All-news WNEW debuts as competitor to WTOP || Washington Post
Starting early Monday, one of WNEW’s most prominent voices will be a familiar one to WTOP’s listeners. The station’s morning traffic reporter is Lisa Baden, who called the drive-time grind every weekday for more than a decade on WTOP until early last year, when the station began using its own employees to report traffic (Baden is under contract to a company called Total Traffic).
Having Baden on board suggests the importance of traffic reporting to news radio, as well as WNEW’s determination to go right to the heart of WTOP’s success.
For decades, WTOP has been uncontested in news radio in Washington, although a few stations (notably public station WAMU-FM and WMAL-AM and FM) offer a hybrid of news and talk programs. The absence of direct competition enabled WTOP, which is heard primarily at 103.5 FM, to grow into the richest radio station in the nation. Its annual revenue was $57.2 million in 2010, according to BIA/Kelsey, a Chantilly research firm.
I have missed Lisa Baden! Will have to give this station a listen.
