KYW - Newsradio - 94.1 (or 98.1)

[crisisbroadcast]

Re: Broader question: Is all news dead?

Wait...you are still talking about KYW, right? You know, that station in Philadelphia that is always 1, 2, or at the very lowest 3 in the Arbs.

You're probably getting them confused with some other KYW or something.

> The signs are not encouraging. The format never caught on.
> Only a relative handful of stations are all-news.
> Syndication opened up the talk format and caused literally
> hundreds of stations to flip. But attempts to broaden the
> appeal of the all-news format through syndication efforts
> like NIS and AP All News Radio fell flat.
> The format is expensive. Talk is cheaper and generally gets
> better numbers.
> Stations can get better audience and sales numbers and make
> more money with a talk format.
> KYW runs mostly on inertia and it has been losing steam over
> the years.
> CBS Radio has been gradually putting non-news programming
> into various of their "all" news stations.
> This includes:
> Evening and overnight talk.
> Play by play sports.
> Weekday "magazine" type programming (heavy on interviews and
> features).
> Brokered weekend programming.
> Don't be surprised if KYW becomes all news some of the time.
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Be Mused...</P>

 

[Slinky]

Re: OK birkenstock, I found it!

> BTW is the WTOP (AM) calls still on 1500?

For the time being yes, and as I posted on the Washington board, it's one heck of a legal ID they've got running, with 4 stations and both the WTOP and WGMS calls.

I'm sure they'll change soon, with the WTOP calls moving to Frederick's 820 and the WTOP-FM calls moving to 103.5. 1500 will probably get calls that vaguely resemble "Post" or "Washington Post Radio". Of course, WPST and WWPR are taken.

 

[bierkenstock]

Re: Broader question: Is all news dead?

> Wait...you are still talking about KYW, right? You know,
> that station in Philadelphia that is always 1, 2, or at the
> very lowest 3 in the Arbs.
>

Those numbers mean nothing. If those numbers had any value, Arbitron wouldn't give them away by posting them on websites.

Talk about numbers that mean something: demographic break-downs, sales revenue, profit and loss for example.

Notice how many things look strong, healthy and solid until the moment of collapse.

 

[bierkenstock]

Re: Forget It

It's a saying folks in radio programming should ignore - even stamp out. It's a saying that has killed American business in many sectors. It may even be killing radio.

There's a Japanese saying better heeded:
"Kaizen" - Constant, never-ending, improvement.

Radio is circling bowl. But if it makes you all feel better, keep telling yourself everything is just fine.


>
> There is a saying that alot of folks in radio programming
> should heed:
>
> If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
>
> KYW's ratings and revenue are just fine.
>

 

[Jim_Hicks]

Re: Broader question: Is all news dead?

Actually, it caught on and is still working. KYW is the top AM here and is always in the top 5. Both WINS and WCBS-AM have it working in NYC. And WTOP is still there in DC, just on different frequencies which will better cover their market. Its just that now DC'ers will have another option with the Washington Post news station on 1500. This in no way indicates the format is over. Its just a frequency change, that's all. In fact, the loser here is music FM in DC.

All News may not work in every major market, but DC, NYC and Philly are cities where is alive and well.

> The signs are not encouraging. The format never caught on.
> Only a relative handful of stations are all-news.
> Syndication opened up the talk format and caused literally
> hundreds of stations to flip. But attempts to broaden the
> appeal of the all-news format through syndication efforts
> like NIS and AP All News Radio fell flat.
> The format is expensive. Talk is cheaper and generally gets
> better numbers.
> Stations can get better audience and sales numbers and make
> more money with a talk format.
> KYW runs mostly on inertia and it has been losing steam over
> the years.
> CBS Radio has been gradually putting non-news programming
> into various of their "all" news stations.
> This includes:
> Evening and overnight talk.
> Play by play sports.
> Weekday "magazine" type programming (heavy on interviews and
> features).
> Brokered weekend programming.
> Don't be surprised if KYW becomes all news some of the time.
>

 

[radiophile]

Re: Broader question: Is all news dead?

> CBS Radio has been gradually putting non-news programming
> into various of their "all" news stations.
> This includes:
> Evening and overnight talk.
> Play by play sports.
> Weekday "magazine" type programming (heavy on interviews and
> features).
> Brokered weekend programming.
> Don't be surprised if KYW becomes all news some of the time.

Or, maybe the definition of what is "all news" is just evolving.

CNN evolved. Even CNN headline news now has, what I would call, talk shows.
Fox News Channel has lots of shows that, strictly speaking, should also be called talk shows.
There have been posts elsewhere that even radio traffic reports are useless. I disagree with that. It's the one thing left that consistently draws me to KYW. That and having a reliable place to get the top headlines.
I think, in the top ten markets, all news will be around for a while. In top 50 markets, stations will do a news block in morning drive. The Arbitron People Meter may affect this, as will new technology to bring instant news, weather, traffic and sports updates on demand.
One thing is for certain: KYW, WTOP, WINS, etc. are all expensive to run. They may be slowly losing market share, but for the time being, they must be profitable, or else they wouldn't exist.
Here's one more reason for my theory that, if not now, in the near future (next two, three, four years), more news and news/talk stations will pop up on FM: XM and Sirius. People I know who get satellite don't go back to traditional radio ... with one exception: That one local news/traffic station.

 

[bierkenstock]

Re: Broader question: Is all news dead?

>
> Or, maybe the definition of what is "all news" is just
> evolving.
>
If it's evolving it looks like it's evolving into where news-talk started out.

> Here's one more reason for my theory that, if not now, in
> the near future (next two, three, four years), more news and
> news/talk stations will pop up on FM: XM and Sirius. People
> I know who get satellite don't go back to traditional radio
> ... with one exception: That one local news/traffic station.
>

Good point.
XM Radio and Sirius already have local traffic for large and major markets. Metro Network's Shadow Traffic (part of Westwood One and the same people who do traffic for KYW, WINS, WCBS ....) provide traffic for Sirius, using the same local traffic reporters you hear on local stations in each market. XM Radio has a staff of announcers in DC who record traffic reports for different cities using info off a Traffic.com website.

What's missing, however, is local news. Right now local news on satellite radio is a legal gray area. But if XM Radio and Sirius push it, expect Metro Networks (who provide local news to stations other than KYW), Clear Channel or other providers to start putting local news updates on satellite - probably much like the morning podcast KYW does, only updated constantly through-out the day.

Talk radio has mostly abdicated local talk in favor of cheaper, easier syndicated talk. Once local news gets on satellite, there's no reason left for local radio.
Bye, bye.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Re: WTOP / KYW

> > A lot of WTOP's strategy is to penetrate office buildings
> > with the
> > FM signal (which AM can't reach). How much of an audience
>
> > would KYW
> > gain from office reception?
> >
Sounds like a pretty dumb reason. The Web reaches offices better than FM does. I think you could construct a stronger case for putting the Post on FM and leaving 1500 alone.