Last Day for Talk 106.7--May 31

[jabba17]

Looks like EMF/K-Love is taking over on June 1, according to Rodney Ho.

https://www.ajc.com/blog/radiotvtal...inspiration-talk-rude/w2uPR8KwXw3iYLWRgnuXYJ/

 

[Rick Rose 2.0]

I have never been so torn over a change in a local radio station all the years I have been paying attention to Atlanta radio. I enjoy having the talk option 106.7 offers but I have been a big supporter of Contemporary Christian music for the 25 years I have listened to it. Now when Salem picked up 104.7 almost 20 years ago I've felt Atlanta had a great station for the format. plus people that live south and west of Atlanta have a pretty good choice on 93.3fm. In this deal that cumulus made with EMF New York City gains a full market signal for the format and KLOVE is the only way that would have happened in market number one. I feel that Atlanta and Washington DC are well served by Christian music already and that Savannah's His Radio 91.9 is a good station but 102.1 Savannah has a huge signal and that will help the people that struggled with the 91.9 signal. Syracuse also needed a good station and San Jose could handle a better k Love signal. I loved listening to Kim Peterson back in the 90s on WGST and never expected to hear him after WGST gave up trying to compete against wsb. I wished the All News format would have worked as well. I know Salem is not going let a recent number 1 atlanta radio station go down without a fight though 106.7 has the signal advantage from the same stick.

 

[TheBigA]

It would have made lots of sense for WAY-FM to get this signal. The call letters would have worked well for them. Having said that, I doubt very much we will see another station go all talk in Atlanta very soon.

 

[LegalTender]

Cumulus Atlanta manager Sean Shannon had head-butts with the talent. When he hired Brian Joyce as ideological counterweight, WYAY hosts spent hours ripping Joyce and the "Trump 2020" banner in the studio became the test of wills. As 106.7 ratings dipped from 1.8 to 1.3, EMF came calling. And Shannon had his high noon.

 

[trusty]

...I doubt very much we will see another station go all talk in Atlanta very soon.

Atlanta has been holding on to an identity crisis for years – not a small market, but not the biggest either. WYAY’s locally-focused talk radio has generated a very loyal – but very small – audience. I tend to think the lineup hasn’t had the chance they deserve. I don’t know how much cross-promotion Cumulus has done for the station, but WYAY’s ratings should be FAR more than they are with the talent and approachability they have. I don’t think they would have lasted much longer anyway – management’s hands seemed to be tied.

So, what about the future? Well, I could maybe see Kimmer (and possibly Shannon and the others) on WSB overnights, which would give late audiences more variety in programming. I don’t know how far the 750 signal would reach truckers (considering the poor ground conductivity and computer/electrical static), but it may be worth a shot. Also, I heard more truckers are going with satellite – another possibility.

And then, there is shortwave …. no, there isn’t.

Anyway, I hope the personalities wind up on a good station that also streams. I’ll listen – and I hope success for all of them.

 

[TheBigA]

I don’t think they would have lasted much longer anyway – management’s hands seemed to be tied.

By whom? Certainly not by the CEO in NYC. She stays out of local operations. Lew was the meddler. That's why they don't cross-promote. That's more of an iHeart thing. Their goal is corporate synergy, not individual local station success. If you listen to iHeart stations, they'll run promos for other stations in the cluster and the digital division.

 

[LegalTender]

I tend to think the lineup hasn’t had the chance they deserve. I don’t know how much cross-promotion Cumulus has done for the station, but WYAY’s ratings should be FAR more than they are with the talent and approachability they have.

Cumulus did almost no cross-promotion - as Kimmer fumed on-air. No billboards, no buses, just the occasional Fox5 News courtesies.

The final all-news book was 2.1, but the format required a bigger payroll. 106.7's talk lineup had the chance they deserve. Just not the corporate nerve.

 

[TheBigA]

Cumulus did almost no cross-promotion

Of the companies that own radio in Atlanta, who does cross promo? Entercom? Radio One? Salem? WABE?

Not 20 or 30 years ago, but now.

 

[Andy Travis]

I always found it odd that Burke got hired there in the first place, given his track record. It's fine if he's your thing, but the guy wasn't exactly coming into it with a great track record. I thought that gig should have gone to Joyce during the "talent search."

I'd loved to have seen Joyce stay on in ATL, he's a very talented and interesting guy, but surrounded by those hosts and the turnover in the stations' history didn't do him any favors. He's got a much more supportive station & team in Chattanooga, but I think he could jump to a bigger market if given the chance and creative freedom. It seemed like in ATL he held back more than he does on social media, where he's very pointed and entertaining.

 

[Firebird61]

What will be interesting is the impact of Cumulus exiting 14 of their top 15 markets. Dallas is the only safe market Cumulus wants to retain. Who picks up the other 3 stations by either outright purchase or a trade for smaller markets like Cumulus did with Entercom for Indianapolis?

Agreed that no one else will start up another local talk station in Atlanta. Safe to say that Shannon Burke is out of Atlanta within a week of Talk 106.7 shutting down. Kimmer could be headed out west to be near family. Mike Brooks has his part-time analyst gig at the new Court TV along with his weekend show moving to WGKA. Pete Davis would make a great addition to one of the 2 sports stations. Mark Levin could end up overnights on WSB. Shelley Wynter's show is entertaining, but more suited for mid-mornings or afternoon.

WGST and WGKA appear to be the beneficiaries of some of the weekend paid programming.

Considering the station received ZERO promotion or marketing, they did okay.

To me, the station was reminiscent of WNIR/Akron during its heyday of Stan Piatt mornings and Howie Chizek mid-day. It was fun and entertaining talk radio. Before Piatt's retirement in 2013 and Chizek's unexpected death in 2012, Piatt and Chizek were a ratings juggernaut for WNIR, with the scrappy station billing close to iHeart's WTAM in Cleveland.

 

[TheBigA]

What will be interesting is the impact of Cumulus exiting 14 of their top 15 markets. Dallas is the only safe market Cumulus wants to retain.

FYI there is no guarantee that they will exit all 14 of those markets. Just that they're being shopped. The hard stations to sell will be the AMs.

 

[DavidEduardo]

To me, the station was reminiscent of WNIR/Akron during its heyday of Stan Piatt mornings and Howie Chizek mid-day. It was fun and entertaining talk radio. Before Piatt's retirement in 2013 and Chizek's unexpected death in 2012, Piatt and Chizek were a ratings juggernaut for WNIR, with the scrappy station billing close to iHeart's WTAM in Cleveland.

Around 2011 or 2012, WNIR was billing just over $3 million while WTAM was around $9 million.

The Akron market at the time was about $18 million while Cleveland was over $80 million.

 

[Firebird61]

I think the AM stations will be freebies or severely discounted. What's the value of stand alone KABC now? Can't be much, even in market #2. Same for WABC in NYC.

 

[DavidEduardo]

I think the AM stations will be freebies or severely discounted. What's the value of stand alone KABC now? Can't be much, even in market #2. Same for WABC in NYC.

Based on recent sales of comparable AMs in LA (KFWB and KHJ) the value is in the $7 million range.

 

[TheBigA]

I suspect that most major owners are waiting to see what the FCC decides to do with the ownership caps. They'd like to find a way to encourage companies to buy AM stations. One way is to remove ownership caps from AMs. If that happens, you may see more interest in those big city AMs. A decision should come before the end of the year.

 

[wavo]

I wonder if other AMs will go the all digital route like the station in Washington D.C. Would the gamble make sense if stations were purchased at fire sale prices?

HD receiver penetration is starting to build. We actually get calls at my station now if the HDs are off and even if the time alignment is way off. That was rare a couple of years ago.

I've never heard all digital AM but my understanding is it sounds "almost FM." I also have heard that software improvements will soon allow all digital AMs to broadcast stereo and limited metadata.

 

[fybush]

I suspect that most major owners are waiting to see what the FCC decides to do with the ownership caps. They'd like to find a way to encourage companies to buy AM stations. One way is to remove ownership caps from AMs. If that happens, you may see more interest in those big city AMs. A decision should come before the end of the year.

I'm not sure the proposed changes to the cap rules will make much of a real-world difference. As long as the total market cap is 8 stations (and that's not changing), most bigger ownership groups will still want to have five FMs and no more than three AMs. There are really only a handful of situations - Multicultural in New York, mainly - where there's a cluster owner that might have both the desire and the ability to go above five AMs in a single market. I'm not even sure that requires a change to the overall cap policy; it probably could be handled simply with a waiver request based on unique market circumstances.

 

[TheBigA]

I wonder if other AMs will go the all digital route like the station in Washington D.C.

The problem with digital AM is it can't be heard on a conventional radio. So that limits its potential right from the start. It's taken HD Radio 15 years to get to this point. That's not a good sign.

 

[AMRocks]

So, what about the future? Well, I could maybe see Kimmer (and possibly Shannon and the others) on WSB overnights, which would give late audiences more variety in programming. I don’t know how far the 750 signal would reach truckers (considering the poor ground conductivity and computer/electrical static), but it may be worth a shot. Also, I heard more truckers are going with satellite – another possibility.

Seriously? You think WSB would put them on overnights? LOL. WHY would they pay for talent (and talent with very low ratings) on the lowest rated and unsold time period? And "truckers?" No one cares about truckers anymore. It's all about local ratings.

 

[wavo]

The problem with digital AM is it can't be heard on a conventional radio. So that limits its potential right from the start. It's taken HD Radio 15 years to get to this point. That's not a good sign.

I agree.

Another issue...there already aren't enough format holes/niches for the typical market's FM signals. Some of the pie slices are awfully thin these days.
One market manager in Atlanta, when offered one of the translator signals, was heard to say, "I can't sell out the stations I already have...why would I want another??!!"