On Press Row - future

[sivert]

Did I just hear Rima say OPR is ending??!!

[BCPanther]

Yep. Ending on Friday.

NRG just took 107.3 from local to a national stream and that's pretty much what KXEL will be outside of the hour Jeff Stein does in the morning.

[DownGoesKansas]

Well that sucks. Need all the Panther supporters on the air that we can get.

[PurpleCatFan]

Sad to hear. I was a daily listener. Now I will have to change my dial to something else. Cole Bair does a nice job on 1650 I might have to dial into that daily
thank you Gray for your great show. it will be missed

[Neighbor]

I hope OPR transitions to a POD cast. Other a.m. talk shows that were cancelled transitioned to pod cast and the listenership expanded.

[vbfan19]

The announcement and details can be heard at the start of the podcast archive of yesterday's show (Mon. 3/23/2020), just after the intro:
http://onpressrow.com/test/2020/03/2...-tavern-grill/

Sounds like the decision was made back in February (or possibly even early, but that's when the station informed Rima).

all in all, having a daily radio show for 14 years isn't a bad run.

[clenz]

This type of thing is happening all over with local sports shows.

We saw it try to be pulled in DSM just a couple months ago by iHeart but it was overturned because the listener base was so big.

In the CR/IC area the ESPN station ran local shows from 3-4 and then 4-7. The show from 4-7 had a listener base that probably dwarfed Gary in terms of listener base (just a guess but probably a pretty safe one) and the that show lost an hour and went to just 4-6 not long ago - and not super long after Gary got a second hour.

The money made from syndicating national shows is more than the extreme majority of local sports shows can bring in. We'll see what happens on the other side of this pandemic (obviously this move wasn't pandemic related) but the base for hot take sports radio has been shrinking, and shrinking for local hot sports take even quicker. Gary wasn't exactly hot take radio, but his personality - especially on social media - led to quite a few less than ideal interactions with a number of people. KXEL is a conservative hot bed and conservative AM radio is alive and strong. The money/radios wanting that probably far outweight those looking for Cedar Valley CourtKings or Waterloo Bucks radio with UNI mixed in.

Sounds like they're going:
Rush 11-2
Dave Ramsey 2-4
Todd Starnes 4-7
Mark Levin 7-9
Jim Bohannon 9-12

That's just right wing radio heaven - which also makes it $$$$

It's unfortunate in many was as far as UNI getting press is concerned. Gary will still be calling UNI games. He still has his CourtKings. I won't be shocked to see Gary back in radio at some point. 1650's line up is pretty weak, their signal isn't great either. Outside of the potential behind the mic dynamic issues of he and Cole (I'd think they could work professionally with little issue) you could fit Gary in on either side of Cole's show and make it work. Gary 4-5 and Cole 5-6

[vbfan19]

I always felt unclean dialing my radio to kxel, given their usual programming (aside from the UNI sports coverage). I'm glad I don't have any reason to anymore.

[ronfitch]

Any discussion about the Panther Sports Network? KXEL is the flagship station.

[clenz]

Any discussion about the Panther Sports Network? KXEL is the flagship station.

They will be keeping all broadcasts and coaches shows. Just no more OPR.

Their signal is far too strong to move it anywhere else.

[BCPanther]

Any discussion about the Panther Sports Network? KXEL is the flagship station.

KXEl is never giving that up and UNI is never going to pull it because their signal is HUGE, something like 27 states and 4 Canadian Provinces at night.

[clenz]

KXEl is never giving that up and UNI is never going to pull it because their signal is HUGE, something like 27 states and 4 Canadian Provinces at night.

100k watt tower, which is one of the tallest in the nation.

There's a reason it's call "The Big Blow Torch"

Meanwhile, something like 1650 struggles to get to the SW side of Cedar Falls many days

[BCPanther]

100k watt tower, which is one of the tallest in the nation.

There's a reason it's call "The Big Blow Torch"

Meanwhile, something like 1650 struggles to get to the SW side of Cedar Falls many days

Right, the only two in the same ballpark are WHO and WGN and god knows we aren't getting on those stations. Hell, WGN dumped the Cubs.

[iron panther]

Sorry to hear this especially from our flagship station i listened to him daily he was our only true advocate. Cole mostly want to talk about iowa and just sprinkle in uni. It would be nice if 1650 would pickup gary. The rich eisen show can go he never has anything informative to say that hasnt already been said from morning shows.

[vbfan19]

100k watt tower, which is one of the tallest in the nation.

There's a reason it's call "The Big Blow Torch"

the info I see on it lists it as a 50k watt station, not 100k. I'm fairly sure the 50 kW is the max allowed by the FCC.for AM radio
though I do believe that KXEL was one of the first AM radio stations to broadcast with 50 kW power output.