Knoepke has no choice but to replace Lee, but given the lack of an obvious in-house successor, the question is, where to turn? As of the latest U.S. Drought Monitor Report, 75% of the state is experiencing severe drought. Something in the next five years is going to change. Hubbard isnt going anywhere, and could be a buyer, but Anselmo says Entercom or Cumulus may choose to exit the market, to then grow in another. World Conference for Cancer Organisations. ), Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. The advertising load in morning drive is particularly heavy. California Consumer Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, California Consumer Limit the Use of My Sensitive Personal Information. Anselmo says most stations are getting 10 to 15 percent of their audience from the stream. Thats hard to listen to.. I am having the same issue. BIA and a combination of local sources estimated WCCO had revenues of slightly over $15 million in 2019 (including digital). Everything on WCCO Radio can be sponsored: time checks, weather forecasts, news updates, the studio itself. Some believe her two programming hires, Bloom and Hanson, were imposed by Entercom. 75% of the state is experiencing severe drought. At that point, WCCO could have made a format pivot and occupied any market niche it wanted. Northern Lights Broadcasting, the radio arm of the Pohlad family enterprises, which had paid $28 million to acquire GO 96.3 FM in 2007, put the station and its low-power sibling at 95.3 FM up for sale. http://wcco.com/local/wcco.tv.transmitter.2.1710777.html wcco.com I recently noticed that she doesnt seem to work for the station anymore, but there is next to no information regarding her departure. According to data archived by local radio historian Jay Philpott, in 1968, WCCO attracted a 51 share, meaning more than half of the people listening to radio in the Twin Cities at any given time were listening to WCCO. Once that auction is concluded, the FCC will resell the bandwidth it has purchased in a second auction to wireless companies, where demand is growing. Theyll take a look at it.. Also in 1979, Hubbard-owned KSTP-FM became KS95 and, under program director Chuck Knapp, emerged as the towns first FM station that did more than just play music. WCCOs inability to develop its next generation of program hosts is at the core of the stations audience struggles. He added that his only regret is that he did not have a chance to say goodbye on the air. The St. Thomas football broadcasts would be caried on WCCO until the 2019-2020 season with no season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And Lees prowess is known throughout town. Longtime WCCO-TV anchor Jason DeRusha switched to radio and now hosts the afternoon drive program, replacing Paul Douglas and Jordana Green. Sometimes taking the connection apart and reconnecting can improve the physical connection of the signal conductor. The Minnesota Twins had been heard on WCCO since arriving in the Twin Cities in 1961, but because of a dispute between WCCO parent company CBS and XM Satellite Radio over compensation for its Major League Baseball broadcasts,[citation needed] CBS did not renew many of its MLB contracts. WCCO became the radio home of Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team starting with the 20112012 season, acquiring the broadcast rights from rival AM 1130 KFAN. By then, theyll have to decide whether to accept money for going off the air or moving to a different and potentially inferior broadcast spectrum. Coincidentally that year, says Philpott, five FM stations moved their antennas to the IDS Center so their signals blanketed the metro area. So, why can the government do this? You cant replace Dave, says Anselmo. More health-related information on air quality can be found here. Theyve had a huge run. The vendor provider (Spectrum) no longer has a contract to carry the station. ), One current WCCO employee who requested anonymity says that given its modest ratings and weak demographics, Entercom was shocked at WCCOs top-line [revenue] when they bought it.. FM Sale; Black Hills AM Remains Silent, Third Northwestern Wisconsin Cabin Opens for Cabin Season, Weekly Log: Several TV Anchors Move; Crystal Awards for KS95, WTMJ, Data Dump: Top Nebraska Radio Station Owners, FCC Monitor: Several FM Signals Return, One AM Goes Silent, Broadcast History: Cities That Never Got Their Allotted TV Stations, Weekly Log: Total Hits in the Twin Cities, Several People Moves. Obvious local radio competitors thatTCBspoke to are uninterested or hemmed in by noncompete clauses or contracts. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Keep it clean, keep it Minnesotan, please. He graduated from the University of North Dakota, then hopped to jobs in Grand Forks and Fargo. WCCO has a longtime reputation of being the station to tune in for emergency information, especially severe weather and school closings in winter. Normally that process would be driven by a programming executive, but right now WCCO is without a brand manager, as Entercom labels the role. There are probably fewer than 10 stations in the country of CCOs scale and format. Knoepke is regarded by competitors and staff as a capable executive but her background is entirely in sales. WCCO had been the radio flagship of the Minnesota Vikings football team from 1961 to 1969, 1976 to 1984, 1988 to 1990, and 1996 to 2000. After working for almost 10 years as a weekend anchor and reporter for the WCCO Good Question program, he started working as a morning anchor. Howard Viken, Maynard Speece, Charlie Boone and Roger Erickson, Jergen Nash, Joyce Lamont, and Randy Merriman became household names. News Talk 830 WCCO is Minnesota's source for news, traffic and weather plus Twins and Timberwolves. Other factors had an impact as well. Morning drive will continue to be our strongest daypart, she says. Read more Caret down Live now Play Adam and Jordana Play Listen until 5pm Live See full schedule Earlier Today Play Thursday - Apr 27, 2023 Today Stations that do relinquish their broadcast bandwidth would be required to have a 39-month post-auction television transition to put into effect their required changes, according to the FCC site. CBS was forced to sell off its stake in the WCCO stations in 1954 due to Federal Communications Commission ownership limits in effect at the time. Knoepke proudly notes the stations online listenership was up 47 percent year over year. Once the auction concludes, consumers who receive digital content over the air through a converter box will likely have to re-scan their channels, but their favorite programming should continue on their usual channel numbers. WCCO hasnt focused on ratings for many years, says Shannon Knoepke, the stations market manager (essentially its COO). Some notable sports broadcasters have included Baseball Hall of Fame member Herb Carneal, the longtime voice of the Minnesota Twins, Halsey Hall, Ray Scott and Ray Christensen, longtime voice of University of Minnesota's Gopher football and Gopher men's basketball. Lane spent the bulk of his radio career at KSTP/Hubbard Broadcasting in a variety of on- and off-air roles. Family track or fast track? As noted here previously, the Rochester area makes up about half of the households in the Rochester-Austin-Mason City market. Since then, the KCCO tower has been transmitting the WCCO programming from the Twin Cities. KMNB, a radio station (102.9 FM) licensed to serve Minneapolis, Minnesota, which used the call sign WCCO-FM from May 1969 to November 1983. TV watchers that use an antenna in Douglas County get most of their channels from the Selective TV tower. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". What this means is WCCO is casting an audience net that reaches only 18 percent of listeners, almost all of them over 50. In 2021, Entercom country station 102.9 FM The Wolfs programming day will be broken up by up to 190 Twins simulcasts. Officials advise that people in sensitive groups limit time outside and avoid strenuous exercise or activity. By the late 1970s, WCCO-FM 103 had come into its own and established an identity separate from AM 830, with a popular adult contemporary/soft rock sound. KFAN works so well because its not about a formula, says Hartman, its about talent.. But many industry observers believe the only way forward for CCO is a major update and modernization of its sound. Western Wisconsin is also under an air quality alert. Cable systems are allowed to carry out-of-market stations if they are on the list for their county or city. Hanson declined an interview, but Bloom does not accept the thesis, saying he had numerous detailed conversations with Knoepke before his hire: [She] did not hire me because [she] was satisfied with 180 cume (see sidebar, below) and 4.5 share., Bloom believes he was hired to evolve to a sharper-edged news/current events format, but Knoepke got cold feet. (January 13, 2023.). Adam Platt isTCBs executive editor. Im nave enough to think sponsorships are real friendships, he says. An inability to maintain programming leadership with a consistent vision is another factor. Its office is in Alexandria. In his letter, Douglas said no attempt was made to negotiate a lower salary. She returned to Minnesota in 2006 to co-host a weekday morning show on WCCO with Susie Jones. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. KIMT is the official CBS affiliate for Rochester and presents newscasts from a studio in the city, but has long competed for CBS viewership on cable due to the status of WCCO-TV/4 (Minneapolis) as a significantly-viewed station in Rochester. Knoepke focused on key themes like trust, reliability, and tradition, but did not articulate an interest in change. WCCO-TV, a television station (channel 32, virtual channel 4) licensed to serve Minneapolis, Minnesota. From . WCCO Radio recently made significant changes to its on-air lineup. Scandinavian Gift Shop to host Wake Up Alexandria on May 5, New robot server 'hired' at Grand Arbor's Pioneer Grill in Alexandria, State FFA band and chorus are the hidden gem of Minnesota State FFA convention, MN 100 Club donates $50,000 to family of Pope County fallen officer, Overpass in Glenwood to memorialize Deputy Josh Owen. The FCC has granted a petition for special relief from the Rochester markets CBS affiliate and issued an order that will result in WCCO-TVs CBS programming being dropped from cable in the Med City. It resonated for enough of us, but if you didnt grow up on a farm or in a deeply Lutheran suburb, it could also be a barrier. Paul) Radio Stations, Some Recorded Off The Air by Rick . Broadcasters in the high VHF range can move to low VHF channels. What is your zip code? The dual auction will marry the economics of wireless providers demand for spectrum with the economics of television broadcasters, says the FCC website. A savvy contrarian would make several points in WCCOs defense. 4.) For most businesses, losing 90 percent of market share would be catastrophic; so would bleeding 83 percent of its customer traffic (see sidebar By the Numbers, below). CCO held a 20 share as late as 1991, but by 1998, with Steve Cannon and Boone & Erickson all retired from their drive-time strongholds, the station had fallen to a 10 share. Washburn Crosby Company, forerunner of General Mills, took over the station and switched the call sign to WCCO for the company's initials. Its driven by a generation of budget cuts across the industry., Theres one other problem, and its a big one. He said succession planning is key in a transition like Lees. Questions about its future are not new to WCCO yet it has long shied away from dramatic shifts in tone or emphasis. Link is dead at least for the moment. learn about all our free newsletter options, Forced sale in Hennepin County prompts Supreme Court to decide constitutionality of Minnesotas forfeiture law. He can do play-by-play in the evening and get up at 4 a.m. and interview the governor without missing a beat. The station is dedicated to providing accurate and unbiased news coverage, as well as expert analysis and commentary. MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has extended and upgraded the air quality alert in much of the state due to "unprecedented" conditions caused by wildfire smoke. There is no band on the internet other than bandwidth, so WCCO is at no competitive disadvantage online, and is increasingly adept at promoting and marketing its digital content. Finally, WCCO remains a cash machine with a community of satisfied advertising partners. You can contact them and see what they say: FCC Order Cuts Duplicate CBS Programming from Rochester Cable, Media Bureau grants the KIMT(TV) Petition. But when the camera pans in . It is neither urban nor urbane. Not [be] sappy and placating, but challenge people to think for themselves.. Broadcasters can relinquish their licenses and go off the air. Fees asked for by the station may have been too high to renew a contract. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. We see that you have javascript disabled. There was no warning of any kind, via TV, spectrum app, spectrum bill. Member donations are crucial to the work of our nonprofit newsroom. In 1983, it became WLTE 102.9 Lite-FM, an identity it kept until Christmas 2011, when it switched to a country music format as BUZ'N @ 102.9 with the new call letters KMNB. And because Lee reads so many of those ads, and nurtures so many of the advertiser relationships, his departure breeds uncertainty. Green was moved to the 9 a.m. to noon time slot where she co-hosts the show with Adam Carter. The music was gradually phased out by the early 1990s, when the format was changed to news, talk, and sports. Much of Minnesota remains under drought conditions. According to data provided to stations by Nielsen, in 2020, 82.2 percent of the available radio audience did not tune to AM (see AM Blues sidebar, page 36). And most car radios do not allow you to switch between stations on different bands easily. Even television wants part of CCOs legacy. Its legendary air talent over the last four decades made their mark with a schtick rich in Scandinavian dialects and jokes about herring. Selective TV asks that people using its service make a $10 per month contribution to the organization. And he does them better than anyone.. Cory Hepola moved from KARE-11 two years ago and describes his midmorning niche as a work in progress. We had the Twins, the Vikings, music, news, he says. He became a regional celeb at KFGO, where his stock in trade was comedy bits trading on the dialects and folkways of North Dakotans, not dissimilar to the schtick of Charlie Boone and Roger Erickson. For a series of live public-service emergency broadcasts in 1965 the St. Patrick's Day blizzard, the record April floods on the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, and the May 6 onslaught of 24 tornado touchdowns in the Twin Cities area the station earned the George Foster Peabody, DuPont, and Sigma Delta Chi awards. The big three [Cumulus, Entercom, iHeartMedia] are overleveraged and burning the furniture to stay alive, says an industry source currently involved in brokering radio station transactions. Its a weekly conversation. Please enable javascript and refresh the page to continue reading local news. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Meanwhile, several local FM stations had already boosted their power to 100,000 watts and were airing new formats on FM, such as beautiful music and progressive rock. However, the auction could have a profound impact on consumers, notably those who use indoor or rooftop antennas to pull in free over-the-air signals. In the early days of radio, WCCO was a powerful force in the development of better and more powerful transmitters. WCCO is missing from my lineup - why? WCCO broadcasters were known across the Midwest. Overnight, two syndicated shows are carried: Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb and America in the Morning with John Trout. In January, WCCO attracted slightly more female than male listeners, per Nielsen data. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. [17] WCCO programming is also simulcast on 102.9 KMNB-HD2. But KCCO will end at the end of this year, according to a letter that CBS Senior Vice President John Bagwell sent to the Federal Communications Commission in October. Rumors abound that WCCO-TV morning anchor Jason Derusha is high on the stations list of possible successors, and the former CBS corporate siblings might even look to simulcast some of his 4:30 a.m.7 a.m. TV newscast. It seems kinda weird, I dunno. It remains a CBS affiliate. Jason joined WCCO as a reporter in 2003 and was able to mark an impression on the public. He is an absolute natural. One reason youre unlikely to see a major programming shift from WCCO is that the only space not occupied by a more robust competitor is the one it holds. Broadcasters have never had to do this. WCCO (830 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and owned by Audacy, Inc.[1] Its studios and offices are located on Second Avenue South in Downtown Minneapolis. But the CBS network signal has been coming through KCCO off a tower near Westport in Pope County. 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The Minnesota Public Radio newsroom has a head count of nearly 70. The time may come when one does not preclude the other The statements and views expressed in this posting are my own and do not reflect those of Gray Television. [4] It is also heard on a digital subchannel on co-owned FM 102.9 KMNB-HD2. One reason for CCOs strength, says a competing radio programmer in town who did not want to be quoted publicly on a competitor, is that everything is for sale, and there is so much to sell. WCCO has more commercial inventory than any station in town. Advertisers generally are looking for listeners 25-54 or 18-34 years old. This left WCCO with a 4 to 6 share of the audience, which it has held for most of the last decade, though periods between 34 shares have not been uncommon. He is without question the most talented weve had here at WCCO, says CCO evening host Mike Max. For decades, WCCO was the place Minnesotans turned for news and sports. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Miscellaneous Unclassified. Jason DeRusha, the longtime WCCO-TV morning news anchor and co-host of "WCCO Mid-Morning," announced on Tuesday that he was leaving the television station he's been with for nearly 20 years. First, digital streaming and smart speakers may quickly render the AM band struggle moot. These doubters suggest WCCO is billing closer to $9 million to $10 million including digital. Johnson announced the news via a Monday morning Facebook post. Knoepke declined to say anything specific about WCCOs audience makeup or future goals. Is the station gone completely, or another channel in its place? December 18, 2020 1:18 pm. On September 15, 2011, WCCO was awarded the NAB Marconi Radio Award for Large Market Station of the Year. It began broadcasting with 50,000 watts for the first time in September 1932. WCCO needs to get on FM. Radio is no exception, butCCO has defied convention. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Same issue. 2.) After the advent of television in the 1950s, most national radio programming moved to television; local radio stations, previously dependent on networks for much of their programming, were left to fend for themselves. In 1952, CBS sold majority control of WCCO to the Murphy and McNally families, who formed Midwest Radio and Television as a holding company for WCCO radio and its new co-owned television station, Channel 4 WCCO-TV. WCCO has a tattered rep replacing marquee talent. WCCO. Minneapolis mayor and city staff oppose rent control. . The alert goes into effect Wednesday at 10. The disappearance of Molly is disturbing at best, but the fact that WCCO refuses to address this is equally troubling. Bagwell's letter does say that "CBS is working with another translator operator that might potentially begin simulcasting the WCCO-TV signal to some viewers within KCCO-TV's current service contour.". But does the Good Neighbor have the stamina to make it in its next century? But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Quick heard him in 1984 and thought Lee had the chops to fit right in at CCO. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Knoepke is clearly talking about revenues, because CCO does not win in any key daypart. "However, on Saturday northerly winds behind a cold front will bring more smoke from wildfires located north of the Canadian border in Ontario and Manitoba into Minnesota. Nonetheless, its recently departed program director told on-air talent to imagine they were aspirationally programming for a 42-year-old man. Beyond being talented and exceptionally well-liked, Lees show is a cash register for CCO. With its diverse range of shows and topics covered, it has something to offer for everyone. Alexandria area residents raised about $500,000 to set up the Selective TV system more than 35 years ago. The petition from Allen Medias KIMT/3 (Mason City, IA) was first reported here last year. More will be added, so check back. (Digital revenues, recalls Adam, account for 1020 percent of station revenues. I have no concerns, she notes. Always live on the free Audacy app. Knoepke dismissed John Hanson during the winter, the third programming exec she has replaced during her six-year tenure. When broadcaster Steve Cannon "the Iron Ranger" (who referred to WCCO as 'The evil neighbor') and his cast of characters arrived at WCCO from AM 1500 KSTP in 1971, he was still thought of by many as the "new guy" nearly until his retirement 26 years later. The final factor limiting WCCOs reach is that, like most radio stations in America, it is owned by an overleveraged media company that reported miserable 2020 results. Our strength with endorsements is [that] weve earned listeners trust, says Lee. Though Knoepke is well-liked and described as a leader by most of the staffTCBinterviewed, it is unclear how much decision-making authority Entercom cedes to local management.
