1210 am wpht

As a loyal radio listener to Philadelphia radio , I can honestly say that 1210 WPHT-AM's conservative talk format is not good . imo, It's making Philadelphia look bad. I and some of the listeners that don't like 1210's programming feels the same way. The current format should be dropped by CBS radio and changed to something else that better represents Philadelphia, especially given the 50,000 watt signal that 1210 has. I know they had good ratings as of late and in the last book. I would be shocked if those current ratings last long term. Until 1210 AM changes formats, I cannot listen to the current programming full time. 1210 am hasn't been a good radio station for years and its really sad, especially for a station that has a lot of history . Any thoughts about 1210 AM and do you think that the pending new owner will make changes with 1210 or keep it as is?

Jul said:

As a loyal radio listener to Philadelphia radio , I can honestly say that 1210 WPHT-AM's conservative talk format is not good . imo, It's making Philadelphia look bad. I and some of the listeners that don't like 1210's programming feels the same way. The current format should be dropped by CBS radio and changed to something else that better represents Philadelphia, especially given the 50,000 watt signal that 1210 has. I know they had good ratings as of late and in the last book. I would be shocked if those current ratings last long term. Until 1210 AM changes formats, I cannot listen to the current programming full time. 1210 am hasn't been a good radio station for years and its really sad, especially for a station that has a lot of history . Any thoughts about 1210 AM and do you think that the pending new owner will make changes with 1210 or keep it as is?

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1210 is making money. There is no other profitable format you'll be able to put onto an AM signal anymore. Entercom won't change the format when they take over. If you don't like it, don't listen.

When you say Philly, do you mean the city only or the whole market? Last time I checked, Chester County, where I live is controlled by the GOP at both the county level and at the local level in my township and many of the others around me. We also have a couple of Republican Congressmen representing the county as well.

If you take Rush off, who are you going to replace him with? Do you remember Air America? It's going strong now isn't it? How's Algore's TV network? Last I checked, it's gone too. I betcha Comcast is more than pleased with MSNBC's dominance over FoxNews. (The last statement is not true.) I think FNC is even beating CNBC now too.

We went a good long time without one of these threads popping up.

1210 is doing exactly what they should be doing. It delivers for the target audience. There is no other format that will magically do any better, nor would some return to the days of WCAU of yore.

No major changes (major being format or wholesale host upheaval). What you have is what you get.

I have been living in this Democratic controlled city for over 60 years and look at the shape it's in, and becoming worst. Now with this new boozer/bully in the mayors seat, taxadelphia will continue to be the highest wage, sales and other outrageous taxed city in the nation. That is why WPHT to me is a refreshing option to this one sided liberal town.

Gunsmoke said:

I have been living in this Democratic controlled city for over 60 years and look at the shape it's in, and becoming worst. Now with this new boozer/bully in the mayors seat, taxadelphia will continue to be the highest wage, sales and other outrageous taxed city in the nation. That is why WPHT to me is a refreshing option to this one sided liberal town.

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How is that sugared drink tax going for the city. Pepsi is having layoffs because of their 50% drop in sales in the city. Great job Mr. Mayor! Loss of sales, loss of jobs!

Terrible, businesses are closing up, people are actually moving out of the city. City residents are buying in jersey and the burbs, not shopping in the city. This is on top of the high 8% sales tax, only in the city. The phony sugar tax is also on diet, seltzer and fruit drinks so it's an illegal tax disguised as a sugar tax. For example, a six pack of coke costs 2.09 sugar tax plus 8% sales tax, what a disgrace. I am not taking sides but if a Republican pulled this the city would be burning now, this mayor has already done many bad things, to numerous to mention. So like I said WPHT tells it like it is in Philly, because the other media outlets here are pro Democratic and are real one sided.

It feels like the soda tax and such is a bit far afield from the topic of WPHT and the pending ownership change, and venturing into political discussion.

With regard to the media, sister station KYW is really the only radio news game in town, and--somewhat in jest, but with a degree of seriousness--giving us traffic and wether six times an hour and reporting on a big fire here or a crime there really qualifies as biased either way. Along those same lines, the local TV newscasts are pretty much the same. It's hard to make a fire at a gym (today's lead story) biased.

It's been awhile since Julius pushed this, so I've forgotten what he desires on 1210. Care to enlighten us?

umfan said:

It's been awhile since Julius pushed this, so I've forgotten what he desires on 1210. Care to enlighten us?

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Oldies?

If memory serves, that switch is sometimes presented as the day the last "good" incarnation of 1210 ended. So it seems perhaps the desire is more of a WCAU in its glory days style, but the reality is that was fine for its era...which has (long since) passed.

umfan said:

It's been awhile since Julius pushed this, so I've forgotten what he desires on 1210. Care to enlighten us?

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I would like 1210 AM to be a general talk station like 96.5 WWDB and 1210 WCAU was, and not a talk station catering to republicans. Or 1210 should flip to CBS Sports Radio or a 94 WIP simulcast and bring back the Phillies games to 1210 AM and other national and local play by play. It would benefit CBS to have 2 sports stations to better compete and match the 2 that Beasley has in this market, 97.5 FM and 610 AM.

Jul said:

I would like 1210 AM to be a general talk station like 96.5 WWDB and 1210 WCAU was, and not a talk station catering to republicans. Or 1210 should flip to CBS Sports Radio or a 94 WIP simulcast and bring back the Phillies games to 1210 AM and other national and local play by play. It would benefit CBS to have 2 sports stations to better compete and match the 2 that Beasley has in this market, 97.5 FM and 610 AM.

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610 is a non-factor. Yes, Beasley ended up with the two stations by virtue of gobbling up Greater Media, but there's no way any smart owner would trade what CBS has in 1210 for what Beasley has in 610. If the national CBS sports network remained a priority, they could have kept 610--they didn't. Or they could have put it on 1210 when they made the deal. They didn't. That tells you all you need to know about CBS Sports Radio. There's nothing to match.

There's also zero reason to simulcast 94. None whatsoever. They can make more money this way. Putting the Phillies back on AM? It's pointless. This is 2017; there's no reason to pretend it's still 1987. No one is going to listen to the games on 1210 (at least no one who matters to the advertisers).

General talk is all but extinct (save for a few legacy exceptions). That's not just 1210, that's all across the country. Pretending that you can put on a format that people wanted decades ago and expecting it to work now is a lost cause. Their job is to deliver an audience they can sell to their clients. Conservative talk does that. General interest talk all but certainly wouldn't. Different eras.

Personally, I'd listen to a modern incarnation of the old full-service AC-ish WIP (mid 80s music era). But I'm virtually alone in that, and I accept that reality with no problem. Times change, and it's better to roll with those changes and see the positives, rather than dwell in the past and see the negatives.

My position is that if you like liberal talk then why not listen to NPR radio? I never understood how they continue to exist and actually are given $ 450 million of our tax dollars every year. As a nonprofit radio network, one is denied the opportunity to be politically invested in such on-air discussion but that never stopped WHYY radio.

Every time I give them a listen, they bash our President, Donald J. Trump.

joshzz said:

My position is that if you like liberal talk then why not listen to NPR radio?

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Because they don't do "liberal talk." They also don't get $450 million in federal dollars. Most of that money goes to PBS. The rest goes to block grants to stations and independent producers.

BTW the OP isn't asking for "liberal talk," but rather GENERAL talk, like the old WWDB.

AbrahamJSimpson said:

Putting the Phillies back on AM? It's pointless. This is 2017; there's no reason to pretend it's still 1987. No one is going to listen to the games on 1210 (at least no one who matters to the advertisers).

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I probably don't think I matter to the admen because I'm 55. If only I could get WEEU, WDEL, or WMID at night (I can get the latter at night when I vacation in Bethany)...

ixnay

Jul,

What would a general talk format look like to you, then? Local hosts or are there some syndicated shows you'd care to see on there?

TheBigA said:

Because they [NPR] don't do "liberal talk."

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What talk does NPR do?

ixnay

ixnay said:

What talk does NPR do?

ixnay

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They don't do any in the conservative model where a single host talks without guests or callers. All of their shows are interview shows, and don't strictly cover politics. More like Good Morning America for radio.