Some AM Talk Powerhouses Are Getting Awful Ratings

[Gregg.]

During the holiday season, most Talk stations see their numbers drop a bit. If there's an FM station in the same market playing Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and The Carpenters for a month, it hurts the Talk station usually. But even saying that, it seems Talk stations that are primarily on AM frequencies only, are sinking further out of contention.

Here are some major AM stations that were once #1, or were certainly one of the leaders in their markets. Most are now far from the top slot in their local ratings.

WCCO Minneapolis #12

KDKA Pittsburgh #13 (has an FM translator)

WOAI San Antonio #13

WLAC Nashville #17 (has an FM translator)

WBT Charlotte #10 (has a Class A FM simulcast)

WBAL Baltimore #10 (has an FM translator)

KMOX St. Louis #9

KOA Denver #16

WIOD Miami #23

WJR Detroit #15

WFLA Tampa #17 tie

WPHT Philadelphia #24

KSFO San Francisco #15 tie
KGO San Francisco #32

But how about one AM Talk station that is still doing well: WLW Cincinnati #1

 

[Marcos_C]

There's also WGN Chicago, which is tied for #12. I remember WGN being number one with double-digit ratings during the 1980s.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

It is worth noting that many of the stations listed above offer significant local programming, especially in drive time, and aren't hard-line conservative talk all day. KMOX doesn't air any syndicated programs weekdays except "Our American Stories" at 2am and "America in the Morning" at 4am.

In fact, the programming model for WGN, KMOX and WLW are pretty similar, except WGN doesn't have baseball in the summer.

Why are WLW and KFI relatively successful (in 6+ at least) but WGN and KMOX are struggling? I think it's largely because they have long-time established hosts, while the others have had a lot of turnover through the years -- less people who started listening every day in 1998 and still tune in. Additionally, I think building programming on AM these days is a fool's errand without significant off-station advertising. The number of people who idly scan the AM dial these days is likely very low.

It is likely that all of the above perform poorly in the key demos.

 

[fybush]

If you were a WLW or WGN listener who "started listening every day" in 1998 and you were 30 then, you're 55 now. That's still OK for the 6+ or 12+ vanity ratings, but there's an underlying demographic rot that's only going to get worse.

That's basically the KGO story in a nutshell.

 

[Larry]

I think it hurt WPHT (Philly) when they decided to only broadcast Phillies games on FM. For a period they were being broadcast on both all sports WIP FM and talk WPHT AM. Not airing them on AM not only took away ratings bounce the games provided but also took away the baseball radio audience hearing promo spots for other WPHT programming.

 

[Mikey Radio]

There's also WGN Chicago, which is tied for #12. I remember WGN being number one with double-digit ratings during the 1980s.

Why are WLW and KFI relatively successful (in 6+ at least) but WGN and KMOX are struggling? I think it's largely because they have long-time established hosts, while the others have had a lot of turnover through the years -- less people who started listening every day in 1998 and still tune in. Additionally, I think building programming on AM these days is a fool's errand without significant off-station advertising. The number of people who idly scan the AM dial these days is likely very low.

Similar to KDKA in Pittsburgh (with an FM translator). It was once the ratings leader there, but again it was a different time and era, with live and local hosts 24/7 whenever they weren't carrying sporting events, and some hosts were very popular, had been there for decades and their names were synonymous with the city.

The last time I passed near Pittsburgh on a weekday a few years ago, I tuned into KDKA. The stuff the host was talking about was no different than any host in any city in the USA could've been chatting about. Nothing about that program was uniquely Pittsburgh at all. 10 pm. to 4:30 a.m. which could sometimes be the most interesting to listen to back in the day, is now syndicated national programming.

 

[davideduardo]

If you were a WLW or WGN listener who "started listening every day" in 1998 and you were 30 then, you're 55 now. That's still OK for the 6+ or 12+ vanity ratings, but there's an underlying demographic rot that's only going to get worse.

That's basically the KGO story in a nutshell.

When I was programming KTNQ in LA in the later 90's, I considered KGO a model and even asked my staff to listen to specific hosts on either recordings or live from late afternoon on. After I left KTNQ, I continued to check KGO often through the earlier years of the 00's, I found that the station had become stuck in about 1998. The production, the topics, the overall style of the station did not move forward. In particular, the hosts seemed to be talking to the same people and not being, via topics, welcoming to new arrivals.