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YOUR NEW FM PROFIT CENTER

By: Walter Sabo

If these myths have kept you from putting Targeted Talk on FM, discover the facts:
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Myth one: It's very expensive.
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FACT: Like music, a talk station can cost as much or as little as you want. There is nothing about music-free radio that makes it more expensive than other successful formats.
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For example, WKXW in New Jersey is live 24 hours a day with local hosts and local news, no syndication, no repeats, no tape. At the beginning it didn't even have a delay machine or screeners.
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Today, WKXW grosses over $13 million dollars a year. It has never lost money. Compare that gross with many stations in New York or Philly.
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Another example? WTKS FM Orlando just enjoyed that market's first MILLION DOLLAR month. It is the number one local biller in Orlando. When it started five years ago it had no stars, was dead last in the ratings and in billing.
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Very quickly it became #1 Men 18-34 and Number 1 Men 18-49 from 3 p.m.-Midnight. After a year of success, it then hired Howard Stern. His morning success married the existing success of the Targetted Talk format resulting in a 24-hour ratings machine. The original owners sold it after three years for a $20M profit.
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Myth 2: It hasn't worked everywhere.
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FACT: Talk on FM has had ratings success in cities as diverse as Washington DC, Trenton New Jersey, Los Angeles, Orlando Florida, Akron Ohio (#2, 12+), New Orleans---10.8 share Men 25-54 midday beating Rush---, Philadelphia, Nashville, Chicago. No format has been successful everywhere, so what? If it works for you, it's a success! Want to start Country in New York or LA?
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Myth 3: It takes a long time to make money
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FACT: To our knowledge no FM talk station took longer than 18 months to be cashflow positive. AM talk stations take a long time to make money. WABC, KABC, WINS all took 10 years to turn a profit---yet no one thought they were bad ideas! FMTalk doesn't take long at all. It's a little longer investment period for a much bigger and more stable pay-off.
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Myth 4: It will erode the audience of our AM talk station.
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FACT: Talk is not a "format" any more than music is a format. One would not suspect a CHR of stealing audience from a Big Band station---they are in different formats. Using our targetted-talk programming strategies, every single element of an FM talk station is aimed at the demo you select. As a result, WJFK, WKXW, WTKS etc share almost no audience with the AM stations in their markets---those are "big band" ....55+ stations.
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Why waste time and money trying to make a buck as the third-in Country or AC, be first in a format. And have some fun! First-in Wins

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