What will Cumulus do?

[vchimpanzee]

Because of the site redesign, I've seen several threads about Cumulus buying Dial Global.

Dial Global has been committed to making America's Best Music more traditional sounding than the Timeless Favorites type mess Westwood One was doing about ten years ago. And the Jones purchase meant even more positive changes. It's great how committed this format is to the real standards.

Obviously some AC and oldies selections that weren't all that desirable had to be added to make the format sound more mass appeal.

Now I'm worried what Cumulus might do.

 

[amlover]

Some duplicated formats will go away.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Some duplicated formats will go away.

Given a choice between Real Country and Classic hit Country I would hope they'd choose Classic Hit Country because Real Country has a bunch of newer songs I don't like.

That wouldn't be a problem here, but I've seen talk that America's Best Music is losing affiliates despite its near-monopoly status and I'm worried Cumulus would want to fix that.

 

[amlover]

Dial Global is now Westwood One. Whatever Westwood already has that was on Dial will go away.

 

[ShadowWDiamond]

I doubt that Westwood One's future moves will pan out that way. I believe it's far more likely that Westwood One will continue with the most successful formats they now own, regardless of their origin. Dial Global was the combination of the old Westwood One radio formats, bought back in '06, Waitt Radio Network, and Jones Radio Networks. They held the lion's share of the format business. Like in sports, best players play. Former Dial Global formats won't simply 'go away' by default. That doesn't make sense.

Cumulus didn't have a similar format to America's Best Music. Therefore, it's doesn't make sense that the format would go away for that reason, either.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Cumulus didn't have a similar format to America's Best Music. Therefore, it's doesn't make sense that the format would go away for that reason, either.

Cumulus shut down both of its "easy" formats in the last few years ("Memories" in '07 and "Timeless Favorites" in '10), so my confidence that "America's Best Music" survives through 2014 is very limited. "Timeless" in particular had a lot of affiliates, many of them now with Westwood One.

 

[ShadowWDiamond]

I don't recall how strong the Memories format was, when it was merged into Timeless. However, I seem to recall Timeless not having an impressive amount of affiliates when the format ended. Also, didn't Timeless go away in '10? I don't believe that Cumulus had anything to do with Memories or Timeless. I believe this was when the shop was owned by Citadel.

In any case, I don't think that these other formats were shut down with a healthy affiliate count.

 

[ShadowWDiamond]

"Its music what makes a radio station, and at Live FM, we play the last music around."
After receiving that copy, I quit the VO industry."

Hate to go off topic, but that is one funny quote!

 

[michael hagerty]

Dial Global is now Westwood One. Whatever Westwood already has that was on Dial will go away.

Dial Global and Westwood One merged in 2011. The name Westwood One was dropped, but Dial Global owned the rights. The new name actually is WestwoodOne (no space between the two words). So there is no duplication, as Westwood has been Dial Global for a couple of years.

The question is what happens when Cumulus takes control of WestwoodOne.

 

[ronald54321]

Terrestrial media is vile anyway. If it weren't for the Internet, there would be nothing. And that's not just true for radio. It's true for everything else as well.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

I don't recall how strong the Memories format was, when it was merged into Timeless. However, I seem to recall Timeless not having an impressive amount of affiliates when the format ended.

I don't have an exact count, but would estimate it was somewhere around 100 stations.

Also, didn't Timeless go away in '10? I don't believe that Cumulus had anything to do with Memories or Timeless. I believe this was when the shop was owned by Citadel.

This is correct.

The sig quote is funny, but unfortunately true.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I don't recall how strong the Memories format was, when it was merged into Timeless. However, I seem to recall Timeless not having an impressive amount of affiliates when the format ended. Also, didn't Timeless go away in '10? I don't believe that Cumulus had anything to do with Memories or Timeless. I believe this was when the shop was owned by Citadel.

In any case, I don't think that these other formats were shut down with a healthy affiliate count.

I think those formats go back to ABC.

I only know of two Memories affiliates. WDZD-FM was in Myrtle Beach (though its tower was so far away and its signal was so weak it would have never survived regardless) and had switched from cutting-edge active rock. There were two competitors: an AM America's Best Music station whose nighttime signal left something to be desired and didn't last but a few more years before simulcasting a co-owned oldies station, and a true easy listening station which evolved from mostly instrumentals to a sound not so different from America's Best Music but with fewer really old songs. While the easy listening station was still playing maybe one-third instrumentals, WDZD's owner decided on a simulcast with a country station on the other end of the market several years later. Then it went Spanish and recently went AC.

The other is my Dial Global standards affiliate. The minute Timeless Classics went away, this station was suddenly better than the two Timeless Favorites affiliates that significantly overlapped with this one. The morning show went from being softer than the rest of the day to louder.