Magic purge

[RadioGuy2004]

So, if 102.7 flips to a more current-based format, they'll have to deal with the established CHR's AND the Urbans. And to a lesser extent, stations down the hall.

12th in billing in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale: what's a ballpark figure in dollar amounts?

 

[davideduardo]

So, if 102.7 flips to a more current-based format, they'll have to deal with the established CHR's AND the Urbans. And to a lesser extent, stations down the hall.

12th in billing in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale: what's a ballpark figure in dollar amounts?

About $9 million.

 

[Groove1670]

I see more of a Rhythmic AC based direction happening. The question is will the gold be more Rhythmic of Hip Hop. Miami has tried Rhythmic AC, and Jammin' oldies a few times, but failed poorly because of programming (in the last few attempts).

WMIA 93.9 was probably the most successful, until they shifted to a more Hot AC direction. Possibly it was taking some of Y-100's thunder?

Of course with one of the properties going to Alternative (I didn't see that happening) who knows what is in store.

Seattle welcome to Miami. Programming is just a little different down here. Paging Mr. Tanner

 

[MarkW]

Mr. Eduardo - have you sampled KRBQ in San Francisco at all in the past 9 months? It sounds NOTHING like you described. It is almost 100% classic hip-hop & rhythmic throwbacks. The station made a major music adjustment in early 2015, and the ratings began to soar shortly thereafter. The original approach (which is the approach you described earlier) did not work, necessitating the change in direction.

The station positions itself as "The Throwback Station." Unlike when it first launched, it now shares very little music with the CHR stations in that market. To this day, I am amazed at how little national attention this station is receiving.

http://www.q102sf.com/

Getting back to the Miami situation - dumping $9 million in annual billing down the toilet seems like a foolish move to me, unless 2015 revenue had fallen considerably from 2014 levels (doubtful).

Whatever rhythmic-oriented format is bound for 102.7 should've been used for 104.3 instead ("The Shark" should be renamed "The Flounder" based on its horrible ratings). Perhaps Entercom thinks the removal of Classic Hits from 102.7 will benefit its WLYF, but I think WFEZ stands to gain the most here.

I would be curious to know which English language FM stations in the market rank lower than #12 in billing.

 

[K.M. Richards]

("The Shark" should be renamed "The Flounder" based on its horrible ratings).

Is that another proclamation based on meaningless 6+ numbers?

 

[davideduardo]

Mr. Eduardo - have you sampled KRBQ in San Francisco at all in the past 9 months? It sounds NOTHING like you described. It is almost 100% classic hip-hop & rhythmic throwbacks. The station made a major music adjustment in early 2015, and the ratings began to soar shortly thereafter. The original approach (which is the approach you described earlier) did not work, necessitating the change in direction.

But it plays a lot of throwbacks that are quite recent... some in the 6 to 9 month range. BDS, of course, still considers it part of the "Mainstream CHR" panel but it is more of a "current and recurrent gold" station for which they have no definition.

Getting back to the Miami situation - dumping $9 million in annual billing down the toilet seems like a foolish move to me, unless 2015 revenue had fallen considerably from 2014 levels (doubtful).

That would be the issue... last 11 month billing. The ratings have been slipping, so perhaps rather than fixing the station they think they need to do the solid throwback thing.

Whatever rhythmic-oriented format is bound for 102.7 should've been used for 104.3 instead ("The Shark" should be renamed "The Flounder" based on its horrible ratings).

WSFS is going to be OK if they will be satisfied with under or around a 3.0 share in 18-49. Looking at weeklies, they are now in the mid-2's in-demo for the last issued week. Not great, but if they can position it as a "missing component" in buys, they may get business. It still seems to be a poor format choice compared to the ability to monetize the sports format

Perhaps Entercom thinks the removal of Classic Hits from 102.7 will benefit its WLYF, but I think WFEZ stands to gain the most here.

I would be curious to know which English language FM stations in the market rank lower than #12 in billing.

WMIA, WKIS, WFEZ, WMIB, WFLC

I suspect that WFEZ will be up for 2015, while the others are not going to move a lot.

 

[Alan Michaels]

But it plays a lot of throwbacks that are quite recent... some in the 6 to 9 month range. BDS, of course, still considers it part of the "Mainstream CHR" panel but it is more of a "current and recurrent gold" station for which they have no definition.



That would be the issue... last 11 month billing. The ratings have been slipping, so perhaps rather than fixing the station they think they need to do the solid throwback thing.

Whatever rhythmic-oriented format is bound for 102.7 should've been used for 104.3 instead ("The Shark" should be renamed "The Flounder" based on its horrible ratings).

WSFS is going to be OK if they will be satisfied with under or around a 3.0 share in 18-49. Looking at weeklies, they are now in the mid-2's in-demo for the last issued week. Not great, but if they can position it as a "missing component" in buys, they may get business. It still seems to be a poor format choice compared to the ability to monetize the sports format

Perhaps Entercom thinks the removal of Classic Hits from 102.7 will benefit its WLYF, but I think WFEZ stands to gain the most here.



WMIA, WKIS, WFEZ, WMIB, WFLC

I suspect that WFEZ will be up for 2015, while the others are not going to move a lot.

David,

I think your right. In my view sports was removed from 104 to add a little life to 790 and you might be right about the benefit for WLYF, no mater entercom has made it clear they want other demos for 102.7

By the way wikipedia has just updated WMXJ history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMXJ

 

[MarkW]

Here are the top spins for KRBQ; most of these songs are over 10 years old:
http://krbq.tunegenie.com/tophits/

Q102 is appealing to the folks who grew up with KYLD (and perhaps KMEL) and listened to those stations religiously from the early 90's to early 00's, in my opinion.

As far as The Flounder is concerned - good luck to them trying to rake in dough with 18-49 #'s in the 2's and a format that doesn't attract a great deal of agency buys to begin with.

By the way, thank you, David, for sharing that list of English-language stations who billed less than WMXJ last year. It would appear WMIB has a long way to go to unseat WEDR and that WFLC needs to gain ground to unseat WHYI in the billing department. (Admittedly, I have no idea if the gap between WFLC and WHYI has narrowed with time or has stayed about the same over the past couple years.)

Classic Hits as a format is worthy of a place on the S. Florida FM dial. It might not return right away, but I bet it makes a return somewhere on the dial within two years. Would not shock me if it makes a return on 104.3 after a lengthy period of ratings & revenue futility with the sissy rock format.

Does anyone think there's a chance CBS would blow up WKIS to bring Classic Hits back to the market? I hope not, as that would really stink for Country fans.

 

[Groove1670]

KRBQ is classified as a "Rhythmic AC" but there are several variations of the format. KRBQ is structured to be mass appeal with mainstream Rap/Hip Hop and throwbacks that would of charted on the Billboard Hot 100 (...most of the songs that is). WREW Cincinnati is also classified as RAC but is 180 degrees the opposite (however they do play a few of KRBQ tunes at night, and on the weekends.

A KRBQ will probably do well in Miami. The question is can they keep it fresh enough. Or will it go down the path of Jack, The Arrow, Jammin' oldies, etc. The advantage that KRBQ has is they can adjust the playlist when needed, and freshen things up with currents. Disclosure: I didn't notice if they were playing currents/recurrents.

WMOV FM (Hampton Roads) is another good example of a "Rhythmic AC" variation.

 

[johntherogger]

Is that another proclamation based on meaningless 6+ numbers?

If it's so meaningless, then why do they bother doing it?

 

[TheBigA]

Does anyone think there's a chance CBS would blow up WKIS to bring Classic Hits back to the market?

CBS is pretty heavily committed to the country format in major markets, and they use that commitment to support some of their TV and online initiatives with things like the Academy of Country Music Awards. So I doubt they'd flip. Also, country tends to sell better and to a broader demo than classic hits.

 

[davideduardo]

If it's so meaningless, then why do they bother doing it?

The ratings include everyone who is capable of carrying a PPM (age 6) or filling a diary (12) to death. Advertisers determine what part of that is of value to them, and only use that. In general, ratings based ad buys cover the ages between 29 and 54, with essentially no buys over 55 and under 18.

 

[MarkW]

KRBQ is classified as a "Rhythmic AC" but there are several variations of the format. KRBQ is structured to be mass appeal with mainstream Rap/Hip Hop and throwbacks that would of charted on the Billboard Hot 100 (...most of the songs that is). WREW Cincinnati is also classified as RAC but is 180 degrees the opposite (however they do play a few of KRBQ tunes at night, and on the weekends.

I love Mix 94-9 in Cincy! Great station. You are right; they don't neatly fit into a particular format category. They can best be described as a Rhythmic Hot AC, standard Hot AC and Variety Hits station blended together. Generally speaking, the playlist is workplace friendly. They tend to lean more Hot AC during the workday, at least recently that's been the case.

 

[K.M. Richards]

If it's so meaningless, then why do they bother doing it?

David has explained already how it is the demographic breakouts which are used to determine how a station is "doing" and how the 6+ numbers are obviously too broad for business decisions to be made based upon them.

But I don't think that was the question you were asking. I'm going to try to answer the one I think you did ask.

Nielsen -- and before the merger, Arbitron -- has historically released the 6+ (12+, in non-PPM markets) numbers for a couple of reasons, both admittedly self-serving. The most important is to keep their name in front of the public's consciousness as the "keeper of the numbers", because public awareness helps them when they are screening potential participants in the process.

The second reason is to satisfy public curiosity about how their favorite stations are doing in general. The vast majority of listeners don't try to psychoanalyze the ratings and make guesses about whether or not changes will be made to "their" stations, so those numbers are quite adequate for that non-business purpose. It's only when someone shifts into being an "armchair quarterback" and tries to provide analysis and predictions when they lack access to the proper data (the demo breakouts) to do so that the inadequacy becomes obvious.

The real problem comes when someone (or usually all of us) explain to a poster why their conclusions are without a factual basis, only to have them do the exact same thing when the next set of ratings comes out. Because then we get into "us vs. them" mentality discussions that really wouldn't need to happen if people would remember and accept the realities of what ratings are and aren't part of the decision-making process at stations.

I should not have to point at the specific post in this thread where someone went horribly astray in their comments, first by taking the 6+ numbers as gospel and then by making presumptions about billing without having access to BIA data.

 

[Alan Michaels]

Magic Tribute Stream - www.Majic.Miami

When we enter the world of broadcasting, we know that things happen to us as individuals, and to fellow broadcasters who we become friends, even close friends with.

Today was one of those days. A Very WARM Welcome from the new ownership of Entercom, as they said Goodbye to Magic PD Ken Payne (a couple of weeks ago), Air Staffers Mindy Lang who's had been with them since the beginning, back in the 80s, Joe Johnson, another decades long staffer, Vance Phillips, just over a decade and the weekenders.

WLFY recently let go of long time announcer Ellen Jaffee and some weekenders as well.

Personally, they are all good friends and I wish nothing but the best to each and every one of them, and hope they get back behind a mic soon.

Magic Tribute Stream = www.Majic.Miami

 

[richiedon]

They started their 36 hour Christmas special 12 hours early, and 48 hours of it seemed interminable to me.
Lots of repeat songs, too. The
Awesome 80's weekend is still advertised on their website, but the weekends sound just like the rest
of the week. The ratings are already dropping a lot, and why they're waiting to flip formats is
anybody's guess.

 

[Alan Michaels]

Check out: www.MagicMiamiRadio.com

They started their 36 hour Christmas special 12 hours early, and 48 hours of it seemed interminable to me.
Lots of repeat songs, too. The
Awesome 80's weekend is still advertised on their website, but the weekends sound just like the rest
of the week. The ratings are already dropping a lot, and why they're waiting to flip formats is
anybody's guess.

Joe Johnson, Gnarly Charlie and More Magic online at www.MagicMiamiRadio.com

 

[davideduardo]

The ratings include everyone who is capable of carrying a PPM (age 6) or filling a diary (12) to death. Advertisers determine what part of that is of value to them, and only use that. In general, ratings based ad buys cover the ages between 29 and 54, with essentially no buys over 55 and under 18.

I just noticed my typo here... should be "18 and 54" and not "29 and 54".

 

[Alan Michaels]

A to Z's of Rock now on New Magic Stream into New Years

Joe Johnson, Gnarly Charlie and More Magic online at www.MagicMiamiRadio.com

A to Z's of Rock on New Magic Online Stream into New Years Eve - www.MagicMiamiRadio.com

 

[Groove1670]

So any insight on what the changes might be, and when they could occur.