And as we all know, Andy stuck around
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Rock929Boston twitter
- Thread starter raccoonradio
- Start date
But right now they are both making money. THAT'S a good thing.
So, blow up what they have and take a chance on something new? Not happening unless there is mucho research to back up the change.
A knee jerk change in format is not happening.
Also, AMP fits into the Entercom "Wall of Women" that they sell now.
"Making money" can mean any number of things. How about quantifying the amount of annual BCF each station generates? I bet both are near the bottom of the pack among full power FM signals in Beantown - although I suppose I shouldn't be referring to WAAF as a full power Boston market signal anymore.
I bet an Entercom station will flip to Alternative by Memorial Day weekend, probably much sooner.
Yeah, I'm sure they get a LOT of cluster buys based on a low rated CHR/Pop station with lousy demos being included in the mix. Magic 106.7 and Mix 104.1 can shoulder that entire load no problem. Irrespective of that, today's version of Alternative is female friendly anyway.
The market is definitely oversatured with similar/overlapping Rock formats. Between WBOS, WZLX, WROR, and WAAF, there is simply too much. Why not try something that could be even more profitable, such as a Breeze format? It’s done very well in Philly so far. Magic has become more “Hot” in terms of its AC format; WPLM is a non-factor, largely because of its signal.
Amp brings in the younger end of 25-54, and even 18-24s. It also gets some of the assimilated Hispanic listeners who gravitate toward rhythmic but aren't into rap. Again, a younger audience than Magic and Mix are aiming for.
iHeart's "Breeze" format is already on in the area on 94.5 WJMN HD2.
Soft AC doesn't have to be labeled "The Breeze" to be put on a main signal. HD2s only count when they're being used to feed translators; otherwise, their audience is minuscule. We still haven't heard whether the Philadelphia station is billing at a level commensurate with its dog-and-pony-show rating numbers. For that matter, only the insiders know exactly how well it's doing in the money demos.
I have no idea why Breeze has become a generic term for soft AC among posters here. Makes about as much sense as calling all CHR formats "Kiss" or all hot ACs "Mix."
Well, everyone knew what I meant when I said “Breeze.”
I didn’t make it up as a “generic” term. 94.5 (iHeart) calls the HD2 channel “The Breeze” both on the air and on its RBDS display.
I meant it to mean they are not losing money on either station. Neither station is in crisis mode.
Based on what? Whats the rationale/reasoning? That they could maybe/possibly do better? (And maybe do worse?)
The demo's for AMP are not "lousy". (See CTListeners comments below)
You really don't seem to know what you are talking about
You have a lot of feelings and opinions that are not based in anything factual....except your personal feelings.
Wow - you have really high standards! Do you think "not losing money" = satisfactory performance for lenders and shareholders?
For starters, the CEO of Entercom loves Alternative. He has a track record of rolling out the format in large and major markets where it is unavailable, even in cases where the format's historical ratings track record is mixed at best (see New York, Orlando, and Dallas). Oh - did I mention the format that was canned in all three of those cases was a CHR/Pop station inherited from CBS?
Yes, I would argue the ratings Alt 92.9 has witnessed in the past couple months are better than the ratings AMP has generated. And - unlike AMP - the Alt format has a better chance of reaching ADULTS with full time jobs and good incomes to whom Entercom's existing stations don't necessarily appeal.
As for AMP's ratings - they are underwhelming to say the least. 18-24 #'s are not a consequential demo target for agency buys. For ages 25 & up, AMP's ratings are mediocre. BTW, fewer & fewer companies are interested in radio as a means of reaching 18 -34 year olds. Everyone knows most millenials spend far less time with radio than older adults. AMP's ratings and demographic make-up are comparable to the aforementioned CHR/Pop stations inherited from CBS that Entercom has already chosen to kill in favor of Alternative.
I need to clarify what I meant by this sentence:
Obviously, multiple Entercom stations perform very, very well among Adults with healthy household incomes. What I meant is Alternative has better potential than AMP to reach such listeners who might not be fans of the Sports, Hot AC or AC formats, thus increasing Entercom's overall market share of such listeners.
Obviously, multiple Entercom stations perform very, very well among Adults with healthy household incomes. What I meant is Alternative has better potential than AMP to reach such listeners who might not be fans of the Sports, Hot AC or AC formats, thus increasing Entercom's overall market share of such listeners.
It depends on which approach to alternative you use. That name "alternative" can mean different things. Obviously Bostonians weren't very excited about WBOS. What makes you think Entercom would do something different, and that the results would be different? WNYL is Entercom's lowest performer in NY, which isn't a huge improvement over what they got with AMP.
Nope, not satisfactory performance.....but not in the "crisis mode" that you appear to be painting.
And, the jury is still out whther that was a good move or not. (Maybe he learned his lesson.) ;-)
I know something he loves more than Alternative. NOT losing money! LOL!
With WEEI having recent setbacks and the loss of revenue they have encountered, I don't think they want to upset the apple cart.
However, you seem to have great passion for the format, and it you are correct, I will gladly congratulate you. ;-)
Given the track record of Entercom flipping a number of stations in different markets to their "Alt" format, it's not out of the question that they would do that in Boston. But if they were to do that, say "Alt 103.3," that station needs to appeal to the Boston music scene. The thing that 92.9 didn't do was play a healthy amount of Boston-based alternative bands, such as Pixies, Throwing Muses, Bosstones, State Radio, Passion Pit, and others. Finding that balance of today's marquee alternative artists as well as some local flavor is going to be the challenge if Entercom were to flip one of its stations to alternative.
Obviously they haven't figured that out in New York, and that might affect their decision-making in Boston. It's a trade-off. Balancing those two things could result in alienating both groups. Do you want to appeal to the music fans or do you want to attract a mass audience? If you build a station strictly around the music, and it doesn't attract enough fans for that music, you're pretty much dead. Then again, you do what Beasley's doing now with classics, and you're just kicking the can down the road.
"Classic Rock that Really Rocks" seems like an odd choice for WBOS. Boston doesn't seem like a blue collar, working-in-the-factory type city when at quitting time, you want to get into your 97 Chevy and blast Classic Rock that Really Rocks. Besides, many of these artists are on WAAF already. As said above, Beasley apparently likes this format in Tampa and a few other cities, which probably led to the switch. Plus the morning show is more compatible with a Hard Rock/Classic Rock format, which may have been part of the reason for the flip.
WBOS as an alternative rock station had been trending up. And it only has one DJ on staff. Maybe a full staff of DJs could have grown its numbers a bit more? Shouldn't an owner always go with a younger skewing format, such as Alternative, than an older skewing one, such as Classic Rock? LA and San Diego have two Alternative stations. Most other large cities have one. But Boston has none.
This flip really doesn't make sense. Beasley should have invested more in Alternative to raise the numbers.
WBOS as an alternative rock station had been trending up. And it only has one DJ on staff. Maybe a full staff of DJs could have grown its numbers a bit more? Shouldn't an owner always go with a younger skewing format, such as Alternative, than an older skewing one, such as Classic Rock? LA and San Diego have two Alternative stations. Most other large cities have one. But Boston has none.
This flip really doesn't make sense. Beasley should have invested more in Alternative to raise the numbers.
I have never seen anything that says DJs are an attraction to alternative audiences.
It's 3rd in 18-34, 4th in 18-34 (which is a significant sales demo) and 6th in 18-49 Women. While not coming close to KISS, it certainly is not billing badly and is definitely top 10. Could do better, but not in crisis.
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