Maybe the station changes are affecting the ratings.
That would be expected!!!
I can no longer even find a station carrying Sean Hannity in Dallas.
The old station now specializes in 24-7 inanity chatter. Boring and useless; I can’t imagine it is a commercial success.
I believe so.
It's a major factor. In D-FW, WBAP is far and away the leading AM station...and has been for decades. KSKY is a one-time Christian station, trying to rebuild itself as a talk outlet.
On WBAP, Limbaugh was Hannity's lead-in. Now, Limbaugh is Savage's lead-in. And Dennis Prager is now Hannity's lead-in. Big difference.
What drove the move was that Cumulus syndicates Michael Savage and they wanted a bigger audience for him on their stations -- of which WBAP is one. As the article notes though, the move has already cost the Cumulus stations some audience -- while the stations acquiring Hannity have gained audience.
And the amount of faith that WBAP has in Savage's performance is exemplified by their pre-emption of the third hour of Savage for a local host -- Chris Krok -- who does one hour 4-to-5, takes three hours off for Mark Levin 5-8, then returns for his regular show at 8 pm.
Personally, I can't abide Savage's act (it must be an acquired taste) -- so I move the tuning knob to KSKY at 2 PM, then come back for Levin at 5 PM. As time goes by, WBAP will lose more audience...and more audience will find Hannity on KSKY.
Cumulus is going to regret their not leaving well enough alone.