There are plenty of jocks on the street thanks to iHeart and Entercom. Harv Moore and Jon Summers are available. So is Danny for that matter.
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WBUF Flips To Rock
- Thread starter TheBigA
- Start date
JACK never had jocks. Why would this format need them? It's just a needless expense. It seems like this move is designed to protect WYRK and WBLK...
"Fossil Jocks -- Fossil Rock". What year is it in Buffalo? Townsquare must think it's 1995 to launch this type of format...
Just a guess, you forgot the sarcasm tag
If TSQ hires jocks for WBUF, they most likely won't be near to or already collecting Social Security. Some very astute posts in this thread, especially the one about WBUF being the "new form of classic rock." In which case, WBUF is targeting 97 Rock more than the WEDG. Kind of makes sense for TSQ to try to chisel away a few shares from the Cumulus station that has the highest ratings and biggest revenue potential.
And from the Pure Speculation file:
? Didn't Shredd & Ragan sign a contract with Cumulus two years ago for a term of two years?
? If Cumulus doesn't have S&R or the 97 Rock air staff under contract, this might be a good time to get them to sign. Also a good time for those jocks to wangle more money or better terms out of Cumulus.
If it's what listeners want to hear, if it gets ratings and generates revenue, what's the problem? Sheeesh! How much good new product is out there in the rock genre? What's the Edge playing that's new, and how much of it gets played? Sounds like the Edge plays more re-current product than new product.
Just a guess, you forgot the sarcasm tag
Some very astute posts in this thread, especially the one about WBUF being the "new form of classic rock." In which case, WBUF is targeting 97 Rock more than the WEDG. Kind of makes sense for TSQ to try to chisel away a few shares from the Cumulus station that has the highest ratings and biggest revenue potential.
And from the Pure Speculation file:
? Didn't Shredd & Ragan sign a contract with Cumulus two years ago for a term of two years?
? If Cumulus doesn't have S&R or the 97 Rock air staff under contract, this might be a good time to get them to sign. Also a good time for those jocks to wangle more money or better terms out of Cumulus.
If it's what listeners want to hear, if it gets ratings and generates revenue, what's the problem? Sheeesh! How much good new product is out there in the rock genre? What's the Edge playing that's new, and how much of it gets played? Sounds like the Edge plays more re-current product than new product.
Lots of "Ifs" in your speculation. I doubt any Cumulus staffers will be getting more money during a Pandemic. They're lucky to keep a gig at all. Iheart just had another wave of RIFs.
I don't think they'll be much demand for another 97 Rock clone. You may be right that Townsquare hopes to take a couple shares away from them. That doesn't guarantee revenue though. The format attracts mainly old white blue collar men...
A little bit. Variety Hits tends to be rockier than classic hits. This station eliminated the popier stuff from the list and moved the target age down a notch or two. Not as dramatic a change as if they went to a completely different genre.
Just a guess, you forgot the sarcasm tag
Hey, it's cheaper to hire guys on Social Security - and they also already have health insurance!
Fossil Rock? C'mon, they're not THAT old. It would be more like "Geezer Rock with Geezer Jocks". But, you want younger? I hear Opie and/or Anthony are available. Opie's even got history here. It could be a whole new beginning of syndication...
I heard Brian J Walker is available as well.
Just a guess, you forgot the sarcasm tag
Some very astute posts in this thread, especially the one about WBUF being the "new form of classic rock." In which case, WBUF is targeting 97 Rock more than the WEDG. Kind of makes sense for TSQ to try to chisel away a few shares from the Cumulus station that has the highest ratings and biggest revenue potential.
And from the Pure Speculation file:
? Didn't Shredd & Ragan sign a contract with Cumulus two years ago for a term of two years?
? If Cumulus doesn't have S&R or the 97 Rock air staff under contract, this might be a good time to get them to sign. Also a good time for those jocks to wangle more money or better terms out of Cumulus.
If it's what listeners want to hear, if it gets ratings and generates revenue, what's the problem? Sheeesh! How much good new product is out there in the rock genre? What's the Edge playing that's new, and how much of it gets played? Sounds like the Edge plays more re-current product than new product.
You folks are speculating. I’m not. I know what’s gonna happen.
It doesn’t matter why. They ARE going to have them. The change in format has nothing to do with yrk and blk. It’s about adding men 35 54 to the portfolio. That comes from edge and 97 rock, and when the bills aren’t playing, gr could be slightly effected.
It’s a meger attempt to be the number 2 rated rock station. 97 rock has great cume, and is the revenue driver for cumulus. The Jack format is unexplainable to advertisers. The rock format is easy to explain.
The most concerning matter to me is this will bring no real revenue to WBUF. A news talk or sports station would garner revenue. Ratings don’t matter. Revenue does. The radio industry is up to debt to their eyeballs. WBEN and WYRK are huge revenue producers. Why do people rob banks? Because that’s where the money is ! They chose a ratings play, not a revenue play. The rock format is not going to make a dime. Going Y2 country or 80s or 99s country would have make more sense.
I don't think Townsquare would concur with your assessment. Why would they have flipped JACK to a second Country format to compete with WYRK (which they already own?). That makes no sense.
You may be right about the "No Revenue" part, although I don't know why it "concerns" you. You should be pleased that they didn't flip to Oldies. There's no guarantee that the new WBUF will get Ratings or Revenue. It may get neither as the format is painfully stale...
If they do the Y2 or 80s-90s blend that Buddy suggests, it is a complement. Just like iHeart in LA has CHR, Hot AC and traditional AC, having a spectrum in a major genre is often very profitable as it is a multi-station "package" sale and there are economies in doing promotions that overlap.
In Houston, Cox owns KKBQ (hot country) and KTHT (classic country)
In Oklahoma City iHeart owns KTST (hot country) and KXXY (90s country)
In Nashville Cumulus owns WKDF (hot country) and WSM (Nash Icon)
Maybe the difference is that WYRK is usually #1 in Buffalo. Townsquare didn't flip JACK to some form of Country, so they must see no revenue upside. A second Country format could cut into the WYRK ratings. The point is moot at the moment because JACK is now Classic Rock...
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoaaaaaa... slow down. Buffalo is not LA, OKC, Nashville or Houston. This is not to say "you don't know Buffalo," so spare me the return fire. This town and surrounding area is more like Pittsburgh. Maybe Cleveland. Maybe. Definitely Pittsburgh. Except we can actually pronounce "Steelers" and don't say "yinz." Still, we're a lot alike.
WYRK has big across the board (ATB) numbers. My take is TSQ isn't likely to chance those big juicy ATB numbers by launching a different flavor of country on a big signal like 92.9 because such a move would be too precarious in these times and this economy. Plus, it would take a ton of promotion to explain the differentiation between "Today's Country WYRK" and say, "Classic Country 92-9." And as the old adage goes, "You don't screw the Queen." WYRK is the Queen of the cluster and the market.
Going "everything that rocks" or "today's classic rock" (admittedly an oxymoron) is a natural progression for 92.9. As a previous poster noted, no more licensing fees or inventory bleed paid to Sparknet and it's just a lane change or two from the previous Jack FM format.
It wouldn't be much of a surprise if TSQ had this format on the back burner years ago and pulled the trigger now because of the pandemic and the economy. It may be that this format coincides with an uptick in the economy in Q3 once a vaccine is broadly available and life returns to some degree of normalcy, at which time TSQ will have the opportunity to hit the streets to aggressively promote it. The question then will be, "did they miss the big wave and momentum" that accompany format changes in the first month or two.
As to jocks, they'll most likely look for people who lived the lifestyle and era of the music that's being played, know the music and are in the demographic of the target audience, which, if it's 40-64, would mean jocks who are in that demo. There are more than a few of these types on the beach in Buffalo, Rochester and in state.
I find this format interesting. Moreover, observing the competition and nuances of the competition between programmers and companies is instructive. And as noted in a previous post, there's some good points being made on this thread, even those who might disagree.
Jocks with that kind of experience can be expensive. You certainly don't need name talent in mid-days. Entercom shows you don't need anyone at all.
Any recognizable talent will go in morning drive. They'll run the Townsquare syndicated evening show Loudwire from 7 to midnight.
When one builds a cluster, they know that every additional station will share or fragment one of the others. The idea is to position the group so that buying combos of more than one station is a good proposition for advertisers.
So even if one of your stations will lose a little, if the gains on the other station add much more than they detract, the move is valid.
Let's say I lose one share point on my big station, but I can get 3 to 4 shares on the new one, it is a no-brainer. Remember too, that agencies buy rating, not share. So losing a full share point is not even 0.1 ratings points.
And in combos, it is often better to have multiple stations at a good salable level than one standout and several slouchers.
Townsquare Buffalo did not get your memo. They didn't flip JACK to Country. They must be incompetent.
Some others have mentioned that perhaps they are weary of paying the fees for using the JACK brand. 92.9 is a big signal that has had very limited success. That is likely to continue when you have no new programming ideas...
Just an FYI, Pittsburgh has THREE country stations. So if Buffalo is like Pittsburgh, there definitely is room for at least one more. Buddy is suggesting Cumulus flip The Edge to country. That might be a good idea. Especially after losing a full point since the summer.
The fee in sub-50 markets is pretty low. And the appeal is to listeners who hate disk jockeys... a small but competitive group.
Research shows a significant group of DJ-haters.
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