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Posted on 06/05/2006 10:00:38 AM PDT by abb
Traditional radio news services like ABC and CBS might want to take a word of advice from CNN and MSNBC: Don't underestimate upstart Fox News Radio. One year after launching its five-minute hourly news service on June 1, the network (which also offers a one-minute component, crisis coverage and one-on-ones with its anchors) has increased the number of affiliates from 58 to more than 330, including 24 of the top 25 markets.
“It’s been a very successful 12 months,” said Kraig Kitchin, president and CEO of Premiere Radio Networks, which sold out 95 percent of the network’s inventory to advertisers such as Home Depot, Lowe’s, Michelin and UBS Financial Services.
When Fox News first extended its brand to radio with a one-minute news service in April 2003, there were plenty of naysayers. The market seemed crowded with well-established news services: ABC with 2,500 affiliates and CBS with 1,600, as well as smaller nets such as NBC and CNN. Not only had the stalwarts locked up distribution on the biggest signals in the biggest markets, but building and maintaining a network news service was time-consuming and expensive. But Fox News saw an opening. It had established its news brand as a ratings juggernaut on cable; at the same time, listeners were hungrier for news, which can’t be commodified like music.
“We’re doing this without the confines of [traditional radio],” said Kevin Magee, FNR senior vp, who moved over in January 2005 after serving as vp of news programming for FNC. “In a world of iPods, you need to differentiate yourself.” One way FNR does this is by borrowing heavily from the style of the news channel, which ironically adopted the style and sound of radio to counter the more traditional “snooze-news” approaches.
The business model is flexible. Instead of offering the service solely on a barter basis, FNR struck an unprecedented cash deal with Clear Channel that made FNR its primary news service for about 100 stations, many in the nation’s largest markets. Today, non-CC-owned affiliates outnumber the CC stations. And a handful of outlets, such as Fisher Communications’ KVI-AM in Seattle and Cumulus Media’s KCMO-AM in Kansas City, brand their entire format with the Fox brand, a phenomenon you don’t see with ABC, CBS or CNN.
“I can’t compete with ABC’s clearances, so we’ll go around them,” Magee said. “If I was the second or third Talker in the market, I’d be happy to partner with Fox. The brand is a big part of what we’re selling.”
Two stations here in the last year (South West Michigan Northern Indaina area have made the switch in the last year.
I always though it incongruous that the local station carrying Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hanity, and Laura Ingraham had ABC News feeds. Now it has switched to Fox.
This happened with KLBJ-AM here in Austin. They switched from ABC Radio a few months ago. FNC seems amatuerish and sometimes embarrassing but they don't raise my blood pressure the way ABC and CBS did. It's nice to hear radio news where Bush and Republicans are given a fair shake.
Not much! Their radio news is nothing like the cable channel, IMHO.
Any news outlet on the hour is all a bunch of liberal BS.
How can she write this article and not mention "conservative" or "liberal" ? Ridiculous..
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my FoxFan list. *Warning: This can be a high-volume ping list at times.
Thanks for the ping!
Is anyone really surprised that Fox is dominating the airwaves?
I mean, seriously - it seems that they can do no wrong these days. They seem to be pushing all the right buttons.
Meanwhile back at Air America....an infusion of operating capital came from a "donated" Salvation Army bucket.
Indeed, they are. Thank God!
Fox News has clearly established themselves as the go-to source for news that looks at BOTH sides of an issue, not just the looney left side the other networks focus on. No surprise then, that Fox News radio is thriving.
Indeed! Thank you for your post!
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