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Rumors and facts: CBSFM and PLJ

S

Shredder

John Foxx reduced in status at PLJ. I always found that move to be odd. replaced scott out of nowhere and then wound up as an on air dj. what clips I've heard, he sounds like he should be more on a college station than anything else.


Also, rumors of layoffs at CBS stations. if you follow the other board, people arn't sure what's true or not, but some are fearing a sale to cumulus.


I wonder if Scott's show would last if he was back under the cumulus banner again, after having just escaped it.
 
I highly doubt that Cumulus could finance a purchase of CBS Radio unless CBS sold it on something akin to a land contract basis.

Cumulus is highly leveraged and generating sub optimal cash flow for the debt they already have. They also just aren't very good at running their properties.

I hope these changes by CBS are more to improve the financial operating performance on radio so it can not be a drag on their balance sheets.
 
If rumors of Cumulus taking over CBS Radio properties are true, then it would be a huge mistake. Cumulus is not good at running stations, and they tend on ruining one of their properties.

In the NEPA market, they own a heritage AC property which occasionally makes it to the top of the Arbitron ratings along with a heritage CHR and can be heard on several businesses I've been to. Some of their stations even aggressively adding oldies music to their playlist, something its predecessor does not even think about(take PLJ's case when they re-added 80's music as a Hot AC).

Should Cumulus buy CBS Radio in the future, then there'll be overlap between two Hot AC's(95.5, 102.7), thus recommending Fresh 102.7 to re-add older music, even going back as far as the 80's while PLJ will be their sole hot AC station. Or do the opposite(PLJ as gold AC with a major emphasis on the 80's, Fresh as a true Hot AC/CHR, focusing on 2000's-current, and Amp taking aim at IHeart's KTU). But keep Shannon on CBS-FM. But hope that will never happen because Cumulus as a second leading radio company has a long history of ruining stations.
 
IHeart has made layoffs an annual thing, and they haven't sold any stations. I expect the same thing here.

CBS has a simple strategy: They own radio in major markets where they also own TV. If they don't own a TV in a city, those stations are ripe. But NYC is not one of those places.
 
good point of the duplicate stations.

also just found out PLJ lost another employee. Sheila the media girl. So, now the only Todd Show member still left his Annie. his entire hand picked staff is gone.
 
Rick Gillette is headed back to NY (from Cumulus Washington, DC's WRQX) to become WPLJ PD. As mentioned above, John Foxx is being demoted to APD.

Gillette was most recently in New York as PD at 92~3 Now/WXRK (I believe before the makeover to 92~3 Amp Radio/WBMP).
The ratings numbers have been lukewarm-at-best at WXRK and WRQX under his stewardship (mostly mid-to-upper 2 shares).

AllAccess.com story link: http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/a...effries-takes-pd-reins-in-d-c-at-wrqx-as-rick
 
pjc1961 said:
Rick Gillette is headed back to NY (from Cumulus Washington, DC's WRQX) to become WPLJ PD. As mentioned above, John Foxx is being demoted to APD.

Gillette was most recently in New York as PD at 92~3 Now/WXRK (I believe before the makeover to 92~3 Amp Radio/WBMP).
The ratings numbers have been lukewarm-at-best at WXRK and WRQX under his stewardship (mostly mid-to-upper 2 shares).

AllAccess.com story link: http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/a...effries-takes-pd-reins-in-d-c-at-wrqx-as-rick
Click to expand...

so, if I read that right.... why move him from another station, to a more well known station if his ratings where not great?
Is PLJ more his style? Or are they trying to get ratings so low as an excuse to blow it up? :)
 
so, here's a question...when do you blow up the station, and what do you blow it up to?

My guess, if they wanted to try something, January 1st would be the date.
But, what format is left? there are too many stations that sound like plj at current. Even CBS FM at times sounds like PLJ....playing songs like JEsse's Mom. the OLD morning show was the only thing that kept me tuned in. I could care less about the same old music being played. now that is gone. they don't have much left. people are probably staying tuned in by habit now.
 
Shredder said:
so, here's a question...when do you blow up the station, and what do you blow it up to.
Click to expand...

What makes you think they're going to "blow it up." There are lots of things they could do that would keep part of the heritage of the station, and at the same time change what's wrong, without a complete format change.

This new guy isn't from a completely different format. So I have no reason to believe a format change is in the works.
 
What works in NYC that isn't already there on multiple outlets, i.e. hip-hop, rhythmic CHR, hot AC (heavy on rhythmic), Spanish/tropical, classic hits, classic rock, sports? We've already determined that oldies, soft AC and smooth jazz would be unacceptable to youth-obsessed Madison Avenue, and that country and current-based rock are poor fits for the city's demographics now and going forward. Seems to me there is no viable format to flip to, just keep tweaking what you've got.
 
TheBigA said:
What makes you think they're going to "blow it up." There are lots of things they could do that would keep part of the heritage of the station, and at the same time change what's wrong, without a complete format change.

This new guy isn't from a completely different format. So I have no reason to believe a format change is in the works.
Click to expand...

I don't know... it just doesnt seem like a smart business move to bring someone to a NY station that has a history, who sunk his last two(?) stations. maybe they figure if they can get the ratings low enough, they can start tinkering with out anyone noticing or complaining.
 
Shredder said:
if they can get the ratings low enough, they can start tinkering with out anyone noticing or complaining.
Click to expand...

They OWN the station. They don't have to ask anyone for permission or wait for anything. They can tinker at any time they want regardless of who complains. Given the ratings at PLJ now, it really doesn't matter.
 
I'm going to guess that a significant factor in WPLJ's stagnant ratings is sister station Nash FM 94.7.
'PLJ had traditionally been popular with suburban soccer moms, especially in NJ. And it appears many of them may have taken a liking to country music. In Middlesex-Somerset-Union, WPLJ's overall rating has declined from 3.5 to 3.1 between April and June. Nash FM during the same period has risen from 3.6-4.2, good for 7th place among music stations.
In Long Island, hardly a bastion of country music, Nash now has slightly higher ratings than WPLJ.
And Cumulus may be fine with that. If the ratings for the two stations are combined, the total could well be higher than WPLJ alone has had in a long time (if ever). And if there is a considerable overlap in the audience of the two stations, as I believe there is, Cumulus may be able to convince a significant amount of advertisers to buy time on both stations.
 
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