Posted on 11/10/2016 5:48:36 AM PST by raccoonradio
iHeartMedia Liberal Talk “92.1 The Mic” WXXM Sun Prairie/Madison WI dropped its format at 11am this morning and has flipped to Christmas Music as “92.1 Best-FM“.
As reported yesterday in our Daily Domains report, the move will lead to a new format for the station under the “Best-FM” branding after the holidays. A format change had been expected since the station’s brokered afternoon show was told in late October that WXXM was cancelling their show.
92.1 The Mic goes out with a 2.1 share in the Summer 2016 Nielsen Audio ratings, by far the highest for any station in the format registered by Nielsen.
INSTANT INSIGHT: WXXM was the longest lasting and most successful of the Liberal Talk stations to launch in the mid 2000’s. While the timing of the format change following the election of Donald Trump last night will elicit a strong backlash from the station’s previous core audience, from a billing perspective there’s no way the station was making money. It’s audience skewed just as old as Conservative Talk without a flagship program to sell to national advertisers.
The format may very well see a rebound under the Trump administration, but it will need an owner that is invested in the format and willing to find a way to find that flagship national program.
iHeartMedia Madison announced today the debut of Madison’s Home for the Holidays 92.1 BEST FM, a new holiday music station for listeners in the Madison community. 92.1 BEST FM will broadcast around-the-clock festive music leading into the holiday season. Fans can listen to 92.1 BEST FM on the station’s website, www.921bestfm.com, as well as on iHeartRadio.com.
Beginning today, November 9, 2016 at 11 a.m.
“We’re excited to spread cheer throughout the community with popular holiday music on WXXM. Madison’s Home for the Holidays 92.1 BEST FM is a great way for our listeners to get into the holiday spirit!” said Keith Bratel, Market President for iHeartMedia Madison.
>>there’s no way the station was making money
It’s flopped in places like Boston. In LA iHeart moved conserv talk shows to 1150, replacing prog talk, and redubbed the station KEIB as in EIB network
Madison! A state that actually went to Trump despite previous elections. Home to the know defunct public radio show hosted by left leaning Michael Feldman. Now, in all the news that isn’t, we hear Madison loses its lefty talker.
“Well, whad ya know?”
“Not much...YOU?”
Madison is a target rich environment for the Christian mission field. Christian music will be an improvement.
I saw the light I saw the light
No more darkness no more night
Now I’m so happy no sorrow in sight
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
—Hank Williams
Liberal radio will see a resurgence now that a Republican is in office. There was no funding available when Obama was President because there was a possibility that the radio might disagree with the President.
Now the money men who have been left at the altar will be dumping money into attack entities.
It’s Christmas music - in January they will remove the Christmas music and change the format again...
http://isthmus.com/news/news/the-mic-replaces-progressive-talk-with-christmas-music/
Among the comments on that page:
I removed them from my presets today
Merry xmas
Jerry johnson
I also removed them from my presets today
They could not have made a more vapid, anti-intellectual move. Bad business model.
Jim Onofrey
Subsidized “liberal talk” until the election was over. No need to fund it again for at least a year.
There’s always NPR. In fact public radio stations clean up with a left leaning product, as in Boston with WGBH, and WBUR of Car Talk fame. They don’t sell ads but get donations from listeners, corporate sponsorships, and so on. They get some ratings.
In Boston someone had to pay a station to put it on. Flopped and is now doing conservative/libertarian talk. No need to be “brokered”.
Just after the 04 election I tuned into what was then Air America on two stations in Boston (one of which now runs Rush, Hannity etc). Al Franken had gone to Boston to do his show from there believing it would be great to be there when Kerry won it all. Instead, the lazy-voiced Franken and friends were saying on air the election was stolen; what can we do, etc., sounding like they’d been woken up at 4 am.
That’s the plan. What’s interesting is that some years ago, station planning to change their format focused on Jan 1 and figured, well maybe we’ll just play Christmas music as a “stunt”. The stunt caught on, SO well that now just about everywhere there’s one or two all Christmas (uh, all “HOLIDAY”...) stations. And they make good money as people do want it. Many of them will actually go back to their previous format after the new year, but Christmas music can be a money maker.
Whatever the new format is, it won’t be prog. talk—and imagine this was done the day after the election...when what few listeners they had probably wanted to vent about it!
Personally, I don’t like the trend of a bunch of radio stations starting to play non-stop Christmas music in early November. It makes it less special. Wait until at least mid-December to go to a Christmas music format.
I don’t know of one liberal talk show that has an audience that is big enough to make them profitable. Geo. Soros and assholes like him keep them on the air.
Madisonstan . . . sorry, I thought Christmas music WAS Christian music. But in Madisonstan, it will probably be Jingle Bells, Jingle Bell Rock and the like.
Madisonstan . . . sorry, I thought Christmas music WAS Christian music. But in Madisonstan, it will probably be Jingle Bells, Jingle Bell Rock and the like.
Christmas
Agree I like to hear those wonderful songs a few days before and a few days after.
they bastardized Christmans as I know I am speaking to the Choir here.
You know. But don’t let it effect the real reason for the season. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh! Thanks
Sorry guys! That comment was not worth a “double click.” Stupid mouse.
Liberal radio only works when they are the opposition because will not pay for it. It has to be funded by opposition groups.
Rush made a killing by saying what no one else was saying. Liberal radio basically mimics the MSM but with more edge.
But all that liberal echo chamber nonsense is already on social media for free.
Well Wayne, you picked a great song there. I love country music and when Madison Wisconsin (I live just north of there) starts with that kind of music, wonders would never cease. Have a great day!
Rats[two legged and four legged] always leave a sinking ship. It will be like it was in Germany in 1945. May 6,1945, one could not find anyone in Germany that was not a Nazi. May 9, 1945, one could not find anyone in Germany that was a Nazi. I watched those on FOX from ridiculing Donald Trump to kissing his in the blink of an eye.
I know someone who served in the German Army in WW2. He actually lives in town. Nazis were not very prevalent in Germany. There were strict requirements that people had to jump through to be a Nazi in good standing. Kids served in the Hitler Youth but you only officially joined the Party(became a documented Nazi) if you wanted to do something in the government or SS.
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