No More Real Talk 1160

[DJJack1]

I've exceeded my free reads with the Enquirer so I don't have all the scoop, but Kiese is reporting that RealTalk ceases to exist after tonight...off the air until the new format debuts February 1st.

Meanwhile, as of today I have THREE stations whose sole purpose for being on the air is to tell me who won the game last night.

Sigh.

You gave it a good try, jry and for that I thank you.

 

[wjf82]

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/tv/2013/01/02/no-more-real-talk-1160/

Not going off the air until after the Notre Dame football game on Monday. They are airing syndicated content in the meantime. All local on-air staff were fired (Wildman Walker, Jeff Piecoro, TC, etc).

They had the rights to NKU basketball also.

 

[microbob]

I'm sure Jry would've liked to been successful in the crowded market of talk radio and I think it was a given that 1160 would have to switch to another format. I'm hoping things work out for him and his staff here in town.

 

[Logic Al]

I'm trying to figure out how he "gave it a good try." Both morning shows were awful, then second-rate syndicated shows followed by two sports-talk shows with hosts who are woefully unprepared and were when they had past runs at doing shows. Thrown in next to no promotion. That's a "good try"?

 

[MTHBSTR]

Al I have to disagree with you, except for the point of the morning show. Dean was terrible. Deters actually had some numbers and I heard he brought some revenue with him. Wildman and Piecoro were getting better, but it is extremely tough to compete against WLW, WKRC, WCKY, and WSAI. 1160 was competing with all four of those stations. I saw billboards all over town. Can't say there was no promotion.
Could there be another LMA in the works? Oldies returning? Religion? Standards? Polka? Radio Disney?

 

[microbob]

I'm betting on brokered programming.

 

[jry]

Al I have to disagree with you, except for the point of the morning show. Dean was terrible. Deters actually had some numbers and I heard he brought some revenue with him. Wildman and Piecoro were getting better, but it is extremely tough to compete against WLW, WKRC, WCKY, and WSAI. 1160 was competing with all four of those stations. I saw billboards all over town. Can't say there was no promotion.
Could there be another LMA in the works? Oldies returning? Religion? Standards? Polka? Radio Disney?

We were well in excess of 150 K in Billboards as well as other outside deals. Sucks. No one wanted a win more than me. I agonized for about 2 months on this.
Maybe i should have taken Imus a couple of years ago when they offered him to me. I thought that the cancer would make his show, short term and didn't want any turnover. BTW, i hated having to let these people go. We like our staff to be with us a long time. I liked these people. TC Sommers is top notch. They don't get much better than him, in my book.
I think the problem started when we lost Ramsey. Getting Savage was good then, he split. Ingraham was the last straw. The theft situation didn't help us much, either.
I knew that when 100.3 was announced, they'd be picking our bones. Frankly, the market is probably over "talk'd" and over "sports'd".
We'll announce things shortly.

 

[Logic Al]

You are competing with nothing at SAI and one show at CKY that was local. As for billboads I confess that I live in Northern Kentucky and work downtown and didn't see a single one on this (usually forgotten) side of the river.

 

[jry]

You are competing with nothing at SAI and one show at CKY that was local. As for billboads I confess that I live in Northern Kentucky and work downtown and didn't see a single one on this (usually forgotten) side of the river.

We specifically bought boards in NKY. Along 42 in Florence or Union and some other places.

If the stations are doing talk or sports talk, we were competing with them. Regardless of local or syndicated.

 

[radioville]

You are competing with nothing at SAI and one show at CKY that was local. As for billboads I confess that I live in Northern Kentucky and work downtown and didn't see a single one on this (usually forgotten) side of the river.

We specifically bought boards in NKY. Along 42 in Florence or Union and some other places.

If the stations are doing talk or sports talk, we were competing with them. Regardless of local or syndicated.

I love how hard you guys tried. Does this go to show that no matter how big a personality was on a popular station that the ratings won't follow to a less popular station?

 

[microbob]

Why go dark after Jan 7th? I would rather hear anything other than nothing for 3 weeks.

 

[MikeStandardsFromIndiana]

You are competing with nothing at SAI and one show at CKY that was local. As for billboads I confess that I live in Northern Kentucky and work downtown and didn't see a single one on this (usually forgotten) side of the river.

by your logic then they are competing with 1 show as well at CFN & KRC. DJO had 3 local shows on its own

the only station that is total local is LW

 

[Bizman]

Sorry to hear things didn't work out jry. I know you tried really hard to make a go of it here. As you know, and like it has been said on this board before, AM radio is difficult at best and a station with lower power has a hard time of making it. Hate to hear you are going dark. Hope you continue to run the station and not lease it out. Your programming was a nice addition to the market and I enjoyed listening. Eager to hear your plans.

Best of luck to you and your family.

 

[NoWayNoCC]

Well we've proven right-wing talk doesn't work anymore.

 

[jry]

You are competing with nothing at SAI and one show at CKY that was local. As for billboads I confess that I live in Northern Kentucky and work downtown and didn't see a single one on this (usually forgotten) side of the river.

We specifically bought boards in NKY. Along 42 in Florence or Union and some other places.

If the stations are doing talk or sports talk, we were competing with them. Regardless of local or syndicated.

30 some years ago, at the start of my paid broadcast career, someone told me that its hard to change listening habits. He was right. I have done a lot of startups. Many are still in format. Nonetheless, this was a tough one.
I love how hard you guys tried. Does this go to show that no matter how big a personality was on a popular station that the ratings won't follow to a less popular station?

 

[Logic Al]

You are competing with nothing at SAI and one show at CKY that was local. As for billboads I confess that I live in Northern Kentucky and work downtown and didn't see a single one on this (usually forgotten) side of the river.

by your logic then they are competing with 1 show as well at CFN & KRC. DJO had 3 local shows on its own

the only station that is total local is LW

That's my point. They aren't exactly competiting against much other than WLW. Sometimes it takes a little time to change those habits. WBOB was a start-up and it worked; Homer was a start-up on 1360 and it has worked. Both of those stations put a lot of promotional muscle and talent behind making them work.

 

[jry]

Sorry to hear things didn't work out jry. I know you tried really hard to make a go of it here. As you know, and like it has been said on this board before, AM radio is difficult at best and a station with lower power has a hard time of making it. Hate to hear you are going dark. Hope you continue to run the station and not lease it out. Your programming was a nice addition to the market and I enjoyed listening. Eager to hear your plans.

Best of luck to you and your family.

Thanks for the kind thoughts. AM has never been a problem for us. We're mostly an AM group and Cincy is a good AM market.
I hate leasing out stations. We'll be back up on 2/1/12. Who knows, maybe a little sooner.
There are a lot of great people here and in the market. We've got no plans of leaving.
I will tell you that some of the programs that you hear on 1160, during the weekends, will be back with us on 2/1/12...

 

[jry]

You are competing with nothing at SAI and one show at CKY that was local. As for billboads I confess that I live in Northern Kentucky and work downtown and didn't see a single one on this (usually forgotten) side of the river.

by your logic then they are competing with 1 show as well at CFN & KRC. DJO had 3 local shows on its own

the only station that is total local is LW

That's my point. They aren't exactly competiting against much other than WLW. Sometimes it takes a little time to change those habits. WBOB was a start-up and it worked; Homer was a start-up on 1360 and it has worked. Both of those stations put a lot of promotional muscle and talent behind making them work.

Good points, Al. How do you define a little time? The landscape is a little different since WBOB was around. As a talker, under Salems ownership, WBOB had low numbers and was hemorrhaging A LOT of dough. We had some great national names and, as mentioned before, spent lots of money on outdoor media. We also did some limited TV spots and roving boards. We did the remotes and all. Even fixed the ground system.... well, put one in as there were a lot of bare spots. Maybe we should have kept the talk format in 06 and just refined it a bit. Who knows. This was a first, as in, the first time we've had to abandon a format. That is the way it goes. The good news is that our News/Talk station in Lexington is doing very well with no local voices at all. Maybe that is where i blew it.
This was a firs

 

[MTHBSTR]

Al, WBOB was doing that 1160-BOB format as a loss leader. Chancellor wanted the Bengals and needed an AM sports talk station to get them. On its own, it lost money. Paired with B105 it was a Bengals combo.
It's one thing to have a good station, its another to make money with it.

 

[microbob]

WBOB was also bought by Clear Channel who merged the format with Homer 1360. The old WBOB was all live and local until 7pm then it had syndicated shows. Salem bought the signal then switched it to ESPN 1160 and then went to Salem Talk network. ESPN 1160 flopped because of all the local shows were dropped and the loss of The Bengals. There was also the fact Salem only wanted 1160 so that they could upgrade its Chicago station on 1160.