WLBY/Ann Arbor goes business

From Michiguide (Thanks Lu Cifer):

On Monday, March 16th, AM 1290 WLBY will become Ann Arbor's Business Talk Radio. Cumulus management says the new format will serve the growing need for intelligent financial and business information in Washtenaw County.

"Talk radio doesn't have to be LEFT or RIGHT...but good for all. Dave Ramsey, Clark Howard and Lucy Ann Lance will provide that platform for Ann Arbor everyday on 1290 AM", commented Scott Meier, General Manager for Ann Arbor Radio.

With the addition of The Lucy Ann Lance Program M-F from 9am to 12pm (effective Monday, March 23rd), Business Talk 1290 WLBY will serve as a media platform for local business owners and organizations. Business Talk 1290 WLBY will provide relevant information for people who want to learn more about the global economic climate.

"Ann Arbor deserves a local Business Station... to help local business men and women tell their stories! We plan on providing a media platform for the good news of our community, from SPARK, the DDA, the local CVB's Chambers and startup companies", continued Meier.

WLBY, which has carried a progressive talk format for several years, has gotten so-so ratings, considering it's weak daytime-only signal. Though overall ratings paled against other stations in the market, it did do better as progressive talk than it did with previous formats (including oldies).

The station is owned by Cumulus Broadcasting.

Ratings Roundup Fall 2006: Part 1

As Air America Radio is going through growing pains, and conservative bloggers and radio flacks everywhere have been circling the liberal talk radio format like starving vultures, there is some encouraging news for the format in regard to Arbitron ratings for stations carrying the format.

This past fall was important for the format, as the national midterm elections heated up. And it seems that a few liberal talk stations enjoyed some pretty impressive success. Many others at least maintained their current level of listeners. Granted, the only ratings reports released to the general public are often only the overalls, which consist of all listeners ages 12+ in all dayparts from 6AM-midnight. These numbers, while not as important to advertisers as demographic and daypart breakdowns, do at least give a glimpse of how the format is doing.

In the first of several reports, Part 1 will cover the midwest region of the country. In future installments, LTR will take a look at other areas.

Last Friday, Ed Schultz lashed out at Sean Hannity for comments he made about the liberal talk format, which he claimed was dead. Schultz made it a point to openly remind Hannity that in the most recent ratings book, he actually beat him in several large markets, including Portland, Seattle, Denver, San Francisco, Miami and Albuquerque (mp3). The most notable win was in ranked market #16 - Minneapolis/St. Paul, where Hannity, as well as Rush Limbaugh, took quite a beating. Schultz beat, tied, or came close to clobbering Hannity throughout all the demographic breakdowns of the latest book. Schultz' affiliate, 1,000 watt independently-owned suburban liberal talker KTNF, finished with a virtual tie against Hannity's 100,000 watt FM affiliate, KTLK-FM, which has been heavily promoted over the past year via a $1 million advertising campaign by its owner, Clear Channel Communications. KTLK-FM also serves as the Twin Cities affiliate for Limbaugh's show, though he wasn't much help, since he finished virtually tied with KTNF's Al Franken in the midday shift. Schultz was eager to remind Hannity of the ass-whuppin', and to rub it in the face of his longtime nemesis, Clear Channel regional VP Mick Anselmo, who he blames for trying to stall his radio career.

KTNF more than doubled its overall share (all dayparts, ages 12+) from a 0.8 to a 1.7, for 15th place, finishing a mere fifth of a ratings point behind KTLK-FM. The station did well with its morning drive combo of Bill Press and Stephanie Miller, obtaining a 1.9 share, tied for 15th place and beating both local talk stalward KSTP, and more than doubling the ratings of KTLK-FM. KTNF was also the only talk station in the market to actually improve its ratings from the Summer ratings period. The Twin Cities market is saturated with news/talk stations, ranging from the mostly conservative KTLK-FM, full-service legend WCCO, locally-oriented KSTP, Salem conservotalker WWTC, female-oriented WFMP-FM and Minnesota Public Radio's KNOW. Considering the dearth of competition, a much smaller local presence and the limitations of its signal, KTNF has much to be proud of this time around. Congratulations.

Elsewhere in the midwest, WCPT in Chicago (market #3) has been somewhat of a success story. They're a suburban AM station that signs off the air during the nighttime hours, but they have been making a dent in the lower reaches of the local ratings. For the Fall book, the station is up a fifth of a point, to 0.7. Putting it in perspective, that's not too far behind CBS' Free FM station, WCKG. Across the state, WKBF, which was recently flipped to a Christian-based format by its new owner in December, was tied for tenth place in its final book with a 1.7 share, up from a 0.8 in the Spring book.

Ohio has been a bit rough for liberal talk as of late. The format was dropped on stations in both Cincinnati (#28) and Columbus (#37), both part of the same Clear Channel regional cluster. In Cincy, WSAI ends its progressive talk run with a 1.0 rating and a 19th place finish, while WTPG ends with a 0.8 share. In Akron, sister station WARF slides a bit, down from a 1.0 to a 0.6 share. The station, however, is still optimistic about the format, and recently tweaked the schedule in hopes of future success. The station also marks its first appearance in the ratings of neighboring Canton (#128), clustered with various Cleveland and Akron stations near the bottom of the book at a 0.4. Nothing earth-shattering here, but it is notable in that this is the station's first appearance in the Canton rankings.

In Detroit (#10), WDTW, hampered by a rather weak signal and heavy competition, holds at a 0.5, just a tenth of a point behind high-powered Canadian talker CKLW (the local George Noory/Art Bell affiliate). They're also a tenth of a point ahead of Salem's conservotalk WDTK. In nearby Ann Arbor (#147), WLBY comes in with a 1.5 share, in a six-way tie for 17th place, with local talker WAAM and several Detroit FM stations, including the local affiliate of CBS' struggling "Free FM" talk format.

UPDATE: In several late-arriving market reports, Duluth/Superior's KQDS, a tiny AM with no web presense and virtually no promotion whatsoever (like many other stations in the market), makes a rather impressive jump from a 0.9 in the Spring to a 2.1 share for the Fall. WXXM in Madison, recently saved by grassroots supporters, holds somewhat steady with a 3.4 share, down slightly from 3.7 in the ratings period that ended in mid-December. And in Grand Rapids, WTKG is still just under a share.

Note that ratings surveys do not take into account listeners to online streams. Also, the way ratings are reported will change considerably in the coming year, as Arbitron is moving toward doing away with the old 'pencil and paper' diaries and moving toward electronic means, such as online reporting and 'peoplemeters'. The hope is that this will give a more concise figure as to radio listenership. Arbitron also plans to include non-commercial stations, such as NPR affiliates, community and college stations, and non-commercial religious outlets in the overall rankings. Currently, the publicly-released figures include only commercial outlets, though they do track non-coms and include them in some breakdowns.

This is only the first in a series of pending ratings reports you'll see here at LTR, as there are so many stations to report, and not all markets have gotten their Fall '06 books yet. In future installments, you'll see how stations in other parts of the country fared.

WLBY/Ann Arbor sale paperwork filed

All Access reports that the in-the-works swap involving nine Clear Channel stations in Michigan and Cumulus' WRQK-FM in Canton has officially been filed with the FCC.

In the deal, Cumulus sends WRQK to Clear Channel in exchange for four Ann Arbor stations, including progressive talk-oriented WLBY. Included in the deal are four other Michigan stations. Another AM station will be donated to Family Life Broadcasting as a tax write-off.

Obviously, it's way too early to speculate as to what this means for WLBY. The station has been run more or less with sister station WDTW in Detroit, which airs almost identical programming, including Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and various shows from Air America Radio. Now the two stations will be separated.

WLBY is a former daytime-only radio station, meaning it broadcasts at its full power, a paltry 500 watts, during the daylight hours before dropping down to a weak 26 watts at night, giving the station a rather fuzzy signal into Ann Arbor after dark. It's likely that the station will retain the progressive talk format, even though Cumulus does not currently own any liberal talk stations. Considering the limitations of the station's signal, WLBY's current format is likely delivering the best ratings the station will ever expect to get, averaging a 1.2 overall share. Many stations in a similar situation are fortunate to obtain even that.

It was a stunt (WLBY is back)

A few days ago, WLBY (1290AM) in Ann Arbor, MI broke away from its liberal talk format and went into format stunting mode, featuring the University of Michigan fight song "Hail To The Victors" all weekend, in tribute to the legendary rivalry game with THE Ohio State University this past Saturday.

But it appears to be just a weekend stunt.

As of today, WLBY's (outdated) progressive talk site is back online, and appears to be airing the format. Since the station has no webstream, and no news sources have reported on this as of yet, it is assumed that WLBY will not be changing its format.

By the way, Michigan lost to Ohio State 42-39. Nonetheless, Michigan is still #2 in the rankings behind OSU. GO BUCKEYES!

Sports to claim another liberal talk station (WLBY, Ann Arbor)

After a few nationwide format flips involving the all-sports format, WLBY (1290AM) in Ann Arbor, MI looks to be the latest to jettison it's liberal talk format and will begin stunting with what it's calling an "all-Victors, all the time" format concentrating on the University of Michigan.

So, goodbye Air America Radio and Ed Schultz, and hello Wolverines. Liberal talk in Ann Arbor appears to be going the way of Brian Maloney's failed radio career.

The stunting format will consist of marching band tunes, "Michigan Memories" clips, and sports updates, coinciding with the Saturday's big game against Ohio State, one of the most famous rivalries in all of college football.

The format kicks off just after midnight on Friday, November 17. What format will follow is unknown, but is rumored to be sports.

After many years and many format changes, WLBY, a low-powered AM station with limited nighttime power, has made some inroads since it picked up liberal talk in 2004, maintaining a 1.2 share for the past year. The station is currently owned by Clear Channel, but a pending sale to Cumulus Broadcasting is in the works.

UPDATE 11/20: It looks like this was just a stunt.