Sunny 107.9 in West Palm -- now all Christmas.
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WEAT's Now All-Christmas
- Thread starter Alex Browne
- Start date
West Palm has two dedicated Christmas formats. iHeartMedia's AC WOLL (Kool 105.5) flipped last week to Christmas/holiday music and have done some TV advertising promoting it. Last year, WEAT-FM (Sunny 107.9) was practically alone offering the sounds of the season. Sunny had a ratings lead for a few months so it's not a surprise to see KOOL take no chances and jump in early. From what I can tell, a good number of earlier than usual flips to Christmas happened this year.
iHeart's Oldies format on the same frequency, 107.9 in the Vero Beach area, has flipped to Christmas music as well. Interestingly, there has been a "D.J. Shuffle" with the talent. Some of iHeart's Premium Choice talent for Classic Hits is now heard on their syndicated oldies format. There's "The Billy and Judi Show" in morning drive and Lisa St. Regis on in middays. Lisa is heard on the Treasure Coast's Classic Hits WQOL on weekends. While there's nothing new about talent working various formats, IMO, Lisa St. Regis does a really good job doing the oldies. Equally, she's great with Classic Hits. No wonder she and others like her stay employed. They create value and demand.
With the Pandemic and everything else that has happened in 2020, I received a great response in social media regarding the playing of Christmas music. It was practically a shut-out but virtually all the female respondents all said they were ready for Christmas and the music was a big escape. The word "escape" was used by many. While Christmas formatting has historically attracted big numbers, it will be interesting to see the results for this season.
Christmas and holiday sounds represent happy times and even normalcy, according to comments received. Those established in doing the Christmas format and doing it well appear to be well-positioned.
I forgot to mention that The Treasure Coast's AC WHLG-FM (Coast 101.3) has also gone all Christmas. There's some choice, at least, when it comes to Christmas formatting. Coast 101.3 is presenting more contemporary artists with their versions of the holiday classics.
When I mentioned the "Billy and Judy Show" in the last post, I wasn't very clear in explaining that Billy and Judy are on two Treasure Coast stations at the same time. While Vero Beach's WZTA "Oldies 107.9/1370" is offered on a translator and only covers the northern portion of The Treasure Coast, I still wonder how common that kind of situation is to have talent on at the same time on two different stations in the market. Both Oldies 107.9 and Classic Hits WQOL (103.7 The Treasure Coast's Greatest Hits) are both owned by iHeartMedia and both have Billy and Judy as their AM drive morning show.
There's a number of ways for stations to get credit for listening in diary markets such as The Treasure Coast. What happens if a respondent just lists "Billy and Judy" and doesn't include the calls or station brand name? Who gets credit? Does Nielsen look at other listening in other dayparts? There's assumptions there. Maybe both stations get credit? I wouldn't think this happens often but still would like to know how these situations are handled.
When I mentioned the "Billy and Judy Show" in the last post, I wasn't very clear in explaining that Billy and Judy are on two Treasure Coast stations at the same time. While Vero Beach's WZTA "Oldies 107.9/1370" is offered on a translator and only covers the northern portion of The Treasure Coast, I still wonder how common that kind of situation is to have talent on at the same time on two different stations in the market. Both Oldies 107.9 and Classic Hits WQOL (103.7 The Treasure Coast's Greatest Hits) are both owned by iHeartMedia and both have Billy and Judy as their AM drive morning show.
There's a number of ways for stations to get credit for listening in diary markets such as The Treasure Coast. What happens if a respondent just lists "Billy and Judy" and doesn't include the calls or station brand name? Who gets credit? Does Nielsen look at other listening in other dayparts? There's assumptions there. Maybe both stations get credit? I wouldn't think this happens often but still would like to know how these situations are handled.
We can add my favorite Treasure Coast radio station, WOSN, to the list of flipping to the Christmas format. "The Ocean" does a really good job offering a really good mix of holiday classics and holiday renditions not everyone plays.
And so from the stations I'm aware of for this part of Florida, there's two Christmas formats in the Palm Beaches and three Christmas formats for the Treasure Coast.
Per my earlier question regarding talent being on at the same time at two different stations in the same market, I contacted Nielsen a few days ago. The Rep wasn't very knowledgeable or willing to have me speak to someone else. About the best thing she said was if there is a question about how someone filled out a radio diary and clarification was needed, they would contact the person. That's probably as good an answer as any.
My understanding is it's the radio stations' responsibility to keep Nielsen informed of their talent lineup. As of this writing, iHeartMedia has yet to update "Vero's Oldies" webpages to reflect the new lineup. Given this is just a translator station, it's not a big priority I suppose. As I said earlier, this probably doesn't happen often but it could cause some confusion on those rare occasions.
And so from the stations I'm aware of for this part of Florida, there's two Christmas formats in the Palm Beaches and three Christmas formats for the Treasure Coast.
Per my earlier question regarding talent being on at the same time at two different stations in the same market, I contacted Nielsen a few days ago. The Rep wasn't very knowledgeable or willing to have me speak to someone else. About the best thing she said was if there is a question about how someone filled out a radio diary and clarification was needed, they would contact the person. That's probably as good an answer as any.
My understanding is it's the radio stations' responsibility to keep Nielsen informed of their talent lineup. As of this writing, iHeartMedia has yet to update "Vero's Oldies" webpages to reflect the new lineup. Given this is just a translator station, it's not a big priority I suppose. As I said earlier, this probably doesn't happen often but it could cause some confusion on those rare occasions.
I hope everyone is still enjoying the holiday season!
I'd like to clarify comments I made prior regarding various personalities who were on two different stations within the same market. There were concerns, apparently mine alone, in how this would impact diary ratings if a participant listed only the talents name and not the station or format brand. Apparently, it was be a short-lived situation.
While I believed Vero Beach's "Oldies 107.9" had gotten a new talent lineup, that wasn't the case. It appears iHeartMedia gave individual markets an option of carrying Christmas music on their Premium Choice oldies programming or not. They had a seperate team doing the holiday sounds on their oldies stations. The original roster of talent is back now that the holiday music has concluded.
Again, I have to say a number of talent who participated in the Christmas programming did an incredible job. The syndicated "Billy and Judy Show" in morning drive and Lisa St. Regis in middays gave a translator station in a small market a big town sound. In the case of Lisa St. Regis, her voicetracking skills are exceptional. With all the local banter between the songs, she gives all appearences of being nearby. She was warm and at least to me sounded like she was really into the holiday sounds. I noticed she's also on some of iHeart's AC formats as well as locally on the Treasure Coast on Classic Hits WQOL (103.7 The Treasure Coast's Greatest Hits.) Apparently, iHeartMedia agrees she's of value.
I'd like to clarify comments I made prior regarding various personalities who were on two different stations within the same market. There were concerns, apparently mine alone, in how this would impact diary ratings if a participant listed only the talents name and not the station or format brand. Apparently, it was be a short-lived situation.
While I believed Vero Beach's "Oldies 107.9" had gotten a new talent lineup, that wasn't the case. It appears iHeartMedia gave individual markets an option of carrying Christmas music on their Premium Choice oldies programming or not. They had a seperate team doing the holiday sounds on their oldies stations. The original roster of talent is back now that the holiday music has concluded.
Again, I have to say a number of talent who participated in the Christmas programming did an incredible job. The syndicated "Billy and Judy Show" in morning drive and Lisa St. Regis in middays gave a translator station in a small market a big town sound. In the case of Lisa St. Regis, her voicetracking skills are exceptional. With all the local banter between the songs, she gives all appearences of being nearby. She was warm and at least to me sounded like she was really into the holiday sounds. I noticed she's also on some of iHeart's AC formats as well as locally on the Treasure Coast on Classic Hits WQOL (103.7 The Treasure Coast's Greatest Hits.) Apparently, iHeartMedia agrees she's of value.
Lisa St. Regis is excellent. She’s on a variety of different formats and dayparts and sounds like natural on every single one of them.
I married (and later divorced) a St. Louis girl, and, a few years ago, while visiting her family, I found her doing overnights on KLOU. I already knew who she was from listening to her on KISQ under two different formats, but I doubt the average St. Louisan knew she wasn’t broadcasting from across the highway from Forest Park. Of course, she didn’t have the opportunity to pronounce “Gravois” or “Carondelet” when I was listening. If she didn’t get those mispronounced properly, her cover would be blown instantly!
I married (and later divorced) a St. Louis girl, and, a few years ago, while visiting her family, I found her doing overnights on KLOU. I already knew who she was from listening to her on KISQ under two different formats, but I doubt the average St. Louisan knew she wasn’t broadcasting from across the highway from Forest Park. Of course, she didn’t have the opportunity to pronounce “Gravois” or “Carondelet” when I was listening. If she didn’t get those mispronounced properly, her cover would be blown instantly!
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