staggmovie
Star Participant
Nothing DUH!
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WGN-AM Quandry
- Thread starter Rex Radio
- Start date
Nothing DUH!
staggmovie
Star Participant
WGN is the only talk station in the U.S. that is nearly all locally programmed. There are a few weekend paid hours but as far as I can tell, no syndicated programming. None.
WBZ Boston, a mix of all-news and talk, is also nearly all locally programmed, apart from some paid blocks on weekends. And KFI Los Angeles has almost no paid programming but does run Coast to Coast overnight. And it is the home base for some weekend shows that are syndicated such as Bill Handel on the Law and The Jesus Christ Show. But again, they do those shows from KFI studios. KFI comes close to WGN and WBZ.
So it would be sad if WGN is going to be sold to an owner that will no longer keep it as pure as it is. But I guess that is almost inevitable.
WBZ Boston, a mix of all-news and talk, is also nearly all locally programmed, apart from some paid blocks on weekends. And KFI Los Angeles has almost no paid programming but does run Coast to Coast overnight. And it is the home base for some weekend shows that are syndicated such as Bill Handel on the Law and The Jesus Christ Show. But again, they do those shows from KFI studios. KFI comes close to WGN and WBZ.
So it would be sad if WGN is going to be sold to an owner that will no longer keep it as pure as it is. But I guess that is almost inevitable.
WAQI and WWFE in Miami are 100% local. WUNO, WKAQ and WKSE in Puerto Rico are 100% local. All are all news and talk.
staggmovie
Star Participant
You are right the only syndicated programming that is on WGN Radio's line up is a 1 hour block from 5:30-6:30 AM on Sunday mornings, the rest of the shows are done viva one of their studios in less they are doing a remote broadcast like Lou Manfredini will be doing this Saturday.
If iHeart buying them is the case, weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth shall commence on this board.
No disguise necessary.
AbrahamJSimpson
Walk of Fame Participant
And yet it was brought up in that context. Interesting.
WLW is live and local 24/7 (I don't know if you can even count the American Trucker network, which they originate, as syndicated anymore with SiriusXM being the only affiliate).
staggmovie
Star Participant
I don't know what he counted, as he said WGN Radio is the only talk station that in the US that is nearly all locally programmed, but that was only to the best of his knowledge. WCCO in Minnesota also looks like their radio shows are all locally produced, and I believe somebody mentioned them.
And, as I mentioned, there are two all talk stations in Miami that are all locally programmed and three in Puerto Rico, USA, that are similarly all local news and talk.
In this case, "to the best of my knowledge" means "no real research was done".
Amen.
I think WTMJ (Milwaukee) also comes close to "100% all live and local"....if not actually qualifies.
I thought about WLW Cincinnati, but an overnight truckers show playing classic country would rule it out (if they still do play classic country). KMOX St. Louis comes close, with only two syndicated hours from 3 to 5 a.m. I'm not sure what WCCO Minneapolis does between 2 and 5 a.m. It doesn't have a listing on its website for those hours. But everything else is live and local. So maybe daytime shows get repeated overnight. WTMJ Milwaukee runs four different syndicated shows from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., so it gets ruled out.
If we count All-News stations, then yes, WINS, WCBS, KNX, WBBM, KCBS, KYW, WTOP and WWJ all get included in this category. KOMO Seattle doesn't because it runs First Light and America in The Morning, but comes close.
And if we count sports stations, the only one left with 24/7 local programming is WFAN-AM-FM. WZGC Atlanta used to be live and local overnight but now runs CBS Sports. And all the other sports stations, from WBZ-FM to KNBR, all run network sports overnight.
As for the Spanish-language Talk stations in Miami & San Juan, I'm curious if they are live overnight, rerun daytime talk shows or run music shows during late night hours. WADO New York, when it was Spanish language talk, played classic Tropical music late nights.
So I think it stands that WGN and WBZ are unique as talk stations with round-the-clock local programming, except for a few hours on weekends. Honorable mention to KMOX, WCCO and WLW. And maybe those five stations in Miami and San Juan that David listed, WAQI, WWFE, WUNO, WKAQ and WSKN.
If we count All-News stations, then yes, WINS, WCBS, KNX, WBBM, KCBS, KYW, WTOP and WWJ all get included in this category. KOMO Seattle doesn't because it runs First Light and America in The Morning, but comes close.
And if we count sports stations, the only one left with 24/7 local programming is WFAN-AM-FM. WZGC Atlanta used to be live and local overnight but now runs CBS Sports. And all the other sports stations, from WBZ-FM to KNBR, all run network sports overnight.
As for the Spanish-language Talk stations in Miami & San Juan, I'm curious if they are live overnight, rerun daytime talk shows or run music shows during late night hours. WADO New York, when it was Spanish language talk, played classic Tropical music late nights.
So I think it stands that WGN and WBZ are unique as talk stations with round-the-clock local programming, except for a few hours on weekends. Honorable mention to KMOX, WCCO and WLW. And maybe those five stations in Miami and San Juan that David listed, WAQI, WWFE, WUNO, WKAQ and WSKN.
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The fact that there are all of these 24/7 local stations, almost all of them on AM, at this point in our history is pretty amazing.
I read a lot of negativity about radio, about the death of AM, and about what's wrong with big radio owners, but somehow these 50 or so stations are still doing a great job.
I read a lot of negativity about radio, about the death of AM, and about what's wrong with big radio owners, but somehow these 50 or so stations are still doing a great job.
staggmovie
Star Participant
I can beg to differ WCCO does have a website, and i have taken a look at their website, and I didn't see anything that looked as of syndicated programming, here take a look https://wccoradio.radio.com/shows/show-schedule . If you take a look it is only an updated schedule for the week between Monday thru Friday, with no mention of what is on between the hours of 2 to 5 AM and weekends. What do you have to say about this smarty pants? Are you trying to be like users like The Big A that likes to give me a hard time, I can answer that question and yes you are. Do I ask for your useless input?
Last I knew WLW did play the occasional song on the truckers' show, but it's mostly information and the news still runs at the top and bottom of the hour, and sports runs twice an hour.
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