WORD to 98.9, Magic to 106.3

[genius]

I was always surprised (before iHeart put BIN on 1440) iHeart never put talk on 660 or 1440 just to clear premiere shows and shave a little off WYRD. Beck has never aired in the market, actually the only main Premiere show cleared in the market now is Coast to Coast on 98.9. iHeart could have gotten translators for 660/1440 before things became so crowded and done a 24/7 talk format on FM even though 660 is daytime only, but they didn’t, then there’s the 104.9 albatross they went with sports on.

Seems like iHeart has decided despite having neighboring news/talk stations they could share resources with (WWNC, WVOC, WSCC) as well as most of their programming in the Premiere arm not not cleared, news/talk isn’t worth it. It’s hard to support two news/talk stations.

Surprising not unprecedented as over in Atlanta WSB has always always been the main talker for years, yet Rush Limbaugh was always relegated to second tier talkers WGST, WDUN etc.

I don’t know, in the late 00’s and early 10’s so many iHeart stations did flip to having a “Rush Radio” to detriment of many heritage stations, or on in the case of Winston-Salem’s legacy WSJS and Raleigh’s WPTF were totally annihilated. Meanwhile stations like WWL, KOA, KFI, KKOB, etc. survived without typical Rush & Co lineups and turned out for the better.

WORD/WYRD use to do, for better or for worse(and emphasis on the worse!!!) coverage of local issues with general outrage towards to social issues hence the stations being at the forefront of so many protests against so many things; ie I remember WORD/WYRD leading protests against the Greenville abortion clinic, Upstate Pride, drag queen story hour, supporting people like Joe Dill and Lee Bright….

What happened was fail fail fail. I’d say WORD/WYRD is becoming irrelevant in a changing Upstate. There was no big protest at 2023 Upstate Pride, Tara getting upset she is getting dragged by Trumpers for her DeSantis support is hilarious, and the various replacements for Duncan and Timmons in Congress aren’t inspiring anyone and have a long way to go before a possible dismal June primary.

 

[101tm]

Ah yes, the old culture war days of WYRD dba WORD were nuts. They used to just be local issues, but now they’ve bought in to national conspiracies and promote things as gospel (Tara stated last year that the country only had several weeks of food left because there was no diesel). At least they used to rail on things that were thruthfully happening.

Anybody remember how much the folks of WORD LOATHED Bob Inglis? LOL 🤣

Maybe they should try to get Dave Ramsey back. He at least just repeated the same, agree or not, financial points over and over again 🤣

 

[bmasters1981]

I don’t know what it is - I don’t listen to conservative talk stations generally - but I’ve heard enough to know stations like WVOC, WBT, or WWNC, aren’t nearly as irritating and obnoxious as WORD. There seems to be a strong sense of self righteousness at 98.9 that I find painfully agitating.

WORD indeed was (and still is) very agitating to me, especially on 106.3-- I mean, it's fine for the people there to feel how they feel (I don't desire to be against free speech); it's just the delivery and tone of voice that bother me (and make sports radio [and actual news-reporting radio, like WCBS and WINS NYC, KYW Philly and KNX L.A., all of which I can get on Audacy] far more appealing [and believe it or not, old airchecks of actual news radio stations from way back when, like WCBS in 1982, a lot of which can be found on YouTube, are also more appealing to me]).

 

[101tm]

WORD indeed was (and still is) very agitating to me, especially on 106.3-- I mean, it's fine for the people there to feel how they feel (I don't desire to be against free speech); it's just the delivery and tone of voice that bother me (and make sports radio [and actual news-reporting radio, like WCBS and WINS NYC, KYW Philly and KNX L.A., all of which I can get on Audacy] far more appealing [and believe it or not, old airchecks of actual news radio stations from way back when, like WCBS in 1982, a lot of which can be found on YouTube, are also more appealing to me]).

WORD still does exceptionally well at a time when most news/talk stations are getting 2 or 3 shares, but there's definitely been an erosion in listenership over the past half decade or so. They're not capable of hitting the top 5 or top 3 anymore. They live from one fake outrage to another, and that midday guy - Erick Erickson - is a horrible fit. Audacy has some good talk stations that aren't overly political, but WORD lives in a different dimension. They aren't news intensive, if they give news there's always an opinion.

I can't help but wonder if WEPR getting almost a 3 share recently is tied to folks getting sick of WORD. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the upstate is not served by SC Public Radio's News and Talk format - just the Music and Talk (or whatever it's called) carried on WEPR. Most other areas have both, or are served by one primarily and the other via a rimshot (like WLTR and WRJA in Columbia, WSCI and WJWJ in Charleston, etc).

 

[101tm]

Genesis Communications, who syndicates some stuff from Bill Frady 🤣, is shutting down:

Genesis Communications Network to Shut Down | TALKERS magazine

TALKERS has learned that effective Sunday May 5, Genesis Communications Network (GCN) will be ending its broadcasting operations. In a letter sent to its p ...

talkers.com

I wonder if WORD and Frady will continue to do the “Lock N Load” show locally or if they’ll find something else equally as kooky to fill that weekly time slot? Or maybe just an extension of Frady’s weekday domestic WW3 predictions.

 

[RadioRonnie285]

Radio insight is reporting some line up changes at WYRD starting Monday. Mike Gallagher is coming back to Greenville radio in the 10-noon slot. Former WGTK morning man Joey Hudson will have a daily hour at 5am before Tara. Bill Frady's show moves to the noon to 3 slot replacing Eric Erickson. Interesting that Audacy is adding Joey considering the layoffs they just did nationwide

 

[101tm]

98.9 WORD Makes Lineup Changes - RadioInsight

Audacy Conservative Talk "98.9 WORD" WYRD-FM Spartanburg/Greenville SC has announced a series of programming lineup changes taking effect on Monday, May 6. WYRD-FM will add Salem Radio Network's Mike Gallagher Show for 10am to 12pm. Gallagher worked in Greenville early in his career and his show...

radioinsight.com

I figured Erickson wouldn’t last long. I find his delivery kinda irritating to listen to but he’s too moderate and scholarly compared to the rest of their more radical programming and was not ardently MAGA and actually questioned the movement. He got the Vince Coakley treatment.

Gallagher has changed a lot from when he was on WORD before. Now he just marvels over and over at the former president and parrots the same talking points.

I don’t know if going harder MAGA is the best idea, but we shall see. I’m sure Gallagher and Hudson were a package deal considering how often Hudson is on Gallagher’s show and Gallagher frequently being a guest on Hudson’s old 94.5 show.

 

[101tm]

LOL I knew they would be using this line a lot:

Gallagher's show will air weekdays from 10AM-Noon starting next week. His show was heard for years on another Greenville news/ talk station, that was sold and is no longer in the format after losing the ratings battle to us here at WORD.

Considering they talk about “fake news” a lot, pot, meet kettle. WGTK was actually one of Salem’s most successful news/talk stations ratings wise and was sold because of the company’s financial troubles and the cluster’s value a sale unlocked.

Mike Gallagher Show launches on WORD next week

Adding “bats” to the lineup is always key for any successful team, the same goes here at News/Talk 98.9 WORD. This morning the announcement was made that a known name in the market would be joining our weekday lineup

www.audacy.com

 

[AMRocks]

98.9 WORD Makes Lineup Changes - RadioInsight

Audacy Conservative Talk "98.9 WORD" WYRD-FM Spartanburg/Greenville SC has announced a series of programming lineup changes taking effect on Monday, May 6. WYRD-FM will add Salem Radio Network's Mike Gallagher Show for 10am to 12pm. Gallagher worked in Greenville early in his career and his show...

radioinsight.com

I figured Erickson wouldn’t last long. I find his delivery kinda irritating to listen to but he’s too moderate and scholarly compared to the rest of their more radical programming and was not ardently MAGA and actually questioned the movement. He got the Vince Coakley treatment.

Gallagher has changed a lot from when he was on WORD before. Now he just marvels over and over at the former president and parrots the same talking points.

I don’t know if going harder MAGA is the best idea, but we shall see. I’m sure Gallagher and Hudson were a package deal considering how often Hudson is on Gallagher’s show and Gallagher frequently being a guest on Hudson’s old 94.5 show.

In theory, the Greenville Spartanburg area is the most conservative area in South Carolina. The media often refers to it that way. I don't really see that, at least not living in Greenville, close to the city. Not a lot of Trump signs at the last primary. I saw more Halley ones.

That being said, WORD, like most conservative talkers, go after the raw radical crowds more than the moderates.

Adding some WGTK talent isn't a bad move. It might pick up some more listeners while not really losing much because of the change.

 

[101tm]

I would argue WYRD is more radical than other nearby talk stations like WBT, WSB, WWNC, or WVOC. They aren’t so hung up on the radical conspiracy theories that never come true.

One thing that’s always frustrated me about WYRD is their unwillingness to focus on state or local issues, instead focusing on national politics. It’s been that way since I can remember. If you have local hosts, why not utilize them to discuss local issues too? There’s plenty going on in SC and the counties in the market that could be discussed. Most of the listeners I hear call in to 98.9 when I check them out are in places like Landrum, Pickens, Taylors, TR, etc - so their audience is probably coming mostly from outside of GVL proper.

I’d agree bringing Gallagher back probably isn’t a bad move, but I don’t expect adding him and moving Frady to affect their ratings either way.