KTLK: Return of the Prodigal Call Letters

Clear Channel (Photo credit: John Ryan Brubaker)

KTCN, we hardly knew ye.

Clear Channel, the owners of AM 1130 in the Twin Cities, have made another switcheroo on its conservative talk radio station.  First they swapped dial positions with sports talk KFAN (KFXN 100.3 FM).  Now they're getting back their original call letters, which were KTLK when they were on FM.

The opening was created when Clear Channel made some changes in its Los Angeles radio lineup.  The SoCal version of KTLK, which had been running a progressive talk format, shifted to the right with the addition of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity (all syndicated by CC).  They had previously been on KFI, a much larger station wattage-wise compared to their new station.  The name was changed to KEIB, in honor of Limbaugh's "Excellence In Broadcasting" network.

Federal rules permit a broadcaster to use the same set of call letters on the AM and FM bands, but not on two different signals on either band.  This was why KTLK-AM could be used in California and not Minnesota, and why the name on 100.3 is KFXN, but it could still be promoted as 'KFAN'.

Changes like this tend to lead to confusion for listeners and for newspapers that publish radio listings.  Take the Minneapolis Star Tribune, whose staff either must not listen to much radio or they're just plain lazy.  They list 100.3 FM as KFAN instead of KFXN, and 1130 AM as KTL instead of KTCN or KTLK.  They also don't bother to include the call letters of country station KMNB at 102.9 FM.  Instead, they name it "BUZN".

Other than the name change, it's mostly business as usual at "Twin Cities News Talk".  Rush, Sean, Glenn and Jason Lewis are all still there, along with the overnight radio shows that deal in conspiracy theories and the paranormal.  (Who knew conservatives were interested in that?)  Missing is former Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, who co-hosted a morning drive show until he decided to dive back into politics.  He's currently running for Michele Bachmann's seat in the Sixth Congressional District.

There is also a progressive talk station in Blue State Minnesota called KTNF (AM 950), which is now part of a dying breed.  In the last few months, the format is no longer heard in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Seattle and other places.  They were replaced by either sports or more conservative talk.  The excuse is that such stations get zero ratings, and that NPR is all what liberals listen to.  The truth is that such stations would have been better able to succeed if they had access to the same strong signals that conservative stations do, and if they had someone like their version of Rush Limbaugh to drive ratings.

Here's another truth:  As we enter 2014 with the midterm elections a few months away, the ratings for talk radio on both sides of the political spectrum have been going down.  Because listeners are no longer interested in hearing some fire-breather rant about the shortcomings of President Obama and Congress, or about life in America in general.  (You could also say that about blogs like this one.) New technologies have made it possible to download programs with more intelligent and respectful conversation.  That way it won't matter what companies like Clear Channel or Cumulus do to turn its zillions of stations into money-making political propaganda platforms, no matter what they choose to brand them with.