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Why Does DC Have More FM Talkers Than Nearly Any Other Market?

S

ScottBurns

My question is in the thread title. Is it that demand for spoken word formats is greater in DC than it is in other markets? Why? Is it that the audience for music has declined in DC relative to other markets? Does it have anything to do with DC's relatively high median income? Or the fact that music stations from outside the market - including some out of Baltimore, Maryland's Eastern Shore, and Fredericksburg - can be heard in the District?
 
Washington DC is the capital of the USA, right?

Many workers involved in the government, directly or otherwise, have to know about current affairs not only in the US but the world also. The DMV may tilt more Democratic, but WMAL has been successful, likely because conservative think-tanks listen to commentary from conservative talk show hosts.

But, DC's high income, high education tendencies can be seen by WETA having a strong following.
 
ScottBurns said:
My question is in the thread title.
Click to expand...

You couched it with the word "nearly" but there are also a lot of news/talkers in Boston and San Francisco. Also quite a few in LA.

The growth of NPR has really increased the number of stations in the format. Previously a lot of those stations did classical music.

So when you look at the format, also consider that some of those stations are non-commercial, and are therefore unlikely to run a pop music format.

ScottBurns said:
Or the fact that music stations from outside the market - including some out of Baltimore, Maryland's Eastern Shore, and Fredericksburg - can be heard in the District?
Click to expand...

I doubt very much that anyone who lives in the DC area chooses to listen to out of town radio. Eastern Shore and Fredericksburg is really fringe to the DC Metro.
 
victorres43 said:
Washington DC is the capital of the USA, right?

Many workers involved in the government, directly or otherwise, have to know about current affairs not only in the US but the world also. The DMV may tilt more Democratic, but WMAL has been successful, likely because conservative think-tanks listen to commentary from conservative talk show hosts.

But, DC's high income, high education tendencies can be seen by WETA having a strong following.
Click to expand...


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Well WAMU-FM would have to be the top FM News/Talker in the Washington DC area and has been in the top 5 in the radio ratings for years and usually its against WTOP-FM All News the nation's top revenue radio station.

WAMU-FM Radio Station Coverage Map

radio-locator.com radio-locator.com

WAMU_FM_LU.gif
 
ScottBurns said:
My question is in the thread title. Is it that demand for spoken word formats is greater in DC than it is in other markets? Why? Is it that the audience for music has declined in DC relative to other markets? Does it have anything to do with DC's relatively high median income? Or the fact that music stations from outside the market - including some out of Baltimore, Maryland's Eastern Shore, and Fredericksburg - can be heard in the District?
Click to expand...
This is "nation's capital syndrome".

Mexico City has over a dozen full power AM and FM talkers. The highest rated are FMs. And one owner, Radiio Fórmula, has three different talkers in that market.

Buenos Aires has a dozen AM talkers, all 50 kw to 100 kw low-dial facilities.

San Juan, PR, has three major talk stations, a news/talk AM/FM non-commercial station, and several brokered talk stations.

Many other capital city markets in Latin America have four to ten full power AM or FM news and talk stations. Most are the originating station for a national network, too.
 
TheBigA said:
You couched it with the word "nearly" but there are also a lot of news/talkers in Boston and San Francisco. Also quite a few in LA.

The growth of NPR has really increased the number of stations in the format. Previously a lot of those stations did classical music.

So when you look at the format, also consider that some of those stations are non-commercial, and are therefore unlikely to run a pop music format.



I doubt very much that anyone who lives in the DC area chooses to listen to out of town radio. Eastern Shore and Fredericksburg is really fringe to the DC Metro.
Click to expand...
Well, I said “nearly” because of the markets you mentioned. Regarding out-of-market listening, there are a few out of market stations that blast into the District. B-101.5/Fredericksburg, which is Hot AC, does well in the city. 98 Rock out of Baltimore carries well into the District too.

Even when eliminating the non-commercial stations, DC has more talkers on the FM band than most cities (99.1, 103.5, 105.9, 106.7).
 
ScottBurns said:
Well, I said “nearly” because of the markets you mentioned. Regarding out-of-market listening, there are a few out of market stations that blast into the District. B-101.5/Fredericksburg, which is Hot AC, does well in the city. 98 Rock out of Baltimore carries well into the District too.
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WBQB only gets a 60 dbu into the very southeastern part of Fairfax County and otherwise is not a listenable signal. 95% of at home and at work listening in any market is in the 65 dbu contour and WBQB hardly touches DC's MSA with that signal.

There is a difference between being able to "hear" a station and listening to it.

WIYY's 65 dbu barely scrapes the DC metro, with a 65 dbu touching small parts of Prince Georges and Montgomery counties.

Neither covers enough to make any full market impact.
ScottBurns said:
Even when eliminating the non-commercial stations, DC has more talkers on the FM band than most cities (99.1, 103.5, 105.9, 106.7).
Click to expand...
Again, it's the nation's capital and the city has no reason to exist otherwise, Nearly everyone works for the government, for a government contractor or for a business that depends on government workers.
 
CaliRadioFan said:
Each 'talker' has a different audience: 99.1 is for the Wall Street people; 103.5 is the go to News/Weather/Emergency station; 105.9 is for all the Political junkies; 106.7 for the Sports Fans. A market where all bases are covered.
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Good response! There are lots of spoken word formats, from preaching to teaching to rabble rousing political talk.
 
CaliRadioFan said:
Each 'talker' has a different audience: 99.1 is for the Wall Street people; 103.5 is the go-to News/Weather/Emergency station; 105.9 is for all the Political junkies; 106.7 for the Sports Fans. A market where all bases are covered.
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Don't forget 88.5 for the public radio nerds, like me, 90.1 for gavel-to-gavel Capitol Hill coverage, and 1500 for Federal employees.

But I love how you phrased it. That's actually amazing.

88.5 WAMU
90.1 WCSP
99.1 WDCH
103.5 WTOP
105.9 WMAL
106.7 WJFK (plus others of course, like 630 WSBN and 980 WTEM)
1500 WFED

So many options to choose from in D.C.
 
itsTheRolyPoly said:
Don't forget 88.5 for the public radio nerds, like me, 90.1 for gavel-to-gavel Capitol Hill coverage, and 1500 for Federal employees.

But I love how you phrased it. That's actually amazing.

88.5 WAMU
90.1 WCSP
99.1 WDCH
103.5 WTOP
105.9 WMAL
106.7 WJFK (plus others of course, like 630 WSBN and 980 WTEM)
1500 WFED

So many options to choose from in D.C.
Click to expand...
Also there's 1390 AM / 105.5 FM for international news/politics nerds from a Russian "news" perspective!
 
So, here's what I learned:

Political Conservative Junkies:
570 WWRC (The Answer from Salem)
105.9 WMAL-FM

Sports Talkers (as CaliRadioFan described it):
630 WSBN (ESPN)
980 WTEM (FOX Sports Radio)
1580 WJFK (BetQL/CBS Sports Radio)
106.7 WJFK (Local/CBS Sports Radio)

African-American News and Talk:
1120 WUST (All-News from iHeartRadio's BIN)
1450 WOL (Urban Talk from Radio One; translator on 95.9 FM)

International News/Politics from Russia:
1390 WZHF (Radio Sputnik)

Federal Employees:
1500 WFED (Federal News Network)

Public Radio Nerds:
88.5 WAMU (NPR/PRX/APM/BBC)

Gavel-to-Gavel coverage of Congress and Politics:
90.1 WCSP (C-SPAN Radio)

Business nerds and Wall Street People (as CaliRadioFan described it):
99.1 WDCH (Bloomberg Radio)

The general go-to News/Traffic/Weather/Emergency station:
103.5 WTOP (The BIG All-Newser)
 
With the upcoming move of of U. Maryland's WMUC from 88.1 to 90.5 this should clear the way for Baltimore's 88.1 WYPR to have more consistent coverage in East Metro DC , yet another NPR talker. I don't listen toWYPR's main channel but HD2 is a 24x7 feed of BBC World Service.

Don't forget the various AM/FM religious talkers in the mix too, e.g. 1220 AM, 105.1 FM... Talk ain't cheap in Metro DC.
 
In part because there are no blowtorch AM signals. In the Virginia suburbs, just a little outside the Beltway, there *literally* is no decent nighttime AM signal out of DC. 630 was good until the transmitter was moved to Germantown, MD. If one wants to reach the entire DC Metro on one signal it has to be FM....
 
DavidEduardo said:
WIYY's 65 dbu barely scrapes the DC metro, with a 65 dbu touching small parts of Prince Georges and Montgomery counties.
Click to expand...

I won't speak specifically to indoor, but in the car, WIYY's signal is easily heard on the SW corner of the beltway. This listener confirms it.

- Trip
 
.... And speaking of WMUC in College Park... Today, they filed for a License to Cover for the shift to 90.5 . No more WKHS fringe signal around campus...
 
Yes, DC has a few more talk stations on FM. But in several cities, we have commercial talk radio stations on FM. And nearly every city has an NPR station on FM as well. Who has a full-power commercial FM talk station like WMAL-FM?

--Atlanta (WSBB-WSB)
--Seattle (KIRO-FM)
--Phoenix (KTAR-FM)
--Portland (KXL-FM)
--Tampa (Hot Talk WHPT)
--Orlando (Hot Talk WTKS-FM)
--Sacramento (KFBK-FM)
--Jacksonville (WOKV-FM).

Salt Lake City (KSL-FM and KNRS-FM) and Birmingham (WZRR and WERC-FM) each have two full power commercial FM talk stations.

And how about FM All-News stations, like WTOP?
--Los Angeles (KNX-FM)
--Chicago (WCFS-WBBM)
--San Francisco (KFRC-KCBS)
--Philadelphia (WPHI-KYW)
--Seattle (KOMO-FM)
 
Most of the talk stations in the DC Metro have moved away from AM, mainly because fewer people bother with AM anymore.
 
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