-
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
WPHT shake up
- Thread starter wprt949
- Start date
DToTheJ said:
No, more like early 90s (right before the talk died) WCAU extra lite.
I don't think WCAU at it's more successful (pre the all news debacle) would work today. Where would I look for a new approach? Hint: Not New York. Not Philadelphia.
MattParker said:
BALA CYNWYD!!!
>>No, Grace Blazer is still in Boston (as of Thursday, 11/18 @6:00 pm), making a mess of 969 FM Talk here. It has an impressive signal from atop a skyscraper in mid-town, and even uses promos to announce its reach ("From Newburyport to Southbridge, we're 969 FM Talk"), but it's barely keeping pace with a pathetic AMer (WRKO 680) that's losing its grip more and more every day.
Yes I knew Phil Redo or whatever his name has left and I couldn't remember if she did, too. I do see
their numbers for 6+ and occasionally we hear how they do with 25-54 or 54-to-death or whatever
their more desirable talk radio demos are; not a total disaster but not earthshattering either. They
may make a few bucks, enough to keep Kenny G from returning but who knows. 96.9 has Eagan and Braude and Jay Severin contracts to honor (though who knows, can be broken?), the irritating
voice of Michael Graham (M. McPhee--gone) etc. As for RKO I like Howie and sometimes Laura
but otherwise...
Get the call letters from Bittner (or permission) and bring back the ships' bells and sounds of the
sea: WJIB FM 96.9 anybody?
(At least my dad may listen in the rest home. Ding ding! Ding ding! Ding!)
Yes I knew Phil Redo or whatever his name has left and I couldn't remember if she did, too. I do see
their numbers for 6+ and occasionally we hear how they do with 25-54 or 54-to-death or whatever
their more desirable talk radio demos are; not a total disaster but not earthshattering either. They
may make a few bucks, enough to keep Kenny G from returning but who knows. 96.9 has Eagan and Braude and Jay Severin contracts to honor (though who knows, can be broken?), the irritating
voice of Michael Graham (M. McPhee--gone) etc. As for RKO I like Howie and sometimes Laura
but otherwise...
Get the call letters from Bittner (or permission) and bring back the ships' bells and sounds of the
sea: WJIB FM 96.9 anybody?
(At least my dad may listen in the rest home. Ding ding! Ding ding! Ding!)WPHT has Rush locked up for two more years...so if they launch a Rush Radio in Philly it will be minus Rush. There is still syndicated product that could fill the line up but CC might not be willing to do it without a strong program opposite Rush.
Does anyone know if Smerconish is locked in WPHT? Wouldn't that be the ultimate steal? Take Smerconish away and run him right up against Rush. Now that is a line up that CC might be willing to take a gamble on...even though they would be competing against Rush.
Does anyone know if Smerconish is locked in WPHT? Wouldn't that be the ultimate steal? Take Smerconish away and run him right up against Rush. Now that is a line up that CC might be willing to take a gamble on...even though they would be competing against Rush.
I don't think CC will launch an FM talk station if Rush is really locked into WPHT for two years.
Years ago (1990s), Premiere used to include cancellation clauses in some Rush station contracts. Premiere had to give three months notice, but they could pull the program from the station and cancel the contract. Perhaps because 1210 is the dominant talk station in Philly it was able to get a contract without that clause.
If Greater Media doesn't put talk on 950, here's another scenario:
CC "parks" Beck and Hannity on 1480 AM until Rush becomes available. At that time, they then take stock of which one of their Philly FMs is low performing and they put the talk format with all three on FM.
Or, if CC doesn't want to blow up Rumba, they park Beck and Hannity on some patchwork of suburban AMs (WNPV, WBCB, WPAZ?) for two years and then do the above switch to FM.
Years ago (1990s), Premiere used to include cancellation clauses in some Rush station contracts. Premiere had to give three months notice, but they could pull the program from the station and cancel the contract. Perhaps because 1210 is the dominant talk station in Philly it was able to get a contract without that clause.
If Greater Media doesn't put talk on 950, here's another scenario:
CC "parks" Beck and Hannity on 1480 AM until Rush becomes available. At that time, they then take stock of which one of their Philly FMs is low performing and they put the talk format with all three on FM.
Or, if CC doesn't want to blow up Rumba, they park Beck and Hannity on some patchwork of suburban AMs (WNPV, WBCB, WPAZ?) for two years and then do the above switch to FM.
My bet - and I think it's a safe one - is that Salem easily grabs Beck for middays on WNTP. 50/50 on them landing Hannity as well.
That's far far more likely than parking both shows on Rumba, with an utterly incompatible format otherwise, and asking people to tune in. If the music format was of the Anglophone variety, then maybe parking them wouldn't be as ludicrous.
That's far far more likely than parking both shows on Rumba, with an utterly incompatible format otherwise, and asking people to tune in. If the music format was of the Anglophone variety, then maybe parking them wouldn't be as ludicrous.
When I speculate that Beck and Hannity would be parked on 1480, of course, that would entail that the "Rumba" format would eventually be gone. It would not be a far-fetched thing for Clear Channel to do, as they have done the exact same thing in Boston, converting a Spanish music format on AM 1200 to "Rush Radio". They actually started the process by yanking "Coast To Coast AM" from its former Boston affiliate and airing it overnights on the old Spanish music format. Now that was weird.
@Nathan: I don't think your bet is so safe - for you. How much?
Salem loses Philly cume (and associated ad revenue) for Gallagher and Medved. What assurance will they have that (1) They make that up through increased local sales in those time periods, minus whatever Premiere charges them for Beck and Hannity. (2) Premiere is not "parking" Beck and Hannity until they are ready to take them and Rush to FM. Premiere does not hesitate to pull shows when they decide it's in the company's best interest (even when that "best interest" is not apparent to anybody else).
DJ: With the addition of the word "parking," the Rumba scenario makes sense. Short-term parking only. On FM, with their syndicated line-up and a decent morning show, Clear Channel/Premiere could crush 1210. Rush on FM did it before.
Maybe 1210 could do a lifestyle or how-to format. Smerconish could offer advice on pool cleaning and how to claim whiplash after a fender-bender.
Salem loses Philly cume (and associated ad revenue) for Gallagher and Medved. What assurance will they have that (1) They make that up through increased local sales in those time periods, minus whatever Premiere charges them for Beck and Hannity. (2) Premiere is not "parking" Beck and Hannity until they are ready to take them and Rush to FM. Premiere does not hesitate to pull shows when they decide it's in the company's best interest (even when that "best interest" is not apparent to anybody else).
DJ: With the addition of the word "parking," the Rumba scenario makes sense. Short-term parking only. On FM, with their syndicated line-up and a decent morning show, Clear Channel/Premiere could crush 1210. Rush on FM did it before.
Maybe 1210 could do a lifestyle or how-to format. Smerconish could offer advice on pool cleaning and how to claim whiplash after a fender-bender.
DToTheJ said:
True, but Coast To Coast airs on overnights... and considering that show's legendary weird nature to begin with, that made sense. A nuts-and-bolts political show like Beck or Hannity probably wouldn't, unless you stunted with... I don't know... all patriotic music... or Reagan speeches... or maybe nothing but Ted Nugent. Now, that would be fun.
And who's to say that if Rumba is marked for a flip, why not just add others hosts like Levin, Jason Lewis or Laura Ingraham right off the bat? At the very least, I would try to avoid a discontinuous flow of programming from Rumba, to talk, back to Rumba, then to talk, then back to Rumba...
MattParker said:
Heck, Ohio's still a non-betting state for now, so it's Monopoly money. Bear with me.
Many of Salem's conservatalkers has basically thrown Gallagher into the overnight hours before, especially back when Salem and Laura Ingraham were still on friendly terms. Even today, Gallagher is not live in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and DC (the latter three clear Beck). Medved's show, OTOH, is pretty much live everywhere except in Denver (that station carries Hannity) so that's why I'm not as bullish on them picking up Hannity... but I don't consider it dead.
All WNTP would need to do is to drop Dennis Miller and Micheal Savage, and quite frankly, I'm surprised that both of them still air in the overnight hours.
But, again... if WNTP comes into play, that if - and I stress IF - CC doesn't want to establish an FM talker. And the more one thinks about it, even without Rush on the table, there are enough syndicated shows out there right now to put together a modest lineup on 1480, and aim for a soft launch on both 1480 and said FM station.
MattParker said:
;D
Lifestyle programming is what Alex Langer is doing with WFYL 1180: see http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=175780.0 .
Not sure if anyone's seen the Inquirer story on Philly.com about the switch, but a lot of comment posters there are mentioning having dumped WPHT for WNTP. 990 could do well with Beck, Hannity, and maybe Rush? Having the Fox affiliation makes them sound more like a serious player. A local morning show would be a plus.
- Status