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KDKA 1020 / 100.1 drops Red Eye Radio on weekdays for local overnight talk

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^^^ Actually, I'd be interested in what they're actually getting paid by the station to do this, or if this is being done as part of a partnership with the University of Pittsburgh. The reason many stations cut live/local programming overnights years ago now is because there's often little to no ad money to be made - and the people awake at that hour and calling a radio station have traditionally been, well, "special". If KDKA is dumping syndicated programming to start up this live programming overnights, I'm guessing it's costing them very little to do it, or it'd probably be a non-starter from a business standpoint. It's certainly not likely to attract younger audiences to their station, for instance, who'll then stay tuned for their morning program and ultimately attract more advertisers who are aiming for that younger demo.
 
This is quite an interesting development on two fronts...

First, KDKA may be the only station in North America running a live and local talk show overnight. WABC has "The Other Side of Midnight" with Frank Morano. Should we call that a local talk show? It has a few stations, in addition to 770, carrying it in syndication. WGN has local talk until 2 a.m., then runs tape-delayed Rich Valdes from Westwood One. For sports stations, WFAN and WSCR are live and local overnight. But that's it. All other overnight talk radio is syndicated or a rerun from daytime.

Second, a 50,000 watt, clear channel station is hiring three college students to host its overnight show? Hey, more power to the next generation of radio personalities. But do three college students have enough to say, especially if the phones stop ringing at 3 or 4 a.m., to keep a show going? Are they interesting enough? Or would KDKA be better served by re-running its daytime hosts, if it wants to break free of the overnight offerings of Red Eye Radio and Coast to Coast AM?
 
Mikey Radio said:
^^^ Actually, I'd be interested in what they're actually getting paid by the station to do this, or if this is being done as part of a partnership with the University of Pittsburgh.
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Could be both. There are usually some strict rules about how college students are utilized in the work place. Especially if they're on the air.

Audacy's website says interns are paid:

Careers & Job Opportunities | Audacy Inc.

careers-audacy.icims.com careers-audacy.icims.com

Audacy Services LLC and the Mass Broadcasters Association are working together to provide college students hands-on work experience through a paid, structured internship program.
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Gregg. said:
This is quite an interesting development on two fronts...

First, KDKA may be the only station in North America running a live and local talk show overnight. WABC has "The Other Side of Midnight" with Frank Morano. Should we call that a local talk show? It has a few stations, in addition to 770, carrying it in syndication. WGN has local talk until 2 a.m., then runs tape-delayed Rich Valdes from Westwood One. For sports stations, WFAN and WSCR are live and local overnight. But that's it. All other overnight talk radio is syndicated or a rerun from daytime.

Second, a 50,000 watt, clear channel station is hiring three college students to host its overnight show? Hey, more power to the next generation of radio personalities. But do three college students have enough to say, especially if the phones stop ringing at 3 or 4 a.m., to keep a show going? Are they interesting enough? Or would KDKA be better served by re-running its daytime hosts, if it wants to break free of the overnight offerings of Red Eye Radio and Coast to Coast AM?
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who says its live? nowhere in the article says it is.. do you really think college students would be live overnight then go to class?

lance hinted in another place that it was recorded.
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
who says its live? nowhere in the article says it is.. do you really think college students would be live overnight then go to class?

lance hinted in another place that it was recorded.
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I knew college students who stayed up till very late. They made sure their classes started around 2 or 3 p.m. My college also had evening classes for folks who were getting their degree at night.

If the show is not live, then they can't take phone calls or read texts from listeners responding to the subject being discussed. So what are they doing for four hours?

"Hey, can you be a guest on our show? It's pre-recorded."
"Sure, what time will you air my interview?"
"Around 4:10 a.m."
"Uhh, I just realized I have something else to do."
 
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I tuned in last night (well, actually early this morning) and they were talking about LGBTQ activism -- definitely a 180 from what Red Eye Radio's take on the subject would've been! There were no callers, so it was almost definitely pre-recorded.
 
Gregg. said:
I knew college students who stayed up till very late. They made sure their classes started around 2 or 3 p.m. My college also had evening classes for folks who were getting their degree at night.

If the show is not live, then they can't take phone calls or read texts from listeners responding to the subject being discussed. So what are they doing for four hours?

"Hey, can you be a guest on our show? It's pre-recorded."
"Sure, what time will you air my interview?"
"Around 4:10 a.m."
"Uhh, I just realized I have something else to do."
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Hopefully it'll be a podcast also, though the way Audacy does podcasts, it'll probably only be on their website and not have an RSS feed: All Podcasts | 100.1 FM and AM 1020 KDKA Pittsburgh
 
Since wild speculation with no basis in reality is allowed here.. I began to wonder.. could this be a trial to see how well the show does.. then move it to a more palatable time slot , say mid evenings after dinner type stuff.. and college students hosting is a bid to attract a younger audience to an older leaning format and station?
 
kevtronics said:
I tuned in last night (well, actually early this morning) and they were talking about LGBTQ activism -- definitely a 180 from what Red Eye Radio's take on the subject would've been!
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It's also likely out of line with the take most all hosts on KDKA would've had on that subject, at least in the relatively recent past. Don't forget, this is one of the stations that terminated Wendy Bell (she departed KDKA in 2020) because of statements she made on-air. Also, as someone stated earlier, KDKA is a 50,000 watt clear channel station. If one looks at the statewide map of Pennsylvania from the 2020 presidential election, Allegheny county itself where Pittsburgh is located was blue. Everything around it, including the counties in neighboring West Virginia and Ohio which are located to the west of the PA state map below which also get KDKA clearly, were solid red.

1708454578637.png
 
kevtronics said:
I tuned in last night (well, actually early this morning) and they were talking about LGBTQ activism -- definitely a 180 from what Red Eye Radio's take on the subject would've been! There were no callers, so it was almost definitely pre-recorded.
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And certainly a topic that most people don't care about. Giving a very tiny percentage of the population way more coverage than they deserve.
 
Seltzer said:
And certainly a topic that most people don't care about. Giving a very tiny percentage of the population way more coverage than they deserve.
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talk about an old geezer conservative point of view.

Youd be surprised, alot more care, one way or another, than you think.. and more on the positively side and growing.
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
Since wild speculation with no basis in reality is allowed here.. I began to wonder.. could this be a trial to see how well the show does.. then move it to a more palatable time slot , say mid evenings after dinner type stuff.. and college students hosting is a bid to attract a younger audience to an older leaning format and station?
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I was thinking the same thing.
 
xm41 said:
Alot more people today have a negetive view on the subject due to the ridiculous behaviour and denamds comming out of that camp. Their activests have done a great job of erasing the positive progress of the last 50 years. :(
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I solidly disagree, and a plethora of fact-based polls and research also say you're wrong. As with anything else, some within "that camp" can indeed drive things too far and turn some people off. Others who are more on the fringe from "that camp" definitely don't represent or speak for the larger group - just as I'm sure most Christians would agree that fringe groups who harm or kill others, supposedly in the name of their religion, don't represent or speak to the core of what most Christians believe and try and practice - at least those who truly follow what the bible states. However, its unfortunately the folks in those "fringe groups" that networks like Fox News and right-wing talk often choose to hold up as the supposed "mainstream voices" of "that camp" to try and drive home their opinions and commentary to their listeners and viewers (to include talk of radio broadcasting and TV in this thread).

Regarding your comments about "erasing the positive progress of the last 50 years", what you say is simply not true. Consider that, just within about the last 10, people from "that camp" got the right to serve openly in the US military. They're also free to marry someone of the same gender - just 2 examples of rights they've fought for and earned that they never had before. The tide is also turning on people's view of "that camp". A number of recent independent poles have shown that the majority of Americans now view "that camp" and those in it positively - many more than ever before. That's primarily come with education and that many more people are simply open and honest about who and what they are - things they could never do so openly in decades past. That has caused many to realize how many from "that camp" are actually their neighbors and co-workers - and that they can be friends with them and associate with them and they'll still be OK. Gays aren't the boogeyman.

The real issue comes from people who are still in the dark ages and are bigoted against people who don't look, act, think, love or pray the way they do - and those in "that camp" for better or worse, will never win acceptance from those kinds of people. The people with that mentality are the same ones who see Major League Baseball teams, for instance, host ethnic and heritage theme nights, nights where the teams have "Star Trek night", military appreciation and other nights for a whole plethora of themes and reasons, but the moment those same teams dare have an LGBTQ+ night, since "that camp" makes up about 8% of their population give or take, suddenly the bigoted people who are fine with all the other theme nights, claim the team or MLB in general is "too political". To be frank, it says far more about the people making those types of ignorant statements than it does about MLB or the people who come out (no pun intended) to enjoy a game at a reduced rate and get a rainbow colored logo hat for 1 single game out of the entire 162 game regular season.

Now, to bring this back to radio and broadcasting, has anyone tuned into this particular overnight broadcast on KDKA? How do these students sound? Are they filling their time OK? Does it seem pre-recorded or live, taking callers, etc?
 
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