but even if he is, he's NOT the most listened to in Philadelphia.
Source? Who is the most listened to talker in Philly?
Question was not "talker," question was "show." Other shows routinely outpull Rush in Philly and always have.
the demographics and political breakdown of this market are tricky for him.
Typically in the lower half of the top 10 rated stations in Philly, WWDB shot into the top 3 immediately after picking up Limbaugh. Didn't seem that tricky for them. Surprising to DB management maybe.
And where is WPHT with Rush today? Fifteenth place. This is the first book that they actually beat WHYY-FM, and that was by a nose.
Also remember that Rush's audience is aging. His numbers put him well outside the money demo nowadays.
Merlin is making the same mistake you are making: treating Philadelphia like it's like every other market. Each market is different and unique.
It's a cheap bet for them to place. They bought obscure 106.9 for a realistic price and they have the pick of top flight syndicated talk. Even if it doesn't ignite, it'll cost a fraction of the New York and Chicago debacles. And they'll have Limbaugh to brand whatever they end up with. PHT has no brand now, and likely no future in talk. With diminishing options for AM, I don't see how CBS comes out of this without serious losses. Even Philly doesn't need a 3rd Sports outlet, and it would be the only one without an FM presence. They could trimulcast with IP and broker out the remainder of the schedule, but there'd be little chance of 1210 being a viable station ever again. They had little competition after signing back on in the late 90s after years in the wilderness. Not today.
WPHT needs major surgery to turn it around, I don't deny. But a hard rightward turn like is being done by WWIQ is not the answer. Discounting WIP-FM (which, with sports, goes after a different and younger audience) none of the stations running to the right of WPHT beat them in the ratings. In fact, none of them got enough listeners (a .1) to even chart.
If you're going to take on an existing format you only divide up the numbers that are already there. The combined ratings for conservative talk in Philadelphia are 3.0. You are not going to get the 4 rating you need to break the top 10 magically because you pick up Rush and add two shows that already failed in Philadelphia.
My prediction? WPHT's numbers don't fall below 2.0. And once you're out of the first quarter or so, where you have curiosity fueling people tuning in, WWIQ's numbers plunge into the basement. Maybe the election will keep them in the top 15, but I doubt it. By January, they'll be lucky to be pulling a 1.0.
