Question about News/Talk 850 WFTL

[B Lewis]

Hi All! I am in North Carolina (originally from FLA)...I wanted to listen to Mike Savage and my local talk FM's stream was down this evening, so I stumbled across WFTL. After about 30 minutes, I was quite impressed with how smooth the station transitions between network and local segments. There seems to be a fair amount of business on the station and I like their imaging.

Bear in mind, I have only been listening a short amount of time(about an hour at this point). I decided to look at the 12+ Arbs on radio-info...and WHOOOAAA! Wow...they are way on down there. In fact, WFTL and WIOD, both conservative talkers do not have exactly impressive ratings. On the other hand, the NPR station is the top rated talk station in the market.

Being from the region, I realize the majority of talk listeners probably sway more to the left than here in NC (OK...the understatement of the century). However, I am just wondering...what is the deal with WFTL.

Given the short amount of time I have listened...I can say the quality doesn't match the ratings.

Just Curious About This...but, thankful I can hear 'The Savage Nation' on their stream!!

 

[FLjack2]

Do yourself a big favor and listen to the station's morning show. You'll get a better idea why they do so poorly in the ratings. They are inconsistent and change their on-air programming on a whim. Plus, they do ZERO to promote the station.

Also, the station has an excellent signal during the day, but at night, it barely gets into the market. They do better in their home market, which is West Palm Beach-Boca Raton

DAY http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WFTL&service=AM&status=L&hours=D
NIGHT http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WFTL&service=AM&status=L&hours=N

WIOD, pretty much the only other talk station in the market, should get better ratings. They have ALL the heavy hitters of talk. Rush, Beck, Hannity. I'm not sure why they dont do better.

 

[smedge2006]

Being from the region, I realize the majority of talk listeners probably sway more to the left than here in NC (OK...the understatement of the century). However, I am just wondering...what is the deal with WFTL.

You hit the nail on the head! South Florida talk radio historically leaned left until the consolidation-syndication era. Neil Rogers beat Rush Limbaugh handily in the ratings in the 90's, before Bud Paxson gave him an involuntary six-month vacation. Conservative talk is still a poor fit for SoFlo. There's barely enough 35+ audience for ONE conservative station, much less two. For all the uncompensated campaigning she did for Allen West, Joyce Kaufman has hardly helped WFTL to any extent.

 

[FLjack2]

You'll know when the next PPM book comes out for November. Remember, all the publicity for the station and Joyce happened in November. I predict a very slight increase in WPB and in MIA. But by December, it will be all gone and they will be back to .2 or .3

 

[DXDXDX]

I'm surprised! I thought the Great Russ Morley blew into town on a West Virginia wind to save radio in South Florida! And isn't the staff such a happy and full of teamwork group just because of his presence? Surely you must be joking!

 

[Mike Sheridan]

I'm surprised! I thought the Great Russ Morley blew into town on a West Virginia wind to save radio in South Florida! And isn't the staff such a happy and full of teamwork group just because of his presence? Surely you must be joking!

Ooooh biting sarcasm! You must have worked with him, or at least heard the stories.

 

[deolost14]

The new Russ Morley-less morning show...wow, like a 25 to 30 year time warp. Makes me think of Craig Worthington and Mike Renieri. Its way...too "old." Too much about what happened in the past.

As for Joyce. As Dolly Parton said in the pretty decent radio flick, Straight Talk. Jump down off the cross, someone needs the wood. The whole, "why does everybody hate me, why is everybody picking on me" banter is brutal. Three hours a day for three weeks of talking about herself, her problems....geeze.

 

[DXDXDX]

I just found a March 2010 piece on the net where Tom Jicha asks him five questions...the usual fluff stuff. Tom missed the most important question, #6..."Russ, why have you alienated most everybody you've worked with?"

Hell, maybe he'll have the guts to come here and tell us how wrong we are about him!

 

[DXDXDX]

Oh yes, have you noticed the Joyce Cowfff-mann website of her trying to make it with x-rated still pictures is gone?

 

[FLjack2]

That photo, which was really more "R" rated, has been off her site for several years.

 

[gordonlee]

WIOD, pretty much the only other talk station in the market, should get better ratings. They have ALL the heavy hitters of talk. Rush, Beck, Hannity. I'm not sure why they dont do better.

Look at the demographics of the area, especially Miami-Dade. It's largely latino.

Spanish talk does very well down here.

 

[FLjack2]

I would agree with you, but how do you explain how the top 5 stations in Miami in the new PPM world (6+) are all English speaking? If you go by cume, the top 7 rated stations are all English speaking. So the "latino" argument doesn't fly in this case.

The programming on WIOD and WFTL sucks. Public radio's WLRN has better numbers than the commercial talk stations!

 

[jmtillery]

The programming on WIOD and WFTL sucks. Public radio's WLRN has better numbers than the commercial talk stations!

Other than any programming issues that may exist, another challenge that WFTL has is coverage. Although AM 850 has an impressive 50kw signal, it still is not a full market station covering all of Miami-Dade. For all practical purposes WFTL is a West Palm Beach radio station that covers Fort Lauderdale and portions of North Miami.

 

[tanner]

What station does WFTL protect with their null over South Dade?

 

[jmtillery]

I can tell you it protects WRUF-AM 850 (5kw-U; DA-N) Gainesville, Florida to the North, but I have no idea which station WFTL is protecting to the South. It may possibly be a station in Cuba or South America. I'm sure David Eduardo will know. Maybe he will chime in and give us the lowdown.

 

[cd637299]

I'm not David, but there *was* an 850 in Jamaica, albeit a station no more than about 25 years old.....not sure if it's still on. There is a Radio Reloj outlet in Cuba on 850 as well, but I'm not sure if any US station actually protects Cuba anymore, as Cuba hasn't returned the favor since about 1961.

cd

 

[FLjack2]

I know there is also an 850 in Puerto Rico.

http://www.waba850.com/

 

[davideduardo]

I can tell you it protects WRUF-AM 850 (5kw-U; DA-N) Gainesville, Florida to the North, but I have no idea which station WFTL is protecting to the South. It may possibly be a station in Cuba or South America. I'm sure David Eduardo will know. Maybe he will chime in and give us the lowdown.

The US still protects Cuban notifications, even if they are not active, under terms of the ITU. That means they are protecting CMGB Trinidad and CMJB Mayarí Arriba for groundwave signals.

The deep null in the modified CP application is at about 125 degrees, which the FCC ruled exceeds Cuban station overlap and requires the ITU to consent.

Many of the Cuban notifications ceased to exist, had location and power changed, etc., but the FCC works off of existing notifications and not reality here.

 

[davideduardo]

I can tell you it protects WRUF-AM 850 (5kw-U; DA-N) Gainesville, Florida to the North, but I have no idea which station WFTL is protecting to the South. It may possibly be a station in Cuba or South America. I'm sure David Eduardo will know. Maybe he will chime in and give us the lowdown.

The US still protects Cuban notifications, even if they are not active, under terms of the ITU. That means they are protecting CMGB Trinidad and CMJB Mayarí Arriba for groundwave signals.

The deep null in the modified CP application is at about 125 degrees, which the FCC ruled exceeds Cuban station overlap and requires the ITU to consent.

Many of the Cuban notifications ceased to exist, had location and power changed, etc., but the FCC works off of existing notifications and not reality here.

Further checking reveals that Trinidad is still on the air, but the other has moved to Nueva Verona (WRTVH 2010) and there are two stations in the Dominican Republic, which the US protects under the remnants of NARBA. Neither seems to be the issue with the nulls, though.

 

[davideduardo]

I'm not David, but there *was* an 850 in Jamaica, albeit a station no more than about 25 years old.....not sure if it's still on. There is a Radio Reloj outlet in Cuba on 850 as well, but I'm not sure if any US station actually protects Cuba anymore, as Cuba hasn't returned the favor since about 1961.

cd

It appears that there may be no Jamaican AMs left. Radio Jamaica Rediffusion silenced their 6 AMs recently (They now say RJR means Real Jamaican Radio) and nothing else is listed. It's all FM.