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WHAT WOULD PREVENT WOR FROM BECOMING A CLONE OF CC"S CROWN JEWEL ON AM KFI?
- Thread starter jk111
- Start date
It could, but does CC want to spend the money for local talent? I think not.
qwerty809 said:
There are a number of other AMs and FMs with just-as-good coverage of the LA radio market.
And, while LA has several AM signals capable of covering the bulk of the market day and night... it's simply than none of the other AMs that have full coverage has ever tried to do a good talk format. KFI won in part because it took on a signal-challenged talk competitor and, after many years, finally won.
WOR has some signal advantages over signals like WFAN, WCBS and WABC in that it wastes less signal over areas outside the ratings market yet has a much more powerful lobe over the boroughs. And it covers the entire MSA pretty much as well as anyone.
Remember, the directional on WOR was designed to put the power where the people were... New York and Philadelphia. 30's ads for WOR in publications like Broadcasting show it promoting its coverage of both markets!
B
Bob1370
Guest
What will prevent WOR from emulating KFI?
Not good business sense--that would be just what they SHOULD do, since such a strategy could push WOR well past WABC into not only format dominance, but leadership on the AM band in the market, and competitive parity with most FMs other than WLTW and WCBS-FM.
What will stop it is the billions in debt CC ran up over the years since the 90s, as they were expanding under the assumption that all those hundreds of stations would generate far more revenue than they did, and far more profit. They're running their stations on the cheap because that's all they can afford to do. They only bought WOR (at a deep discount) because they knew Cumulus was going to dump some of Premiere's most important talk franchises from the New York market in the interest of improving WABC's profitability. Make no mistake, they'd run KFI on the cheap as well if their market managers hadn't succeeded in convincing the brass in San Antonio that it would cost more on the bottom line than it would save.
Not good business sense--that would be just what they SHOULD do, since such a strategy could push WOR well past WABC into not only format dominance, but leadership on the AM band in the market, and competitive parity with most FMs other than WLTW and WCBS-FM.
What will stop it is the billions in debt CC ran up over the years since the 90s, as they were expanding under the assumption that all those hundreds of stations would generate far more revenue than they did, and far more profit. They're running their stations on the cheap because that's all they can afford to do. They only bought WOR (at a deep discount) because they knew Cumulus was going to dump some of Premiere's most important talk franchises from the New York market in the interest of improving WABC's profitability. Make no mistake, they'd run KFI on the cheap as well if their market managers hadn't succeeded in convincing the brass in San Antonio that it would cost more on the bottom line than it would save.
Clear Channel has no fear of spending money IF there's a chance to make it back. You can look at several heritage talkers they own, such as WLW, to see they have no problem paying her local talent. I expect they will be local for mornings and afternoons. The question in WHO will they hire?
CC has several talk stations that provide an outstanding amount of local programming. WLW, WHO, KFAB, WISN, WTAM, WLW, KEX, KOGO, KKSF, KFYI, WOAI, KOA, WIOD and KFI all provide at least a local morning and afternoon show.
WOR would get a significant boost if it had a SOLID local and national lineup. They need to fill the local hours with a 3 or 4 hour show, not the 2-hour blocks they have been in the past. Clear Channel could steal Rush off of WABC, they could gain a much larger audience in that timeslot. I definitely think that Limbaugh could gain a larger audience than Joan Hamburg, Mike Huckabee, and Dennis Prager.
WOR also needs a solid afternoon show. KFI's John & Ken have been a staple at KFI for 15 years. If they could hire a duo to do a show, it would definitely help them improve their standings. However, CC might look to save less money by syndicating its own Michael Berry or Joe Pags to the NY market.
WOR would get a significant boost if it had a SOLID local and national lineup. They need to fill the local hours with a 3 or 4 hour show, not the 2-hour blocks they have been in the past. Clear Channel could steal Rush off of WABC, they could gain a much larger audience in that timeslot. I definitely think that Limbaugh could gain a larger audience than Joan Hamburg, Mike Huckabee, and Dennis Prager.
WOR also needs a solid afternoon show. KFI's John & Ken have been a staple at KFI for 15 years. If they could hire a duo to do a show, it would definitely help them improve their standings. However, CC might look to save less money by syndicating its own Michael Berry or Joe Pags to the NY market.
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