Two views on Prog. Talk

[Scott Fybush]

>1090. In SF, KSFO is ND days and covers inland better than any Bay area AM
>except for 50 kW ND-U KNBR. Like Seattle, the Bay area has many 50 kW AMs
>(680, 740, 810, 1050, and 1100, with 860 not yet built). Because of its TX
>location on the SF waterfront, KSFO gives up some coverage in Silcon Valley,
>especially at night, however.

Not much, though - that signal just shoots right down the bay. The biggest 
problem with KSFO's signal in recent years was the Mexican operator who 
moved to 560 a couple of years ago without international clearance. That 
signal from just south of Tijuana wreaked havoc with KSFO until it was 
forced off the channel a few months later.

>CCU is a notoriously right-wing company and liberals/progressives are 100%
>right to be suspicious of the company's motives. Progressive talk only got a
>chance thanks to CCU, but if the format fails, CCU execs will be able to say
>"Sorry about that, but we gave it a shot and we found what many had
>predicted--that the listener support just wasn't there." Meanwhile, these
>execs will be gleefully snickering under their breath.

I disagree strongly with that assessment.

Yes, the executives at the head of CCU corporate are strong supporters of 
the Republican Party in general and the present administration in 
particular. And yes, the programming on most of CCU's big talk stations has 
heretofore had a decided political tilt to it.

But that said, the only motivation of any sort that drives Clear Channel 
Radio is ratings and profit. They're not out to fail just to prove a 
political point. The company took a flyer on the format in Portland and 
was, I think, somewhat surprised at how well it did. Since then, they've 
upped the signal ante for the format with just about every station they've 
flipped. It could easily have gone on 1360 in Cincinnati (an OK but 
unexceptional 5 kW DA-N regional channel), with 1360's sports format moving 
to 1530, but instead it's now on 1530, arguably the second-best AM in town. 
In San Antonio and Madison, they've launched it on FMs with full-market (or 
close to it) signals. In LA, it's on 1150, which is no KFI or KNX, but is a 
very respectable 50 kW stick. In San Francisco, it's on 960, arguably the 
best AM the company has in the market. Yes, the signals in Boston are lousy 
- but where else would CCU put the format? 94.5?

Jerry Springer doesn't work cheap. If the goal was to put the format on, 
let it fail and use that as an excuse, would the money have been spent to 
hire him and launch the show?

Any political ideology that may exist at CCU (and to the extent that it 
does, it's at the top of the corporate hierarchy, not in the radio 
division) is always, ALWAYS subsumed by the desire to make money.

To the extent that promotion for the format has been weak in many of its 
markets (and I agree that it has), that's a function more of a company 
that's overextended trying to manage and promote 1200+ radio stations than 
it is of any deliberate neglect for the format. Here in Rochester, where 
the cluster has two AMs and five FMs, almost all the promotion is limited 
to one AM (50 kW WHAM) and the two big class B FMs. I don't attribute that 
to any corporate malice towards the sports, soft AC, CHR and modern rock 
formats on the other four signals.

Inevitable disclaimer: As news editor of 100000watts.com, I'm an employee 
of Critical Mass Media Inc., which is a division of Clear Channel 
Worldwide. I have nothing to do with Clear Channel Radio, and I certainly 
don't speak for it or any other division of the company.

s