New Talk Station

[PGB]

Word has it that Sunny 104.5-FM will flip some of its' programming to talk ... with a female focus ... starting on or around July 31st.

Clear Channel, who runs Sunny, will air Whoopi Goldberg in the AM drive slot with Dr. Laura on sometime during the day. CC also airs Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and George Norry on WPHT 1210-AM. I said last fall/winter that two or more of those shows might be flipped to an FM talker but as of right now they are not included.

Rollye James who had her show ...

more - www.phillytalk.com

 

[wprt949]

Any info on the name of the New station???

 

[Jul]

Why is 104.5 FM doing this?

 

[fred flintstone]

Don't count on it yet!

It's not a done deal. The original post is speculation.

PGB (former RI Member Surf) is knowledgeable about and well connected to the biz, so it is informed speculation but still not confirmed fact. The original article on his own website (which he appears to be trying to promote here) includes a question mark at the end of the headline.

The rest of his article on his site offers the OPINION that Rollye James SHOULD be included if Sunny does move toward fem talk and repeats the item - already posted here by Julius - that Rollye's website has promised an announcement the Philly listeners "are guaranteed to like."

Traffic has dropped off dramatically on PGB's once very interesting site as an apparent result of the purportedly heavy-handed and arbitrary "editing" of PGB's associate, Scott Tilde (former RI Member Dave Clarity) who appears quick to delete posts which don't jibe with his strongly-held views. It is interesting the PGB has returned to this board after a very long absence.

The possibility of talk programming on a Clear Channel FM has been long discussed here. The move to fem talk makes sense, but radio managers don't always do what makes sense. A hodge-podge format of Fem Talk, Ken doll John Tesh, and AC-Jammin' Oldies (or whatever their playlist is this week) does not make sense. Listeners already don't know what to expect from Sunny; this would make it even worse.

 

[PGB]

A few thoughts

Yes, speculation, informed speculation. Can't say who the original source was but it was somebody pretty high up in the industry.

The Rollye part is vague for a reason and yes Julius posted her cryptic message before. Julius is a good resource ... his time off did him good. (good moderation perhaps?)

Traffic and my activity
1 - Traffic on the forum is up. 15k+ in the last month including private forums. I don't need more to feed an ego. Sitewide traffic, even without updates, is also up ... lately. It was down for a good year or so. I doubt anything will match the heyday of when DB was talk or after 9/11 when I got 27,000 hits in one day. Frankly I don't need the headache.
2 - My focus is not so much on talk radio. I have other projects running on the same account.
3 - I was inactive for a long time yes. My wife had a heart attack (freak defect in one artery - she was always fit and trim) and my attention was elsewhere. The Net is the last thing on my list of things to do now. Fortunately for us she's back to good health.
4 - Fair criticism on the moderating. Nobody is perfect but they/we/I try. It's a work in progress. I probably screw up more than anybody, feel free to email me any concerns.
5 - I'm not nearly as connected to what's going on due to my wife and the fact that Philly had one big stick talk station. My attention went to other things as local radio people clammed up.
6- Ultimately I have to ask myself "Does this item interest me?" If so I'll spend time on it but more often than not certain radio people are distasteful to deal with.
7 - I was asked by a regular here why I don't post here. I didn't feel like I had anything to offer but she persisted ... so I posted. If the teaser interests people ... fine. If not ... fine. I'm one of the few people out there posting that genuinely is interested in promoting radio and the poor souls working in it but with NO interest in taking one of their jobs.

 

[Kyle D]

Don't know if Sunny is going talk, but from what I'm hearing, it won't happen until next year at the earliest.

On the same front, I don't think Rollye will be there if it does happen sooner. I don't think I've seen this on any of the boards yet, but here's Rollye's big news for Philly area listeners. She's replacing Phil Hendrie on WGY.

http://albany.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2006/06/12/daily23.html


Kyle DeWitt
Executive Producer
"The Radio Racket"
www.radioracket.com
e-mail: [email protected]

 

[fred flintstone]

Surf, sorry to hear about your wife. Glad she is feeling better.

I don't visit your site regularly as I once did and I haven't checked Alexa but I don't see the kind of posting activity you once had. I am glad to hear you are working on moderating issues. I stopped contributing largely because of one individual with his own axes to grind and his own double standard on what's appropriate but also because there are so many moderators all independent - some of whom don't show up that often - but any one of them with a delete button. It started to feel like running a gauntlet. And there was the in-out aspect: some posters were in "the club" and their posts were sacrosant; and the rest of us were fair game for any one of them. I think the new management here made a wise decision in taking moderators out of the discussions they were moderating. I did send an email a while back, but possibly that was during your period of inactivity related to the site.

I had not made the connection but Phil Hendrie's departure may be an opening for Rollye. Unfortunately, the field of syndicated shows in late night is pretty crowded (even without Hendrie - now also without his sitcom gig).

 

[fred flintstone]

Inquirer weighs in

Mikey Klein picks up the story, as well:

Strong rumblings on the street say that Sunny (WSNI-FM, 104.5) will reshape its lineup to one of female-oriented talk, with some light-rock music shows thrown in. The syndicated John Tesch - now heard 5 to 8 a.m. - would be be part of a lineup that would include Whoopi Goldberg (whose national morning talk show premieres July 31), Philly-based national talker Rollye James (now heard on XM Satellite Radio); and "Dr. Laura" Schlessinger (who hasn't been heard in Philly in some time). The start date is uncertain, but Goldberg's July 31 date might be key. A WSNI exec did not return my call.

 

[Jul]

Re: Inquirer weighs in

Mikey Klein picks up the story, as well:

Strong rumblings on the street say that Sunny (WSNI-FM, 104.5) will reshape its lineup to one of female-oriented talk, with some light-rock music shows thrown in. The syndicated John Tesch - now heard 5 to 8 a.m. - would be be part of a lineup that would include Whoopi Goldberg (whose national morning talk show premieres July 31), Philly-based national talker Rollye James (now heard on XM Satellite Radio); and "Dr. Laura" Schlessinger (who hasn't been heard in Philly in some time). The start date is uncertain, but Goldberg's July 31 date might be key. A WSNI exec did not return my call.

From today's Daily News:

As if there isn't enough mindless chatter already on the radio, PhillyTalk.com reports that Sunny 104.5 FM may flip its format to a female-focused talk station near the end of July (perhaps GYNO 104.5 "The Big Complainer").

More info: http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/14858285.htm

 

[tommygraser]

what they should do is put 50's and 60's oldies on 104.5 and put all talk on 106.1

 

[PGB]

I wouldn't want to be left standing under the windows of PHT's sales offices if some of this comes to pass. Especially if the minor rumor of Sid Mark sounding good on FM was even a remote possibility but his contract expires at the wrong time for this.

Now you can add to the hazard zone the parking lot of WNTP if this next one is true.

104.5 heavily lobbying The Laura Ingraham Show (on WNTP 990-AM) for 9-noon slot. That leaves most likely Gallagher moving from late night replays .... or .... maybe a local host?

Revised lineup would be
Goldberg 5-9
Ingraham 9-12
Dr. Laura 12-3
(insert next buzz item here - stay tuned) - 3-6
Delilah or Tesh evenings or mix.

 

[Jul]

From http://www.rollye.net :

So it seems I've stirred up a lot of conversation with my mention last week that Philadelphians would have a way to hear me soon. I would have said more, but I always defer to the radio stations that carry my show about making such announcements.

To read the rest, go to the link.

 

[Rockin Rob]

104.5 heavily lobbying The Laura Ingraham Show (on WNTP 990-AM) for 9-noon slot.

Revised lineup would be
Goldberg 5-9
Ingraham 9-12
Dr. Laura 12-3
(insert next buzz item here - stay tuned) - 3-6
Delilah or Tesh evenings or mix.

It would probably be Tesh since, I believe, Delilah has a deal with B101. Or, just stick with the jukebox in the off hours. But, why wouldn't they just go full-blown talk or modern full service?

 

[fred flintstone]

An earlier post from someone who said he was on the inside at Salem said WNTP runs Gallagher during overnights to protect WNPV and WILM. Currently, WILM carries only one hour of Gallagher on delay in the afternoon. WNPV splits the afternoon with two hours of Gallagher on delay and two hours of Clark Howard.

If TRN pulls Ingraham (which could be a good move for the show), WNPV especially is out in the cold. Even they are allowed to continue with Gallagher, they will be running a show already aired in the market. Most likely move: Take all of Clark Howard live 1 to 4 pm. Gallagher's brand of hard core political talk never really fit in there anyway. WNTP does not get into Wilmington well, but losing Gallagher (some would say no great loss) could give Premiere a chance to slot Dr. Dean Edell in the one-hour slot after Rush. Or they could try out an hour of Glenn Beck (The Big Talker doesn't get into Wilmington that well either) to see how he plays in Delaware; with a possible eye toward replacing John Watson.

It is too bad Rollye won't be heard locally after all this talk show musical chairs. Even though WGY 810AM's skywave does get into the Delaware Valley pretty well much of the time, it's still not like being carried locally (and only radio geeks are going to listen).

 

[WTUX]

50's and 60's on 104.5 and talk on 106.1. You're joking, right?

 

[jayedwards]

It's only a matter of time----smooth jazz is a dying format!

 

[fred flintstone]

Nachman Picks Up Rollye To Sunny Story

BradyResidence.com

With Whoopi Goldberg’s new Clear Channel radio show set to debut July 31st, radio observers are saying that Philly’s Sunny 104.5-FM, a Clear Channel station, may change its format to include Goldberg and other female-friendly personalities such as “Dr. Laura” and Rollye James, formerly of WWDB 96.5-FM.

Goldberg’s resume includes broadway, movies (an Academy Award for "Ghost"), a television game show (“Hollywood Squares”), a television talk show, a television science fiction show (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”), a couple of sitcoms (“Baghdad Café” and “Whoopi”), and stand-up comedy. I guess the reality show should be next.

If Sunny is planning to pick up Rollye, she probably couldn't say anything right now. Maybe Nachman also has some inside dish.

 

[Jul]

From today's Inquirer

WSNI-FM (104.5) program director Brian Check says he knows of no plans to add female-oriented talk to the lineup of the station known as Sunny. In Tuesday's column, I wrote about industry rumblings pointing to a change in direction, keyed to the July 31 launch of Whoopi Goldberg's talk show.

From Today's Daily News:

As a follow-up to Tuesday's item about Sunny 104.5 possibly switching to girl-talk radio (think of it as "The View" with no view), PhillyTalk.com reports the station is trying to lureLaura Ingraham (the human Ann Coulter) away from WNTP 990-AM.

http://www.phillytalk.com says the lineup could be Whoopi Goldberg in morning drive time, Ingraham from 9 a.m. until noon, Dr. Laura from noon to 3 p.m. and a woman to be named later for afternoon drive.

 

[Jul]

Re: Nachman Picks Up Rollye To Sunny Story

BradyResidence.com

With Whoopi Goldberg’s new Clear Channel radio show set to debut July 31st, radio observers are saying that Philly’s Sunny 104.5-FM, a Clear Channel station, may change its format to include Goldberg and other female-friendly personalities such as “Dr. Laura” and Rollye James, formerly of WWDB 96.5-FM.

Goldberg’s resume includes broadway, movies (an Academy Award for "Ghost"), a television game show (“Hollywood Squares”), a television talk show, a television science fiction show (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”), a couple of sitcoms (“Baghdad Café” and “Whoopi”), and stand-up comedy. I guess the reality show should be next.

If Sunny is planning to pick up Rollye, she probably couldn't say anything right now. Maybe Nachman also has some inside dish.

From http://www.rollye.net posted 6/21 :

So it seems I've stirred up a lot of conversation with my mention last week that Philadelphians would have a way to hear me soon. I would have said more, but I always defer to the radio stations that carry my show about making such announcements.

To read the rest, go to the link.
[/quote]

 

[wprt949]

that means nothing Julius