Coakley shifts to Internet broadcasts

Vince Coakley, who left WBT-AM (1110) this month after a year on the afternoon shift, is now doing an hour-long daily show on the Internet.

"It allows me to stay connected with listeners," Coakley said Tuesday. "I think they appreciate the opportunity to stay in touch."

Coakley's show, which he does from a home studio, can be found at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/vincecoakley .

Coakley said he's open to finding another job in broadcasting.

"I believe a lot of the topics I talk about on the program are timely and must find an outlet. I'm looking for the next venue to communicate a timely message. The message will find an outlet."

Before joining WBT-AM last year as a conservative commentator, Coakley was a news anchor at WSOC (Channel 9).

WBT plans to replace Coakley's show next month with "Brad & Britt," featuring Brad Krantz and Britt Whitmire.

Another sports radio station for Charlotte

Charlotte will get a third sports radio station next year when CBS launches a nationwide sports network.

CBS Sports Radio, which will launch on Jan. 2, 2013, will take over the signal of WBCN-AM (1660), which now airs mostly conservative talk shows under the “America’s Talk” brand.

WBCN and WFNZ-AM (“Fan” 610) are both owned by CBS Radio. WFNZ will continue to carry locally-focused sports shows, but will be picking up some ingredients offered by the network. CBS said that WBCN, which used to simulcast WFNZ programs before switching to news-talk, will carry the CBS Sports Radio shows around the clock.

Elsewhere in the Carolinas, WNKT-FM and WYMB-AM in Columbia, will also be picking up some content from the network. Both those stations are owned by Cumulus Media, which will be a distribution and sales partner for CBS in the new venture.

CBS did not identify any personalities who will be doing shows for the new network, but said contributions will come from CBS Sports, CBS Sports Networks and CBSSports.com.

WFNZ is expected to add hourly CBS Sports updates on Sept. 4 as the network is being built.
Independently owned WZGV-AM ("ESPN" 730) also serves Charlotte with sports programming.

Country stations tie in rankings

Urban and country, the two big formats in Charlotte radio, are at the top of the latest radio rankings released this month by Arbitron.

Perennial leader WBAV-FM remains atop the rankings followed by country stations WKKT-FM and WSOC-FM, which are tied for second.

Here are major Charlotte-area stations and their percentage of the listening audience as measured by Arbitron. Station WXRC-FM ("Ride" 95.7) is not included in the rankings because it does not subscribe to the ratings service.


1. WBAV-FM (“V” 101.9)  8.8%
2. WKKT-FM (“Kat” 96.9)  7.7%
2. WSOC-FM (103.7)  7.7%
4. WPEG-FM (“Power 98” 97.9)  6.8%
5. WKQC-FM (“K” 104.7)  4.9%
6. WHQC-FM (“Channel” 96.1)  4.7%
7. WLNK-FM (“Lite” 102.9)  4.6%
8. WEND-FM (“End” 106.5)  4.4%
9. WNKS-FM (“Kiss” 95.1)  4.2%
10 WRFX-FM (“Fox” 99.7)  4.1%
11. WBT-AM (News-talk 1110)  4.0%
12. WPZS-FM (“Praise” 100.9)  3.7%
13. WLYT-FM (“Lite” 102.9)  3.4%
14. WFAE-FM (NPR, 90.7)                  3.2%
15. WRCM-FM (“New Life” 91.9)  2.9%
16. WQNC-FM (“Q” 92.7)  2.5%
17. WFNZ-AM (Sports 610)  1.1%
18. WDAV-FM (Classical 89.9)  0.8%
19. WNSC-FM (NPR 88.9)  0.4%
20. WBCN-AM (1660)  0.3%
21. WZGV-AM (Sports 730)  0.2%

NPR's 'Car Talk' riding into sunset

"Car Talk," the engaging NPR show that has gone under the hood for 25 years, is nearing the finish line.

In this weekend's broadcast, hosts Tom and Ray Magliozzi will announce they're retiring this fall. They go by Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, on their call-in show that offers simple explanations to the sometimes confusing world of automotive mechanics.

Tom turns 75 this year and Ray is 63.

NPR plans to continue distributing the show to stations that want it by splicing together memorable segments from the past.

In a statement released Friday by NPR:

"My brother has always been 'work averse,'" says Ray. "Now, apparently, even the one hour a week is killing him."

"Brutal," adds Tom.

"Car Talk," which airs at 10 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays in Charlotte, has long been one of WFAE-FM's (90.7) most listened-to programs.

Channel 9 takes lead at noon, 11 p.m.

In the latest Nielsen sweeps in May, WSOC (Channel 9) won the time periods for all key newscasts, displacing WBTV (Channel 3), which had been leading at noon and 11 p.m.
Overall numbers for most newscasts were down in comparison with May 2011, which was an unusually strong month for both local and national news numbers.
Here's how newscasts fared during the May 2012 sweeps in the number of households reached in the Charlotte area and percentage change from last year as measured by Nielsen.


6 A.M. 
   
WSOC (Ch. 9):  69,000,  -2%
WBTV (Ch. 3):  38,000,  -19%
WCNC (Ch. 36):  23,000,  -33%
WCCB (Ch. 18):  11,000,  -44%

NOON
   
WSOC (Ch. 9):  57,000,  +9%
WBTV (Ch. 3):  52,000,  -13%
WCNC (Ch. 36):  10,000,  -10%

6 P.M. 
     
WSOC (Ch. 9):  78,000,  -6%
WBTV (Ch. 3):  61,000,  -2%
WCNC (Ch. 36):  29,000,  -4%

NETWORK NEWSCASTS

ABC:  85,000,  -7%
CBS:  58,000,  +13%
 NBC:  39,000,  -17%

10 P.M. 
     
WCCB (Ch. 18):  36,000,  -18%
WAXN (Ch. 64):  29,000,  -10%
WMYT (Ch. 55):  13,000,  -34%*

11 P.M.  
     
WSOC (Ch. 9):  68,000,  Unchanged.
WBTV (Ch. 3):  65,000,  -3%
WCNC (Ch. 36):  25,000,  -27%


*Newscast moved from WJZY (Ch. 46). SOURCE: Nielsen