Posted by the alternate side on February 24, 2013 at 20:36:08:
In Reply to: Milwaukee progressive talk radio line-up posted by brew town bomber on February 24, 2013 at 17:02:14:
The way to make this successful would be two-fold: syndicated big-hitters and sports coverage.
The only reason 620 WTMJ has the audience and advertisers it does, is because it is the flagship of so many local sports teams and events. People begin to trust the station and (sorry I just threw up in my mouth a little) sample the station after the sports talk is over, or the radio is still on the station the next morning from sports the night before. As anyone with a dime of radio experience will tell you, TSL gets you the good $ and the more TSL gets the listener a bug in their ear. Before they know it they have the AM 620 itch even if the people on the air are spewing venom that disagrees with their political persusasions. So I think a station that wanted to compete with the big boys in town would need to steal away some sports contracts.
The next punch in the one-two would be to get the proven liberal talkers from syndication to draw in people already familiar with their brands. Names like MSNBC's Ed Schultz who spent a few months here in Wisconsin during the Recall saga, Stephanie Miller who blossomed Current TV enough for Al Gore to sell it to Al Jazeera, Thom Hartmann who enables like-minded people and enrages the right just as much as Sykes enrages the left, Norman Goldman who is just brilliant, Bill Press with his Washington connections, Ring of Fire Radio with Papp's hard hitting legal approach. Sprinkle those in with the new local hosts and some sports coverage, and Milwaukee has a chance to play ball.