"The Fan" Hits FM Radio

Image via WikipediaKFAN radio has become rather aggressive since they got a competitor in the Twin Cities sports talk competition, having lost the ESPN Radio affiliation to KSTP-AM (1500) last year.  Besides being the home of Minnesota Vikings football, KFAN has also acquired the rights to Wild hockey and University of Minnesota football.  Now, after two decades at AM 1130, KFAN is moving to the FM band.

Owner Clear Channel is switching KFAN to 100.3 FM and its 100,000-watt signal, where news-talk KTLK used to reside.  Which means that Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and their conservative pals have been banished to AM 1130 and its 50,000-watt signal, which the FCC mandates that the power be cut in half at night.  (They'll still be heard on 102.5 FM through a low-power signal Clear Channel just purchased from a religious broadcaster.)

This is a risky move.  Both stations had been doing well ratings-wise.  Apparently, Clear Channel thinks a sports format with a younger demographic would do better on FM than conservative talk would with an older one.  It remains to be seen if sports talk can work on FM, given that some of the biggest markets like New York and Los Angeles don't have such a station.  This could be a case of fixing what isn't broken.

The two stations might be forced to change their call letters.  There is already a KFAN-FM in Texas, and that one has a rock format instead of sports.  And Clear Channel has a KTLK-AM, which is a progressive talk station in Los Angeles.  For that reason, the new AM 1130 will be billed as "Twin Cities News Talk".

It's going to be a real interesting time in Twin Cities radio, which hasn't seen this much potential for upheaval in years.  Here are the players:

• WCCO-AM (830), its sports portfolio reduced to Timberwolves basketball (if the NBA lockout ends) and University of St. Thomas football, may be considering its own move to FM.  Much speculation centers on owner CBS Radio, which could decide to change formats on either WLTE (102.9 FM) or KZJK (104.1 FM).  Really, why would they want to waste an AM signal that can be heard across North America, with far more listeners than FM could ever have?
• KSTP-AM, which is getting ripped from all sides (especially Minnesota Twins fans) about its signal limitations, might be forced to move its sports format to FM.  But Hubbard Broadcasting doesn't want to sacrifice its successful KS95 (94.5 FM) or struggling women-focused talker KTMY (107.1 FM) to do that.  They might, however, be able to persuade the Pohlad family (which owns the Twins) to sell them 96.3 Now, a contemporary hits station that's barely making a dent against KDWB (101.3 FM), and turn it into a sports station.
• The merger of broadcasting companies Citadel and Cumulus is scheduled to be finalized in the next few weeks, which could mean big changes for KQRS (92.5 FM), 93X (93.7 FM) and the Love 105 stations (105.1, 105.3 and 105.7 FM).  Or maybe not.

So enjoy listening to "jock around the clock" in crystal-clear FM.  As for us, we'll stick to public radio unless there's a game on.

UPDATE:  The new AM 1130 will become KTCN (what, WTCN wasn't available?), and it won't be simulcast on 102.5 FM, pending FCC approval.  For now, it'll be heard on 103.5 FM.