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General talk for under 55

  • Thread starter Deleted member 109580
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Deleted member 109580

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Would a talk radio station with general topics, not ranting political, for those 55 and younger work in los angeles? What's the current ones, kfi and kabc going to do when their aging over 65 audience dies off? Krla and keib are way too political for a general secular audience.
 
My impression is that, in general, people in radio's money demos prefer music over any spoken-word programming other than sports, and want that music with a minimum of talk. General-interest talk might still work in tiny and unrated markets (Vermont's WDEV is an example.), but where the advertisers and the money are, it's a idea whose time came and went back in the previous century.

There are also enough young right-wingers entering geezerhood to keep the format going on AM for the foreseeable future, especially if President Biden should win in November.
 
radio fan 41840 said:
Would a talk radio station with general topics, not ranting political, for those 55 and younger work in los angeles?
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It depends on what topics you believe should be discussed. Most cultural issues are handled by the morning shows on music stations. Sports on KSPN. World affairs on KPCC. Pacifica on KPFK. Black talk on KBLA. What do you consider a general topic?
 
radio fan 41840 said:
Would a talk radio station with general topics, not ranting political, for those 55 and younger work in los angeles? What's the current ones, kfi and kabc going to do when their aging over 65 audience dies off? Krla and keib are way too political for a general secular audience.
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That's actually a lot of stations in Spanish in LA, even when they play music.
 
TheBigA said:
It depends on what topics you believe should be discussed. Most cultural issues are handled by the morning shows on music stations. Sports on KSPN. World affairs on KPCC. Pacifica on KPFK. Black talk on KBLA. What do you consider a general topic?
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My answer, big a, would be lifestlye, non political. I was told that many years ago, a talk show in los angeles was hosted by a talent named trader jim mills which was 3 hours of items people wanted to buy buy and sell.
 
CentralFL said:
Tampa and Orlando have non-political talk stations. WHPT in Tampa Bay and WTKS in Orlando. Perhaps something similar could work in Los Angeles? Both are on FM.
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KEGL Dallas has been trying that type of format for over a year, and it's not doing well at all. What we find is that it's hard to start a new talk station. The Orlando station has been doing this for over 30 years and built up a regular audience.

The other question is who would do it? iHeart wouldn't want to compete with KFI. Audacy doesn't do general talk except combined with music, as with its rock station KISW in Seattle. Then you have the Spanish companies. I don't see where it would go.
 
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Yeah, it's probably expensive to start one up. WHPT, Tampa Bay, one hasn't been around quite as long, but it isn't new either.

It's a shame that non-political talk stations haven't really caught on elsewhere. It's refreshing to hear talk that isn't news or politics.
 
TheBigA said:
KEGL Dallas has been trying that type of format for over a year, and it's not doing well at all. What we find is that it's hard to start a new talk station. The Orlando station has been doing this for over 30 years and built up a regular audience.

The other question is who would do it? iHeart wouldn't want to compete with KFI. Audacy doesn't do general talk except combined with music, as with its rock station KISW in Seattle. Then you have the Spanish companies. I don't see where it would go.
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They should go back to classic rock.
 
I would say that KFI has a youthful sound for an AM talk station. In fact, I bet if it were on FM, its audience would be significantly younger. Yes, I know morning host Bill Handel is 72. But the other hosts aren't that old.

What's more important is the station doesn't follow the "All Conservatives Good, All Democrats Bad" playbook that most talk stations follow. I'd say it's balanced and fun to listen to.

Being only on AM clearly skews the demos. You could have the greatest programming on an AM station but it would only have old listeners because young people almost never flip the AM-FM switch.

As mentioned above, there are a few "Hot Talk" stations that are popular. Both are in Florida: WHPT 102.5 Tampa, tied for #7 in the latest ratings. And WTKS 104.1 Orlando, #12 in the latest ratings but usually around #7 or 8. (The Holiday ratings are skewed toward Christmas stations.) These FM talk stations are are quite successful. iHeart is trying to do the same in Dallas with 97.1 KEGL, although that one is off to a slow start.
 
Won't happen. People age out then other people age in all the time. It's the cycle of life. Take Kfi in 2000 24 years ago. Say you were 20 then now you be 44 and there's a possible listener for kfi. As they say the younger you are the more liberal you are. The more one ages the more conservative they become. Now that's not all grant you but some. So conservative talk will always have listeners.

Ya age out of one demo into another. But being 48 my two favorite formats are chr and alternative rock both of which I enjoy but am not in there demos anymore. Talk kinda bores me.
 
Hot talk would do well in L.A. It did last times in several money demos. If CBS would’ve been patient with PPM years ago, we would’ve had a great talk station that everyone wants, still around
 
Loverofradio said:
Hot talk would do well in L.A. It did last times in several money demos. If CBS would’ve been patient with PPM years ago, we would’ve had a great talk station that everyone wants, still around
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It did well because of Howard Stern. ANY talk format, regardless of the style, is a function of the talent.

Give me a line-up of marketable talent for a young-talk station in LA in 2024.
 
Loverofradio said:
Hot talk would do well in L.A. It did last times in several money demos. If CBS would’ve been patient with PPM years ago, we would’ve had a great talk station that everyone wants, still around
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Seems like we went through this not long ago. Hot Talk, especially in LA and in a PPM environment, simply would not work.

The only reason KLSX was successful is there were diary writers who lied and said they listened to Howard for seven hours straight, and, oh, they listen to all the rest of the day programming too.
 
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