FM TALK: NOWWWWWWWWWWW IT BEGINS...

[Signal_Faded]

I think the point about talk being sales friendly correlates to the facts that in many markets talk stations with lower ratings are able to out bill (sometimes significantly) the higher rated music stations in the market.

[FTL_Ian]

Kudos to TRN for doing a great job marketing the FM talk phenomenon - the change will benefit all of us.  More stations means more affiliates for everyone in syndication and the extra competition means local shows will be more likely to appear, plus the numbers show FM talk increases the total number of talk listeners as many FM listeners never venture to the AM band.

Hooray!   

[MikefromDelaware]

Now, in many markets, The Rush Limbaugh Show costs more than a solid local host would.  So, as Clear Channel replicates this template elsewhere, one of the unintended consequences may be the restoration of live/local programming to those hours, on Talk Radio's biggest stations.

An interesting case was in Wilmington Delaware where Premiere did pull Rush, at the end of the contract, from WDEL and put it on their CC station WILM.  Interestingly, then ABC radio told WDEL that if they wanted to keep Hannity they'd have to air Mark Levine's show.  Apparently WDEL told ABC to take a hike (there was quite a thread about this event here at RI when it happened).  Then WDEL chose to not air second tier satellite talkers but did go live and local during the day parts.  As it turned out, at least in the 12+ numbers, WDEL is beating WILM, and if you listen to both stations, WDEL has far many more spots than WILM who airs many PSA's during the local avails during Rush/Hannity. 

I also looked at the 12+ numbers for Baltimore and WCBM, the station in Baltimore, that airs Rush/Hannity has lower numbers than WBAL that also is doing live and local talk like WDEL in Wilmington. 

So there may be something to be said for good live and local talk over the same ole same ole Rush/Hannity parade.  My guess is the key to beating out Limbaugh/Hannity is GOOD live and local talk.  However, as Holland has said, local talent may cost less than the fees for Rush/Hannity, and if you win the ratings/spot battle then you have a hopefully money making AM station.  If one of the few FM stations Wilmington has went news/talk, I could see how that might pull in a younger audience for talk, but apparently the Wilmington FM's are doing well enough both ratings wise and spot wise that it isn't worth it, at this time, to move news/talk to their FM stations.  Who knows what a few years will bring.       

[Holland Cooke]

there may be something to be said for good live and local talk over the same ole same ole Rush/Hannity parade.

As Sarah Palin would chip, "You betcha!"

Personal preferences aside, I've always been professionally "agnostic" when it comes to Rush.
If, in-any-given-market, my client station is the Limbaugh affiliate, he's the biggest star in Talk Radio.
If, in-any-given-market, my client station is the competitor, he's the biggest buffoon in Talk Radio.

Remember "The Fugitive?"
Harrison Ford's character hollers "I didn't kill my wife!"
Tommy Lee Jones' character replies "I don't care!"

For years, I've offered that I'd-rather-play-WITH-Rush-than-against-him.
That's no longer an automatic.
Sure, if I was putting-together one of those upstart FM talkers, and could steal Maha Rushie, it'd be coup.

To us -- inside-the-box -- Rush is an icon.
But to Homer & Marge Listener, he's a punchline, a caricature.
(A GREAT punchline, in "The Bird Cage.")

And that's on-a-GOOD-day!
Today, The Rush Limbaugh Show was a REAL disappointment.

As the Fort Hood rampage was still unfolding -- and some listeners awoke hearing something-they-didn't-know-when-they-went-to-sleep -- that the shooter is ALIVE -- Dittoheads would be SALIVATING for El Rushbo to:

a.) somehow blame this on "liberals," and
b.) accuse "the state-controlled media" of using this sad story as a war protest.

But noooooooooooooo...

Instead, the casual British accent filling-in sounded a-world-away-from what-was-still-unfolding in Texas.
(And before the show ended, another shooter in Orlando!)

His rambling show open offered that "THERE ARE THREE MAJOR STORIES TODAY."
(No.  At that moment, there's ONE.)
And the shooting was #3, behind unemployment numbers, and, of course, health care.
But none of THAT came before silly effeminate giggling about cricket scores.

I'm in-the-middle-of a high-profile transition to life-after-Rush in a couple other markets, and was on-the-inside for that Wilmington transition.  Here's hoping these soon-to-transition markets emerge as well as WDEL did. 

Local programming...what a concept, eh?

HC
www.HollandCooke.com

[gr8oldies]

No question, Rush should have been on instead of the sub. No argument against local talent, except you just don't build WLW overnight. You may try and fail numerous times with numerous different hosts. The fact that a talent has his butt sitting in a chair in the hometown after movinfg from across the country may not be any more local than another syndicated show.

[DToTheJ]

I doubt at this point Clear Channel would take 980 AM News/talk (even with rating sbelow a 1 share with sports), and even if they did, WHIO AM/FM would keep on sailing with Boortz, Clark Howard and Hannity...

Not so fast, Hannity is now a Clear Channel property, too. Might be a good time for Cox to develop an afternoon drive-time talker as a Plan B.

[DToTheJ]

Look at who the sponsors are of even the top-rated syndicated shows...Rush, Beck, Hannity...lots of sleazy PI type spots (Goldline, that on-line data backup service whose name escapes me, etc.).

That would be Carbonite... And don't forget Zicam!

[gr8oldies]

I hear you and yes I have seen local shows go syndicated and have a a watered down feeling. Mike McConnell took his weekday show syndicated from WLW and it wasn't the same. He never got much in the way of clearances and it's now local again. Gary Burbank, also of WLW, was syndicated for a time and dropped in the ratings in Cinncinati (if you're not familiar he did more in the way of comedy than straight talk though he could do it if there was a breaking story). Around that time all the Marge Schott  (former Reds owner with a very un-PC mouth) stuff was happening and there was tons of material that wouldn't have translated nationwide. He came back to local-only until his retirement.

Having said that, I'm still not a believer in "local because it's local". I live in the Dayton area and I can't imagine being captivated three hours a day by the ins and outs of Dayton politics.   

[MikefromDelaware]

Having said that, I'm still not a believer in "local because it's local". I live in the Dayton area and I can't imagine being captivated three hours a day by the ins and outs of Dayton politics.

I agree with you 100%.  I live in an even smaller market (Wilmington #76) and a much smaller state Delaware (880,000 population).  So if you think Dayton and Ohio politics don't make for compelling radio, believe me Wilmington and Delaware politics, generally, is a real sleeper.  Even during an Presidental Election year, Delaware with a whopping 3 electorial votes draws no attention on the national political stage.  I've often thought, how cool would it be that the race was so close that it came down to Delaware's 3 electoral college votes (Someday, some writer will do a political thriller using that theme - remember you heard it here first). None of the big candidates come to Delaware unless their plane or helicopter runs out of fuel and has to make an emergency landing at New Castle Airport, or their limo breaks down while traveling through Delaware on    I-95.  The best we get is their wives or kids doing a whistle stop as they pass through on the way to Philly/Baltimore/ NYC.

For me, at least, what makes the live and local talkers more interesting is WHEN they are talking the national issues, be they liberal or conservative hosts.  I, and other locals like me can call in and actually get on the air with an opinion that might differ from the annointed host's.  Who has three hours to hang on the phone in the hopes that his "highness" elRusbo will give you 10 seconds, before a hard break, to make your point.  The local shows aren't just about the host as it is with Rush and Hannity.  That is what makes Limbaugh and Hannity's shows, for my ears, boring.  It's all about what they think and no one else's insight matters, in their mind. 

Sure I'll put both on for a short time (till first spot break usually), to hear what the "rage of the day" or better yet, "Rage du jour" is for that particular day, and then tune else where.

[Holland Cooke]

what makes the live and local talkers more interesting is WHEN they are talking the national issues, be they liberal or conservative hosts.

YES!
Great local radio doe NOT mean confining-topics-to arcane local issues.
The station can be locals' opportunity TO SPEAK.
Particularly when topic du jour has the emotional quotient of the Fort Hood rampage.
LOCAL ACCENTS hear each other weigh-in.

I live in Rhode Island, where the-most-important Zip Codes in the (Providence market) Arbitron survey happen-to-be in a county in Massachusetts.  For decades, Bristol Co. MA diaries have been "swing votes."  Yet local talkers belabor mind-numbling minutia about (I hate this phrase) "pending legislation" in RI.  Less Nessman would be proud.  And they talk about Massachusetts like-it's-somewhere-else (i.e., traffic reports "UP IN ATTLEBORO...").

This is supposed to be broadcasting, right?