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WKLB drops 20 yr country oldies Sunday show

raccoonradio said:
Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?
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Interesting question. Hank had a son, and his son kept the legacy alive. But there is a difference when you're the only station covering a diverse format, and when you get competition. I've read a lot of posters say that competition is good for radio. My response is that it depends. When you're at a station that gets a new competitor, you tighten the playlist and circle the wagons. I've seen it over and over. Competition doesn't mean that fringe music gets played. It means anything that isn't a hit gets tossed. Why? Because 50% of the big nut is worth more than 100% of a niche like Americana or classic country. If we had more station owners, we'd have more stations playing the same songs, going after the same audience. So yes, the Oldies show is the first to go. No big surprise. Let some AM station go after that audience.
 
Right and on b-r-i someone mused maybe CC could put classic country on 1430 just like they have it on 1380 in SE New Hamp...or does Mia do well enough...?

What if 680 doesn't come to terms with Howie... (I know, far fetched but...)--Howie! Then Hannity! on the new Patriot 101.7
Yeah I think CC will stay with this Harbor format--oops, gone.
Yeah I think CC will stay with this EDM format--oops, gone.
Yeah I think.. :)

Good thoughts about competition. (And btw Hank also has a grandson...and the song title I quoted was from Waylon, I think, who also sang Are You Ready For The Country..)

Also some who crave classic country can get it on various streams, and on Willie's Place on XM.
 
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I don't know what's Howie's 25-54s look like, but if they're like Hannity's, you won't hear him on an FM. Just not enough money.
 
If CC is serious about country on 101.7, I'd expect it to find an HD home for classic country, either on 101.7 (not currently equipped for HD) or one of its other properties. Boston's history with country music as a mass-appeal format just isn't strong enough to justify a classic country station, even on AM. Here in Connecticut, WWYZ has been a roaring success ever since it flipped from soft AC in 1988, but classic country can only be found on its HD2. It's never had a weekend specialty show.
 
Right re: Howie etc (and he's getting up there in age) but you never know. Tweets
from @bostonradio
>>If Carr packs it up in August, it's all over for 680. The opportunity will be there for someone else to bring talk to FM.

(Me: whether than means Carr would be part of it, who knows)

>>Still think Clear Channel will buy Entercom at some point.

Then again there's the conventional wisdom about talkers working on heritage stations with a news/talk/local history, but would it work on a 101.7? It's gone from 96.9...though they had it there since '99.
 
How many new talkers on FM are still around? IQ lasted a year in Philly.

It takes a long time to build that kind of audience, and it costs a lot of money. Much easier to just play music.
 
Forget "classic country", or any music format that appeals to an older demo (such as pre-'70s oldies), in the major markets.

I heard a promo on 101.7 saying "We're building your NEW country station, and your parents will still have theirs", implying that WKLB has an older demo. Maybe WKLB wants to make sure that they don't have an older demo, even just on Sunday mornings.

WKLB even took "classic country" off of their HD2 a couple of years ago, and replaced it with a "new" country releases channel.
 
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Eli Polonsky said:
Forget "classic country", or any music format that appeals to an older demo (such as pre-'70s oldies), in the major markets.

I heard a promo on 101.7 saying "We're building your NEW country station, and your parents will still have theirs", implying that WKLB has an older demo. Maybe WKLB wants to make sure that they don't have an older demo, even just on Sunday mornings.

WKLB even took "classic country" off of their HD2 a couple of years ago, and replaced it with a "new" country releases channel.
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The classic country played on WWYZ HD2 is generally '80s and early/mid '90s country, with occasional older songs as "spice." It appeals to people who got into country music during the Urban Cowboy, New Traditionalist and Hat Act eras, not the elderly Hank Williams/Kitty Wells/Ernest Tubb set. Think Garth Brooks/George Strait/Tanya Tucker. It's a well-produced iHeartRadio feed with voicetracked jocks, no reason it wouldn't fit right in on a Boston HD signal. But if The Bull isn't going to add HD capability (and its range would be extremely limited compared to 102.5's HD) maybe it doesn't happen.
 
raccoonradio said:
Yeah I think CC will stay with this Harbor format--oops, gone.
Yeah I think CC will stay with this EDM format--oops, gone.
Yeah I think.. :)
Click to expand...

Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me!
Listeners have short-term memory, are WE going to be fooled a third time?

WKLB's reactions are knee-jerk and premature.
 
frnkp2000 said:
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me!
Listeners have short-term memory, are WE going to be fooled a third time?

WKLB's reactions are knee-jerk and premature.
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Could this be CC's longterm strategy for this dog of a signal it paid 14 mill for: trotting out a new iHeartRadio format-in-a-can every few months then pulling it and telling the listeners to get an HD radio and/or sign up with iHeartRadio and listen online? Basically a showroom to serve as a come-on for future iHeartRadio users -- who might be asked to pay-per-hear in the future?
 
CTListener said:
Basically a showroom to serve as a come-on for future iHeartRadio users -- who might be asked to pay-per-hear in the future?
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No. Country is a major programming initiative for CC...maybe their only one right now. Expect to see more country stations replacing weak formats in void markets.

CC believes in advertiser-supported media. Not pay-per-hear. I don't expect to see a paywall at any CC site soon.
 
A lot of people seem to diss the 101.7 signal but it actually has really good coverage considering it's low power. My car radio gets a strong signal way up on the Mass/NH state line. 101.7 may have no comparison to 102.5, but it still covers a big population, and definitely still poses a threat to WKLB.
 
Yes it can cover a lot of people, etc. but it's shaky in some areas. On I-93 it may do well up to NH line. I was on Rt 3 around Chelmsford and it was fuzzy. Also on Rt 128 in Peabody (Centennial Dr & Lowell St exit areas), and on 114 in the area with all the car dealers etc in Peabody and Danvers it was also starting to get faint. I don't know if the presence of 93.7 nearby contributes somehow (8 MHz apart but there are weird situations). In Boston proper and surrounding areas I'm sure it does very well.
 
Have heard via other board WKLB slogan is now Boston's #1 for new hit country.

They can legitimately say that because of the ratings they get, and will get. Given their longtime status and signal strength it would be shocking if WEDX (to be WBWL?) were to trump
them in the ratings. As has been said the idea is for CC to shave off some ratings points from them to help Kiss 108, etc. The ditching of the oldies show and the new slogan shows that the competition is now there.
Depending on where you live, etc. technically they weren’t the only country station around, because you might be able to get 98.1 from New Bedford, 103.9 from the Cape, 97.5 from Dover NH etc. (Some Evolution fans went on facebook to complain, “why do we need another country station? We already have 4″ or something) They didn’t have a strict monopoly but for the Boston area in some ways they did. Now they have a direct competitor, though who knows if in a year or so they might suddenly become Patriot 101.7 for talk (doubtful, but what if Howie wanted to work for CC? …for peanuts!) or La Mega 101.7–though some have also said country could indeed be longterm for them.
 
raccoonradio said:
Yes it can cover a lot of people, etc. but it's shaky in some areas. On I-93 it may do well up to NH line. I was on Rt 3 around Chelmsford and it was fuzzy. Also on Rt 128 in Peabody (Centennial Dr & Lowell St exit areas), and on 114 in the area with all the car dealers etc in Peabody and Danvers it was also starting to get faint. I don't know if the presence of 93.7 nearby contributes somehow (8 MHz apart but there are weird situations). In Boston proper and surrounding areas I'm sure it does very well.
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But for a country station in this neck of the woods, coverage in the suburbs isn't everything, it's practically the ONLY thing. Boston proper isn't where you're going to find country listeners, unless they're at work, and a country station is highly unlikely to be a listen-at-work choice in many Boston offices. If The Bull is more like The Calf in Danvers or Wrentham or Framingham, then it's going to make zero impact in places where country music has strong appeal.
 
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