Why has the South never been fertile ground for news-talk?

[fred flintstone]

Class I (50,000 watt clear channel) AM stations in the South (or with daytime coverage areas including areas in the South).
Doesn't seem to be a shortage of strong signals.  Of course, given the triangular shape of North America, much of the South and most of these stations are West of the Appalachians.  At night, these stations cover most of the country between the Appalachians and the Rockies.  Not all are news-talk.  WSM, home of the Opry, plays classic country.  So does KWKH, Shreveport (once home of the Louisiana Hayride, an Opry competitor).  The rest are news-talk (or some variation).

650  WSM, Nashville
700  WLW, Cincinnati (incl: KY)
750  WSB, Atlanta
820  WBAP, Ft. Worth
850  WHAS, Louisville
870  WWL, New Orleans
1080 KRLD, Dallas
1090 WBAL, Baltimore (incl: S. MD, VA)
1090 KAAY, Little Rock
1110 WBT, Charlotte
1120 KMOX, St. Louis (incl: S. MO, Little Egypt)
1130 KWKH, Shreveport
1140 WRVA, Richmond
1170 KFAQ, Tulsa
1170 WWVA, Wheeling
1200 WOAI, San Antonio
1500 WTWP, Washington (incl: VA)
1510 WLAC, Nashville
1520 KOMA, Oklahoma City
1530 WCKY, Cincinnati (incl: KY)

 

[DougD]

KOMA 1520 is a joke. It sounds/ sounded like someone who has no programming experience programmed it.

While it's almost entirely syndicated talk, shows are dropped at will. Very little consistency. And the owners weren't dedicated enough to support morning talent. That area was discussed thoroughly on the OKLAHOMA board.

The owners would have been better off keeping the legendary calls and moving it even to an automated REAL OLDIES or at least 60s oldies format. It likely would have generated more interest than in an already overcrowded News-Talk town.

Class I (50,000 watt clear channel) AM stations in the South (or with daytime coverage areas including areas in the South).
Doesn't seem to be a shortage of strong signals.  Of course, given the triangular shape of North America, much of the South and most of these stations are West of the Appalachians.  At night, these stations cover most of the country between the Appalachians and the Rockies.  Not all are news-talk.  WSM, home of the Opry, plays classic country.  So does KWKH, Shreveport (once home of the Louisiana Hayride, an Opry competitor).  The rest are news-talk (or some variation).

650  WSM, Nashville
700  WLW, Cincinnati (incl: KY)
750  WSB, Atlanta
820  WBAP, Ft. Worth
850  WHAS, Louisville
870  WWL, New Orleans
1080 KRLD, Dallas
1090 WBAL, Baltimore (incl: S. MD, VA)
1090 KAAY, Little Rock
1110 WBT, Charlotte
1120 KMOX, St. Louis (incl: S. MO, Little Egypt)
1130 KWKH, Shreveport
1140 WRVA, Richmond
1170 KFAQ, Tulsa
1170 WWVA, Wheeling
1200 WOAI, San Antonio
1500 WTWP, Washington (incl: VA)
1510 WLAC, Nashville
1520 KOMA, Oklahoma City
1530 WCKY, Cincinnati (incl: KY)

 

[Radio_Realist]

"Andy Fuhrman (sports talker on WLW) seems to be pretty successful in Cincy and Northern kentucky with his pronounced New York accent."

Yeah, that's true. But Cincinnatti is on the southernmost border of the North, not exactly deep in the heart of Dixie. And, as you say, he's a sports talker. Sounding like a Yankee carpetbagger might not play that well in the deep south when talking politics, but sounding like a New Yorker talking about sports in the Midwest on the cusp of the South is something else again.
 

[fred flintstone]

I understand where you're coming from. You're trying to push older threads where you were embarrassed off of the main page, and came up with a semi-plausible sounding excuse.

Here it is, back at the top of the page.

I'm not embarassed.  Like your favorite talk show host I don't necessarily believe everything I post and I post things to get a response.  Just like you, too.

For the record:
I am not a fan of Southern culture (as many Southerners are not fans of Yankee culture, as you implied).  I think the lower acceptance of the talk format in many Southern markets points to significant differences between regional cultures.
I support the right of secession.  I support the right of self-determination of nations (one of Virginian Woodrow Wilson's 14 points).  And I think the "Union" would be better off had the CSA remained independent.  Most of the problems today can be traced to bringing the Confederacy forcibly back into the Union.
I think regional differences (not just north-south) are more dramatic and more significant than most give them credit for being.  I think the US should be broken up (along the lines outlined in Joel Garreau's excellent and insightful book, "The Nine Nations of North America").

[herbiedradio]

There are many generations of Southerners that grew up on Ludlow Porch (WSB), Henry Boggan (WBT, now deceased), to a lesser extent Buddy D (WWL, now deceased). All of these were Southern gentlemen that had conversational talk with no yelling or screaming or in-your-face action. John Hancock (WBT) has mellowed over time into that type of radio.

An interesting thread for this Buckeye who has lots of ties to the south. My vote goes first to the fact that there is a lack of big signals in the south. And even the lower frequency regionals struggle with poor ground conductivity and directional nighttime signals. Come to think of it, even many of the 50k sticks reduce power and/or have tight directional patterns at night....WOKV, WBT, WPTF, WLAC. Both WOKV and WBT struggle to reach portions of their fast growing suburban counties at night. WBT had to add an FM in the southern corner of the Charlotte area to compensate for the poor AM night signal.

Another factor could be that southerners tend to be more friendly, laid back, and less argumentative. The combative nature of talk radio may not be as riveting to those raised in the south.