Media

The St. Louis media scene is similar to those in most major American cities in the 21st century. It includes one daily newspaper and a variety of weekly papers that serve diverse audiences throughout the area. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the only daily in town, and the weekly St. Louis American garners a high African-American readership. St. Louis’s weekly alternative newspaper, the Riverfront Times, plays devil’s advocate/pot stirrer when it comes to local issues, and the publication is an authority on the local and national music scene. For whatever reason—probably St. Louis’s ongoing inferiority complex regarding Chicago—the Chicago Tribune is available daily from paper machines on street corners throughout downtown.

Television newscasts and radio formats mimic those in most metropolitan areas as well, with most network affiliates offering standard local newscasts in addition to network programming. The local TV stations include four network affiliates, NBC, CBS, ABC, and FOX, along with KPLR, a local station affiliated with the CW network, and KETC, the PBS station in town.

KSDK (NBC) and KMOV (CBS) are virtually tied at the top of the ratings heap, trading out “No. 1 newscast in St. Louis” honors regularly.

The FOX, CBS, and NBC affiliates go head-to-head at 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., while the CBS and NBC affiliates battle weekdays at noon, 5:00, 6:00, and 10:00 p.m. Local FOX, NBC, and CBS all have locally based morning news shows, and KDNL sticks with ABC’s “Good Morning America” for the duration. WRBU, My 46, offers shows such as “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne,” “The Insider,” “My Wife and Kids,” and “George Lopez.” KPLR remains the local CW affiliate, home to popular shows like “America’s Next Top Model,” “Gossip Girl,” and “Smallville.”

In the world of St. Louis radio, there are three major conglomerates that control most of the stations in town: Emmis Broadcasting, Clear Channel, and Infinity Broadcasting. KMOX-AM remains the king of news/talk, while upstarts news/talk KTRS-AM and KFNS-AM offer a host of sports/talk shows as well. KTRS broadcasts Cardinals games and KMOX handles Blues hockey and the University of Missouri’s football and men’s basketball games. The Rams’ official radio station is on the FM side of the dial at 103.3 KLOU.

For local cable television, locally based Charter Communications is the cable provider. Charter, headquartered in Town and Country, recently bought out the other area cable providers, leaving the bi-state region with a somewhat confusing cable TV system, and it also provides broadband Internet access. Fortunately, there is an abundance of satellite TV dish providers in the area for those who feel they need more “control” over their channel-surfing options.