KHHT Musical Shift

[4UH8SIMBKAGN]

David is right: CC has successful FM talkers in Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Orlando.

David is wrong: KHHT was 46% Hispanic, 32% Black in April - so closer than one would think.

Nobody has disputed that Clear Channel has successful talk stations on FM. But there are very few, very, very few of them. David's point is Clear Channel is adding them as a trend. They aren't.

Name the date of the debut of the last 5 Top 100 market Clear Channel talk or sports FM's and how many have previoulsy or continue to be on AM. Once again, NO TREND AT CLEAR CHANNEL of moving talk or sports to FM or for that matter, even getting into those formats as NEW FM's other than a few isolated stations.

That's quite amazing considering how much talent Clear Channel owns but it's a matter of fact.

 

[davideduardo]

KTAR was down in the last book and KFYI has it's widest lead in over a year over KTAR.

Why don't you mention the combo sales at KTAR? More slanting of stats, I see.

As I said, KTAR's former AM talk format has improved enormously in 25-54, mostly in 35-54, since moving to FM. And, as I said, it has actually beaten KFYI on several occasions in 25-54, althoug not in the last book.

And KTAR FM outbilled KFYI by about 10%, and the AM took on it's own life, billing nearly $6 million. The combo outbills KFYI by 60%.

 

[davideduardo]

[Nobody has disputed that Clear Channel has successful talk stations on FM. But there are very few, very, very few of them. David's point is Clear Channel is adding them as a trend. They aren't.

Clear has 144 talkers, and 11 are currently talk (news talk, sports talk, etc). The trend to FM for talk has just begun in the last few years, so, except for Bonneville, there are still few of these in any company... but the trend is growing. Every one of the industry publications such as RBR has identified it as such, so I am merely echoing and commenting what is becoming a general conclusion: AM news talkers and sports talkers will be moving to AM FM simulcasts or to total FM operations as the age of AM listeners continues to increase. The average age of AM listeners increases 1 year for every 18 months.

 

[4UH8SIMBKAGN]

[Nobody has disputed that Clear Channel has successful talk stations on FM. But there are very few, very, very few of them. David's point is Clear Channel is adding them as a trend. They aren't.

Clear has 144 talkers, and 11 are currently talk (news talk, sports talk, etc). The trend to FM for talk has just begun in the last few years, so, except for Bonneville, there are still few of these in any company... but the trend is growing. Every one of the industry publications such as RBR has identified it as such, so I am merely echoing and commenting what is becoming a general conclusion: AM news talkers and sports talkers will be moving to AM FM simulcasts or to total FM operations as the age of AM listeners continues to increase. The average age of AM listeners increases 1 year for every 18 months.

You are beating a dead horse, David.

Getting back to your original statement on this subject, you predicted KFI would be on FM by or in May 2009. 10 days and counting to go.

For the size of Clear Channel, the amount of talk or sports FM stations is very low and again, Clear Channel has to this point NO TREND of moving or starting FM talk or news stations. There are many factors ahead that will tell us if there will be a rush to FM talk or not, the Democrats distaste for conservative talk and backdoor Fairness Doctrine effforts being one in the no column and PRA in the yes column.

 

[OC Radio Geek]

You are beating a dead horse, David.

Getting back to your original statement on this subject, you predicted KFI would be on FM by or in May 2009. 10 days and counting to go.

For the size of Clear Channel, the amount of talk or sports FM stations is very low and again, Clear Channel has to this point NO TREND of moving or starting FM talk or news stations. There are many factors ahead that will tell us if there will be a rush to FM talk or not, the Democrats distaste for conservative talk and backdoor Fairness Doctrine effforts being one in the no column and PRA in the yes column.

Why would KFI go to FM? Their coverage area on AM is awesome! They would lose a ton of listeners on FM.

 

[davideduardo]

Why would KFI go to FM? Their coverage area on AM is awesome! They would lose a ton of listeners on FM.

All that matters is LA and Orange counties, the LA metro. And the assumption is that most of this kind of move is done with simulcasting, at least initially.

On FM, the same traditional news talk format tends to increase the 35-54 demos significantly, sometimes sensationally.

In the last book, KFI is down to 15th in 25-54, from 12th the prior two books. The rest of the talk audience is over 55, which is not an age group that most advertisers want.

So, in the long run, for KFI to preserve its billing, it has no choice... eventually it has to move to FM, as they available 35-54 audience today will not listen to AM:

 

[davideduardo]

Actually, in 25-54, Bonneville has gained on KFYI, and in several of the books last year beat KFYI.

I'd suggest, when it is published, you check KTAR FM today in PPM. And if someone has 25-54 numbers, take a look at those. I'm estimating, based on what has happenend with stations like KCBS's San Francisco FM simulcast, KQED, WTOP, etc., that KTAR will beat KFYI in 25-54 by as much as a full share... maybe, even, a litte above a share. The changes in cume, TSL and such in PPM will drive more AM news talkers to FM for survival.

 

[OC Radio Geek]

Why would KFI go to FM? Their coverage area on AM is awesome! They would lose a ton of listeners on FM.

All that matters is LA and Orange counties, the LA metro. And the assumption is that most of this kind of move is done with simulcasting, at least initially.

On FM, the same traditional news talk format tends to increase the 35-54 demos significantly, sometimes sensationally.

In the last book, KFI is down to 15th in 25-54, from 12th the prior two books. The rest of the talk audience is over 55, which is not an age group that most advertisers want.

So, in the long run, for KFI to preserve its billing, it has no choice... eventually it has to move to FM, as they available 35-54 audience today will not listen to AM:

Okay, I wasn't thinking about simulcasting. KFI would have to simulcast if they went to FM. Their AM signal covers a HUGE area!!

 

[4UH8SIMBKAGN]

You are beating a dead horse, David.

Getting back to your original statement on this subject, you predicted KFI would be on FM by or in May 2009. 10 days and counting to go.

For the size of Clear Channel, the amount of talk or sports FM stations is very low and again, Clear Channel has to this point NO TREND of moving or starting FM talk or news stations. There are many factors ahead that will tell us if there will be a rush to FM talk or not, the Democrats distaste for conservative talk and backdoor Fairness Doctrine effforts being one in the no column and PRA in the yes column.

Why would KFI go to FM? Their coverage area on AM is awesome! They would lose a ton of listeners on FM.

David has 10 days to get a receipe for cooking crow.

 

[davideduardo]

Okay, I wasn't thinking about simulcasting. KFI would have to simulcast if they went to FM. Their AM signal covers a HUGE area!!

But, outside of the two-county metro, that additional area is of no real benefit to them. A decent FM will duplicate everything they need.

 

[davideduardo]

David has 10 days to get a receipe for cooking crow.
[/quote]

You know quite well that I made a prediction, based on ratings trends, national trends in talk programming, etc. They may not do it till next year, but the fact is that every moment they wait, they explose themselves to audience loss and the potential for someone else to preempt them.

 

[4UH8SIMBKAGN]

David has 10 days to get a receipe for cooking crow.

You know quite well that I made a prediction, based on ratings trends, national trends in talk programming, etc. They may not do it till next year, but the fact is that every moment they wait, they explose themselves to audience loss and the potential for someone else to preempt them.
[/quote]


ONE WORD to describe your post: Backpeddling

 

[ChannelFlipper]

I think the only thing holding them back is what to do with the brand new stick for 640 AM if they were to merge to FM. Yes, they would need to simulcast initially, but that doesn't make any sense long-term.There is no AM format out there they could just put on to justify the cost of the stick and the whole operation. The only logical thing would be to go either all news or all-sports.

The news infrastructure is largely in place, I can easily see them being a content generator for other stations while becoming the West Coast news flamethrower. A full-on KFI news station would destroy both KNX and KFWB, each of which is a shadow of its former self. (KFWB is simply embarrassing.) Then you'd have the great combo - all news on AM, Handel, John and Ken and talk line-up on FM. The two could even be cross-branded and marketed. "KFI - More stimulating talk at 92.3, more stimulating news at 640" (Consulting checks to ChannelFlipper c/o Radio-info.com. Thanks, Glad to help!)

Second option would be to transfer the sports at 570 to 640, grab the Dodgers and take on KSPN. Once the Laker season is over and 710 KSPN gets them, the game immediately changes in KSPN's favor as CC will have no Lakers, Dodgers, or Angels. Jim Rome can handle mornings, but he can't carry the station with no sports properties to speak of. Problem is, if you do this then what do you do with the 570 signal? Might as well put Standards back on, that's who will be listening anyway. I understand the Scootaround and Centrum Silver will buy ad time.