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NEED HELP WITH FM TALK LINEUP

Being the third conservative talk station in a market, even if you're on an FM signal, is not an automatic road to success. There was buzz a year or two ago that the conservative talk format is poised to move to FM. But if you don't have any of the big five conservative talk shows available:

Rush...Beck...Hannity...Savage...Levin

it's not going to work. There are plenty of new FM talk stations that are languishing. Look at KMJ-FM in Fresno. KMJ-AM has amazing numbers with the primary conservative line-up and a good local morning show and news department. But after signing on a talk FM station, KMJ-FM is still one of Fresno's lowest ranking FM signals.

Even though CBS abandoned the hot talk/comedy talk format, maybe you should look into Imus, Bob & Tom, Stehanie Miller (even though she's liberal, she is quite funny). Then in the evening, maybe help shows... Dave Ramsey, Dr. Joy Browne, Dr. Dean Edell, then overnight back to comedy with Phil Hendrie (although I think his act gets tired quickly).

I know of a new FM Sports station in a market that already had ESPN on a decent signal. The new FM sports station is making a lot of money, even though their ratings aren't great. But they happen to have the local university football rights, which is a BIG deal. And even though they have run Fox Sports nights and weekends, they try to make weekdays a mix of local and Fox sports talk. They guy who does has a top rated morning drive show on a co-owned AC FM station comes back at noon for a one-hour sportstalk show on the new FM sports station.

Personally, I'm so tired of right wing talk if I owned an FM station and had no budget I'd go progressive talk, even in a conservative market. Even with the demise of Air America, there are enough syndicated progressive talk shows to fill the whole day. If no one has Imus, I'd start with him. Even though he's moderate, that's fine. Then Stephanie Miller (Dial), Ed Schultz (Dial), Randi Rhodes (Premiere), Thom Hartmann (Dial), Alan Colmes (Fox), then maybe Dr. Joy and/or Clark Howard and/or Jim Bohannan to fill in some evening and overnight hours or weekends. I thnk all three do good shows. Even though they're not progressive talk, they're compatible. Just by being on FM, you'll likely get a younger demo than AM conservative talk, even in a conservative market.


Gregg
[email protected]
 
Just noticed WXXM Madison, an FM progressive talk station owned by Clear Channel. They're #10 in the current ratings.

Yes, Madison is quite liberal, although Wisconsin sometimes votes Republican. And they are a Class A FM signal, 3400 watts on a 410 foot tower.

And I assume there are advertisers that automatically would want their ads on a Progressive Talker... imported cars, wine shops, ethnic restaurants, anything that's good for the environment, natural foods stores, travel industry, etc.
 
the only thing worse than putting third rate conservative talent on your NT, is putting some sh*tty progressive shows on. Look into where the market is weak music wise. In small markets, good AAA stations seem to work
 
Slant said:
the only thing worse than putting third rate conservative talent on your NT, is putting some sh*tty progressive shows on.
Click to expand...

I know this is a hard concept for some people to wrap their mind around, but why did you skip over one choice and fail to even mention or discuss it. Rather than third rate conservative talent, why wouldn't the person who asked the original question consider first-rate progressive programming? Why do you assume his/her only available choice is sh*tty progressive?

Now. This is a guess. I don't have any surveys or experience to prove or disprove the following: To minimize the cost of acquiring or producing enough first-rate progressive programming, mix in segments of compatible music. I have this nagging thought that the listeners of progressive talk are more likely to appreciate the music while listeners of conservative talk would not tolerate music segments as well.
 
I think that Gregg above hit the nail right on the head. Check out this lineup at the latest FM N/T stations; the Northern Michigan simulcast of WSRT-FM/WSRJ-FM-local talk show “Mary in the Morning,” Dial Global’s Stephanie Miller, Dave Ramsey, Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Talk Radio Network’s Jerry Doyle.
 
Mike Schwartz said:
I think that Gregg above hit the nail right on the head. Check out this lineup at the latest FM N/T stations; the Northern Michigan simulcast of WSRT-FM/WSRJ-FM-local talk show “Mary in the Morning,” Dial Global’s Stephanie Miller, Dave Ramsey, Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Talk Radio Network’s Jerry Doyle.
Click to expand...

It will be interesting to see if this line up has legs. I admit that it is interesting and is heavy, in the heart of the line up, with service oriented talk (Ramsey/Dr. Laura)...if this works here you may see others try something similar.
 
There are already two sports talkers in the market (ESPN & FSR), and one of them rarely shows up in the 12+ ratings. Any additional sports programming would be overload.

I am intrigued by the progressive line-up, as I personally enjoy those shows, but if we fail the only thing I will be programming in the future is my iPod. This is a place where businesses still proudly display Sarah Palin life-size cardboard cutouts.

I sincerely appreciate everyone's input. We will proceed with caution on this, as we want to get it right. We don't expect to take the heritage AM out of the # 1 spot, but we still want to be able to pay the bills and make a little profit.
 
RadioAMFM said:
There are already two sports talkers in the market (ESPN & FSR), and one of them rarely shows up in the 12+ ratings. Any additional sports programming would be overload.
Click to expand...
Might not be overload if it's local, or at least somehow different from the satelliters.
 
Gregg said:
Just noticed WXXM Madison, an FM progressive talk station owned by Clear Channel. They're #10 in the current ratings.

Yes, Madison is quite liberal, although Wisconsin sometimes votes Republican. And they are a Class A FM signal, 3400 watts on a 410 foot tower.

And I assume there are advertisers that automatically would want their ads on a Progressive Talker... imported cars, wine shops, ethnic restaurants, anything that's good for the environment, natural foods stores, travel industry, etc.
Click to expand...

I used to listen to Baltimore Ravens games on a liberal talk station (AA affiliate) and the ads were the exact same as you'd hear elsewhere, as far as I could tell. Maybe the sports programming brought different ads than regular liberal programming, but my guess is that liberal listeners aren't all tree-hugging hippies that drive Volvos and don't eat meat. Good ads for respectable businesses would attract people of all political shades.
 
CC in Cinncinati thought they could get all the businesses that advertised in the alternative weekly to advertise on WCKY when it was liberal talk. They didn't. Different animal.
 
The way I see it is,
Your pretty much out of Luck if you want a successful
station in that market if you want to do talk.

You could Try True Oldies or Classic Country.
Or try Hot Talk. Or Local Talk.
 
LibertyNT said:
You could Try True Oldies or Classic Country.
Or try Hot Talk. Or Local Talk.
Click to expand...

Some of us are wanna-bees, retired, career transients or just plain "not too bright".

Someone give me a good definition of HOT TALK. It is distinguised from other talk how?
 
Goat Rodeo Cowboy said:
Some of us are wanna-bees, retired, career transients or just plain "not too bright".

Someone give me a good definition of HOT TALK. It is distinguised from other talk how?
Click to expand...

Oh, I know this one!

It's just the old shock jock format.
 
There is only so much of the listener pie that can be cut up when programming a station to a specific audience (in your case NT listeners). If the market already has two NTs and two sports stations I would say you are pretty much out of luck on the talk front. Regarding progressive stations, they fail because frankly NPR and Pacifica has those listeners covered and do a better job of serving that audience. Like anything else a company sells, make sure there is a demand for your product in YOUR market before pulling the trigger. A talk station with third rate talent will not work in your market. If you can hire local talent and make it a true community based station then you have a shot. Otherwise, I would look for a music format that is a sellable and also fills a void in the market. But what the hell do I know??
 
Slant said:
Regarding progressive stations, they fail because frankly NPR and Pacifica has those listeners covered and do a better job of serving that audience...But what the hell do I know??
Click to expand...

Two stations in North Carolina, not a state you would call a centerpiece for liberalism, give an indication that progressive talk can succeed if the stations are properly developed: Clear Channel's "880 The Revolution" in Asheville and locally owned WCHL in Chapel Hill. Both have carried progressive talkers Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz for more than five years. Neither (fortunately for them) relied much on Air America.

If you were to venture to the left, these would be the hosts to air as trial balloons. And their syndicator, Dial Global, also has hosts on the right to add some variety to the mix.
 
How about Neal Boortz and Clark Howard from Dial Global. Air those two programs live, maybe have a local show in the morning (or Bob and Tom or Rick and Bubba), a local show in the afternoon, and maybe some conservative talk shows at night, such as the Fox radio shows like John Gibson and Tom Sullivan.

You may also want to consider using some of the Salem talk shows like Bill Bennett and Hugh Hewitt. I would not suggest using all of those shows to make a station, but I believe that in a very conservative market like the one you are in would support these shows.
 
The Salem Network shows and Fox News Talk shows would be good choices. You can also look at Talk Radio Network's Laura Ingraham, Jerry Doyle and Rusty Humphries. For overnights, look into Doug McIntyre's Red Eye radio. You can also look at Westwood One's Dennis Miller, Fred Thompson, and Phil Valentine. Clear Channel also has Tampa-based syndicated Todd Schnitt (a.k.a The Schnitt Show) that airs during the same time slot as Hannity. Boston-based syndicated talker Howie Carr also airs during the same time slot.

If you want to go with all brokered talk (primarily live) here's how you can go. Since I don't know what time zone you are in, I'll use EST as a guide.

6-9am Bill Bennett (Salem), Quinn and Rose (CC)
9am-12noon Mike Gallager (Salem), Laura Ingraham (TRN), Brian and The Judge (FNT)
12noon-3pm Dennis Prager (Salem), John Gibson (FNT)
3-6pm Todd Schnitt (CC), Tom Sullivan (FNT), Jerry Doyle (TRN), Howie Carr (Entercom)
6-9pm Hugh Hewitt (Salem), Jason Lewis (Premier/CC), Roger Hedgecock (Radio America)
9pm-12midnight Rusty Humphries (TRN)
1am-5am Doug McIntyre's Red Eye Radio

You can fill in the empty time spots with a brokered show on a delayed basis. Hope this helps.
 
I still think the advice route is better to go than third tier conservative talk. You can get top guys like Clark Howard and Dave Ramsey. Throw in Kim Kommando, Leo Laporte, Cigar Dave and Dr. Dean Edell and you'd have a mighty fine lineup. And I totally agree that Red Eye radio is a good one for overnights. For some reason, I think that show is going to be big.
 
Todd Schnitt may win the award for the worst radio puker I have ever heard. :eek:
 
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