Bobby Bones to Q100.3?

[gr8oldies]

Loyd Ford is out after a few months and the station is "under construction" running jockless. Mike Hammond reported that Bobby Bones' website indicated he'll be taking mornings at the Q.

 

[BRH]

Honestly, Summit’s best move to maximize that signal would be to put the classic hits format from 93.1 on it. Get rid of that awful voicetracked service & outdated playlist & do an 80s focused classic hits station with live local presentation. Then, I think I’d put an alternative or current based rock format on 93.1.

 

[TheBigA]

It's official, according to Country Aircheck:

Summit WCYQ/Knoxville, TN has rebranded to "100.3 The Wolf." Premiere syndicated The Bobby Bones Show will now be heard in mornings. Former morning co-hosts Opie Joe and Carina "With A Twist Of Lime" Stewart segue to afternoons, which had been handled by PD Loyd Ford prior to his departure (CAT 9/3). Middays continue to be tracked by sister WZZK/Birmingham personality Dana Lundon

 

[Ktownradioman]

I know that Q was still behind 107.7, but you can look at numbers and see that it has had an impact on 107.7's numbers. I mean it was 5th in the market. What does this mean for Star? Are they going to sell out too? I really don't want to hear Elvis Duran or similar on 102.1.

 

[TheBigA]

I know that Q was still behind 107.7, but you can look at numbers and see that it has had an impact on 107.7's numbers.

Apparently the issue was mornings. WIVK has a really good morning show. Tony & Kris once did wake-up in San Diego. They are an award-winning duo. So my take is that Q realized they weren't going to beat IVK in mornings, but they had a chance of being competitive in other parts of the day. The other thing is Bobby Bones attracts a very young audience. So IVK may be vulnerable with that demo.

 

[Ktownradioman]

Apparently the issue was mornings. WIVK has a really good morning show. Tony & Kris once did wake-up in San Diego. They are an award-winning duo. So my take is that Q realized they weren't going to beat IVK in mornings, but they had a chance of being competitive in other parts of the day. The other thing is Bobby Bones attracts a very young audience. So IVK may be vulnerable with that demo.

I'm still curious why they rebranded. The Wolf is a generic country station name. They basically scraped everything and restarted. Q 100.3 just sounds better in my opinion and people on social media seem to agree. People on the accounts have nothing positive to say about it. I will say that the imaging voice does sound fresher and younger.

 

[TheBigA]

I'm still curious why they rebranded.

That sounds like an outside consultant. Usually these brands like Wolf or Bull come with a marketing package. That may be what this is.

BTW same with Froggy.

 

[ThomasFoolery]

That sounds like an outside consultant. Usually these brands like Wolf or Bull come with a marketing package. That may be what this is.

BTW same with Froggy.

If it’s a consultant that swooped in, talked them into spending money on a survey, then cherry-picked the data to push a change they control, everyone will know in a few months when the audience doesn’t grow. The consultant’s butt-covering will be something like “You must not have implemented everything we recommended. Why don’t you sink another $50k into research so we can fine-tune it?”

 

[davideduardo]

That sounds like an outside consultant. Usually these brands like Wolf or Bull come with a marketing package. That may be what this is.

BTW same with Froggy.

I doubt that. "Wolf" and "Bull" appear to be trademark-free brands, and stations from a variety of owners have picked them up since it is so hard to find a decent brand that is not restricted.

More than likely it's just the station working with the corporate programming folks trying to pull the station out of its tired brand and second place finishes.

Keep in mind that the second in command and a significant shareholder in Summit is Bill Tanner, one of the best PDs in the country.

 

[davideduardo]

If it’s a consultant that swooped in, talked them into spending money on a survey, then cherry-picked the data to push a change they control, everyone will know in a few months when the audience doesn’t grow. The consultant’s butt-covering will be something like “You must not have implemented everything we recommended. Why don’t you sink another $50k into research so we can fine-tune it?”

That is generally not how it works with larger group owners today... or during the last several decades for that matter.

While they likely did a "big book" perceptual (called that way because the sample is around 500 persons and a very structured questionnaire is employed), it was motivated by the poor numbers; the implementation is likely done by the combined corporate and local staff members; in this case, headed by Bill Tanner.

 

[TheBigA]

I doubt that. "Wolf" and "Bull" appear to be trademark-free brands, and stations from a variety of owners have picked them up since it is so hard to find a decent brand that is not restricted.

However when Hubbard changed to The Bull, it used the exact same logo and marketing package as Entercom's KILT.

Having said that, I just looked at WCYQ's new logo, and it is different from the other Wolf stations. Haven't heard the imaging yet.

 

[gr8oldies]

Seems to me the local staff is still intact except for the just-departed Ford. Nashville, where Bones is headquartered, isn't that far away. Gravy
's doing his work on Star, I don't believe that that means a morning show change.

I know that Q was still behind 107.7, but you can look at numbers and see that it has had an impact on 107.7's numbers. I mean it was 5th in the market. What does this mean for Star? Are they going to sell out too? I really don't want to hear Elvis Duran or similar on 102.1.

 

[gr8oldies]

With the number of vocal people who are still complaining about Andy and Allison's departure, I'd have thought WIVK would have been a little bit vulnerable in mornings. Then again, a heritage signal like 107.7 is somewhat bulletproof.

Apparently the issue was mornings. WIVK has a really good morning show. Tony & Kris once did wake-up in San Diego. They are an award-winning duo. So my take is that Q realized they weren't going to beat IVK in mornings, but they had a chance of being competitive in other parts of the day. The other thing is Bobby Bones attracts a very young audience. So IVK may be vulnerable with that demo.

 

[TheBigA]

With the number of vocal people who are still complaining about Andy and Allison's departure, I'd have thought WIVK would have been a little bit vulnerable in mornings. Then again, a heritage signal like 107.7 is somewhat bulletproof.

I think they would have been more vulnerable if Cumulus replaced them with The Nash Morning show. Ironically, now Tony & Kris will be competing against iHeart's syndicated morning show.

 

[gr8oldies]

This in a market with no iHeart stations!

I think they would have been more vulnerable if Cumulus replaced them with The Nash Morning show. Ironically, now Tony & Kris will be competing against iHeart's syndicated morning show.

 

[TheBigA]

This in a market with no iHeart stations!

That's why the show is available in Knoxville.

 

[BRH]

Personally I’m not a fan of the new imaging & voiceover. I really liked the previous “big voice” guy they had used. The new imaging sounds really bland & generic & low key. But sadly that’s been the trend across all formats lately. Growing up in the 80s, I miss the hyped up imaging & bravado. To me, the previous sweepers were much more entertaining. But aside from all that. I still think with the ratings popularity of many classic hits stations recently, Summit would fare better to move 93.1’s format to the bigger signal & go local with presentation & playlist. And as far as the “Wolf” moniker. If they were going to go with one of the trendy animal names (Bull, Wolf, Bear, etc), “The Bear” would’ve been a better brand given the Smoky Mtn area.

 

[TheBigA]

Summit would fare better to move 93.1’s format to the bigger signal & go local with presentation & playlist.

The average age of the country audience is about 20 years younger than classic hits. I'm sure they looked at that, and decided to stick with country. They can make more money even with a #2 country station than they could with a better rated classic hits station.

 

[BRH]

The average age of the country audience is about 20 years younger than classic hits. I'm sure they looked at that, and decided to stick with country. They can make more money even with a #2 country station than they could with a better rated classic hits station.

Yeah, that was my thought as well. Although, classic hits with its evolution into an 80s base (& even some 90s/2000s) has done a better job of getting the demo down a little in recent years. I do think classic hits would pull better 12+ numbers than country, but country’s probably more sellable. Also as far as Summit goes. Too bad they don’t have another small signal or a translator in the market. An alternative format would be a good fit for them to sell in combo with Star & Hot & dominate all aspects of the 18-34 demos.

 

[TheBigA]

An alternative format would be a good fit for them to sell in combo with Star & Hot & dominate all aspects of the 18-34 demos.

Alternative is striggling right now in places like LA and NYC. Why would it do any better in the hills of Tennessee?