Simulcasting AM: Still a Dumb Idea

While WLKK was not a station to my tastes. I probably would have been tuning it out a lot even in the mid 70's when the bulk of the stuff they played was popular and like all virtually jockless stations it was faceless. But it played enough good stuff that I had it on my presets. So when the station went to simulcasting the right wing blather on WBEN. The theory is that AM is a dying spectrum and putting talk radio on the FM will help them grow their audience and they will no longer have to pay staff to run two radio stations.

How's that working? WLKK's ratings have tanked -- they have lost nearly half the audience. When you add the two stations ratings together they have roughly the same ratings they had this time last year. Combined the two stations lost two ratings points and one revenue stream all in order to save the salaries of the Lake's skeleton staff -- oh wait, they're still on HD-2, (the signal of which doesn't quite make it to me) does that mean someone's still getting paid to run that operation?

Now if you'll excuse me I'm setting up my lawn chair so I can watch WRXP (whose ratings had been slowly but steadily improving prior to the Merlin takeover and switch to female-oriented news/talk) crash and burn.