This is 1210's moment. Either they can get serious about cementing themselves as the leading talk station in the market, or they can do as they always seem to do and lollygag and do nothing remarkable. They are the among the least inspired talk stations in the CBS family. I DID hear a rumor of an internal shakeup the other day -- maybe they're up to something, but I'll believe it when I see it.
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Merlin Media sold news-talk 106.9
- Thread starter RADIOR
- Start date
I would tend to disagree with Julius May as Limbaugh and Hannity are liabilities not assets. It's all about satisfying advertisers and both incite more consternation than approval.
Both are well known but are viewed generally speaking unfavorably.
If 1210 wants syndicated political talkers they have a wide array of choices that are viewed more favorably.
With their local line-up they allow themselves more favorable opportunities for advertising too. You're not going to do a live remote with Limbaugh.
Limbaugh could come back to 1210 but Clear Channel will have to buy the time.
Both are well known but are viewed generally speaking unfavorably.
If 1210 wants syndicated political talkers they have a wide array of choices that are viewed more favorably.
With their local line-up they allow themselves more favorable opportunities for advertising too. You're not going to do a live remote with Limbaugh.
Limbaugh could come back to 1210 but Clear Channel will have to buy the time.
F
FredLeonard
Guest
josh said:
The axis has shifted. Premiere will wake up and realize they can't get stations to pay through the nose for Rush as stations realize Rush is no longer giving them a good return on that money. If Premiere wants to keep Rush going, they will end up paying stations to clear the show. Maybe not to the extent of buying time and running Rush as a brokered show but by giving stations more avails and something like network compensation.
Re: Reality Check
Failure? In the last book WPHT was just barely under WWIQ and at a much lower price.
"Failure" in ratings, but a success in billing.
This is why Rush will never come back to WPHT unless Premiere literally gives it away or pays for its time. CBS is making more money with lower numbers without Rush because (a) there's no carriage fees, and (b) they can actually sell ad time in their local shows while it's all but impossible to sell Rush nowadays.
TheBigA said:
Failure? In the last book WPHT was just barely under WWIQ and at a much lower price.
"Failure" in ratings, but a success in billing.
This is why Rush will never come back to WPHT unless Premiere literally gives it away or pays for its time. CBS is making more money with lower numbers without Rush because (a) there's no carriage fees, and (b) they can actually sell ad time in their local shows while it's all but impossible to sell Rush nowadays.
Re: Reality Check
Compared to the ratings the station got with Rush, I'd call it a failure. My sense is that some of Rush's audience couldn't find the show when it moved. Because it did better at PHT.
Yes, sales of Rush at PHT will be a challenge. But most stations just do local sales for Rush. So they shouldn't see a loss. I don't expect Premiere to pay for the time, but they'll deal to get the clear. As said earlier, they'll forego Hannity and Beck to get Rush on. They do it in other markets. My sense is that CBS already knew this a while ago, since they were in the hunt for WWIQ.
Pab Sungenis said:
Compared to the ratings the station got with Rush, I'd call it a failure. My sense is that some of Rush's audience couldn't find the show when it moved. Because it did better at PHT.
Yes, sales of Rush at PHT will be a challenge. But most stations just do local sales for Rush. So they shouldn't see a loss. I don't expect Premiere to pay for the time, but they'll deal to get the clear. As said earlier, they'll forego Hannity and Beck to get Rush on. They do it in other markets. My sense is that CBS already knew this a while ago, since they were in the hunt for WWIQ.
Re: Reality Check
Care to cite a source supporting your conjecture about the billing numbers?
Limbaugh acts like a billboard for any station he's on. When he was pulled off 1210 by Premiere, all of 1210's ratings went down, not just some slots.
His presence bolsters the entire station even if some advertisers have 'no controversy' restrictions, which apply to most political talk shows, not Limbaugh exclusively.
Premiere will negotiate a price that PHT will be willing to pay to get their promotional vehicle back in place. Premiere will not be paying PHT.
Pab Sungenis said:
Care to cite a source supporting your conjecture about the billing numbers?
Limbaugh acts like a billboard for any station he's on. When he was pulled off 1210 by Premiere, all of 1210's ratings went down, not just some slots.
His presence bolsters the entire station even if some advertisers have 'no controversy' restrictions, which apply to most political talk shows, not Limbaugh exclusively.
Premiere will negotiate a price that PHT will be willing to pay to get their promotional vehicle back in place. Premiere will not be paying PHT.
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FredLeonard
Guest
Re: Reality Check
When Rush left WPHT, his ratings also went down. His drawing power is not what it was. And his polarity has reversed with advertisers; he repels them.
Do you have any sources to cite or are you just drinking Dittohead Kool-Aid (laced with Oxy).
Fatso is circling the bowl.
musichead1029 said:
When Rush left WPHT, his ratings also went down. His drawing power is not what it was. And his polarity has reversed with advertisers; he repels them.
Do you have any sources to cite or are you just drinking Dittohead Kool-Aid (laced with Oxy).
Fatso is circling the bowl.
We've gone over this topic up and down, right and left and back and forth. It's been fun but the reality is Limbaugh, Hannity and company may be without a radio home in Philly.
We're not going to change what is to happen. Fred and I, along with a few others believe they're done for good as far as the FM dial goes. We also agree that 1210 has absolutely no intention of rocking what seems to be a stable apple cart of local and for the most part positive programming. We believe that 1210 will not pay a dime for Limbaugh and company. Would 1210 consider bringing back the Mean Guys? If they came in as a brokered program it could be possible but they would have to pay quite a lot as it will hurt the station's demographics which tend to be younger and more in tune with what advertisers are looking for. Maybe a 9 PM - 12 AM would work or possibly overnight would be better and less of a liability.
I don't know when the sale will go through but we should know in a few months how all of this plays out.
As I mentioned in a previous post, my guess is that WFYL-AM Philly picks them up and maybe WSNJ-AM in New Jersey but in both cases, Premiere will have to give the respective stations the right to air the program free of charge or pay a reasonable monthly brokering fee. If not, I don't think anyone will pick them up as they are too much of a liability.
We're not going to change what is to happen. Fred and I, along with a few others believe they're done for good as far as the FM dial goes. We also agree that 1210 has absolutely no intention of rocking what seems to be a stable apple cart of local and for the most part positive programming. We believe that 1210 will not pay a dime for Limbaugh and company. Would 1210 consider bringing back the Mean Guys? If they came in as a brokered program it could be possible but they would have to pay quite a lot as it will hurt the station's demographics which tend to be younger and more in tune with what advertisers are looking for. Maybe a 9 PM - 12 AM would work or possibly overnight would be better and less of a liability.
I don't know when the sale will go through but we should know in a few months how all of this plays out.
As I mentioned in a previous post, my guess is that WFYL-AM Philly picks them up and maybe WSNJ-AM in New Jersey but in both cases, Premiere will have to give the respective stations the right to air the program free of charge or pay a reasonable monthly brokering fee. If not, I don't think anyone will pick them up as they are too much of a liability.
josh said:We've gone over this topic up and down, right and left and back and forth. It's been fun but the reality is Limbaugh, Hannity and company may be without a radio home in Philly.
We're not going to change what is to happen. Fred and I, along with a few others believe they're done for good as far as the FM dial goes. We also agree that 1210 has absolutely no intention of rocking what seems to be a stable apple cart of local and for the most part positive programming. We believe that 1210 will not pay a dime for Limbaugh and company. Would 1210 consider bringing back the Mean Guys? If they came in as a brokered program it could be possible but they would have to pay quite a lot as it will hurt the station's demographics which tend to be younger and more in tune with what advertisers are looking for. Maybe a 9 PM - 12 AM would work or possibly overnight would be better and less of a liability.
I don't know when the sale will go through but we should know in a few months how all of this plays out.
As I mentioned in a previous post, my guess is that WFYL-AM Philly picks them up and maybe WSNJ-AM in New Jersey but in both cases, Premiere will have to give the respective stations the right to air the program free of charge or pay a reasonable monthly brokering fee. If not, I don't think anyone will pick them up as they are too much of a liability.
I gotta think CBS is thinking about putting Rush on 1210, and maybe clearing the Sean Hannity show on non-Phillies evenings. It would be pretty embarrassing to lose in the ratings to the rimshotter or local lightbulb that ends up clearing the shows. In any case, 1210 has to do something to upgrade their rather bland talk programming. The station is becoming invisible. Stigall is dull, Dom is tired, and Dick Morris doesn't even belong on the air. 1210 needs juice.
The shows you mentioned do have one thing in common. They are very palatable and they allow for real discussion without attacking the callers. People are changing and want real discourse without feeling they are going to be yelled at.
If one had the opportunity to go out to lunch with Dom versus Hannity/Limbaugh who would you choose? If you wanted a cordial lunch Dom is your man. You would have to watch what you say around Hannity/Limbaugh because it doesn't take much to set them off.
Listeners are changing and want the hosts to be respectful. Sure Hannity and Limbaugh give a program more juice but at the expense of anyone that opposes them. They are just too mean spirited.
If one had the opportunity to go out to lunch with Dom versus Hannity/Limbaugh who would you choose? If you wanted a cordial lunch Dom is your man. You would have to watch what you say around Hannity/Limbaugh because it doesn't take much to set them off.
Listeners are changing and want the hosts to be respectful. Sure Hannity and Limbaugh give a program more juice but at the expense of anyone that opposes them. They are just too mean spirited.
Mike said:
Likely not -- I haven't seen a sale move that quick -- Typically in most cases EMF does not start programming until the FCC approves the sale (this can take a few weeks to many months) ... Though an LMA is always possible. We'll see.
I'm a Republican, and I can't believe had bad the Sean Hannity show has become. He puts this black caller Velma on and I change the station. He keeps playing this tape of Alec Baldwin on WPHT. He is such a broken record. He is always talking about who is going to be on his TV show that night. I definately think he will not be on Philly. I know there a lot of Rush haters, but he somehow is always interesting, that is his strength, and thats why the left hates him so much.
Anyway... Merlin is officially turning a loss on the station. They are losing about $2M on the signal, not including the staff that was fired, nor the price for Limbaugh/Hannity/ect.
WPHT adding Limbaugh would not allow them to fire any hosts to offset the cost, unless they also brought back Hannity. The way the schedule works, they now have 3 4-hour shows, and with Limbaugh they'd still need a host 3-6 and 2 hosts for 6a to noon, so, still 3 local shows. Maybe cutting these shows by an hour reduces their salaries, but maybe not. We're not privvy to the contracts. Assuming not, if Limbaugh wouldn't move the needle, why pay extra for him?
But do we know he wouldn't move the needle? Is there any market in America where the highest rated commercial political talk station doesn't carry Limbaugh?
But do we know he wouldn't move the needle? Is there any market in America where the highest rated commercial political talk station doesn't carry Limbaugh?
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