KSTP-AM Gets In The Game

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The news that KSTP (AM 1500) is changing its talk format from politics to sports, and is becoming an ESPN Radio affiliate, caught a lot of people off guard.  It might very well become a game changer, so to speak, in local radio if things roll their way.

KSTP's ratings have been in the dumper since they lost Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity to conservative talker KTLK (FM 100.3) a few years ago.  They used to be the home of well-regarded local talent such as Barbara Carlson, Bob Yates, Don Vogel and T.D. Mischke.

Now, after getting rid of hosts Shawn Prebil, Chris Murphy, Jay Kolls and Al Malmberg, KSTP is left with its two most marketable commodities:  Patrick Reusse and Joe Soucheray, who have been with the station since the 1980s.  They will now be filling the afternoons together and separately.  But both have been veering away from sports in recent years.  Reusse, who still writes a sports column for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, has been known to talk about movies and politics at times.  Soucheray, who's keeping his "Garage Logic" show and his St. Paul Pioneer Press column (unless something happens with the paper itself), dropped sports a long time ago and is now best known as a neo-conservative who doesn't believe in climate change.  Collectively, their act is getting tired.

Not even being the Minnesota Twins' flagship station has helped KSTP.  First, there's their lack of a strong 50,000-watt signal, which can't be helped because of FCC regulations.  Second, baseball is a family-friendly sport, while dissing President Barack Obama and the Democrats on a regular basis is not.  Will the Twins be impressed by KSTP's switch enough to keep from going back to WCCO?

ESPN Radio is currently heard on a part-time basis on KFAN (AM 1130) and KFXN (AM 690), its daytime-only sibling.  KFAN seems to need ESPN mainly for live coverage of the World Series, NBA playoffs, and college football bowl games, while most of the talk shows go to KFXN.  ESPN also has a reputation for constant self-promotion and caring only about certain teams such as the Yankees and Red Sox, which is not they way to endear yourself to the folks in, let's say, Paducah, Kentucky.

It's not known whether KSTP will drop ABC radio news (for whom they've been an affiliate since 1982).  But if they do, it'll be interesting to see who ends up with it because there are no obvious choices.  WCCO is owned by CBS.  Clear Channel has a deal with Fox News Radio for talk stations such as KTLK.  And progressive talker KTNF (AM 950) currently runs CNN news.

But the biggest question seems to be this:  Does the Twin Cities really need another sports talk station?  KFAN has been doing this format for two decades, and even they understand that sports talk around here begins and ends with the Minnesota Vikings--and not just because the station has the radio rights to their games.  So that's why they let their hosts delve into other topics such as politics and pop culture.  WCCO has Mike Max and Dark Star during the week, and Sid Hartman on Sunday mornings.  The key, folks, is local, local, local.  KSTP tried that for years, but now they face an uphill battle with the likes of "Mike and Mike In The Morning".