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WHP and an all-news format.....

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danwxman

I know WHYL 960 tried several years ago with a talk format and failed (though they really didn't promote themselves at all, and the signal sucks in half the market).

Since AM is more or less a dying band, it's probably too late for it to happen these days.

But I have often thought if someone tried a more news oriented station it could probably do well in the Harrisburg market. All-News tends to do well in larger cities and seats of government... I tend to think it could do well here. Say for example if 720 (waste of a signal, IMO) was purchased... or if perhaps 960 WHYL and 940 WADV could both be purchased and simulcast... would it be even be worth it? Perhaps even CC could run "WHP News/Traffic/Weather" on 1460?

Any thoughts?
 
I agree in some respects, and it probably only merits a daytime signal. Some people will remember WKBO Headline News, a simulcast of CNN Headline News back in the late 90s. It must have done OK in ratings, as WHP attempted to adopt the format (modified) when Dame Media took over WHP-AM/FM. One important issue is keeping a local news aspect to it (perhaps simulcast news from a TV outlet, like WLPA does (did?) with News8 from 6-7am). That would take numbers away from WHP, especially in morning drive and afternoon drive.

There is also a lot of popular syndicated stuff out there that is missing from this (cheap) market. Where is "The Wall Street Journal This Morning"? Or "America in the Morning", or Bloomburg Morning News? Instead, we need 2 hours (not one) of "Sportscenter AM" on 1400.
 
epmark said:
I agree in some respects, and it probably only merits a daytime signal. Some people will remember WKBO Headline News, a simulcast of CNN Headline News back in the late 90s. It must have done OK in ratings, as WHP attempted to adopt the format (modified) when Dame Media took over WHP-AM/FM. One important issue is keeping a local news aspect to it (perhaps simulcast news from a TV outlet, like WLPA does (did?) with News8 from 6-7am). That would take numbers away from WHP, especially in morning drive and afternoon drive.

There is also a lot of popular syndicated stuff out there that is missing from this (cheap) market. Where is "The Wall Street Journal This Morning"? Or "America in the Morning", or Bloomburg Morning News? Instead, we need 2 hours (not one) of "Sportscenter AM" on 1400.
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1400 is an All Sports station. And since it has the ESPN brand, it's not the one that's going to change.
 
ESPN 1400 isn't going anywhere, it's the only sports station that is actually getting ratings.

1460 WTKT is a failure, plain and simple. Let's say CC turns 1460 into an all-news station but giving it the WHP (in name only of course) name for news/traffic/weather. Cross promote both... sure WHP may be hurt a little bit but couldn't CC market the two stations together in a package to advertisers?
 
News is expensive to produce, and Cheap Channel will never expand it. Face-it, the News8 tie-in
is simply to make 580 news "sound bigger". In exchange, News8 gets a teaser for their next newscast. I'm not saying the few newspeople that work at CC aren't dedicated, it's just that listeners (not hooked to an iPod) need more than a soundbite. How about simulcasting a News8 edition (to start)?
 
Newsradio 1070 WKOK

It can be done....probably not cheap. Look at the program schedule at wkok.com and listen online.
A LOT of long-form local news and interviews intertwined with long and short-form syndication and talk. If it can be done is Sunbury, it could be done in Harrisburg with a little sweat and creativity. It also says something when there's not one Radio PA affiliate in Dauphin County!
 
Radio PA is a joke. Most people don't care about "State" news, in any state. They only care when something affects them, like a tax increase or layoff. That's why radio PA couldn't be run as a profit center. Truly compelling and profitable all news radio, like #1 rated WTOP in D.C. simply can't be done on the cheap.That's why it is only in major markets. Running CNN Headline or AP is just filler for a tertiary AM signal.
 
Re: Radio PA and all-news formats

I realize Radio PA is the commercial side of WITF's radio operations, but is one reason why RPA isn't in Dauphin County WITF itself? Just wondering, 200 miles west of where any of this is going on.

As for all-news, is a possible reason why it hasn't worked in the state capitol the presence 100 miles away of KYW? (Alongside the fact that Clear Channel seems to be Harrisburg radio's 900-pound gorilla?)

Finally, if you think 720 is a wasted frequency, multiply that by five or six and you have the state of a large chunk of Pittsburgh AM radio these days. But what do I know?
 
Re: Radio PA and all-news formats

KeyTimes950 said:
I realize Radio PA is the commercial side of WITF's radio operations, but is one reason why RPA isn't in Dauphin County WITF itself? Just wondering, 200 miles west of where any of this is going on.
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Maybe I'm not understanding what you meant to write here, but RPA is in Swatara Township, Dauphin County, about 10-minutes from the state capitol. What do you mean "200 miles west of where any of this is going on?"
 
You misunderstood my post. I was commenting on the fellow who wondered why Radio Pennsylvania did not have a commercial affiliate in Dauphin County. My thought was, perhaps because of WITF itself, the network does not see a need for a Harrisburg area affiliate. I'm well aware of WITF and its roots in Harrisburg and Hershey and the network's roots there. My "200 miles" comment was about where I live, in the Pittsburgh area.
 
KeyTimes950 said:
You misunderstood my post. I was commenting on the fellow who wondered why Radio Pennsylvania did not have a commercial affiliate in Dauphin County. My thought was, perhaps because of WITF itself, the network does not see a need for a Harrisburg area affiliate. I'm well aware of WITF and its roots in Harrisburg and Hershey and the network's roots there. My "200 miles" comment was about where I live, in the Pittsburgh area.
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Well, trust me, RadioPA has tried for years to get a Harrisburg affiliate, specifically WHP. It's not RadioPA that doesn't want it, it's the Harrisburg stations. They don't see a need for RadioPA.
 
Why would anyone want to change WHP?

They have a fairly big audience, most likely bigger then any other AM station in the area. Durgin, like him or not, is a huge draw. RJ in the morning also seems to have a large following too. And with Beck, Rush and so, you can't ask for better News/Talk format....

Ok, I wish they carried Kim Komando live and not canned...

I've given up on the inane repetitive crap on 105.7...they carry on a joke way to long. Not sure what I'd listen too if 580 changed it's stripes.
 
bossjock 56 said:
They have a big enough signal that there is no real rush to find an FM to simulcast WHP's programming.
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I've thought about this as well. With all the AM News/Talk stations moving to FM these days, I would say it's very unlikely WHP will be making that move anytime soon.

However, I wouldn't rule out them grabbing an FM translator for the Carlisle/Mechanicsburg area, where the signal sucks at night (due to WHP's signal which goes directional to the SE after sunset)
 
You guys either hate conservative talk radio OR you're consultants looking for your next gig. WHP is KING of the AM thing, end of story. They deliver enough bits and pieces of the doom and gloom in Central PA. I don't think we need to be lambasted around the clock with a 24 hour news station. You can only hear a story of a shooting in the Burg or York or Lancaster so many times before you want to pull the Samurai sword and commit harry carey. How about a corrupt politician. That's unique. A school board that wants to suck more money from you. That's nothing new. Another road rage incident. It happens and people expect it. You give me 3 minutes of soundbites, and if it's something I want to know more about, I'll dig up the information on the internet or turn to FOX news. KYW did a nice job because they cover Philly plus some of the happenings in the State Capitol. There's a lot of stuff going on in Philly, Jersey, Delaware. In Central PA you could keep the stories the same on a weekly basis and just change the names. Cover Harrisburg/York/Lancaster area...we have ourselves a snooze-fest. ;D
 
89birddawg said:
You guys either hate conservative talk radio OR you're consultants looking for your next gig. WHP is KING of the AM thing, end of story. They deliver enough bits and pieces of the doom and gloom in Central PA. I don't think we need to be lambasted around the clock with a 24 hour news station. You can only hear a story of a shooting in the Burg or York or Lancaster so many times before you want to pull the Samurai sword and commit harry carey. How about a corrupt politician. That's unique. A school board that wants to suck more money from you. That's nothing new. Another road rage incident. It happens and people expect it. You give me 3 minutes of soundbites, and if it's something I want to know more about, I'll dig up the information on the internet or turn to FOX news. KYW did a nice job because they cover Philly plus some of the happenings in the State Capitol. There's a lot of stuff going on in Philly, Jersey, Delaware. In Central PA you could keep the stories the same on a weekly basis and just change the names. Cover Harrisburg/York/Lancaster area...we have ourselves a snooze-fest. ;D
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To the contrary, this is a pretty news worthy area in my opinion. Especially with the state capitol and all the shenanigans that go on there.
 
Here's the short course in the economics of all news radio:

To make money, you need a large pool of potential listeners. People don't listen long. TSL (time spent listening) is lower for all news than other formats (including talk). "You give us 22 minutes and we'll give you the world." So you need a lot of people (cume) checking in for 22 minutes (give or take) - two, three, four times a day - to get decent average quarter hour shares.

Cost is not the issue. NBC, CNN and AP have tried (and discontinued) services for all news radio stations which brought the cost of the format way down. But an affordable programming cost still can't make up for low cume AND low TSL equaling low ad revenue. Now that those services are not around, the cost for a station in a medium market like Harrisburg is no longer affordable. And if you cut costs too much you end up with a poor on-air product and nobody wants to listen any way.
 
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