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May Scoreboard for Large Market Talk Stations

G

Gregg

May Scoreboard for Large Market Talk Stations


1. New York...WABC Cumulus #15 tie...WOR Clear Channel #23 tie...WKXW(FM) Townsquare #23 tie
2. LA...KFI Clear Channel #5...KABC Cumulus #31 tie
3. Chicago...WGN Tribune #4...WLS Cumulus #18
4. San Francisco...KSFO Cumulus #18...KKSF Clear Channel #20
5. Dallas...WBAP-AM-FM Cumulus #9 tie
6. Houston...KTRH Clear Channel #9 tie
7. Washington...WMAL-AM-FM #13 tie
8. Philadelphia...WWIQ(FM) Merlin #16 tie...WPHT CBS #19
9. Atlanta...WSB/WSBB(FM) Cox #4
10. Boston...WRKO Entercom #15

Honorable mention: Detroit (market #11) WJR Cumulus #8 tie

I only include Talk stations earning at least a one-rating except for legendary Talk station KABC.
 
Gregg said:
May Scoreboard for Large Market Talk Stations



8. Philadelphia...WWIQ(FM) Merlin #16 tie...WPHT CBS #19
Click to expand...
Doesn't make any sense that 1210 isn't number 1 for local talk in Philly. WPHT has made some major mistakes that lead up to IQ being number 1 for talk.
 
Doesn't make any sense that 1210 isn't number 1 for local talk in Philly. WPHT has made some major mistakes that lead up to IQ being number 1 for talk.
[/quote]

Your second sentence explains why they're not number 1. That station is a mess.
 
Honorable mention: Detroit (market #11) WJR Cumulus #8 tie


How about an honorable mention for Cincinnati (market #29)?
WLW has been #1 for a long time.
 
ProducerGuy said:
Your second sentence explains why they're not number 1. That station is a mess.
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It would take me a while to explain what they have done over the past few years. that's how bad they been.
 
There was a time when virtually all of these were in the top 5 if not #1 in their markets.
 
Whenever a post appears on a message board suggesting that -- IN THE LONG RUN -- the compromises in programming on talk stations, such as "must carries," pay-for-plays, whole weekends of infomercials, etc., will kill the ratings, someone posts that it's not a problem. I once actually saw someone rationalize that infomercials should hurt talk radio less than music radio because, after all, talk is talk!

Well, I think we've finally seen the proverbial chickens come home to roost. Yes, the audience will put up with some level of infomercials and "special programming." Sure, they'll stay with Rush and Sean and Imus out of habit although these shows jumped the shark long ago. Yeah, you can syndicate 90% of the day, fire the news staff, etc. etc. But eventually the listeners DO notice and then they suddenly go away.

Station management would like to believe they can make tweaks and see them instantly reflected in the PPMs. Better yet, I'll bet they like making a tweak and NOT seeing it in the next PPM. "Ah HAH! We saved a few bucks and nobody noticed!" "OK, lets cut some more ... and more ... and more." Well, congratulations guys, you've killed the Golden Goose.
 
>>>How about an honorable mention for Cincinnati (market #29)? WLW has been #1 for a long time.<<<

Well, WLW and KOA Denver are both amazing, #1 book after book. And in this day and age, they're Clear Channel stations that carry very little syndicated material. WLW is all local (with an overnight syndicated truckers show but that's done in Cincinnati) and KOA runs only Rush and some late night syndicated material.

Of course, both have sister AM stations in their markets owned by Clear Channel, where the Premiere shows get cleared, freeing the 50,000 watt clear channel stations to be live and local.
 
wadio said:
Yeah, you can syndicate 90% of the day, fire the news staff, etc. etc. But eventually the listeners DO notice and then they suddenly go away.
Click to expand...

Maybe. Meanwhile, NPR manages to beat a lot of these commercial stations, and they do so with limited local staffing, national programming, and endless begathons. So perhaps syndication and infomercials aren't really the problem.
 
wadio said:
Whenever a post appears on a message board suggesting that -- IN THE LONG RUN -- the compromises in programming on talk stations, such as "must carries," pay-for-plays, whole weekends of infomercials, etc., will kill the ratings, someone posts that it's not a problem. I once actually saw someone rationalize that infomercials should hurt talk radio less than music radio because, after all, talk is talk!

Well, I think we've finally seen the proverbial chickens come home to roost. Yes, the audience will put up with some level of infomercials and "special programming." Sure, they'll stay with Rush and Sean and Imus out of habit although these shows jumped the shark long ago. Yeah, you can syndicate 90% of the day, fire the news staff, etc. etc. But eventually the listeners DO notice and then they suddenly go away.

Station management would like to believe they can make tweaks and see them instantly reflected in the PPMs. Better yet, I'll bet they like making a tweak and NOT seeing it in the next PPM. "Ah HAH! We saved a few bucks and nobody noticed!" "OK, lets cut some more ... and more ... and more." Well, congratulations guys, you've killed the Golden Goose.
Click to expand...
WPHT runs a bunch of brokered local shows and paid programming on the weekend, Although they do get some local regular talk shows in.
 
Julius May said:
WPHT runs a bunch of brokered local shows and paid programming on the weekend, Although they do get some local regular talk shows in.
Click to expand...

WPHT has a lot of bigger problems than weekend programming, and they're a great example of a station that is NOT cutting back on staff or expenses, despite weak ratings. In fact, I'd suggest their current programming costs more than the syndication they used to run, back when they were a more competitive station.
 
TheBigA said:
WPHT has a lot of bigger problems than weekend programming, and they're a great example of a station that is NOT cutting back on staff or expenses, despite weak ratings.  In fact, I'd suggest their current programming costs more than the syndication they used to run, back when they were a more competitive station.
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true. I don't think this live and local talk during the week is  working. it appears that more people rather listen to the syndicated shows on 106.9 WWIQ than the local talk on WPHT. here's WPHT's station page: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/station/talk-radio-1210/
 
Julius May said:
it appears that more people rather listen to the syndicated shows on 106.9 WWIQ than the local talk on WPHT.
Click to expand...

Exactly my point. Syndication and staff cutbacks have nothing to do with the misfortunes of many of these stations. Hiring more news people or replacing syndication with local isn't going to help WABC, WMAL, or WLS. As painfully evidenced at WPHT.
 
TheBigA said:
Exactly my point. Syndication and staff cutbacks have nothing to do with the misfortunes of many of these stations. Hiring more news people or replacing syndication with local isn't going to help WABC, WMAL, or WLS. As painfully evidenced at WPHT.
Click to expand...
You are right about that.
 
Syndication and staff cutbacks have nothing to do with the misfortunes of many of these stations. Hiring more news people or replacing syndication with local isn't going to help WABC, WMAL, or WLS.
Click to expand...

I tend to agree -- for those stations the ship has sailed.

OTOH, KFI, by maintaining a better balance of local and syndication, keeping enough local news staff and not going the brokered route evenings and weekends, has managed to retain much of its audience. I realize a good signal doesn't hurt either, but it's consistent, entertaining programming that keeps listeners coming back. KFI's programming isn't perfect but at least it sounds like they're trying -- unlike KABC, WABC and WOR, for example.

You can't point only at too much syndication or too many cutbacks or too many infomercials or any single factor as the sole reason for a station's slow, steady decline -- it a combination of factors. I believe it's still possible to retain an audience on the aging and outdated AM band. Rebuilding an audience is another matter.
 
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