We should note that Kansas City now has an Alternative battle. 96.5 KRBZ is #6 in the ratings. Now a Jack station, 105.1 KCJK, has also flipped to Alternative. Till now, I believe only LA (KROQ and KYSR) and San Diego (XETRA-FM and KBZT) have competing Alternative stations. So it's true that in some markets, Alternative is an attractive format.
Also WXPN is really a non-commercial Adult Alternative (AAA) station... not really a direct competitor to WRFF.
I'm also sure CBS makes a profit from WPHT. It may have low ratings but it has no debt, since CBS has owned it since the early days of radio. More than half the schedule is syndicated programming. It doesn't need its own news department since I believe Total Traffic does the local news, supported by co-owned KYW. And Talk stations run many more spots per hour than music stations. Plenty of AM Talk stations around the country have ratings similar to WPHT with no fear they'll be sold. They might not make a lot of money but they turn a respectable profit.
Also WXPN is really a non-commercial Adult Alternative (AAA) station... not really a direct competitor to WRFF.
I'm also sure CBS makes a profit from WPHT. It may have low ratings but it has no debt, since CBS has owned it since the early days of radio. More than half the schedule is syndicated programming. It doesn't need its own news department since I believe Total Traffic does the local news, supported by co-owned KYW. And Talk stations run many more spots per hour than music stations. Plenty of AM Talk stations around the country have ratings similar to WPHT with no fear they'll be sold. They might not make a lot of money but they turn a respectable profit.