Looks like EMF/K-Love is taking over on June 1, according to Rodney Ho.
https://www.ajc.com/blog/radiotvtal...inspiration-talk-rude/w2uPR8KwXw3iYLWRgnuXYJ/
https://www.ajc.com/blog/radiotvtal...inspiration-talk-rude/w2uPR8KwXw3iYLWRgnuXYJ/
...I doubt very much we will see another station go all talk in Atlanta very soon.
I don’t think they would have lasted much longer anyway – management’s hands seemed to be tied.
I tend to think the lineup hasn’t had the chance they deserve. I don’t know how much cross-promotion Cumulus has done for the station, but WYAY’s ratings should be FAR more than they are with the talent and approachability they have.
Cumulus did almost no cross-promotion
What will be interesting is the impact of Cumulus exiting 14 of their top 15 markets. Dallas is the only safe market Cumulus wants to retain.
To me, the station was reminiscent of WNIR/Akron during its heyday of Stan Piatt mornings and Howie Chizek mid-day. It was fun and entertaining talk radio. Before Piatt's retirement in 2013 and Chizek's unexpected death in 2012, Piatt and Chizek were a ratings juggernaut for WNIR, with the scrappy station billing close to iHeart's WTAM in Cleveland.
I think the AM stations will be freebies or severely discounted. What's the value of stand alone KABC now? Can't be much, even in market #2. Same for WABC in NYC.
I suspect that most major owners are waiting to see what the FCC decides to do with the ownership caps. They'd like to find a way to encourage companies to buy AM stations. One way is to remove ownership caps from AMs. If that happens, you may see more interest in those big city AMs. A decision should come before the end of the year.
I wonder if other AMs will go the all digital route like the station in Washington D.C.
So, what about the future? Well, I could maybe see Kimmer (and possibly Shannon and the others) on WSB overnights, which would give late audiences more variety in programming. I don’t know how far the 750 signal would reach truckers (considering the poor ground conductivity and computer/electrical static), but it may be worth a shot. Also, I heard more truckers are going with satellite – another possibility.
The problem with digital AM is it can't be heard on a conventional radio. So that limits its potential right from the start. It's taken HD Radio 15 years to get to this point. That's not a good sign.