Is it the end for Love 105? Or at least the Soft AC / Oldies Love 105?

[mnradiofan]

I just did some research on Twins radio broadcasts, and I see that 102.9 is carrying the games along with WCCO. Putting an alt format on 102.9 would place Entercom in the same situation as Go Media (unsuccessful programming conflicts) regarding Twins broadcasts, which was one of the reasons the Go stations were on the market in the first place. I believe the Twins games may be the key to whether or not Entercom does leave the market. If the baseball season is delayed again in 2021, having the Twin's broadcast contract may not be an attractive enough reason for Entercom to remain in the market.

The Twins were always the priority for Northern Lights Broadcasting. At the time, the local affiliate for the Twins was 1500, and they have horrible reception issues, especially at night. The Twins wanted an FM home, and at the time no local company was willing to offer that up (and pay what the Twins were asking for the broadcast fee) so they bought a station that could serve that purpose. Of course, 96.3 has signal issues too, so this failed. In comes Entercom, due to the CBS Radio merger, and they quickly make an offer to return the team to WCCO (and later add KMNB). The moment that deal was signed, I knew "Go" was living on borrowed time.

 

[Todd Mitchell]

Oh, it would certainly be interesting. Not only do they have Remy in the building, but they already have a morning show (that they syndicate) hosted by Cane, who did two stints on "The Edge" and the original "93X" (as Hurricane Wayne). If they really wanted to invest in the format, I'm sure they could even get Weasel out of retirement. But I see that idea failing for a few reasons:

1. 102.9 pulls in a 2.8 rating, Go pulled in around a 1.0-1.1 rating

Apples and oranges. 102.9 has a full-market signal; neither of the Go stations do/did.

 

[mnradiofan]

Apples and oranges. 102.9 has a full-market signal; neither of the Go stations do/did.

I agree with that, I'm just saying that if I am looking at it from a business perspective, it's a risky proposition given the limited appeal. Go 96.3 may not have had the coverage of 102.9, but it still covered 80% of the population. The fact that 95.3 beat them despite only covering 50% of the population is more reason to "hold" as that tells me signal wasn't their only problem.