Courtesy St. Louis Post Dispatch

(May 22, 2009) Sports-talk radio lineups in this market seem to change about as frequently as Tony La Russa's batting orders. Next up on the moving-along list could be KSLG's morning drive-time show, which is the reigning market-share leader by far in that time slot among the three major local stations in the format.

Tim McKernan, the ringleader of the show on KSLG (1380 AM) that also features
Jim Hayes and Doug Vaughn, is hopeful a new deal will be reached there. But
he's not adverse to leaving.

"I think I can speak for everybody involved in the show, including those behind
the scenes, that we would like to stay at 1380," McKernan said. "We really
enjoy it there. But we'll have to see if things can be worked out."

Vaughn, the newcomer to the crew, isn't under contract, although McKernan and
Hayes are and their deals expire in mid-September. But KSLG is required to make
a legitimate offer by mid-June or else they can begin shopping the show and
likely avoid a "non-compete" period that could keep them off a competitor until
March.

KSLG general manager John Helmkamp is confident a deal will be struck.

"Our intent is absolutely to re-sign them," he said. "They're important,
they're the No. 1-rated show on the station. They're our No. 1 priority."

The program's market share in the most recent survey was more than double what
its two main competitors — WXOS (100.1 FM) and KFNS (590 AM, 100.7 FM) —
combined to draw.

KSLG nearly had a deal last winter to keep its current morning show, but
management pulled the offer at a late juncture.

"It was a sign of the times, it was better for all of us to wait to see where
everything played out," Helmkamp said. "The economy tanked. January was the
worst month for radio (revenue) so far this year. Everyone is watching every
dollar. It was time to wait."

NO SALE

McKernan and company receive straight salaries, unlike others at the station
and elsewhere in local radio who receive a good chunk, if not all, of their pay
by selling advertising. But the three have other jobs — McKernan at the
Insidestl.com website, Vaughn at KMOV (Channel 4) and Hayes at Fox Sports
Midwest — and they all said they don't want to walk that ad-peddling route.

"I wouldn't have the time, I'm not much of a salesman and I don't have much of
an interest in that now and I'm not even sure I could do it (because of
regulations at KMOV)," Vaughn said. "It's probably the way to go in radio, I
know there are some guys who make a lot of money doing it. But I don't have
time to go sell a show on top of everything else."

In an interesting twist, Martin Kilcoyne recently was added to the morning
lineup at KFNS, where he had a highly successful run in that time slot with
McKernan and Hayes several years ago.

They had one of the few sports-talk shows that cracked the top 5 in market
share among the demographic the stations in the format covert — men ages 25-54 —
before being disbanded in 2006. But Hayes doubts that there could be an
eventual reunion with Kilcoyne at that station.

"Martin has his own thing and he's great at it," Hayes said. "Our show has
changed, too. Tim and Doug make me laugh every day. I think we're just hitting
our stride now."

If the show does move, it's possible it could go to a station that isn't sports
oriented.

"I still would want to do sports as well if that kind of move happens,"
McKernan said. "But that would take away the element of, 'Why are you talking
about (topics that aren't related to sports), this is a sports station?' That
would open up the element of freely discussing other things. But one of the
reasons I love working at 1380 is that they just roll the ball out there and
let us go without interference."

McKernan said the goal is to keep the current team together, and at the same
place.

"I still fell like if you have our show in the morning at 1380 and (Kevin)
Slaten in the afternoon, you have your bookends to be strong," he said. "There
is a lot there."