News tips.

Email: duluthneedshelp@yahoo.com

Thursday, March 26, 2009

102.5 the hog going to hog talk?

Well some people have been talking, there for rumors have been around that the hog will go to an FM talk station.

If this was to be true this maybe were Lew Latto goes. Keep in mind I think this whole Lew Latto thing has been some kind of stunt all a long.  After developments over the last few days.

Now I think it would be a poor chose for MWC to do this.  The FM station in the Twin Cities is not going over the best. I wonder how they think it would work better in a smaller market.  The only think that may work is if it was mostly local talk show host.  People up here like local talk. I also think that if there were to change 102.5 to a talk station they would have to have balance both views expressed on the station.

I would  be a bit surprised if they did change the station to a talk format. With that said it is something Ron Stone has wanted to do for some time. He has more say at MWC then he did when he was GM at Clear Channel. Clear Channel never would have allowed a FM talk station up here.

The other thing is the hog is a pretty good station from what people tell me.  I don’t listen to it not my type of music. I wonder why they would change this? Yes I understand that if it went to a talk station it would not be called the hog any longer.  Although i like hog talk LOL.

Let the conversation and rumors go here. 

7 comments:

Tony Ramone said...

Ron Stone would be making a dumb decision to make 102.5 a talk station. However, I think Stone is pretty dumb, so he might do it. He would be dividing the talk audience by three instead of two. If 102.5 gets an audience it will come at the expense of 610 and 710. It doesn't make any sense; therefore, it is probably going to happen. This will get Stone fired.

Unknown said...

I like Ron Stone, he was my GM at Clear Channel. With that said if he does this I don't this would be a wise decision.

You are correct he would be spliting the audience amoung three stations that all owned by MWC. It does not make sense to me.

I could possible see a competive station maybe starting a FM talk station or a AM talk station to compete against MWC. I don't see the point of three talk stations owned by one company however.

Tony Ramone said...

John said:
"I could possible see a competive station maybe starting a FM talk station or a AM talk station to compete against MWC. I don't see the point of three talk stations owned by one company however."

Exactly right!

Danny said...

When I lived in Wichita there was an AM and an FM talk station owned by the same company. They would run the same programs. FM talk is very handy for people who work in buildings where you usually can't pick up an AM signal (everyone downtown, people at UHC, etc.).

On a side note, I personally have a brilliant (if I do say so myself) brand name for a new FM talk station. But, I think I'll keep it to myself.

Unknown said...

Danny:

I know you can't pick AM up every. I just don't like this idea by then if they do it.

The idea of running the same programs on an FM as an AM is dumd. There is no creativity there at all. It accomplishes nothing.

Tony Ramone said...

Danny, I get your point, but I don't see how this FM talk station can generate revenue beyond what they (Stone and MWC) get now. If 102.5 is making money now, Midwest would be foolish to make it a 710 repeater, unless they really think they can grow the combined audience beyond what 102.5 gets now.

Satellite (XM and Sirius) radio is basically bankrupt, but terrestrial radio is also in trouble because it sucks, except for public and community radio. The Buggles song "Video killed the radio star" was prophetic, but in reality it is going to be wi-fi and 3G that is going to kill terrestrial radio, unless it doesn't suck.

Danny said...

Oh I agree. The lack of creativity is mind-blowing. Again, I really, really think that an FM talk station if done correctly could be not only successful, but creative and fresh as well.

But then again...that's probably why I host a podcast and not a "real" radio show. I tend to think outside the box a bit.

As far as the Hog goes...there really is no distinction between the music played there and the music played on KQ (and often X). It's sort of a mish-mash between the two, in my opinion. I don't think we'd be missing much. Plus, it's not exactly local. Have you ever noticed the DJ's on The Hog never really mention Duluth stuff? Pretty sure that they are soundscanned in.