Philly Radio: WPHT To Air The Dana Show, But Not At Noon

Audacy may have officially found its replacement for the late Rush Limbaugh on many of its News/Talka station, but not on Philadelphia’s Talk Radio WPHT 120 AM, reports  The Philadelphia Business Journal,

The Philadelphia-based radio and audio streaming company said Tuesday that it has reached a deal to begin airing the nationally syndicated show from former National Rifle Association spokeswoman Dana Loesch on 11 of its stations. WPHT is one of them, but Loesch will not air during Limbaugh’s noon to 3 p.m. time slot in Philadelphia.

David Yadgaroff, Audacy’s Philadelphia market manager, said Loesch’s show will air on tape delay later in the day. He said he was not ready to announce what show would occupy Limbaugh’s time slot but hoped to have it figured out in a few weeks. Until then, it will continue to air Limbaugh’s show, which has continued with guest hosts.

WPHT, which focuses on a talk format with a conservative bent, has had the same slate of hosts for the past two years, when it replaced morning drive host Chris Stigall with afternoon drive host Rich Zeoli, whose former lineup spot went to syndicated Sean Hannity. Zeoli and Dom Giordano, whose program runs from 9 a.m. to noon, give WPHT local programming in the morning with the rest of its slate filled by perhaps the three biggest names in conservative talk radio: Limbaugh guest hosts, Hannity (3-6 p.m.) and Mark Levin (6-9 p.m.). Another syndicated conservative voice, Joe Pagliarulo, airs from 9 p.m. to midnight.

WPHT is the lowest-rated of Audacy’s six Philadelphia stations, ranking No. 20 in total listeners during the April period. As the post-election news cycle has simmered somewhat, so have the station’s ratings, falling from a 2.2% share to a 1.4% share. It has fallen behind Trenton-based WKXW New Jersey 101.5 FM (1.8%), which is owned by Townsquare Media and has a news/talk format.

Despite the poor ratings, Audacy Philadelphia Market Manager David Yadgaroff has said that while conservative talk radio doesn’t have mass appeal, it does have a loyal audience. Other than a gospel station, he said WPHT listeners spend more time listening to the station than any other, and they tend to be well educated with money to spend. All that makes for happy advertisers.

As for Loesch’s deal with Audacy, she will replace Limbaugh from noon to 3 p.m. on talk stations in Kansas City, Missouri; Las Vegas, Nevada; Wichita, Kansas; Gainesville, Florida; Richmond, Virginia; and Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina. In addition to WPHT, the show will re-air during various times in Austin, Texas; Buffalo, New York; St. Louis, Missouri; and Hartford, Connecticut.

In addition, Audacy will become the exclusive audio streaming provider for “The Dana Show” and will collaborate with Loesch on the co-development and production of her first original on-demand podcast.