The Sports of St. Louis

Lindbergh Reference or ABA Reference?

Cardinals Radio Intrigue Heats Up: KMOX, WXOS Malign Each Other's Frequencies

by Dan Moore • Jul 23, 2010 3:30 PM CDT

The Post-Dispatch has an article about the increasingly crowded fight for Cardinals radio coverage in 2011, and maybe the most amazing thing is how quickly the Cardinals' complicated move to KTRS is being pushed out the door. KTRS wasn't just a move away from KMOX—it was a move toward a station the Cardinals bought specifically for this purpose. Now, some challengers approach:

"The best partnership would be with a sports station that specializes in sports and only sports, 365 days a year,'' said John Kijowski, who runs WXOS, the market's newest sports-talk station. "KMOX is a news-information station with some play-by-play.

"Being on FM is a strategic benefit for the Cardinals because they can grow their (younger) audience. Ours is a future play. ... Because 50 percent of men (age) 25-54 don't even go to the AM dial, it's not relevant to them.''

But John Sheehan, who oversees KMOX, said tradition as well as the massive reach of 1120 would appease those beyond the reach of the team's radio network who have been shut out of free coverage - many of whom are vocal.

"The KMOX signal is the only one in St. Louis that matches the fan's passion for Cardinals baseball,'' Sheehan said.

Man, age 25-54: "Hey, bro—you wanna listen to some Cardinals baseball?"

Other man: "Nah, man, AM is for geezers. What are you, some kind of geezer?"

Man: "Nice! Let's pound some brewskis and listen to FM Radio, the voice of our generation!"

Perhaps all the complaining about KTRS's weak signal has worn them down; for my part, it seems like I'm almost all the way into St. Louis from my hometown of Springfield, Illinois before I can change to KTRS from the local affiliate, whereas there were times when I was younger when KMOX came in stronger than the station that was broadcasting a few miles away from my house.

Whether it "matches [my] passion for Cardinals baseball" or not—well, I'm not sure how one converts watts to hours wasted watching Cardinals baseball, but 50,000 does seem like a good place to start.