4-10-2012
Much is being speculated about what Randy Michaels plans to do at WKDN-FM (106.9) in Philadelphia, especially after the announcement that CBS owned WPHT-AM lost Rush Limbaugh. Most syndicated agreements with affiliates include a 90-day opt-out and it appears that's what happened at WPHT. The CBS Corporate office provided Radio Ink with this statement last night, "Premiere recently notified WPHT they will be syndicating Rush Limbaugh on a new station in Philadelphia. As a result, we are pleased to be able to now showcase Michael, who is a well-known and acclaimed broadcaster in Philadelphia, in this new time period." When Smerconish is moved to the new time period is "to be determined."
Smerconish was already airing on WPHT after Rush's program. It's also important to note that both Sean Hannity and Glen Beck are not on in Philadelphia. Both left the market in late 2010. A likely scenario for WKDN-FM, following a local morning show, could be for Michaels to land the conservative trifecta of Limbaugh, Hannity and Beck on his Philly FM. The move puts Limbaugh on an FM signal in Philadelphia which, little by little, is where a lot of news and talk stations are migrating to try to draw in the younger demos. This also guarantees the show would not be bumped by any Philadelphia Phillies games.
Michaels would only say to us last night that more details about the station would be coming "soon."
(4/10/2012 9:21:31 PM)
Rush was simply not a good fit for WPHT 1210 anymore. The station is stressing local personalities and Limbaugh's show was often pre-empted by Phillies games. It just wasn't working.
Rush doesn't like being pre-empted.
(4/10/2012 1:39:37 PM)
Joe B....are you serious? I take it you're not a programmer or at least not a successful programmer. Rush may be on the back side of his product life cycle peak but he's still an 800-pound gorilla with a lot of life left. He will get numbers and he will get good numbers.
(4/10/2012 9:45:33 AM)
From over here, on the other side of the lake, the question becomes one of: Do rational, reasonable and moderate people make up a large enough, valid and worthwhile "target audience"...? If so, the next consideration is: Do the stations have credible and engaging presenters? Or, are we talking about the flip side of the same coin?
(4/10/2012 8:24:27 AM)
Big loss for PHT. Rush is the gold standard and gives instant credibility to 106.9
(4/10/2012 7:10:00 AM)
Rush fans will move with him. Big loss for WPHT.
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