I hear people say that WRFF does poorly regarding billing. But do you see Radio 104.5 going anywhere anytime soon. I think Radio 104.5 can be called a clear channel radio success story
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Radio 104.5
- Thread starter CassChopper96
- Start date
It's a good complement for the other music formats for a company with no news or sports or talk presence to speak of in the market.
However, as a male-driven format, it falls way behind in ad buys to the sports stations and the huge rock stations.
There are few alternatives for it to do, format wise. But it is not a success story when it ranks 16th or 17th in billings.
Sometimes every six weeks.
The death of radio 104.5 has been predicted since it started, and when they finally do flip formats the thread about it on here will probably be full of I knew they couldn't last with how bad they billed type comments.
Some food for thought here. radio 104.5 has outlasted both wdre & y100. It is infact only a few short months away from lasting longer then the time in 1992 when dre came to Philly to 2005 when y100 was killed. While maybe not a successful business venture, it has been a successful radio station. Same goes for ben-fm.
And the only music that seems to attract the sort of listeners that advertisers want appears to be contemporary country, CHR, AC ("hot" and standard, but not soft), urban and classic rock. Since most major markets have established dominant stations in these formats, there's no options left for a station in an out-of-favor format but to act as a complement to the other stations in that group's cluster that "matter."
Add Urban AC, Regional Mexican, Spanish language Rhythnmic CHR, Churban, and both mainstream and more rhythmic flavors of CHR; the ethnic appeal formats will only do well in markets that have the necessary population to sustain them
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Soft AC can be very competitive where it is done right as a mood format, such as WFLZ in Miami where is it often #1 even in 18-34.The iHeart "Breeze" stations just don't do it very well.
Alternative rock is successful in many markets, such as LA and Kansas City, and does acceptably although not sensationally in quite a few, making it a viable part of a cluster of higher rated stations. It's hard, though, to start an Alt station in a market that does not have one and where much of the music is not familiar on the radio.
Of course, if we cover non-music formats, sports, news and talk are still viable and profitable, although news is strictly a top 10 to top 15 market proposition.
And there are still a few AAA stations that do well in a limited array of markets, such as Portland and Denver. But that is not an option for new format launches as the format works best on heritage stations that have long been in the format.
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There is only one measure for the success of a commercial radio station: profitability.
Likely 104.5 makes a profit, but not as large a one as its cluster mates. Given the lack of better performance expectations for any other format, it is the most viable of the second tier format options in the market. And it helps hold up the cluster total shares.
We really do enjoy this topic. LOL. I personally like the station and it's certainly not losing money but in my opinion, it's by no stretch of the imagination a success story. The reason for its longevity is simply that there's no other format worth taking a risk. If they thought they had a surefire way to put something on 104.5 that would make the cluster more money, Radio 104.5 would be gone in a heartbeat.
Let’s play pretend—if throwbacks had worked on 106, does anyone not think 104.5 wouldn’t have been getting breezy instead? I don’t see that as far-fetched.
Agreed 100%. Sunny's third act (though they surely wouldn't have resurrected the name again). I have felt like they've been treating both frequencies (104.5 and 106.1) as experiments since 2006!
Sometimes it feels even longer!
Yeah, I don’t think Sunny had a third sunrise in it. But I suppose weirder things have happened.
Yeah, I don’t think Sunny had a third sunrise in it. But I suppose weirder things have happened.
Don't think so, any proof...same as if WOGL got Jacked, Ben wouldn't of been born, or if Alice went Jammin, Ben wouldn't go Jammin gold, just pure speculation...
That kind of what pretend means. And yeah, Ben would have been pointless in a world where 98 went to Jack, et al.
But it’s hardly a stretch to hypothesize that a company that seems quite high on the soft AC format might have chosen another frequency to get breezy with.
Chillax, it’s not a slander against the eyeconic Radio 1045.
But it’s hardly a stretch to hypothesize that a company that seems quite high on the soft AC format might have chosen another frequency to get breezy with.
Chillax, it’s not a slander against the eyeconic Radio 1045.
93XRT from Chicago actually performs very well considering its format which is a surprise
Yeah, but 93XRT has been doing this format for nearly 30 years
Can I just mention two things?
One, I looove how we joke around with the station names (i.e gettin' breezy, sunny's third act etc) it's our own in-jokes that no one else gets and I love it.
Secondly, Radio 104.5 is not going anywhere. Let's think of it like this. In the top 10, hell even top 20 markets, they all have at least one of the following stations. News, sports, news talk, CHR, top 40, urban, classic rock, classic hits, adult hits and alternative. Radio 104.5 fills that just large enough to be profitable alt rock market. WMGK and WMMR both play some alt rock like nirvana and the chilli peppers, even Ben plays some. But no one will call them alternative. So, 104.5 fills in the rest. They play strictly currently charting alt rock and some classics like the killers, the pumpkins and so on. Until the day comes when no one at all is listening to alternative rock, 104.5 will stick around doin their thing. Can we finally put this topic to rest? I feel like 104.5 is becoming the new WPHT on here.... (oh god no!)
One, I looove how we joke around with the station names (i.e gettin' breezy, sunny's third act etc) it's our own in-jokes that no one else gets and I love it.
Secondly, Radio 104.5 is not going anywhere. Let's think of it like this. In the top 10, hell even top 20 markets, they all have at least one of the following stations. News, sports, news talk, CHR, top 40, urban, classic rock, classic hits, adult hits and alternative. Radio 104.5 fills that just large enough to be profitable alt rock market. WMGK and WMMR both play some alt rock like nirvana and the chilli peppers, even Ben plays some. But no one will call them alternative. So, 104.5 fills in the rest. They play strictly currently charting alt rock and some classics like the killers, the pumpkins and so on. Until the day comes when no one at all is listening to alternative rock, 104.5 will stick around doin their thing. Can we finally put this topic to rest? I feel like 104.5 is becoming the new WPHT on here.... (oh god no!)
I would agree that unless and until there’s something we’re not seeing on the radar currently, it’s going to chug along doing its thing. Certainly nothing is forever, and factors come into play that change things on a dime.
I know they are in different markets but I wonder how Denver alternative stations ktcl and kbco do
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