KD dumps the whole gang
> of neo-cons for anything else. How about 50's and 60's
> Oldies?

ARRRGGHHH!!!! I realize that those songs became hits on static ridden, lo-fi AM radio, back when that's all their was. And I realize that even before that, people actually LIKED listening to 78 RPM records on wind-up Victrolas.

But it's the third millenium. Times have changed. And music listeners have developed better ears. Music on the AM band sucks. I've tuned in to WJAS every now and then because I felt I should. And regardless of what song they were playing, the awful sound quality made it impossible to listen to for very long.

The only oldies that wouldn't sound any worse on the AM band are the ones from the 40's and earlier. If you want to program music on the AM band, hook up some 78 RPM turntables and dig out the Glenn Miller records.

Of course, that's not to say that the old folks who listen to talk on KDKA wouldn't also listen to music on KDKA. Those old folks don't know how to tune in any other station, so KDKA owns them regardless of what they program.
 
>My thoughts....
1. Why wasn't the morning show replaced? Even a syndicated show would be better.
2. Marty Griffin in mid day will be a disaster. Won't last six months.
3. O'Reilly needs to go. Absoultely awful.
4. Like the Honzberger/ MacIntyre 12-6 idea.
5. Don't go with another sports show at 6. There are already three at that hour in Pgh.
6. If MacIntyre goes to evenings, perhaps Ed Schultz in PM Drive??
7. Could Hansen take Randi Rhodes from AAR without taking the rest of the lineup? That could work in evenings, and would be cheap programming that could be preempted for Pirates.
8. Any chance of Romigh going to PTT? Seems to me he would be a much better fit there for morning drive than Laura Ingraham. OR Pair him and Pintek for a morning show?? They are terriffic broacasters and both deserve a shot elsewhere in Pgh. Would Renda go for the cost, once PTT moves to 910?
9. Dropping Pirates would be an diasterous mistake.
10. 620 going talk? I doubt it, but if they did, it would probably be syndicated. They're not going to spend the money necessary to do live and local well.
11. Would like to see Lionel on the air in this market. Any chance KD will take it?

A few thoughts from the various posts below on KD...
>
> I'm hearing that Steve Hansen was actually, at least to an
> extrent, the primary advocate of the change in direction,
> that he'd like to reinvent the station as "anything but
> right wing political talk." That apparently goes as far as
> having had conversations with Al Franken's people, although
> that doesn't now appear to be in the works. They would,
> however, still like to find a way to get rid of O'Reilly,
> but it's apparently being forced on them from the corporate
> level.
>
> Personally I think a show like Marty Griffin will prove to
> be a mistake. Their rationale was that the phones went nuts
> when he was on the air, but psychics get huge phones too and
> you don't give them full-time shows. The problem is that
> only the people who are calling care. Then again, Clark
> Howard's advice show does great in his home base of Atlanta
> as well as nationally, so who knows?
>
> They probably had their hands tied by corporate, but
> changing mid-days and nights isn't the answer. The station's
> two biggest problems are the drive-time shows. If they could
> somehow move the Honz to 9-noon and put McIntyre in PM drive
> you'd have a whole different sound and a chance to compete
> with Hannity on the way home, and even with DVE.
>
> If it's true that KD wants to be rid of the Pirates next
> season, that's really bad for the team. No other AM signal
> gets out of Allagheny county after sundown. I'd ask those
> with access to numbers like MrMusic this question: how were
> the numbers for the games this year? Oner of the facts that
> was always cited by MLB when it was argued that the team
> should stay in town was that although attendance was less
> than stellar, the radio ratings indicated enormous interest
> in the teams.
>
> Now this could just be an Infinity thing as well. They
> parted company this year in one market with an NFL
> franchise, and an Infinity manager tells me that they're
> happy to be done with it. Likewise a high-ranking person for
> another very prominent NFL team's network tells me that
> likely Infinity will only do that team for one more year
> while the team figures out how to take it in-house. Is KD
> not making money on baseball?
>
> And if the Pirates have to move, the pickings are slim...I'd
> think the team would want to be on 3WS with that big signal,
> but might end up having to be on 970, WEAE or WJAS (unless
> Steel City jumped in with 92.9).
>
> And finally, I wonder if Salem will make a play for Pintek,
> either on WORD or WPIT-AM. He'd also me a great morning show
> for WPTT. But an out-of-the-box note to Clarke and the boys
> at 620: any thoughts to trying to use that great daytime
> signal and put some good talk on the air 6A-6P? You've got a
> better signal that PTT... a nice lineup with good content
> could prbably pull a 2-share at least, and make a few bucks
> if done right.
>
> And finally, best wishes to Chuck Brinkman, wherever your
> next stop takes you. It was truly an honor to for for you
> and with you, a sentiment that I'm sure will be echoed by
> many.
>
> Happy New Year to all!!!!!
>
 
>
> Maybe they should try something very retro that many
> listeners don't even remember. Maybe they should try a
> spoken word format based on celebrity interviews, news
> features, comedy bits, and other such programming, updated
> for the third millenium. I think that the high brow format
> of NPR's "All Things Considered" could be watered down
> enough to make it popular to a mass audience on a commercial
> station.
>
> If NPR's "All Things Considered" is the radio equivalent of
> Time Magazine, then this would be the radio equvalent of
> "People Magazine".
>
> I don't know if anyone has tried doing this in the past
> decade.
>


As a matter of fact, after the Opie & Anthony fiasco forced Infinity to blow up WNEW-FM, they tried a mix of this sort of stuff with A/C music. It was maybe the most colossal failure in the history of FM radio.

But wait... here comes "Free FM" on a lot of the former Stern outlets (it actually will be the rest of the day on many of the new David Lee Roth stations). While no one knows exactly what they've got up their sleeve, it will include things like a daily one-hour show from Penn Gillette.

To repeat something I posted a while back, I got this e-mail from an Infinity programmer... "Without disclosing any company secrets, our reaction to Free FM has been 'what????'"

So we'll see.<P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P>
 
> >
> > Maybe they should try something very retro that many
> > listeners don't even remember. Maybe they should try a
> > spoken word format based on celebrity interviews, news
> > features, comedy bits, and other such programming, updated
>
> > for the third millenium. I think that the high brow format
>
> > of NPR's "All Things Considered" could be watered down
> > enough to make it popular to a mass audience on a
> commercial
> > station.
> >
> > If NPR's "All Things Considered" is the radio equivalent
> of
> > Time Magazine, then this would be the radio equvalent of
> > "People Magazine".
> >
> > I don't know if anyone has tried doing this in the past
> > decade.
> >
>
>
> As a matter of fact, after the Opie & Anthony fiasco forced
> Infinity to blow up WNEW-FM, they tried a mix of this sort
> of stuff with A/C music. It was maybe the most colossal
> failure in the history of FM radio.

I'm not surprised. Something like I described could be an overwhelming success or a totally dismal failure. But unlike picking a music format from the official list of established formats, something like I described would have to be done perfectly to succeed. Close wouldn't work. It would have to be almost a perfect bullseye.

The most important thing is that such a format would not work as a hybrid music format, unless it were to include live musical guests doing interviews between songs.

And I can't believe that any music format other than pre-oldies (1940's 78's and older) will work well on the AM band.

> But wait... here comes "Free FM" on a lot of the former
> Stern outlets (it actually will be the rest of the day on
> many of the new David Lee Roth stations). While no one knows
> exactly what they've got up their sleeve, it will include
> things like a daily one-hour show from Penn Gillette.
>
> To repeat something I posted a while back, I got this e-mail
> from an Infinity programmer... "Without disclosing any
> company secrets, our reaction to Free FM has been
> 'what????'"
>
> So we'll see.

Yeah, we'll see. What I predict will happen is that it will be done badly, and will fail, which everyone will point to as "proof" that the idea is unworkable, not that it was simply that particular execution that failed.

Actually, if you were to throw in some guests to be interviewed and a side-kick or two, Scott Paulsen's current evening show isn't that far from what I was thinking of.
 
Re: All I know is

Trust me, the discussions about KDKA dropping the Pirates are very legitimate. In St. Louis, KMOX just ended a 50-year relationship with the Cardinals because Infinity decided the dollars didn't make sense any more.

There was a time when KDKA combined music with talk and news and sports play-by-play....gradually the programming becomes more focused because that "all things to all people" variety approach doesn't work any more. If you've been paying attention, KDKA has restricted exhibition games to weekends or evenings in recent years. Gone are the days when they'd run weekday afternoon games, except for the opener. It just doesn't make sense to preempt regular programming. Another problem with carrying baseball is there's no way to gauge how long the coverage will last. Get a slow game, or extra innings or a rain delay and the baseball can blow out the whole evening. That makes it tough to have any consistency with programming.

The Pirates' heritage means nothing to KDKA, nor should it, really. It's about what does business now. The Pirates haven't exactly been the best stewards of that heritage, either, given their slide over the last decade-plus.

When they're in the second half of another lost season, who's listening? At that point, baseball probably chases away as many people as it draws.

And FWIW, the Pirates aren't all that crazy about KDKA, either. They feel they've been shortchanged on the ancillary programming before and after games. Baseball is a much better fit on an all-sports station because they can basically showcase a night game from 5 p.m. to midnight. Signal issues are a concern in Pittsburgh, obviously, but there's something to be said for escaping KDKA and its core audience. The average KDKA listener isn't the person who's going to buy a lot of baseball tickets.
 
Re: All I know is

> Trust me, the discussions about KDKA dropping the Pirates
> are very legitimate. In St. Louis, KMOX just ended a 50-year
> relationship with the Cardinals because Infinity decided the
> dollars didn't make sense any more.
>
> There was a time when KDKA combined music with talk and news
> and sports play-by-play....gradually the programming becomes
> more focused because that "all things to all people" variety
> approach doesn't work any more. If you've been paying
> attention, KDKA has restricted exhibition games to weekends
> or evenings in recent years. Gone are the days when they'd
> run weekday afternoon games, except for the opener. It just
> doesn't make sense to preempt regular programming. Another
> problem with carrying baseball is there's no way to gauge
> how long the coverage will last. Get a slow game, or extra
> innings or a rain delay and the baseball can blow out the
> whole evening. That makes it tough to have any consistency
> with programming.
>
> The Pirates' heritage means nothing to KDKA, nor should it,
> really. It's about what does business now. The Pirates
> haven't exactly been the best stewards of that heritage,
> either, given their slide over the last decade-plus.
>
> When they're in the second half of another lost season,
> who's listening? At that point, baseball probably chases
> away as many people as it draws.
>
> And FWIW, the Pirates aren't all that crazy about KDKA,
> either. They feel they've been shortchanged on the ancillary
> programming before and after games. Baseball is a much
> better fit on an all-sports station because they can
> basically showcase a night game from 5 p.m. to midnight.
> Signal issues are a concern in Pittsburgh, obviously, but
> there's something to be said for escaping KDKA and its core
> audience. The average KDKA listener isn't the person who's
> going to buy a lot of baseball tickets.
>

There are other instances where baseball has had trouble getting outlets lately.

The Washington Nationals had to settle for a couple of fringe FMs the cover the DC market from the edges, and a are a Hot A/C format. Not exactly a great fit.

In Tampa, the Devil Rays were unceremoniously booted off of WFLA after six years and no one wanted their rights, at least not for any real money. (Understand, however, that in addition to being an awful team, the owner was impossible to do business with and a reason many clients would not come on board. He's now gone, so this may change).They ended up taking it in-house and buy time on CCs 1250 WHNZ, which runs Imus in the morning and brokered shows the rest of the day. Interestingly, a CC account exec told a friend of mine that the station is "printing money."
<P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P>
 
Re: All I know is

> Trust me, the discussions about KDKA dropping the Pirates
> are very legitimate. In St. Louis, KMOX just ended a 50-year
> relationship with the Cardinals because Infinity decided the
> dollars didn't make sense any more.
** The Cardinals went out & purchased a station for the purpose of taking their radio in-house. I don't see why the Pirates coudn't do the same.

> If you've been paying attention, KDKA has restricted exhibition games to weekends or evenings in recent years.
** KD probably gets more ad revenue from running the games then as compared to weekday afternoons.

> Gone are the days when they'd run weekday afternoon games, except for the opener.
** KD is committed to the full regular season schedule. MLB has cut down the # of afternoon games pretty much everywhere BUT Chicago, where the Cubs still play the majority of their games in the daytime.
 
Don't be surprised

This shouldn't surprise anyone. There are two common complaints about business in general, and radio in particular. One is that businesses (including radio stations) don't plan for the long term. The other is that businesses (including radio) ignore immediate needs in favor of long term plans.

There is a growing perception that baseball, regardless of how well it's doing in the short term, is in long-term trouble. That perception may or may not be accurate. Predicting the future is never certain.

But baseball has a reputation for appealing to mostly older people. Whether that is accurate or not is irrelevant. There are enough people making decisons about where to spend their advertising dollars who believe that only old codgers listen to the Dodgers, and right or wrong, that belief steers their purchases.

Then there's the belief that the way Major League Baseball allows such disparity between teams, it's only a matter of time before small market teams start going belly up, and MLB has to shrink. Again, right or wrong, as long as some decision makers believe that, they're going to base their decisions on what they believe.

I suspect that Infinity's management is especially senstitive to KDKA's reputation as the flagship of the Geritol Generation. So, they might be more inclined to take actions to counteract that perception, even if those aren't the best decisions for the short-term.

Personally, I'd hate to be sitting in a management chair at KDKA. If they don't do something to start attracting younger listeners (and soon), then they are one bad flu epidemic away from plummeting in the ratings. But anything they do that will attract new, younger lsiteners might chase away some of the old folks, resulting in a short-term dip in ratings. The old adage "Things have got to get worse before they get better" applies here.

Trying to build up a young audience while keeping the old one at the same time is probably one of the toughest tasks anyone can attempt. I'm glad I don't have to do it.

> There are other instances where baseball has had trouble
> getting outlets lately.
>
> The Washington Nationals had to settle for a couple of
> fringe FMs the cover the DC market from the edges, and a are
> a Hot A/C format. Not exactly a great fit.
>
> In Tampa, the Devil Rays were unceremoniously booted off of
> WFLA after six years and no one wanted their rights, at
> least not for any real money. (Understand, however, that in
> addition to being an awful team, the owner was impossible to
> do business with and a reason many clients would not come on
> board. He's now gone, so this may change).They ended up
> taking it in-house and buy time on CCs 1250 WHNZ, which runs
> Imus in the morning and brokered shows the rest of the day.
> Interestingly, a CC account exec told a friend of mine that
> the station is "printing money."
 
Re: All I know is

> ** The Cardinals went out & purchased a station for the
> purpose of taking their radio in-house. I don't see why the
> Pirates coudn't do the same.

The Cardinals are infinitely better funded (owned by Anheuser Busch).
>
> > If you've been paying attention, KDKA has restricted
> exhibition games to weekends or evenings in recent years.
> ** KD probably gets more ad revenue from running the games
> then as compared to weekday afternoons.

The biggest thing was to not pre-empt Limbaugh, and they had nowhere else to bump the games to. If they were smart they'd buy the time for the daytime spring games on 540 or 620. even the Devil Rays bumped the daytime spring games to their sports station, and they were very strong with men 25-54 when they did it.

>
> > Gone are the days when they'd run weekday afternoon games,
> except for the opener.
> ** KD is committed to the full regular season schedule. MLB
> has cut down the # of afternoon games pretty much everywhere
> BUT Chicago, where the Cubs still play the majority of their
> games in the daytime.
>
<P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Part-timer on 01/02/06 03:27 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: All I know is

> The Cardinals are infinitely better funded (owned by
> Anheuser Busch).

The Cardinals have not been owned by Anheuser Busch for several years. They're owned by a group headed by Bill DeWitt.
 
Re: All I know is

> > Gone are the days when they'd run weekday afternoon games,
> except for the opener.
> ** KD is committed to the full regular season schedule. MLB
> has cut down the # of afternoon games pretty much everywhere
> BUT Chicago, where the Cubs still play the majority of their
> games in the daytime.

I'm talking about weekday afternoon EXHIBITION games. The one area where they can cut back on baseball interruptions, they have.
 
Re: KD, better late than never

A few more thoughts, obviously in no particular order ...

(1) "Steve Hansen was actually, at least to an extent, the primary advocate of the change in direction,that he'd like to reinvent the station as 'anything but right wing political talk.' That apparently goes as far as having had conversations with Al Franken's people."

I am told, reliably, that Air America is a take-it-all-or-leave-it option for Franken et al, though that hasn't applied to stations which picked up some shows from syndication before they became part of the AAR stable (Thom Hartmann on WPTT-AM 1360, Jerry Springer in the pre-Rush slot ... yeah, pre-Rush ... on WTAM-AM 1100 Cleveland).

(2) "'Anything but ANY SORT OF NATIONAL political talk' would strike me as a better idea. Local and regional political talk might fly for a few select programs, though not as a steady diet."

It was getting to be only for a few select programs prior to Mike Pintek and Mike Romigh getting the ax. "Morning News" is a hodgepodge with little talk, Honsberger after 4 might as well be "90 to 6 Redux" and the station was running quack radio on some nights from 8 to 9. Also, while Bob Logue was a big property-tax-abolishment fan, the post-Logue "Undercover Club" isn't much different from the "Marshall's Office" of long, long ago.

(3) "I think that the high brow format of NPR's 'All Things Considered' could be watered down enough to make it popular to a mass audience on a commercial station. If NPR's 'All Things Considered' is the radio equivalent of Time Magazine, then this would be the radio equivalent of People Magazine."

KD once had that every night. It was "Program PM" from 9-10 p.m. And it touts some sort of Saturday offering that sounds a lot like what you're suggesting.

(4) "Personally I think a show like Marty Griffin will prove to be a mistake. Their rationale was that the phones went nuts when he was on the air, but psychics get huge phones too and you don't give them full-time shows. The problem is that only the people who are calling care. Then again, Clark Howard's advice show does great in his home base of Atlanta as well as nationally, so who knows?"

How is Clark Howard doing on WPTT?

Marty Griffin might be a real surprise, but I have to wonder what happens to the monthly chats set up with Dan Onorato and Bob O'Connor, the latter announced just before the Christmas Week Massacre.

(5) "If they could somehow move the Honz to 9-noon and put McIntyre in PM drive you'd have a whole different sound and a chance to compete with Hannity on the way home, and even with DVE."

If they could run the second hour of Fred Honsberger simulcast over PCNC (where he's on live now at 10 a.m.), then I think you could get the former. The latter has to take into account McIntyre's personality, which isn't too different from Doug Hoerth on WPTT from 3-6. (I'm saying personality, not politics.)


(6) "If it's true that KD wants to be rid of the Pirates next season, that's really bad for the team. No other AM signal gets out of Allegheny County after sundown."
"And if the Pirates have to move, the pickings are slim...I'd think the team would want to be on 3WS with that big signal, but might end up having to be on 970, WEAE or WJAS (unless Steel City jumped in with 92.9)."

A couple points: I bet the Pirates may be willing to be innovative (or cheap, but I digress). I'm not so sure KD wants to part with the Pirates.

But if it does ...

I'm sure WEAE wouldn't mind getting a PITTSBURGH sports team for play-by-play to go along with Wheeling Nailers and Penn State. I seem to recall Radio Disney does get bumped for sports in other markets, so WWCS is in the mix. An FM partner? Could Keymarket could be convinced to add the Bucs to the Frogs?

Otherwise, I'd bet on Clear Channel seeking to complete the quartet for WBGG, with WPGB a good FM partner (bumping to WWSW when the Pitt football season begins), with the WildThings moving to WEAE.

(7) "And finally, I wonder if Salem will make a play for Pintek, either on WORD or WPIT-AM. He'd also me a great morning show for WPTT. Pintek might be a great addition to WPIT or WPTT. In fact, your idea of making him the morning man on WPTT could be the best thing that ever happened to Renda broadcasting. However, I don't know if Pintek could make the transition to Christian talk on WORD. I also don't know that he could not."

Salem talk nationally is more conservative than Christian. Pintek might fit in well with what already is a pretty eclectic lineup syndicated by WPIT/WORD's owner.

He would not go to WORD, as Jerry Bowyer's show fits the preachers, not the other way around. It might be a risk worth taking for WPIT; I wonder if the station really seems as if it knows what it is doing by doing talk from noon to dawn, then six hours of preachers.

(And I stress perception. It might be making for Salem in Pittsburgh the sort of money that keeps the oldies on in niches in Robert Stevens' North Versailles Twp. stable.)

(8) (Not replying to anyone here.)

I'd love to see radio rise again as a medium of note, AM or FM, as hopeless as that thought might be.
I'd love to scan to a KDKA or a WWVA at night and feel as if I'm listening to a station that isn't taking cookie-cutter orders from New York or San Antonio.
I'd love to find a personality-driven station (be it in the music or the talk as well as in the voice I'd hope has a pulse as I'm listening to it).
But since I don't have the wherewithal to run such a station (at least not now), I'll just keep scanning.

(Perhaps I should not be so cynical. AM 740 in Toronto is a pleasant surprise, and I enjoy AM 1520 from Buffalo although I think it's now just another voice-tracked computerized format at night. AM 650 in Nashville is a nice stop, though I wonder for how much longer, and AM 1060 in Philadelphia sounds like the sort of newsradio Pittsburgh has become too small to afford 24 hours a day, KQV's effort notwithstanding.)

For the New Year, to all ... Numbers 6:24-26.
 
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