Spring Arbs Shockers - Now the Future of AM

[Charlie Profit]

 With all due respect, Steve West's theory is somewhat flawed. Most people
will listen if it appeals to them enough, or said a different way, if they
are given a good enough reason to. To give that "reason" you have to either
have a great marketing campaign, or be serving a niche. Most AM's don't have
budgets to market themselves against the market leaders, thus there is a
smaller audience there. Many niche formats attract a smaller audience to
begin with, so you can't expect to appeal to the masses. If someone leaves
your niche format, it's usually because you are not serving them well
enough, or they get new interests, not because of new gadgetry. The gadgetry
is working against us for the younger demos...not the older demos familiar
with AM. 

I know for a fact...using my station specifically (WXCT AM 990), that people
will come back to AM when they have a reason to. We were conservative talk
when the station was sold and the new owners brought in a Spanish broker. A
year and a half later, we were back to talk (talk radio for women) and as
such we have people listening to us AGAIN...yes, they came back. We are in
the Hartford DMA, and there are plenty of options. We just gave the former
listeners a reason to come back. Did they ALL come back...No. But many have,
and we are picking up new listeners every day. Steve's theory, "Leaving for
any reason and never coming back, ever" is a bit extreme.

<moderator: call to action removed, now it is a general comment>

If you have a struggling AM station and are looking for a new format for
your station that attracts advertisers as well as listeners...There are
resources to tap into your market to make the Talk Radio for Women format
successful. 

Charlie Profit
General Manager
WXCT AM 990
Talk Radio for Women
440 Old Turnpike Rd
Plantsville, CT 06479
(860)621-1754 office
(860)426-8006 direct
www.talkradio990.com



----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve West"
>>I have a theory... that no matter how optimistic people are about it, 
>>once
the audience leaves an AM station, for any reason, they DON'T COME BACK.
Ever.  The reason:  thanks to all our electronic gadgetry today, the AM band
is almost unlistenable and unless people have a specific reason to listen to
an AM station (I.E. WBZ for news or WEEI for the Red Sox), they don't and
won't change to the AM band.<<