Cumulus will break 1470 WLQR Toledo off of its simulcast of Sports “106.5 The Ticket” WLQR-FM and flip it to Talk on Monday, August 13.
The new “TalkRadio 1470” will run the Cumulus Media Networks suite of talkers including Imus In The Morning, Geraldo Rivera, Mike Huckabee, John Batchelor, Mark Levin, and Red Eye Radio. The station will continue to carry Bowling Green University basketball and football and Detroit Tigers baseball.
The new format will put WLQR in direct competition with Clear Channel’s 1370 WSPD.
They will need to fix the signal if they want any audience. 300-watts off a broken tower won’t cut it.
Format is there mainly to clear the syndicated programs they distribute in another market. Any audience is a bonus.
You need to find some local talent to compete with WSPD. Maybe you could diversify to maybe a Thom Hartman or Ed Shultz. I think there is a market for this in Toledo. Many Toledoans are tuning into 1310 out of Detroit because the local line up is so one-sided.
It’s about time SPD got some competition, 1470 won’t win ratings wise but at leaste Brian Wilson isn’t going to be the only game in town anymore.
So it’s pretty much a return of the former WTOD “SuperTalk 1560” that Cumulus traded away a few years back for their current translator at 100.7 FM (currently relaying “The Zone”).
Mark Levin only became available after WSPD dumped him out of some conflict between Levin and Wilson took place earlier in the year.