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Progressive Talk Out of Albuquerque, Podcasts In

G

Gregg.

Albuquerque is a market with a ton of radio stations. But not Progressive Talk anymore. 1350 KABQ, owned by iHeart, has switched to an All-Podcast format, using one hour shows from the iHeartRadio platform. This is similar to something iHeart did in Allentown PA on 1470 WSAN a few months ago. That station had been a ESPN Deportes Network affiliate.

So Stephanie Miller, Thom Hartmann and Rick Unger may have lost a home in Albuquerque, but iHeart did launch a progressive talk on AM 910 KKSF in San Francisco some months ago. You lose one, you gain one. While Albuquerque is a fairly liberal city, San Francisco certainly is as well. And a larger market too. So let's see how KKSF does in the ratings.

If you're in a market like Albany NY or Augusta GA, be careful. Your local iHeart AM station may be next, considering these two stations that became all-Podcast outlets are in cities that begin with an A.
 
I'm not familiar with Rick Unger but KABQ was replaying the Miller and Hartmann programs throughout the day mostly. It appears there is no longer enough live content to fill all the time slots on a progressive talk format unless a station is willing to fill the rest with local programs. KTRC in Santa Fe still has Miller and Hartmann but they do local talk in the afternoon. That station is part of a cluster owned by a local family and also has an FM translator. iHeart has never done much local programming on KABQ. They likely just want some network content to plug in since that 5kW AM station may not be worth much investment. However the podcasts still cover some socially liberal topics. But right now I don't see another station here picking up the Miller or Hartmann shows.
 
I was really disappointed when that happened. I had switched from WPEK, after they flipped to Alt-rock. That station seemed to be destined to be flipped for a while, though. They had a local show that got dropped for syndicated programming, then, they were running Miller, Harttman and Goldman on repeat after the live shows. Then they switched from a strong AM signal (so I heard) to a weaker FM translator and then justified the ultimate flip to 'lack of programming'. I think they just wanted to get liberal talk out what many have referred to as a blue island in the red sea of the south.

Though, podcats aren't necessarily bad, it does kind of take the power away from the listener when it's what you broadcast. Isn't the listener supposed to have control what they want to hear in that format?
 
Did iHeart put its all-podcast format on in Washington DC? There is a station called WASH but it's an FM station playing Adult Contemporary music.
 
Gregg, I had the station wrong. WASH indeed is a music station. The all podcast format is on WONK-FM.

Sorry about that.
 
I've tried listening to WONK-FM. Most podcasts are bad enough by themselves but stringing them together is deadly. Long live LIVE talk radio (I hope.)
 
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