Post
by LongIsland » Fri Oct 07, 2022 7:53 am
I'm not so sure people are turning more to religious radio. Like Metalhead said, WCSG is just that good with on-air talent, music, etc. Has been for years.
Will Smile FM's better 99.9 signal make a difference? Not really. Tracked with nice voices but little content. It'll take a fair amount of marketing in GR, better signal and more care to programmign to make a dent, esp if CSG continues to do what it does in community presence.
K-Love? Always possible they could come to the market; it's only a matter of time. K-Love (with over 900 signals I believe) has bigger fish to fry now that they're in New York, Chicago, and Detroit, and making inroads into other platforms. Interestingly, GR is one of less than 10 top 100 markets where there is no K-Love is. Based on K-Love's current SOP and with CSG and Joy99's strong presence with a similar format, K-Love isn't nec looking to come to GR, but neither will it turn down an offer to buy or trade for a signal. In my opinion, it'll do a little dent, but not much since it's network radio.
As for 102.9 and 89.7, I don't see a lot of conservative right flocking to them as they're probably too conservative even for MAGA.
And, revisiting July's discussion on AC Christian radio, Hankrotten's comment that the format has some smart programmers is, in my opinion, spot on. These stations hitting #1/consistent top #3 in their markets - KSBJ/Houston, WGTS/D.C., KTIS/St Paul, JOY-FM/St Louis, JOY-FM (different owner)/Tampa, KSOS/Vegas, Z88/Orlando, WCSG/Grand Rapids - may be "religious," but (imo) that's not the attraction. Encouragement presented with professionalism and authenticity in an engaging manner without shoving Jesus down your throat... nothing wrong with that. That's winner winner chicken dinner.