Braves baseball on Rock 100.5

[MarkW]

Am I the only one who believes this is a stupid move on the part of Cumulus? Wasn't Braves baseball on Rock 100.5 a colossal ratings failure each & every year it was tried in the past?

 

[TheBigA]

Then again what other choices do they have now that they sold WYAY?

 

[MarkW]

One choice would have been to attempt to exit the agreement completely. Rock 100.5 was already starting to lose some wind from its sails; this will completely deflate any momentum the station still had.

Now would be a great time for iHeart to do something more productive with Fault 105.7. Flip the darn thing to mainstream or active rock and really choke the life out of Rock 100.5.

 

[jabba17]

I'm assuming that Kicks has higher ratings and/or billings in the evening daypart. If not, they should use Kicks.

I don't think iHeart is going to put active rock on 105.7. As I have said before, I don't think there's room for another AOR(ish) station.

 

[trusty]

Here's mlb's affiliate list for the Braves:

https://www.mlb.com/braves/schedule/radio-affiliates#georgia

You have a couple of full-power rimshots and a bunch of AM's (with most of the games at night). (BTW, the spellcheck here kept trying to change "mlb" to "mob". Maybe they know something...

 

[TheBigA]

One choice would have been to attempt to exit the agreement completely.

You think there's more money in rock than sports? Yes the Braves are not what they once were, but there's still a lot of money there.

Remember: The goal isn't ratings but money. Both would be great, but if you can only have one, take money.

 

[MarkW]

You think there's more money in rock than sports? Yes the Braves are not what they once were, but there's still a lot of money there.

If the Braves are as valuable of a commodity as you suggest, 106.7 would probably have remained in Cumulus' hands (i.e. the station would've been more successful than it actually was), and either 92.9 The Game or WSB would've successfully bid for the broadcasts long ago. Instead, for the past decade or longer, the Braves have been stuck on an AM station with a lousy nighttime signal and a litany of bottom feeding FM stations.

 

[TheBigA]

If the Braves are as valuable of a commodity as you suggest, 106.7 would probably have remained in Cumulus' hands

Huh? The issue is rock music vs Braves. Clearly rock music isn't making as much as the Braves.

It wouldn't totally surprise me to see the 106 talk format move to 100.5 in a few weeks.

 

[jabba17]

If the Braves are as valuable of a commodity as you suggest, 106.7 would probably have remained in Cumulus' hands (i.e. the station would've been more successful than it actually was), and either 92.9 The Game or WSB would've successfully bid for the broadcasts long ago. Instead, for the past decade or longer, the Braves have been stuck on an AM station with a lousy nighttime signal and a litany of bottom feeding FM stations.

I think the bigger question is how many folks still get Braves (and sports generally) PXP on the radio and not other devices. I'd like to see how that is trending. I agree with your larger point about the value of the Braves PXP but I doubt that was (or could have potentially been) a factor in selling off WYAY.

I know Georgia Tech doesn't bill as well as the Braves (they may even have a pay-to-play arrangement), but Tech hasn't been able to get an FM side besides the 93.7 translator in a long while.

I AM surprised that 92.9 hasn't tried to pick up more teams. They have the Falcons and the Hawks, and they could still fit the Braves into the schedule (I think that Tech would interfere with the Hawks during basketball season). They also now have Star 94 to offload any scheduling conflicts, or even WAOK.

 

[jabba17]

Huh? The issue is rock music vs Braves. Clearly rock music isn't making as much as the Braves.

It wouldn't totally surprise me to see the 106 talk format move to 100.5 in a few weeks.

That would surprise me, since the ratings on 100.5 are about double on a poorer signal. Even more so if iHeart flips 105.7 to something other than rock. Unless the Cumulus sales department knows something we don't. I thought that Rock100.5 was a big biller for its ratings, even beyond its lock on the market for spots for DUI lawyers, head shops, and nekkid bars.

I'm guessing that the decision to put the Bravos on 100.5 in evenings has to do with that daypart being weak for 100.5, not the station around the clock. I'm a little surprised that Kicks wasn't chosen, since listenership of formats that are geared more to grownups tends to fall off after PM drive (the quintessential example is an AC station, which Cumulus doesn't have). But I'm not the one looking at the numbers.

What would NOT surprise me is a move of the talk format to one of the two translators (97.9 or 98.9). Talk radio, particularly these days, isn't a LWYW format so building penetration isn't an issue.

 

[TheBigA]

I'm a little surprised that Kicks wasn't chosen,

They're in a tight ratings battle with The Bull.

 

[MarkW]

I can envision one of the dinky Cumulus translators possibly flipping to Talk, but if that were to occur, almost assuredly there'd be far less local content than the current iteration of Talk 106.7. The sole purpose of that move would be to clear national Cumulus / WW One programming that isn't being carried elsewhere in the market.

I would be stunned to see the Talk 106.7 lineup move to 100.5.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

I'm surprised Cumulus didn't choose to leave the Braves only on WYAY until the sale closes. But the Braves may have forced the issue a bit, not wanting to change stations mid-season.

My guess is the Braves would not agree to a buyout with the season only 5 weeks away from the EMF sale.

 

[RadioDoogie]

I can envision one of the dinky Cumulus translators possibly flipping to Talk, but if that were to occur, almost assuredly there'd be far less local content than the current iteration of Talk 106.7. The sole purpose of that move would be to clear national Cumulus / WW One programming that isn't being carried elsewhere in the market.

I would be stunned to see the Talk 106.7 lineup move to 100.5.

Which translator would flip? I assume OG97.9 is doing the best out of all the Cumulus translators. Would Talk radio do better (bill more) than Classic Hip-Hop?

 

[MarkW]

I think the scenario is unlikely in any event, but if they were to shove a bunch of crappy Westwood One programming onto a local signal just to gain market clearance, I suspect 98.9 MHz would be the most likely candidate.

 

[TheBigA]

I think the scenario is unlikely in any event, but if they were to shove a bunch of crappy Westwood One programming onto a local signal just to gain market clearance, I suspect 98.9 MHz would be the most likely candidate.

I don't think that's the intent. Talk 106.7 was running mainly local talk during the day, with syndicated Levin & Shapiro at night. I suspect they're looking for a home for that format once the station goes to EMF.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

I don't think that's the intent. Talk 106.7 was running mainly local talk during the day, with syndicated Levin & Shapiro at night. I suspect they're looking for a home for that format once the station goes to EMF.

WYAY is one of the market's lowest billers at around $4 million. That's less than iHeart's Latino station, WBZY, which takes in around $5.5 million annually.

 

[TheBigA]

WYAY is one of the market's lowest billers at around $4 million. That's less than iHeart's Latino station, WBZY, which takes in around $5.5 million annually.

Yet even with several changes in ownership and management, they've stuck with the format for some reason. I see other companies that stick with alternative even when it bills poorly. It makes no sense to me, but it happens.

 

[secondchoice]

One choice would have been to attempt to exit the agreement completely. Rock 100.5 was already starting to lose some wind from its sails; this will completely deflate any momentum the station still had.

The last time I dealt with Major League Baseball programming (Kansas City Royals) the contract said if you air the game your secretary would send in an affidavit that you cleared the network commercials. When we ran Chiefs games and the Royals were playing, we didn’t make the Royals commercials. IIRC WLJA doesn’t run Braves games on Sundays and they didn’t run make good commercials (especially the beer commercials) Monday. Now the Cumulus – Braves radio contract is different. I believe the cloud company is paying to run the games. I can only guess the local commercials more than make up for the expense they are paying the Brave’s Radio network and the slid of Rock 100.5 ratings will cost them. If it was a money loser the contract would have been killed in Bankruptcy.

BTW I was surprised that 106.7 only took in around $4 million (according to Roddy). I thought it was $7 million. Cumulus owns several “radio networks” that provides the music and announcers. The only requirements are a satellite dish, computer that can detect the switching tones (or closures if you are using a really old receiver). The weather, traffic reports, and news could have been handled easily in house by existing cluster people. There would have been minimal payroll expense so even if sales dropped a million Cumulus would still make $3 million (less commissions and music royalties).

IMHO: The Cumulus’s gross mismanagement of WYAY makes the sale to K-Love seem almost logical.

 

[TheBigA]

Cumulus owns several “radio networks” that provides the music and announcers. The only requirements are a satellite dish, computer that can detect the switching tones (or closures if you are using a really old receiver).

I'm not aware that Cumulus runs those networks on any of their owned stations, especially the ones in rated markets. Perhaps you can point to a few.