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Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2

Posted by WYTZZ95FM <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=WYTZZ95FM' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 2, 2026, 1:49 pm

Not Chicago, but it could very well occur here or NYC, or wherever in the US. It is in the vein of AM stories and Audacy guiding people to download the "app" or tune in on an HD2 signal.

Sidenote to buildup for the rest of the post, Sports radio with non White people identifying as Hispanic or speak some form of Spanish, has never been a success in most of the US. LA Nielsen Market #2 is a hair over 50% non white, 43% Hispanic.

KNX-FM the sole News station in Market #2 is estimated to garner 99% of the stations #'s. (I believe it, as the AM band is plagued with massive noise in LA). The 1% is KNX-AM. In a brilliant move, they are flipping the FM to Sports, a format that has never worked in LA. Knowing it is a suicide mission to tell listeners to go to AM where about 1% of their current numbers are at, they are guiding people to "download the App" and listen to the News format there. After the public online negative comments, Audacy have guided people that the station will also be available on 97.1 HD2. 🤣 It gets better.....

Audacy is simulcasting KCBS-AM San Fransisco and KNX-FM/AM LA at night. Both stations are carrying the same feed. John from Wisconsin, please, this is your cue! Are we this fxxxxx' broke we have to resort to this?

Randy West is eviscerating Audacy and the radio industry, nicely. There were a ton of articles on this, I like this one the best. Especially where he mimics my "Last one please turn the lights off" in his last paragraph.

Z

Link: Randy West: All-news diminished in L.A.; radio biz digs deeper hole...

Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2

Posted by WKDI <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=WKDI' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 2, 2026, 2:14 pm, in reply to "Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2"

I've never been to Los Angeles, but I thought I read that there were two other sports stations there with one being owned by the Los Angeles Angels Baseball team. Perhaps Audrey is betting that it can be successful because of an FM signal. Audacy likes to brag about having the most FM sports stations. But if you have cornered the all news audience in that market, why fix what isn't broken? Could it be that KNX has the rights to the Rams broadcasts and trying to keep them is part of the reason? Maybe they are trying to attract another team?
I don't know what other stations they own there but certainly they could have flipped one of them to sports and kept KNX as a simulcast. Audacy then could move the Rams to the new sports station.

As for Chicago, I don't see impart flipping 95.5 to s sports talk station unless they could strike a deal with Good Karma to put ESPN Chicago there on HD1. Since Newsradio is on one simulcast and the Score is on another simulcast, Audacy can't screw this up.

Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2

Posted by John from Wisconsin <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=John+from+Wisconsin' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 2, 2026, 3:24 pm, in reply to "Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2"

Z:"John from Wisconsin, please, this is your cue!"

I'm in Michigan now and have heard KNX overnights up here, quite easily, a few times, LIKE A LOCAL! Figuring traffic & weather every ten minutes, you can easily go, let's say 6-7 minutes with no call letters. It's kind of sad. Traffic? KNX AM traffic is LIVE, overnights. (Take that, WBBM!)

"How cheap can we make it?" "How much can we stretch the dollar?" (....on declining revenues?)

The important thing is to add 24 more vice presidents, I guess. (I worked for bosses that didn't know their ass from a hole in the ground.)
Every other word, "YES SIR, YES SIR"

KNX is the older demographic and KNX FM will be the younger. (When you get to a certain age, if it's FM or AM, who cares. If it's on a "smart speaker" it doesn't matter.) In Milwaukee, an FM sports outlet, failed: 97.3 WRNW.

The KNX AM signal easily (along with KLAC-570, KFI-640) has to be one of the better signals in LA. I believe they have good engineers to make that signal pop. (I'm sure WBBM AM has a better punch/sound than W??? on ....) WLS AM has always to me, has a signal with base. (Then) WCFL, less so.) Hell, years ago, San Diego's MIGHTY 690 (XETRA) was a Top40 powerhouse in LA! (109 miles, as the crow flies.)

How much did the FM signal add? IF it goes down much, another Audacy would be sacrificed, I guess....KCBS FM at 93.1 (JackFM) "Who is the weakest link?"

Fact is, if you want news, you go to KNX, I guess.....or NPR.

The pie is sliced very thinly, and my guess is people are loyal to a team, a format, a person.
White Sox games are on AM, FM for Cubs.

To me, and it's only me, radio is just backround noise.

"Rock & Roll, I gave you all the best years of my life" as the old song goes.

Too, in 1 or 2 years, things will shake out. One thing for sure....Radio eats their own! That seems to be a given.

Still, these same TYPE of conversations were had decades ago! (Do we dump the AM or go FM Top40? Do you go Album Rock, Do we drop newscasts? Do we have a Classic Country on the AM, now that the FM is Country or...do we still transmit, now that someone stole the copper wiring?)

Who knows? Sure is interesting and has lit up more than a few message boards/other forums!

John

Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the (deleted post)

Posted by ABRockNJock on May 2, 2026, 6:40 pm, in reply to "Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2"

Post deleted due to fair use violation. No link to source. Want to repost it then link back to your sources.

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Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2

Posted by Jeremy Andrews <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=Jeremy+Andrews' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 2, 2026, 7:38 pm, in reply to "Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2"

Sports is suddenly a big thing for Audacy. It was in previous years. Then it wasn't a few years ago. A few years ago they actually backed out of some play-by-play contracts and canned the airstaff at some of their Sports stations.

Now all the sudden they see it as the future of radio.

Anyway, they want FM Sports and the lowest rated station they have among 25-54s on the FM band in Los Angeles is KNX-FM. News is an older audience format. Same deal in Chicago. They could have just as easily done the same with WBBM and put The Score on 105.9 but they obviously wanted to prop up B96 a bit.

Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2

Posted by WYTZZ95FM <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=WYTZZ95FM' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 2, 2026, 10:00 pm, in reply to "Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2"

Jeremy I was speaking to a very close friend in radio tonight. He had a differing view than you. He said he could not believe how inept Audacy is, how unlike iHeart, they just have no one live anymore in big markets, or nearly no one live on stations. US99, B96 are mostly not live and the numbers show exactly that. WXRT is #1. It is a one of kind Chicago station, even if it has been corporatized! The jocks are THERE, live relating to listeners about.... Chicago. Big WIN, for Audacy and sadly, they have no clue and don't care.

They think just because Jams flew in Chicago, they launched it in LA (fail), NYC (fail). They think plopping a sports station by removing a News station will be successful in LA. News is an older format, but it bills. When others are already aiming at the same small piece of the pie.

LA is 43% Hispanic speaking. They are already crippling themselves losing a large percentage of that demo.

Hispanic speaking people are not a monolith

Prefer soccer which is NOT popular on US Sports radio

They prefer programming targeted at their lifestyle

They can't get out of their own way man. They killed CBS radio's fine product and are bent to keep going. When you have crap up to your neck, you will choke on it. They still don't get it.

Z

Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2

Posted by ABRockNJock <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=ABRockNJock' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 2, 2026, 10:18 pm, in reply to "Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2"

I was trying to confirm an earlier post & comment from WKDI in this thread, but my initial post was deleted by the powers that be who run this message board.

WKDI mentioned something about the Los Angeles Angels owning the station that airs their broadcasts. WKDI is correct.

It turns out that BOTH L.A. MLB teams own the stations their games air.

I have the Wikipedia pages for KLAC-AM & KLAA-AM in Los Angeles. The stations are owned by the teams that air their respective broadcasts.

KLAC-AM, branded there as 570 AM LA Sports, airs the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers own KLAC and here's their Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KLAC

The Los Angeles Angels do indeed own KLAA-AM, branded there as 830 AM Angels Radio. Here is their Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KLAA_(AM)

Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2

Posted by Jeremy Andrews <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=Jeremy+Andrews' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 3, 2026, 8:19 am, in reply to "Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2"

I don't think Hispanics listen to Sports radio in general. I could be wrong. The Spanish variations typically get terrible ratings and they do talk about and carry soccer games on those stations. If they have play-by-play, maybe.

97.1 was CHR (With a Rhythmic lean) before KNX and it did a pretty bad job going after KIIS, especially toward the end. Went on about a decade. One of their jocks, Bru is still on pretty much all of Audacy's CHR stations nationwide. Channel Q originated there, they cleared out the entire staff there and it now originates from various locations around the country. Before that it spent many years with Talk (Like WCKG)

Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2

Posted by Jeremy Andrews <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=Jeremy+Andrews' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 3, 2026, 8:24 am, in reply to "Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2"

From the sales side of things it's a package sell with KROQ and KCBS for the male audience.

They also almost destroyed KROQ but somehow managed to fix it.

Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2

Posted by PhilJSmith <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=PhilJSmith' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 3, 2026, 10:26 pm, in reply to "Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2"

I think sports in Spanish used to do okay in the 1990s into the early 2010s, but it’s not a format I hear much anymore. In Chicago there was 560 WIND with many games and sports talk, which moved to 1200 WRTO — but what was once 24h sports is now only in the evenings on 1200 “TUDN Radio Chicago.” Dayparts are now regional Mexican / AC music unless there is a Chicago Fire game being played. I know that WRTO carries all their games. I am uncertain if they still carry White Sox games in Spanish.

Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2

Posted by ABRockNJock <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=ABRockNJock' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 4, 2026, 11:51 am, in reply to "Re: Audacy News KNX-FM LA flipping to Sports, advising listeners to download the "App", go to AM or HD2"

I'm not sure when they switched, but 107.9 FM La Ley replaced WRTO 1200 AM as the Spanish-language home for White Sox games this season. La Ley will have the games on the Sox upcoming homestand starting Friday vs Seattle.

https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/schedule/2026-05

Unfortunately, ESPN Deportes Radio is no more. The Spanish-language sports radio network signed off the air in 2019.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESPN_Deportes_Radio

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