ratings probably
anyways... does Portland really need another sports station?
They don’t even have a football team
I lived in Portland for a while. The liberals all said they loved the station, but in truth they didn’t tune in.
Nail, meet hammer. Here are the most recent ratings for KPOJ and those of its conservative competitors, KXL-FM (Lars Larson’s flagship), and KEX-AM, the local Rush outlet. Ratings periods reflect average quarter hour share of all listeners over the age of 6, for the months of September, October and November 2012:
KPOJ: 0.8, 1.4, 1.4
KXL-FM: 4.7, 4.8, 5.5
KEX-AM: 2.7, 3.3, 3.5
Not too many years ago, KPOJ was being hailed as “proof” that liberal talk radio could be successful. Some success. Clearly, lib talk wasn’t attracting an audience—or making money—in one of the most liberal cities in the country.
Even as a #3 sports station, KPOJ will be much better off. Fox supplies all the programming (for less than the morning comedian was making), and sports is a much easier sell than progressive talk.
On the down side, this type of crash and burn is why libs want to bring back the fairness doctrine and other restrictions on free speech (read: conservative media). If the Dims retake the House in 2014, look for the fairness doctrine to return, along with “stimulus” money for MSM companies.
Ratings were low despite having a pretty good signal.
As for whether they really need another sports station, there’s money to be made. Even if it’s something like Fox Sports Radio (nationally). Companies advertise. Clear
Channel makes money.
And even if there is no football or baseball team there’s
college sports etc.
What I get a kick out of is when this happens the libs
bleat, “But...the airwaves belong to the people!”
No they don’t. Well, there are only so many frequencies out there. The FCC grants licenses to companies ranging from
Clear Channel to mom-and-pop operations. These people spend money on facilities (studios and transmitters), talent,
tech staff, etc. The object for commercial stations is to MAKE MONEY. The FCC can’t step in because people complain that the libtalk is going away.
Freedom of the press/speech.
Free market.
In a city like Boston sports does very well
WEEI AM—ESPN
WEEI FM—local talk, Red Sox, Celtics, some ESPN
WBZ FM—local talk, Patriots, Bruins, Fox Sports, CBS Sports
WUFC—local talk, NBC SPorts
And maybe the AM Clear Channel owns (WXKS) that had
conservative talk and now runs comedy—maybe they would take
Fox Sports if they leave WBZ FM
Sports makes $$$