99.1 carrying Bloomberg Radio

[Terry]

99.5 HD2 and 99.1 are carrying Bloomberg Radio at the moment. Is this a mistake or a permanent format change?

I like it, but then I'm kind of a news junkie.

Whoa! I just checked the Easy 99.1 Facebook page and it's labeled "Business 99.1 - Utah's Home for Bloomberg Radio".

Good!

[drpepper]

nice. I know their ratings weren't amazing, but i'm kinda surprised. If i were programming KBEE i'd strongly consider pivoting to AC. Taking what Easy did and running with it. Then again, KJMY's ratings; with respect to their format, signal coverage etc, haven't been that great either. Maybe Easy moves to 99.5. Doubt it very much for a few reasons, no simulcasting of Easy on both frequencies being the first.

[amanuensis]

I hope the change to Bloomberg is permanent and not just stunting while they get the real format ready. But 99.1 is the frequency Bloomberg has in DC. So it would be easy to just copy that station's branding.

[David]

Thanks iHeart, you just gave me one less reason to own an HD radio. 🤬 I'd been enjoying the Easy 99.1 simulcast on 99.5 HD2 after KLO was sold to El Sembrador, but apparently any radio station in Salt Lake that has a lite ac or adult standards format is destined to either flip formats or be sold.

[dspete]

What would be nice and maybe some of you remember a few years back was when a station was simulcasting the local TV news at 6pm and 10pm
Can't remember what radio station did that but for us 12 hour night shifters that would be an added bonus.

[CAwasinNJ]

I'm surprised too. It might have been telling that Easy 99.1's December ratings weren't nearly what they were in the same period last year. We haven't gotten the Holiday book yet (it will probably be released next Wednesday) but maybe iHeart saw a trend that said it wasn't really working. It's also possible (and my hunch is) that this was a decision made by the corporate suits and the local managers didn't have a say.

The other confusing part about this to me is a simple "why?" I understand Bloomberg being in the big business markets like New York City, Boston, San Fran/Oakland, Baltimore/DC, etc, but why here?

Speaking of New York, there have been a few times over the years that I've heard a simulcast of Bloomberg's WBBR 1130 here, but I don't remember who was doing it. As I recall that simulcast was complete with NY sports, weather and traffic reports. Is that what 99.1 is doing?

Pete, I'm not sure which station you're talking about but that does remind me of what 97.5 FM Talk did for the year it was on the air (Sept 2005 - Sept 2006.) They had local news from KUTV2 at the top of each hour along with CBS News. Could that have been it?

[Terry]

KSL radio has been carrying Bloomberg Radio from 4am till 5am (maybe that will change). I think that there is only one Bloomberg feed because I've heard ads for a NYC car dealership on KSL. And their ID mentions WBBR plus 99.1 in DC and their outlets in SF (960) and, I think, Boston.

I remember that some AM all news station in SLC carried the entire evening newscasts of channel 13. It was probably 1010 AM (or possibly 1280).

[David]

I believe 1010 was a Bloomberg Business Radio affiliate around 2000-2001 when the station was owned by Intelliquest. IIRC, 1230 also had a business news format for a short period of time in the late 1980's or early 1990's. The business radio format is a tough sell to advertisers unless you're in a major market like CA mentioned, which is probably why it didn't last very long on either 1010 or 1230.

IMO, iHeart has been making a lot of poor programming choices lately. I understand they need to cut costs because of their recent bankruptcy, but cutting too much is never a good thing. Case in point: iHeart axed the overnight "America's Trucking Network" program on 700 WLW last November, only to resurrect the show earlier this month. I have to wonder if putting Bloomberg on 99.1/99.5 HD2 was done just so some ad exec could say they have an affiliate in Salt Lake City. It also seems odd to me that iHeart is still airing Delilah's show from 7 PM-Midnight, but perhaps Bloomberg doesn't have a 24/7 program schedule.

[amanuensis]

Jan 22, 2021 12:35:48 GMT -6 David said:

I believe 1010 was a Bloomberg Business Radio affiliate around 2000-2001 when the station was owned by Intelliquest. IIRC, 1230 also had a business news format for a short period of time in the late 1980's or early 1990's. The business radio format is a tough sell to advertisers unless you're in a major market like CA mentioned, which is probably why it didn't last very long on either 1010 or 1230.

IMO, iHeart has been making a lot of poor programming choices lately. I understand they need to cut costs because of their recent bankruptcy, but cutting too much is never a good thing. Case in point: iHeart axed the overnight "America's Trucking Network" program on 700 WLW last November, only to resurrect the show earlier this month. I have to wonder if putting Bloomberg on 99.1/99.5 HD2 was done just so some ad exec could say they have an affiliate in Salt Lake City. It also seems odd to me that iHeart is still airing Delilah's show from 7 PM-Midnight, but perhaps Bloomberg doesn't have a 24/7 program schedule.

It also seems odd that there are still weather and traffic updates running on 99.1. I wonder if those are going to end once sponsorship obligations are fulfilled?

If I was a local business, I would be mad that the ads that I bought to speak to an AC audience are now airing to an audience that probably has less interest in what is being sold. Is it standard in the business for contracts between stations and advertisers to have clauses addressing changes of format?

[dspete]

That was it.. you are correct CA.
Well 99.1 was a go to station did like the variety and thought it was better than 100.3
Oh well another one bites the dust typical I Heart
I am now a kool listener...
I think Terry is correct also it was 1010 that did that a few years ago when it was a good talk station and local.

[CAwasinNJ]

I don't remember BBR on 1010 back then but 1010 did carry the now defunct CNN Headline News audio nearly non-stop back in the early part of the century.

I'm sure Bloomberg is 24/7. It would seem likely to me that 99.1 could get out of airing Delilah since the show and the station are both part of iHeart. On the other hand they might not want to. Delilah is (inexplicably to me) very popular and whatever audience there is for business oriented news probably evaporates after 7PM anyway.

amanuensis I'm not sure I follow you. Why wouldn't 99.1 air weather and traffic? Aren't those two elements that are pretty common across many different formats?

In TV sales contracts there's often a guarantee for a particular rating. If the show the advertiser is in doesn't hit a certain threshold it triggers what's known as a Make Good where the advertiser gets credits for the shortfall. I don't know for sure that such a thing exists in radio but I'll bet it does. It would also be pretty good business practice for any radio station that changes formats to allow advertisers to cancel or modify the contracts even if that isn't spelled out, and I'll bet they would.

[Terry]

There was no Delilah last night, just Bloomberg Radio. I did hear local SLC ads.

[Terry]

There was no Delilah last night, just Bloomberg Radio. I did hear local SLC ads.

[commanderlumpy]

AM 1230 ran The Business Radio Network which was out of Colorado Springs in the early 90's. I am not sure exactly they started and stoped running it. But I do remember being in the Salt Lake area in the summer of 1991 and during the spring of 1992 and they were running The Business Radio Network. It was kind of a cool format. I am not sure what Bloomberg Radio is like. But The BRN was kind of cool.

[David]

Here's a brief article about the 99.1 flip from RadioInsight. Considering that the previous format was only available on a 235 watt translator and an HD2 channel, I don't think Easy 99.1 did too bad in the December 2020 ratings. Apparently it wasn't good enough for iHeart.

radioinsight.com/headlines/204417/business-news-made-easy-in-salt-lake-city/