• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Story of the year

K

KeyTimes950

Given that we may have seen more changes in the last 12-18 months than anyone could have predicted in a decade, never mind just this brief period of time in Pittsburgh radio, my question to one and all is, what do you think is the story of the year in the market?

I'll make the question a little easier: Give me three stories you think would rate as the top radio developments in the market this year.

I'll suggest three right off the bat ...

(1) Sports radio in transition. KDKA-FM signs on as 93.7 The Fan and snatches Pitt's sports; WEAE-AM prepares to sign off as ESPN 1250.

(2) Clear Channel's ongoing purges, from Ellis Cannon's contract expiring at WPGB-104.7 to Jim Merkel's departure from WWSW-94.5.

(3) The strange case of WZUM. A station that made history is about to become history (unless some white knight is willing to risk his shirt).
 
If you count WAMO/WAOB as a 2010 development (106.7 returned to the air in February), I think that
trumps all others ... although the mercy killing of B-94 (again!) and their conversion to 93.7 The Fan is
also a big story, resulting in the end of 1250 as a sports station.

C.
 
Top 3 stories for me:

1. B94 gets killed and flips to 93.7 The Fan
2. WAMO/WAOB, Pittsburgh's only hip-hop station gets killed for Religious programming
3. 1250 AM flips for Radio Disney... which IMO means they're giving up and letting CBS win ::)
 
gimmus said:
The sale of WAMO and the station on that freq now.
Click to expand...

I'm inclined to agree. I mean, when you consider what that station was, and what it is
today, whoda thunk it?

Maybe WAMO was not economically viable. We can certainly debate that proposition
all day long. But it has been replaced by perhaps the least economically viable format
in radio history, and it doesn't matter!

Predicting this would sort have been like walking into a British betting parlor on
New Years Day, 2000 and putting a few bob on the proposition that Arnold Schwarznegger
would be Governor of California before the decade was out. You likely could have bought
yourself a Caribbean island and retired to it with your proceeds.

I have a feeling that the New Years Day flip of the legendary 1250 frequency to
Radio Disney will have this award cornered next year.
 
cingram said:
If you count WAMO/WAOB as a 2010 development (106.7 returned to the air in February), I think that
trumps all others ... although the mercy killing of B-94 (again!) and their conversion to 93.7 The Fan is
also a big story, resulting in the end of 1250 as a sports station.

C.
Click to expand...

I actually count WAMO/WAOB as a 2010 development, to a point. The fact that this pair of Catholic families could come up with $8.9 million, then with the resources to go on the air with what accurately can be called one of the least economically viable formats in history, is certainly part of something else about the old year: The rising success or at least rising availability of religious formats on terrestrial radio. WPKV rises in the Arbitrons as a K-Love affiliate, even to where Keymarket is willing to expand its signal, while the untimely death of an Armstrong County broadcaster leads to new religious stations in Hollidaysburg, Kittanning and perhaps Barnesboro. (No, that isn't Pittsburgh-market, but one of the sales was to the owner of two Beaver County stations, who then LMA'd it out to a New York State-based religious network.) In that respect, I would say WAOB's emergence trumps the others, in conjunction at least with K-Love's rise in the Pittsburgh market.
 
Is religious programming really not economically viable?

I ask this because when I worked in the bible belt, it was not uncommon for my program director to tell me that no matter what, we could NOT upset our religious sponsors.

At the time the station was experimenting with increasing their sports format, but dropped some play-by-play contracts they had of professional teams.

I was told that the reason was because it would interfere with the religous programming on Sunday, which was usually sold for something like $37 for a half hour on Sundays.

Now, I've always believed this was a unique circumstance of location, as well as radio salesmen who had no idea how to sell anything sports related. It also goes down the line of thinking in small town radio that it's easier to sell Little League baseball games rather than professional ones because the salesmen can go to all the parents of the Little Leaguers and say "You want your son's games on the radio, don't you?"

And yes, I realize how small minded that thinking is.

But back here on Planet Earth, I have to wonder- if I'm a business, and I want to have a quality reputation as a moral business that won't cheat their customers, would I not want to advertise with a religious station if all things were equal (price, ratings, etc.)?

I've even heard local resturaunts advertise as the place to go to Sunday Dinner after church, for instance.

Why, therefore, would a station that would cater to an audience that is often is an affluent and loyal not have potential sponsorship?
 
Pratte4Life said:
Is religious programming really not economically viable?
Click to expand...

Religious programming in general is some of the most profitable content you can carry.

WAOB is an entirely different story, I doubt that it's even a business as far as the owners are concerned.
 
Nos. 1 and 2 are legitimate. No. 3 matters to about 10 people, all of whom post on this board.


KeyTimes950 said:
Given that we may have seen more changes in the last 12-18 months than anyone could have predicted in a decade, never mind just this brief period of time in Pittsburgh radio, my question to one and all is, what do you think is the story of the year in the market?

I'll make the question a little easier: Give me three stories you think would rate as the top radio developments in the market this year.

I'll suggest three right off the bat ...

(1) Sports radio in transition. KDKA-FM signs on as 93.7 The Fan and snatches Pitt's sports; WEAE-AM prepares to sign off as ESPN 1250.

(2) Clear Channel's ongoing purges, from Ellis Cannon's contract expiring at WPGB-104.7 to Jim Merkel's departure from WWSW-94.5.

(3) The strange case of WZUM. A station that made history is about to become history (unless some white knight is willing to risk his shirt).
Click to expand...
 
#1 by far in my opinion!

And I love you guys on WZUM. That station can be turned back on for about a hundred bucks! Somebody do it for God's sake.
 
Parttimer said:
Pratte4Life said:
Is religious programming really not economically viable?
Click to expand...

Religious programming in general is some of the most profitable content you can carry.

WAOB is an entirely different story, I doubt that it's even a business as far as the owners are concerned.
Click to expand...

Back in the fifties WPIT-AM had a better return on investment than KDKA. Religious broadcasters sent in their tapes along with a check. The CR operator played the tapes and the money rolled in. When they got their power increase to 5KW things got even better. However, the golden days are gone.

When I was at WWVA the station was billing over a million per year with religious pgms between 7PM and midnight. Not anymore.
 
The Salem model for a ministry-based station is still very profitable. The heyday may be over for some, but the bigger broadcast ministries are still paying the bills.

Of course, there are then spots sold to air between the block time the ministries buy. Rates and ratings have never been much of an issue, because that's not what motivates an affinity buyer.

Outside of the local talk shows, pretty much every second of time on a Salem station is sold to someone.
 
Speaking of WPIT and Salem, I see that they have yanked Dr. Laura in favor of Dennis Prager.
Not willing to give her a month of airtime to promote Sirius, I presume.
 
Pratte4Life said:
I ask this because when I worked in the bible belt, it was not uncommon for my program director to tell me that no matter what, we could NOT upset our religious sponsors.
Click to expand...

That's the case north of the Mason/Dixon line too, Pratte. Even today. It's our bread-and-butter on our two AMs that make up for the rest of the weekend being a throw-away, minus ball games.
 
hypwr said:
Parttimer said:
Pratte4Life said:
Is religious programming really not economically viable?
Click to expand...

Religious programming in general is some of the most profitable content you can carry.

WAOB is an entirely different story, I doubt that it's even a business as far as the owners are concerned.
Click to expand...

WEDO still keeps its lights on with their Catholic programming weekday mornings.

Back in the fifties WPIT-AM had a better return on investment than KDKA. Religious broadcasters sent in their tapes along with a check. The CR operator played the tapes and the money rolled in. When they got their power increase to 5KW things got even better. However, the golden days are gone.

When I was at WWVA the station was billing over a million per year with religious pgms between 7PM and midnight. Not anymore.
Click to expand...
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom