• Mediaweek, Sunday, October 18, 2009 9:56 PM

ESPN and other radio companies are figuring out how to move talk programming from AM to FM. In an effort to migrate more affiliates to FM, ESPN Radio just signed an affiliation deal to put its brand on WNUW-FM, making the station the first FM sports station in Philadelphia. The station is the 29th FM affiliate ESPN has signed since January.

Why FM instead of AM? According to Arbitron, 79% of radio listening is to FM and three-quarters of FM listeners never tune to AM. FM listeners are also younger (only 37% are older than 50) and there are more female listeners.

Plus FM is no longer just about music. "Now that iPods and digital devices, the Internet, and the prospect of royalty fees have put FM music formats at peril, it has become really attractive to move spoken-word formats to FM," says Gabe Hobbs, president of Gabe Hobbs Media. As a result, the industry is struggling with what to do with most AM properties. Notes Hobbs: "We'll have to find other uses for AM or reinvent the band. Some of the weaker AM signals will go dark."

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