Opinion: Call Letters And Pure Conjecture

More On The Q101 Chicago Flip

From Karl Klockars,  chicagoist.com

When I was in college taking radio classes, I was taught that the biggest way to signal a major change at a radio station wasn't changing the staff, the management, or even blowing up the format: it was changing the call letters. We saw it most recently when WCKG switched to WCFS, and Radio Insight has info which could indicate that the WKQX calls aren't long for this world. Merlin Media has reserved the domain name for 1011wiin.com, and reserved them "on Monday, June 20 prior to the public announcement of the acquisition of these stations by Merlin Media LLC." The calls of WIIN or "Win!" bring to mind #4 of Merlin's job page, reading "Play to win." And who can't already hear the Charlie Sheen quote-heavy imaging?

Other domains have been registered anonymously, including the 1011fmtalk.com URL, which is just generic enough to either be a red herring or a perfectly bland positioning statement for what wouldn't be an all-news station, as has been reported just about everywhere, but what I think might be in store: A news/talker akin to the aforementioned WCKG.

Here's my reasoning, and I make no claims of inside information or industry chatter; just some hunches from a decade in the broadcast industry, almost entirely at news/talk stations. First there's this: An all-news station is ridiculously expensive. We're talking millions and millions in start-up costs. You have to staff anchors, reporters, editors, writers, producers, and management and they have to operate 24 hours a day, to say nothing of what the studios would require just in new equipment.

When Michaels and company ran the numbers, do you think they saw enough of a potential market share to bite into the Radio Fortress that is WBBM-AM? Enough to justify spending that kind of money? I, for one, don't think so. Michaels has built his reputation and his fortune on saving money, on consolidation, on being a cost-cutter. Not being the guy who throws a shit-ton of cash at an extremely risky start-up. And considering his unseemly ouster from Trib Tower and WGN, is it hard to imagine Michaels and other Clear Channel vets setting the stage for a radio vendetta intended to steal away part of the news/talk audience from his old station? (Not to mention a chunk from WLS-AM as well.)

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