Business Talk: 20 years of failure, yet more converts

[smedge2006]

The Business Talk Radio format has been around for 20 years. It has never been a ratings or revenue success (except for those stations that use it as the foundation of an infomercial format). In one market, there have been no less than five failed attempts at the format over the past two decades. The only longterm survivor in the genre is WBBR, New York, solely by the force of will of Michael Bloomberg. Several business talk radio networks have failed over the years, including Money Radio Network (KMNY), Financial Broadcasting Network, and Business Radio Network (BRN).

By the standards of business talk, liberal talk radio is Top 40.

With so many failures over the years, why are companies like Salem and Citadel (in Providence RI) retreading this tired and failed format?

[Parttimer]

I think you answered your own question. It's almost always the filler programming for a brokered station. Low-cost or no cost, get a couple of stockbrokers to buy time, and it feels a little more ethical than the med-quack shows.

[smedge2006]

One of the ongoing debates on this forum is the success or failure of certain subgenres of the talk format. Certainly by the standards applied to some other subgenres, business talk radio is a failure. If you can't sell the infomercials (and not every market is full of stockbrokers and the like), then the format can't stand on its own. Several business networks have actually gone "bankrupt" (!) and yet the format goes on. Why aren't there bloggers galore gleefully lampooning the (lack of) ups and (mostly) downs of the business talk format and attempting to ridicule it off the air?

[Parttimer]

Because people don't hate business talk the way they hate opposing political viewpoints.

In fact, they don't care about the format one way or the other, meaning it lacks the key ingredient to successful talk programming, which is the ability to generate strong responses, whether positive or negative.

[ctk]

Because people don't hate business talk the way they hate opposing political viewpoints.

In fact, they don't care about the format one way or the other, meaning it lacks the key ingredient to successful talk programming, which is the ability to generate strong responses, whether positive or negative.

in other words, its a safe format.  it doesn't matter if it bombs, because the "true believers" (either side, i'm not being politically discriminatory here) don't listen to it and couldn't give a damn, there's no complaints made to the program director.  business talk serves its customers well- businesses and business people.  personally, i feel that this is the wrong way to run a station if the format is wasted on the better signals in a station cluster.

what's worse is that lately the formats that are flipped TO business are the progtalk stations.  and i believe that those stations are flipped are becau$e of rather obviou$ rea$on$.

[charles hobbs]

It's like sports talk, except with a much smaller audience. The jocks/suits that follow this stuff will listen, but
no-one else will.

I remember KMNY from the mid 90's. It was mostly Buzz Schwartz (the owner?) doing stock picks all day, along
with a few public-affairs type programs and Koo Koo Roo Chicken commercials.
It also had just about no signal west of Downtown LA.

I think I have a yellow KMNY "Money Radio" bumper sticker I picked up at a trade show in early
1997. This was in the LA Convention Center and the KMNY booth was located in a distant corner of the
floor, far away from any other booths. You'd think it was under quarantine or something.

Not too long after that, it switched formats to Chinese-language music....

[charles hobbs]

There was also KBLA-1580, which was the old KDAY after they quit playing hip-hop in 1991. Same problems with less than
compelling programming, limited general interest, and poor regional coverage (most of its 50kw signal got sprayed over the ocean in order to "protect" stations farther inland...)