CC Expected To Swamp Formats On AM, FM

In Minneapolis, sports 1130 AM KFAN  will soon ditch its AM frequency and swap spots with traditional talker 100.3 FM KTLK, according to a story by David Brauer at minnpost.com.

In some markets, up to 50 percent of adults — especially younger ones — don’t touch the AM band, analyst Sean Ross estimates. Therefore, going FM should help KFAN battle Hubbard Broadcasting’s year-old AM sports competitor, 1500 AM KSTP ESPN.

Clear Channel Communications, which owns KFAN and KTLK, isn't commenting, but it's fair to say they wouldn't mind repeating history.

Five years ago, Clear Channel switched Smooth Jazz KJZI-FM to conservative talk, ultimately vanquishing 1500’s long-dominant predecessor, KSTP-AM.

The KFAN-KTLK swap will happen before the opening of the Minnesota Vikings regular season Sept. 11, and conceivably, early in the exhibition schedule.

Clear Channel already simulcasts the Vikings on KTLK and KFAN, and was slated to do the same with newly acquired Minnesota Gophers football games.

Is this a sign that conservative radio is fading? Nope, write Brauer.  The move comes as KTLK’s ratings are near the top of its two-year range, buoyed by the strong performance of the recently debuted "Davis & Emmer" morning show.

In the June Arbitron ratings, KTLK had a marginally higher share of the total Twin Cities listening audience — 3.6 percent to KFAN’s 3.3 — but the sports station had roughly 50 percent more 25-to-54-year-old listeners.

The swap, then, is partly because sports has the bigger upside. It’s generally accepted that KFAN reaps far more ad revenue than KTLK, so even if conserva-talk loses in the switch, the added (or at least, preserved) sports dollars should more than make up for it.

KTLK will still have an FM presence, though it might require some button pushing. Clear Channel is assembling a portfolio of four low-power FMs, and KTLK will appear on some or all of them.

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