Talk Radio Scoreboard for Major Markets: June 2015

[Gregg.]

Rush's search for a home in Boston has been finalized. He's moving from 50,000 watt WRKO, Boston's top Talk Radio station, owned by Entercom, to iHeart's 5000 watts by day/1000 watts by night 1430 WKOX. iHeart is switching the station from Latin Hits to Talk, where Rush, Hannity and Beck will have a home in Market #10. But no local weekday shows will be heard. It will be all network Talk except mornings and overnights when iHeart doesn't have any of its own shows available. Then it will run Fox Sports, in which iHeart also has an interest. Coast to Coast AM, an iHeart/Premiere production, will remain overnight on WRKO, its only national network show.

According to Forbes Magazine, Rush is the #11 highest paid celebrity. Floyd Mayweather came in at #1, Howard Stern at #5 and Sean Hannity tied at #89. I doubt Rush and Hannity will continue earning these giant paychecks if iHeart is having trouble finding stations willing to take their shows. And when they wind up on a so-so AM outlet, they don't boost those stations as they may have in the past.

1. New York ... WOR (iHeart) #20 tie ... WABC (Cumulus) #20 tie ... WKXW(FM) (Townsquare) #22
2. Los Angeles ... KFI (iHeart) #8 ... KEIB (iHeart) #30 ... KABC (Cumulus) #38
3. Chicago ... WGN (Tribune) #4 ... WLS (Cumulus) #28
4. San Francisco ... KSFO (Cumulus) #18 tie ... KGO (Cumulus) #26 ... KKSF (iHeart) #27
5. Dallas ... WBAP (Cumulus) #16
6. Houston ... KTRH (iHeart) #10
7. Washington ... WMAL-AM-FM (Cumulus) #12
8. Philadelphia ... WPHT (CBS) #20
9. Atlanta ... WSB/WSBB(FM) (Cox) #3 ... WYAY(FM) (Cumulus) #19
10. Boston ... WRKO (Entercom) #16

* I only include commercial Talk stations that scored at least a one rating, except for heritage Talk outlet KABC Los Angeles and Rush's LA outlet, KEIB.

 

[umfan]

I suspect that Rush will eventually clear on Salem's recently reacquired Boston station, currently airing a business format, at some point. The same thing happened to Rush in Indianapolis when he was dropped by WIBC in that he ended up on an iHeart station with a weaker signal that airs FSR in most dayparts.

He's hardly had a wholesale loss of stations, although one would be forgiven for thinking that considering the tone and amount of coverage when he loses one. That said, his next contract may well be less than his current one. Time will tell.

 

[TheBigA]

My problem with all this is if Rush is weakening, no one is stepping up to the plate to replace him. The rest of these hosts need to grow a pair and try to win, rather than aim for the bottom. Because that's where the format's going. No leadership.

 

[Gregg.]

Mentioned in another thread, Rush has gotten a second Boston-area affiliate. 1110 WCCM Salem NH (5000 watts, days only) is now carrying Limbaugh, targeting the cities of Lawrence, Lowell and Haverhill, Massachusetts, and the border area of New Hampshire. So that fills in the gap just north of Boston, where 1430 is hard to hear. Rush was already on several iHeart Talk stations that ring Boston, including 610 in Manchester NH, 96.7 in Portsmouth NH, 580 in Worcester, 94.9 in Cape Cod and 920 in Providence. Amazing that iHeart owns all those stations but not WRKO, from which Rush was just bounced.

So unless you fall into a gap between these Boston-area stations, you can still hear Rush. Just not on 50,000 watt 680 WRKO.