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Should WCCO Go All-News?

G

Gregg

Since the introduction of People Meters into the Minneapolis market, WCCO's ratings have taken a tumble. For decades, the 50,000 watt News-Talk station dominated listening (usually #1 or #2 just behind KQRS). But since the ratings went PPM, WCCO hasn't had the same numbers. You have to admire CBS for continuing to program WCCO with mostly local talk shows. But as others have commented, the demos keep aging.

Would WCCO do better as a CBS all-news station? People Meters have benefited all-news stations in other markets and CBS stations have capitalized on that. I wonder how many listeners in the Twin Cities treat WCCO as an all-news station anyway, tuning in for a news update or a traffic or weather report, then going back to FM for their particular taste in music. The station clearly encourages this thinking by calling itself "News Radio 830 WCCO."

It might be sad to see the talk hosts go, especially with WSTP, a few months ago, also abandoning talk for ESPN Sports Radio. But Minnneapolis still has a good number of talk stations, on both AM and FM.

A few years ago KOMO radio in Seattle, a market similar to Minneapolis, gave up Talk for All-News. They're also co-owned with a major TV news operation in the market, as is WCCO. In Boston, also a market like Minneapolis, WBZ, after 9/11, scaled back its talk shows till it also became an All-News station, except it kept a block of talk shows at night. It does all-news from 5am to 7pm or 8pm seven days a week.

Should WCCO give All-News a try?

Gregg
[email protected]
 
Very few markets have enough audience for all news (which is very expensive). LA can only support one (KNX) (15 million in the demographic if I remember correctly) and San Francisco one (KCBS). New York with two. So it is tough unless there is something happening. And at least WCCO will dump there talk at a moment's notice if something does break.

What WCCO needs to do (see KCBS for example) is get a full FM signal. AM is dying.
 
WBZ added the all-news blocks long before 9/11; in fact, it was the first Gulf War that 'BZ went with all-news all day, and talk at night. That formula still exists to this day... in fact, CBS recently copied it onto KRLD-AM in Dallas.

As for KOMO, they also are simulcast on the FM band via an LMA with a suburban signal.

KNX is the lone all-news station in LA because CBS owned the other one in town (KFWB) which has been placed in an ownership trust ever since CBS bought a second TV station there. KFWB's fate was more a death due to bad programming and attrition.
 
Nathan Obral said:
WBZ added the all-news blocks long before 9/11; in fact, it was the first Gulf War that 'BZ went with all-news all day, and talk at night. That formula still exists to this day... in fact, CBS recently copied it onto KRLD-AM in Dallas.
Click to expand...

The transition to all-news all day was a little lengthier. What happened during the Gulf War in 1991 was the end of music on WBZ. There hadn't been much by then anyway, just a few AC tunes an hour as filler, but the war turned the station into a hybrid news/talker during the day. Peter Meade was still doing mornings then, in the old Dave Maynard role, with Gary LaPierre doing extended newscasts and Gil Santos on sports. Tom Bergeron's split midday shift (10-noon and 1-3 PM) segued from a music show to a talk show at that point. (Tom was already the star of the place even that early in his career; in between his radio shifts he ran across the building to host "People are Talking" on WBZ-TV. We knew he wasn't long for Boston!) There was a noon news hour with Jacquie Goddard and Deb Lawler, an afternoon all-news block with Diane Stern and Anthony Silva, and then talk from 7-mid with Brudnoy followed by music and talk all night with Bob Raleigh.

It wasn't until the fall of 1992 that the last of the daytime talk went away. Meade was phased out of the morning show over that summer. Several would-be anchors tried out, but in the end they moved Deb Lawler from the noon news to co-anchor the morning news with Gary and Gil. Jacquie Goddard became a street reporter, then moved to city hall as Mayor Menino's press secretary. A bunch of former WEEI'ers (Bob Ames, Bill Lawrence, Bob McMahon on the air, plus several editors behind the scenes) all came over after WEEI's 1991 shift from all-news to sports, and by Labor Day they were in place anchoring a new midday all-news block. Some guy named Fybush, fresh out of college, moved over from being a tape op to being the writer for the midday news. Dunno what happened to him. ;)
 
Scott Fybush said:
Nathan Obral said:
WBZ added the all-news blocks long before 9/11; in fact, it was the first Gulf War that 'BZ went with all-news all day, and talk at night. That formula still exists to this day... in fact, CBS recently copied it onto KRLD-AM in Dallas.
Click to expand...

The transition to all-news all day was a little lengthier. What happened during the Gulf War in 1991 was the end of music on WBZ. There hadn't been much by then anyway, just a few AC tunes an hour as filler, but the war turned the station into a hybrid news/talker during the day. Peter Meade was still doing mornings then, in the old Dave Maynard role, with Gary LaPierre doing extended newscasts and Gil Santos on sports. Tom Bergeron's split midday shift (10-noon and 1-3 PM) segued from a music show to a talk show at that point. (Tom was already the star of the place even that early in his career; in between his radio shifts he ran across the building to host "People are Talking" on WBZ-TV. We knew he wasn't long for Boston!) There was a noon news hour with Jacquie Goddard and Deb Lawler, an afternoon all-news block with Diane Stern and Anthony Silva, and then talk from 7-mid with Brudnoy followed by music and talk all night with Bob Raleigh.

It wasn't until the fall of 1992 that the last of the daytime talk went away. Meade was phased out of the morning show over that summer. Several would-be anchors tried out, but in the end they moved Deb Lawler from the noon news to co-anchor the morning news with Gary and Gil. Jacquie Goddard became a street reporter, then moved to city hall as Mayor Menino's press secretary. A bunch of former WEEI'ers (Bob Ames, Bill Lawrence, Bob McMahon on the air, plus several editors behind the scenes) all came over after WEEI's 1991 shift from all-news to sports, and by Labor Day they were in place anchoring a new midday all-news block. Some guy named Fybush, fresh out of college, moved over from being a tape op to being the writer for the midday news. Dunno what happened to him. ;)
Click to expand...

Hey Scott, didn't the switch to all news at WBZ also have a little do with WEEI orignially having been run by CBS?
 
Not at all, Garrett. Remember that CBS had sold WEEI in 1982, and it had been run for its last decade as an all-newser by "Helen Broadcasting," the family that owned Papa Gino's Pizza. The only thing CBS owned in Boston in 1991 was WODS-FM. WBZ, when I started there, was an ABC Information Network and CNN affiliate. We didn't pick up CBS Radio until Westinghouse bought the company, and that was a few years later, when WBZ was already quite well established in the all-news format.
 
An FM simulcast would probably help WCCO, as it has for several News/Talkers in other markets. Problem is, there's no place to put it. The CBS cluster in Minneapolis is relatively small with only 1AM and 2FM signals.

WLTE-FM 102.9 has been A/C forever and does very well. It doesn't make sense to blow it up.
KZJK-FM 104.1 also does well. As "Jack FM" it's low maintenance with low overhead. Doesn't make sense to blow that one up, either.

As far as acquiring additional sticks, most of these opportunities have already been snapped up. All the available move-ins (96.3 and 107.1) have already been done. Clear Channel beat them to the punch in the FM translator game by placing one on top of the IDS in downtown Minneapolis (103.5) and using it to rebroacast Sports Talk competitor KFAN.

So, it looks like WCCO will only be available on AM and the HD channnel of WLTE, at least in the near future.
 
With the departure of ten-year PD Wendy Paulson this week, now might be a good time to revisit this question...
 
Gregg said:
Since the introduction of People Meters into the Minneapolis market, WCCO's ratings have taken a tumble. For decades, the 50,000 watt News-Talk station dominated listening (usually #1 or #2 just behind KQRS). But since the ratings went PPM, WCCO hasn't had the same numbers. You have to admire CBS for continuing to program WCCO with mostly local talk shows. But as others have commented, the demos keep aging.

Would WCCO do better as a CBS all-news station? People Meters have benefited all-news stations in other markets and CBS stations have capitalized on that. I wonder how many listeners in the Twin Cities treat WCCO as an all-news station anyway, tuning in for a news update or a traffic or weather report, then going back to FM for their particular taste in music. The station clearly encourages this thinking by calling itself "News Radio 830 WCCO."

It might be sad to see the talk hosts go, especially with WSTP, a few months ago, also abandoning talk for ESPN Sports Radio. But Minnneapolis still has a good number of talk stations, on both AM and FM.

A few years ago KOMO radio in Seattle, a market similar to Minneapolis, gave up Talk for All-News. They're also co-owned with a major TV news operation in the market, as is WCCO. In Boston, also a market like Minneapolis, WBZ, after 9/11, scaled back its talk shows till it also became an All-News station, except it kept a block of talk shows at night. It does all-news from 5am to 7pm or 8pm seven days a week.

Should WCCO give All-News a try?

Gregg
[email protected]
Click to expand...

Gregg:

KOMO in Seattle did switch to All-news, but in 2010 they've added talk-shows back into the mix from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and have dramatically reduced their news reporting staff. While they still call it 'news radio', it is no longer all-news.
 
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