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I'm gonna make a prediction

M

MarkW

Here it is: the underperforming piece of garbage known as News Radio 106.7 shortly after the election will flip to all-Christmas music with a new format to be unveiled on or near New Years Day.

If Christmas music can snatch low 1's on the puny 98.9 signal, imagine what it could on 106.7!!!

I think an 80's-heavy variety hits or classic hits format would be a good choice for 106.7 FM. 80's pop music is largely ignored by existing stations in the market.

Does Cumulus have competent market research capabilities these days, or do they still operate in the dark when making format choices?
 
I'll believe it when I see it...er, hear it. Doesn't this prediction come around about mid-fall, every year? It would def shake things up and it's way past due. But, I'm not holding my breath...again. Guess we'll see tho. :)
 
The wild card is that we don't know what 106.7 is billing. We do know the weekend infomercials bring in a lot of cash, and that the Kimmer captures some nice revenue. We also know the ratings are low, and the demos are old. There have been format change rumors for a long time.

One thing I find interesting is WSB has paid shows on weekends, but they sound like regular (non-paid) programming. 106.7's paid shows sound like paid shows.
 
MarkW said:
Does Cumulus have competent market research capabilities these days, or do they still operate in the dark when making format choices?
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How would you judge "competent market research capabilities?" The decision will be based on revenue. Pure and simple.
 
MarkW said:
Does Cumulus have competent market research capabilities these days, or do they still operate in the dark when making format choices?
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Cumulus can hire Coleman or Edison or Harker or Ramsey or...

... or any of the radio research companies to do a format search or perceptual project to identify a format and its proper scope. If there are multiple options, the one that has the best billing potential will be picked.
 
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MarkW said:
Here it is: the underperforming piece of garbage known as News Radio 106.7 shortly after the election will flip to all-Christmas music with a new format to be unveiled on or near New Years Day.
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The station is billing around $350,000 a month. Why would they throw away the billing to change to a zero-billing stunt?
 
They might retry the "Warm" format again this Christmas and hopefully not blow it up one week after Christmas like they did last year.
 
The station is billing around $350,000 a month. Why would they throw away the billing to change to a zero-billing stunt?
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I appreciate that info...thank you!!!

As I'm sure you will agree, $350,000 in monthly billing is nothing short of abysmal for a Class C0 signal in a Top 10 Nielsen market. So, when you say "throw away," let's be honest...the opportunity cost is very low. It's not as if they are ditching something that could be regarded as even semi-successful.

The reason you would launch with All Christmas is the same reason scores of other stations over the past decade have used an All Christmas music period as a pivot point to launch a new format or make significant changes to an existing one - it brings a LOT of fresh cume in the door, garners attention, and gets the market "talking."

BTW, I would not propose going commercial-free during that period. Quite the opposite, actually. I think Cumulus should market and try to sell the hell out of it.
 
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MarkW said:
BTW, I would not propose going commercial-free during that period. Quite the opposite, actually. I think Cumulus should market and try to sell the hell out of it.
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It's easier to transition from an existing music format to Christmas. Going from talk to Christmas is a major stretch. Not much similarity. You completely trash the audience and sales you have for something else instantaneously. Not an easy thing to do.
 
David, do you have the Miller Kaplan information for leading stations in the market, such as WWWQ-FM, WVEE-FM, WSB-FM and WSB-AM/WSBB-FM?

WYAY/106.7 is a move-in and therefore somewhat disadvantaged. Its antenna is on the Fish stick east of Atlanta (104.7 The Fish), but the signal seems to be very good in most areas.
 
It's easier to transition from an existing music format to Christmas. Going from talk to Christmas is a major stretch. Not much similarity. You completely trash the audience and sales you have for something else instantaneously. Not an easy thing to do.
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I agree with those remarks only in part.

Nash Icon had only a 0.1 or 0.2 when it was trashed. 98.9 with Christmas music scored a 1.2 or 1.3, if I remember correctly. Almost none of those listeners likely had 98.9 as a preset already.

Still might be a difficult sell given lack of demonstrable track record (in the case of the 106.7 signal). Still, it would create buzz for whatever format is to follow. Cumulus would have the benefit of many more folks having 106.7 as a preset on their radios than is currently the case, too.
 
MarkW said:
Still, it would create buzz for whatever format is to follow. Cumulus would have the benefit of many more folks having 106.7 as a preset on their radios than is currently the case, too.
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If they don't have it on their pre-set to discover Christmas music, what makes you think it'll stay a pre-set afterwards? Especially if it's another format they don't particularly want?
 
The only lack of track record is that of the Cloud Company. In the hands of Katz and later NewCity, 106.7 made a substantial amount of loot.
 
Just an idle thought ... how do you think a format of "real" Christmas music might do as a one-month break from the usual for conservative talk stations, whose audiences likely agree with the anti-"Happy Holidays" rhetoric of the right? Not classical Christmas music sung by opera singers and choirs, but only recordings of songs focused on Christmas the holiday rather than frozen precipitation, reindeer, toys, elves, Santa Claus, chestnuts and fires. There are many, many recordings of songs like "The First Noel," "Joy to the World," "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing," "Mary's Boy Child," "Do You Hear What I Hear," etc. that could be the backbone of such a format. Think it would get ratings?
 
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Absolutely, CTListener!

You're right, there is a huge catalog of such music available, all of it probably royalty-fee (read NO BMI or ASCAP fee). And would definitely be a shift from the usual Andy williams "Happy Holidays", "Sleigh Ride", etc. Would undercut The Fish for certain.

And I agree about trying to sell it. Would be a treasure trove for 4th quarter shoppers.

While we are on the topic (I'll likely start a fresh thread on it), who is going to be the first to go "all Christmas" this year? Or will anybody (other than The Fish)?
 
MarkW said:
I appreciate that info...thank you!!!

As I'm sure you will agree, $350,000 in monthly billing is nothing short of abysmal for a Class C0 signal in a Top 10 Nielsen market. So, when you say "throw away," let's be honest...the opportunit
Click to expand...

Nonetheless, billing over $4 million a year on a rimshot is not chump change. Format changes not only cost the loss of revenue, but also incur the costs of starting up a new format. So, essentially, between costs and revenue, you are talking about losing nearly a year's worth of gross income.
 
RoddyFreeman said:
David, do you have the Miller Kaplan information for leading stations in the market, such as WWWQ-FM, WVEE-FM, WSB-FM and WSB-AM/WSBB-FM?
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I do not have anything except last year (2015) numbers.

Rounded, WSB $28 million, WVEE $23, WSB-FM $16, WWWQ around the same as WSB-FM. The next tier is WSTR, WWPW, WHTA, WAMJ and WSRV all clustered between $9.5 and $12 million.
 
Nonetheless, billing over $4 million a year on a rimshot is not chump change. Format changes not only cost the loss of revenue, but also incur the costs of starting up a new format. So, essentially, between costs and revenue, you are talking about losing nearly a year's worth of gross income.
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It's not like we're talking about 95.5, 105.3 or 107.1 here. WYAY has a decent to great signal across almost the entire market. There is no excuse for them to be performing so poorly, IMHO.

BTW, if inside-the-perimeter reception is a concern, 98.9 could be used to translate 106.7.

Long-term, an 80's heavy classic hits or variety hits station would net better returns than sticking with news/talk. There is a big musical void between B98.5 and 97.1 The River.
 
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MarkW said:
It's not like we're talking about 95.5, 105.3 or 107.1 here. WYAY has a decent to great signal across almost the entire market. There is no excuse for them to be performing so poorly, IMHO.
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About 1/3 of the market does not have a 65 dbu signal, and the 70 dbu only covers about a quarter of Fulton County.

Long-term, an 80's heavy classic hits or variety hits station would net better returns than sticking with news/talk. There is a big musical void between B98.5 and 97.1 The River.
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There are certainly opportunities like the two you mention. The issue is how high the station is on the priority post-Dickey fixes. If it is not losing money, it's a lower priority.
 
When 98.9 stunted WARM/Christmas last year, there were commercials mixed in. I still say that to get a 1.0 on a tiny translator is amazing, no matter the format. Too bad all good new stations in this market have been decoys lately.
 
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