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WPHT AM 1210 at a 2.2 in June 2014 PPM's

J

Jul

Guest
Since the NYC board has its own thread about WABC ratings in the June PPM, I decided to do the same about WPHT. Our major talk station is still doing poorly in the PPM's. WPHT ranked 17th in the June 2014 12+ ratings. They are 20th in cume, lost 5500 listeners. If you were CBS, do you finally decide to make major, major changes to the station, revamp the talk format by adding new shows and hosts and dropping other shows entirely or perhaps a change to a new format? What do you do with WPHT, because the station as it is, needs to change.
 
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Well, so much for no more posts from Julius about WPHT.

What was said in the WABC thread applies here: The only format that gets money demo listeners on AM is sports talk and CBS has already moved it to FM.

Blow it up. Sell it to some preacher. Know when to quit.
 
FredLeonard said:
What was said in the WABC thread applies here: The only format that gets money demo listeners on AM is sports talk and CBS has already moved it to FM.

Blow it up. Sell it to some preacher. Know when to quit.
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I would not object for CBS having a 3rd sports station in town, I would move CBS Sports radio to 1210 WPHT. It would be a big boost for the radio network to be heard in 38 states and Canada at night.
 
It's on WFAN, which has a better nighttime DX signal plus 480 affiliates. No boost.

Just out of curiosity, which sports talk network would you have them put on 610? NBC? Fox? Turnkey, computer in a closet sports talk gets zilch numbers already. Two times zilch is zilch.
 
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FredLeonard said:
It's on WFAN, which has a better nighttime DX signal plus 480 affiliates. No boost.

Just out of curiosity, which sports talk network would you have them put on 610? NBC? Fox? Turnkey, computer in a closet sports talk gets zilch numbers already. Two times zilch is zilch.
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bring back the 94 WIP simulcast on 610 WIP.
 
Jul said:
I would not object for CBS having a 3rd sports station in town, I would move CBS Sports radio to 1210 WPHT. It would be a big boost for the radio network to be heard in 38 states and Canada at night.
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It would not be a boost at all as, except for play by play, radio sales is mostly a 6 AM to 7 PM proposition.

And with all the stations on 1210 now, both domestic and foreign, WPHT is lucky to be heard well in a dozen states at night. Add in all the new interference from stations on 1200 and 1220 and the night signal "advantage" neither gets listeners nor revenue no matter what it programs.
 
Julius: Small Market Guy is correct. I'm trying to think of a more tactful way to put it and I can't.

CBS Sports Radio has been getting a .1 share for the past three months. WPHT is getting 2.2. Not good but better than .1. Last month more than 10 times as many people listened to 1210 as listened to syndicated sports talk on 610. Julius, if I give you a one dollar bill, will you give me a ten in change?

Apparently you are one of those people who think "we must to do something; this is something so we must do this."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politician's_syllogism
 
FredLeonard said:
Julius: Small Market Guy is correct. I'm trying to think of a more tactful way to put it and I can't.

CBS Sports Radio has been getting a .1 share for the past three months. WPHT is getting 2.2. Not good but better than .1. Last month more than 10 times as many people listened to 1210 as listened to syndicated sports talk on 610. Julius, if I give you a one dollar bill, will you give me a ten in change?

Apparently you are one of those people who think "we must to do something; this is something so we must do this."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politician's_syllogism
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Yeah I know the ratings for CBS Sports Radio is bad, but it would save CBS a ton of money, dropping talk . CBS is wasting a ton of money with 1210 with the current format that isn't getting good ratings. I think we can all agree that changes needs to be made with 1210, the problem is, how to go about it.
 
There is no viable alternative on AM. AM is 8-track. AM is Beta. AM is the horse and buggy. You can milk what's left of spoken word and some ethnic/brokered formats on a local, or hybrid local/national, level, but whatever future there is of the band, and for however long that is, rests with cheaply delivered national content around the clock.

In that context, there isn't much of a rationale for CBS to do much with 1210. Sports is covered (and no, running another national sports feed isn't a viable alternative). Music would be worse than the current status. They can bank on the hard-core listeners they have for the time being, and as political fortunes rise and fall, there will be a (small) ripple effects along the way. But this level is about what can be expected from ideological talk. Swapping one host for another doesn't change that calculus.
 
Julius, you are right that the local-live shows are a waste of money. They might as well go syndicated all day. A computer in a closet makes more business sense.
 
This station is getting worst by the day, now CTCAM is being preemptied every night. It comes on at 3am and at times 4am, then they have the gaul to pre-empty it for some infomercials from 4am to 5am. This has been going on the last few weeks. So you have the friggen Phillies on 94.1 and 1210, why the hell are they on both channels, is this friggen city so sports crazy, or do the out of touch suits think sports is the way, just because some consultant says so. Both FM sports stations are losing ground, what gives. WWVA and some other out of market stations are the only way to hear CTCAM if you dont have internet. Small market AM signals air it 7 nights a week and a large market like this one can even get it right. Bad enough nobody caries Ground Zero now its sports non-stop, last night after the game 1210 kept the 94.1 feed on until 3am then put Hannity on.
 
hangman said:
This station is getting worst by the day, now CTCAM is being preemptied every night. It comes on at 3am and at times 4am, then they have the gaul to pre-empty it for some infomercials from 4am to 5am. This has been going on the last few weeks. So you have the friggen Phillies on 94.1 and 1210, why the hell are they on both channels, is this friggen city so sports crazy, or do the out of touch suits think sports is the way, just because some consultant says so. Both FM sports stations are losing ground, what gives. WWVA and some other out of market stations are the only way to hear CTCAM if you dont have internet. Small market AM signals air it 7 nights a week and a large market like this one can even get it right. Bad enough nobody caries Ground Zero now its sports non-stop, last night after the game 1210 kept the 94.1 feed on until 3am then put Hannity on.
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Terrible. Please contact Andy Bloom and Marc Rayfield about this and Coast to Coast AM. Something needs to be done about this. Ether 1210 carries Coast to Coast AM for all 4 hours, 7 nights a week, or drop the show entirely.
 
A 2.2 for a talk station isn't all that bad. WABC had a 1.3, WOR had a 1.5, WLS in Chicago is around a 1.5, KABC in LA has a .5, so in comparison,WPHT is doing well. Obviously, they are not going all sports. Too much competition now with three sports stations and WFAN booming in. There really isn't much they can do. I do find Dick Morris' program very bland. He is probably the weak link in their lineup
 
benale said:
A 2.2 for a talk station isn't all that bad. WABC had a 1.3, WOR had a 1.5, WLS in Chicago is around a 1.5, KABC in LA has a .5, so in comparison,WPHT is doing well.
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Good point. It's not just 1210 in Philly. This is happening to political talk all over.
 
I hate to continue discussion of WPHT- but I'm just wondering what other formats besides news, or sports could work? What happened to getting creative? I guarantee theres some sort of format that could really work and actually freshen up the drab AM stations in philly. Try a hybrid of classic rock/ 80's hits with some 90's alternative thrown in. Add some really interesting small- time talk shows about legitimate important news and for good measure you can have hannity or rush in for our friendly conservatives. Look, I know music isn't always meant to be on the AM, but what else are we gonna do? I'm sick of hearing sports on 1210 idea. No- you want sports? Check 610, 660, 97.5, 94.1 and at night we also can also throw in 700, 1000, 1500, 1520, 1530. Plenty of outlets for sports. Now think about, if PHT switched to this rock, 80's, 90's small talk format, I'll betcha people will start listening. OGL can use some competition. Also, for our DX'er friends, hearing good music on a blowtorch station will be a much needed change.

It's risky, but if I could make CBS do this, I would certainly be willing to run PHT and put my format to the test. The moral- Radio owners need to get creative. There's more to life than just Syndicated talk, Non- stop news and Sports.
 
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