Any thoughts if Entercom will flip WTDY? If so what!
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What would Entercom do with WTDY?
- Thread starter Radiolover971
- Start date
I doubt it. They've only been around a short time and it's a format with long-term legs. Besides, what would they change it to? The Urban and Rock formats are pretty much spoken for. They'll own the Classic Hits station so that's a no-go. Country's a total non-starter. Hot AC just plain doesn't seem to work in this market. What's left that could make more sense than AC?
Exactly. There's no real gaping format hole in the market at the moment, so they'll always play second fiddle.
The only thing I could see has an IF as part of it. IF iHeart were to pull the plug on WRFF due to low billings, I could POSSIBLY see Entercom flipping 96.5 to fill the Alt hole. NOT because it's a big cash cow. (I believe WTDY bills more than WRFF? DavidEduardo could clarify that). But I could see Entercom doing that to fill their Alternative portfolio in a Top 10 Market (as previously discussed on the other board.) Whether tracked from out of town, or run on the cheap like WRFF is, it could generate positive cash flow.
But again, that would only be IF WRFF were to drop the format. Because the billings for Alternative/WRFF are so small now, I doubt Entercom would want to split them even further. So, I expect to see them tweak the AC format here and there and let it float along.
I have a feeling that once WRFF goes, no one's gonna put it on a big stick again. Advertisers would need to have a major change of heart. Also, I really hope that Entercom doesn't keep playing with 96.5's format hoping to do better against WBEB. They know they're never gonna make major inroads against 101.1 so they should just worry about being profitable. I recall Sunny doing a lot of tweaking toward the end ("Opposites Attract" on a Soft AC?) and I was thinking 'You can't expect to build an audience if you keep playing with the format.' I felt the same way about Philly's/My/Mix 106.1.
People have. Repeatedly.
I don’t see anyone bothered by the station. What I see are people pointing out the financial realities and indulging in some speculation based on that.
I don’t see anyone bothered by the station. What I see are people pointing out the financial realities and indulging in some speculation based on that.
Slow your roll. I listen to WRFF regularly. It's my #1 preset. But I also understand the business and financial realities. WRFF is always tiptoeing a line of profitability.
As for the "ocean of floundering urban formats" in the vanity 6+ Numbers:
105.3 is #3 overall.
Power 99 is #7
100.3 WRNB has held VERY steady recently in a respectable mid to high 3's range.
Real 106.1 is showing some signs of early life.
103.9 WPHI and 107.9 WPPZ are performing about as well as you'd expect for the two tiniest commercial FM signals to perform.
And (DavidEduardo can correct me if I'm wrong), I believe he said before that WPPZ was outbilling WRFF.
In a market that is 21% African American...everybody has carved out a respectable piece of the pie with the signals they have. With the possible exception of 103.9 WPHI, I wouldn't call any of them "floundering"
Its called believe what you are forced fed. Whenever I turn on one of the 7 useless MTV owned video networks, 90 percent of the time there is some urban video playing, whether it be rap, hip hop, soul or R&B. Plus a few networks that are dedicated to 100 percent urban. Rock and Alternative videos are almost non-existent, even with the rebirth of MTV Classic its mainly rap and hip hop videos. When young people coming up put these channels on to see whats up, this is all they witness so they embrace it, not that its what they desire its what the Madison Avenue suits feed them, so they think this is whats hip and the only sound around. Many of these young people never heard of all the great Rock and Alternative acts out there, plain and simple.
It's not MTV and their channels' job to introduce audiences to introduce people to certain types of music. It's their job to make money. And they have found that airing what they air makes them money. Simple as that. If you cannot accept that fact, then don't watch/listen, and give your ears and advertising money to someone else.
It doesn't bother people nearly as much as it bothers you that you think it bothers people. LOL. We get it: Urban formats are bad; rock formats are good. We seem to be headed for Julius territory.
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It doesn't bother people nearly as much as it bothers you that you think it bothers people. LOL. We get it: Urban formats are bad; rock formats are good. We seem to be headed for Julius territory.
Truth. No one is force fed anything. Regardless of personal tastes, we’re discussing business realities and speculation based on those realities.
I had a similar post about this and somebody, I believe his name is "radiophiler," gave a very interesting answer that has been touched on time and time again. I hate to beat a dead horse here but could a KYW simulcast be a possibility? As mentioned, Entercom has a history of putting their strongest AM news contenders on their lower billing FM stations.
J
Jul
Guest
KYW needs to be on FM, period. They need a much better signal to broadcast their news format on and I think 96.5 would be the perfect fit. We been talking about this for a while now. I hope that Entercom will make the move and put KYW NewsRadio on FM.
Entercom did not have any all-news stations, so I do not see how they would have a history of doing anything with them.
I do agree that Entercom should consider reaching out to younger demographics with their all-news stations, whether they decide to flip one of their full-powered stations or acquire a translator to simulcast the format on the FM band.
Entercom had several news/talk radio stations in large and medium markets that were simulcast on AM and FM before the merger. True, no all-news, but several of the pre-merger Entercom news/talk stations had the primary "place to go for news on radio" image in their market. Of course there are so few all-news radio stations in the U.S. (not counting NPR) that spotting trends is difficult. But, as noted, the former CBS all-newsers in Chicago and San Francisco are already on FM. I know ... different markets, different situations. And of course, there's D.C. market #1 WTOP and it bills #1 in the nation. Once again, I know ... D.C. is a different market like no other because it's the nation's capital.
Does anyone have 25-54 #s on the markets where all news is on FM?
I have HD in my car. I listen to KYW on 94.1 WIP HD-2. But, I live in the western suburbs, and the signal cuts out under certain types of electrical wires. Also, when driving through center city Philadelphia, the HD signal is unreliable, too, as is the AM 1060 signal. I worked full time in radio news from 1985 to 1999 and spent some time part-time after that. Would be nice to have all news on FM in Philly as it is in Chicago, San Francisco, D.C. and Seattle (non-Entercom station).
Does anyone have 25-54 #s on the markets where all news is on FM?
I have HD in my car. I listen to KYW on 94.1 WIP HD-2. But, I live in the western suburbs, and the signal cuts out under certain types of electrical wires. Also, when driving through center city Philadelphia, the HD signal is unreliable, too, as is the AM 1060 signal. I worked full time in radio news from 1985 to 1999 and spent some time part-time after that. Would be nice to have all news on FM in Philly as it is in Chicago, San Francisco, D.C. and Seattle (non-Entercom station).
A problem with moving KY to FM is it means you have to sacrifice one cash flowing station. If you were billing on 6 station, after the move now you are only billing on 5. You have to now find a way for 1060 to make money in a dying AM world. For now, 1060 is still viable, so there really is no rush to move it. Someday, yes, but things are ok for the moment.
Another reason not to rush to FM is the fewer viable stations you have on AM will cause the band to go into total decline faster. Having KY on AM helps 1210, and vice versa. When you reduce the number of stations, you reduce the overall traffic to AM.
As much as I would rather see KYW on fm, I see a swap between 1210 and 1060 making more sense.
The coverage of 1210 doesn't have to protect adjacent channels like 1060 has to null toward 1050 New York.
Conservative talk doesn't need the best 50 kW signal.
The coverage of 1210 doesn't have to protect adjacent channels like 1060 has to null toward 1050 New York.
Conservative talk doesn't need the best 50 kW signal.
KCBS had to move to FM because of the extreme competition from KQED, which was beating them consistently. So this was a competitive move, hastened by the fact that the KFRC-FM was likely not cash flowing much if anything.
WTOP made the decision to go to FM because the AM signal at 1500 is so deficient in covering the DC market. They managed to put together a bunch of translators and repeaters from Frederick to Fredericksburg, but the solution was failing as more population spread into areas with a poor WTOP signal.
WTOP is #2 in 25-54 and #3 in 18-49. KCBS is 6th in 25-54 and 10th in 18-49. WBBM is 10th in 25-54, including WCFS.
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