We don’t normally spend much time watching the Cincinnati market, but a high-profile frequency swap and two formats we normally watch have added up to more interest on our part up here.
Radio & Records Online confirms our earlier report – liberal talk WCKY will indeed move to the 1360 AM frequency when sister sports “1360 Homer, The Sports Animal” takes up residence on the flamethrower at 1530. (We’re still not sure if the call letters will move with the formats.)
R&R quotes Clear Channel Cincinnati AM operations manager Darryl Parks: “Moving Homer to 1530AM will enable us to broadcast The Sports Animal at 50,000 watts. Increasing the station’s reach gives us the opportunity to better serve the huge demand for Sports radio in the region.”
What demand there is for liberal talk in the region is still an open question.
None of our facts below have changed, and Parks – at least in quotes in the R&R snippet today – does not even reference WCKY, the liberal talk format or locally-based syndicated host Jerry Springer. It’s all about “Homer”.
That, along with his quotes from the Enquirer earlier this month would still seem to place the liberal talk format in some jeopardy in its new home at 1360 AM.
Our “totally off the wall guess” – the fate and future of Cincinnati’s “The Revolution of Talk Radio” solely depends on one thing…the status of Springer’s radio contract. They’ll either have to wait it out, or buy it out. One of the two.
Springer likes doing the radio show and has – if you believe him – eschewed runs for political office to do it, but if the audience is not there…Clear Channel will not continue to keep running his show.
Without the Springer contract, we’d believe that the liberal talk format would not be making the move to 1360 on July 7th. We’re also wondering how much Springer and Clear Channel’s deal to syndicate him via Air America are complicating this situation…
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