St. Louis sports talk movesCourtesy
St. Louis Post Dispatch
(December 18, 2009) Rarely does anything transpire softly in the boisterous, bravado-filled local sports-talk radio business. But a couple of relatively quiet transactions are affecting the two least-listened-to sports stations in the market.
Entertainment Media Trust is buying KRFT (1190 AM) and WESL (1490 AM). Both have been secondary outlets in the market for the owners of the two major AM sports-talk stations, KFNS (590) and KSLG (1380). KRFT, which had been the property of KFNS owner Big League Broadcasting, had been carrying nationally syndicated fare from Sporting News Radio and also aired spillover play-by-play events that KFNS couldn't (or chose not to) run. But it now is broadcasting country music. WESL, run by KSLG owner Simmons Media, carries the "urban sports" shows and it remains to be seen what course Entertainment Media Trust will take when it is expected to gain control by the end of the month. A representative of that organization would not discuss the matter. According to radio trade website rbr.com, the combined sale price of 1190 AM and 1490 AM is a little more than $1 million. Entertainment Media Trust already has two other stations in the area — 1430 KZQZ (1430 AM) and WXOZ (1510 AM). The bottom line is that there still will be three main stations in the athletic-intensive format — KFNS, KSLG and WXOS (101.1 FM). Big League Broadcasting President Andrew Saltzman could not be reached for comment but KSLG general manager John Helmkamp said the stations being sold were inconsequential from a local sports standpoint. "It's a better move for us to get (1490) off the books because financially it was hurting us,'' he said. "... With the economy and multiple sports stations in the market, the No. 1 thing is the bottom line. This certainly helps from that standpoint.'' Were five sports outlets too many for a market St. Louis' size? "If you're counting those two (that are being sold), yes,'' Helmkamp said. "But given the fact that nobody was listening to them, I don't know if you really should count them. You know this town — we want local (shows), there just wasn't that much interest in the national programs.'' He added that some of the "urban sports'' shows could end up at KSLG on nights or weekends. _______________________
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