Make Star 102.5 - Nash Country 102.5

[tbolt909]

Msx is a breed of ac. So is star. You have no idea if star would change formats. Their revenue is terrible.

Revenue is likely terrible for almost all of Radio. It wasn't great before the Pandemic for many stations. Yes, we know if you owned STAR it would be Country (and would bill over 7 million a year).

It's unlikely that Entercom would flip STAR to Country (or anything else). Radio becomes less relevant with each passing year. The "new" WBUF launched with zero promotion. They know there's no point in bothering. These companies are just trying to hang on. They aren't interested in innovation or growth...

 

[TheBigA]

They aren't interested in innovation or growth...

Not exactly true. They're doing both innovation and growth in areas other than on-air.

 

[Buddy Shula]

Revenue is likely terrible for almost all of Radio. It wasn't great before the Pandemic for many stations. Yes, we know if you owned STAR it would be Country (and would bill over 7 million a year).

It's unlikely that Entercom would flip STAR to Country (or anything else). Radio becomes less relevant with each passing year. The "new" WBUF launched with zero promotion. They know there's no point in bothering. These companies are just trying to hang on. They aren't interested in innovation or growth...

Your talking about "these companies" . I am not "these companies". I do things the opposite of what they do. I do not believe radio becomes less relevant with every passing year. That could said for just about any media outlet or retail business. 92% of the population still listens to terrestrial radio during their week. I think you have this bitterness toward radio. There is less cume than before, but it has held it's own pretty well. I would be worried more in a were a newspaper company. And you can bet that if I have a full power Country station, it would bill far more than STAR currently does.

The "new" WBUF is a corporate trainwreck. They will make nothing on that station. I totally disagree with the format they picked. Remember that 50% of all radio dollars in Buffalo, goes to these formats. News, Talk, Sports, Country . That's where the money is.

As you know, I am not a fan of corporate radio, which is why I bought a station that I could control. We are doing great. That's all that matters. But it is hard work, and radio 101. WECK does many things right that other companies would not or could not do.

Plus the WECK staff is incredible. Each one of them cares about radio, the listeners and my company. It's passion that can't learned. The people in every department of WECK are exceptional. That's the reason we have been successful. We sound like a major market station in a medium market. This is because my entire staff is exceptional.

Radio is as irrelevant as a company will make it. Most are making it irrelevant. We are trying very hard to to follow that. As I have said before, I was making $250K a year for 20 years at Entercom. I could of easily stayed. But I saw the potential in WECK, and it has by far been the best move I ever made. I cruise All Access all the time. WECK is one of the only independently owned radio stations in the top ten 12 plus of any market 1-60 in America. There are some others, but not many.

You say it's becoming more irrelevant. I would like to forward you the emails for our listeners that say the opposite. As long as my staff, my clients, and listeners are happy, that's all I care about.

 

[tbolt909]

The "new" WBUF is a corporate trainwreck. They will make nothing on that station. I totally disagree with the format they picked. Remember that 50% of all radio dollars in Buffalo, goes to these formats. News, Talk, Sports, Country . That's where the money is.

News/Talk is the same thing. Who gets the other 50 percent? AC, Rock, Urban and Top 40 in various forms are the remainder.

Your list does not include Oldies as "Where The Money Is". Now that you own a station, you are free to do one of "The Money Formats" you keep talking about. In other posts, you have stated that you cannot find many people who say they listen to Radio anymore. That's a candid comment coming from a station operator...

 

[davideduardo]

Radio becomes less relevant with each passing year. The "new" WBUF launched with zero promotion. They know there's no point in bothering. These companies are just trying to hang on. They aren't interested in innovation or growth...

Sometimes promotion is not needed. When filling a format hole, even now, people will find you and there will be word of mouth you can encourage online.

I've launched some very successful stations with no promotion. In one fairly recent case, we filled a format hole in a market with over 200 stations. We planned to promote after about a month; before that happened, the monthly came out and we were #1 with the most listened to station in the Western Hemisphere...

There is no single right way to launch a station. In many cases, those who are not in the lifesyle don't see that there is a variety of promotions going on that are not TV ads or billboards.

 

[CAVEMANager]

Let's return to the original thread here. Can Buffalo use another country station? I'd say yes but not if it must be a carbon copy of WYRK. 106.5 went country in the early 1980s and the station quickly moved to the top of the ratings where it has been ever since. Since the 1990s country music has changed dramatically. Both the big record companies and radio broadcasters have done everything possible to appeal to the youngest people who might buy into the genre. In recent years country has sounded more like pop than ever before. Even some rap finds its way into some of the songs. Today's lyrics seem to be about only two topics: the wonders of girls and the wonders of alcohol. There isn't much else. Anyone who has loved country for more than a few years could get sick of this junk and long for such talents as Garth Brooks, Kenny Rogers, Crystal Gayle, George Jones, Charley Pride and Barbara Mandrell. Combine that with some of the few true country artists of today such as Chris Stapleton, Easton Corbin, Kenny Chesney and Brad Paisley and you just might have a format that topples WYRK. But I'd point out that this can't be accomplished on a shoestring budget or with a substandard signal.

 

[tbolt909]

Let's return to the original thread here. Can Buffalo use another country station? I'd say yes but not if it must be a carbon copy of WYRK. 106.5 went country in the early 1980s and the station quickly moved to the top of the ratings where it has been ever since. Since the 1990s country music has changed dramatically. Both the big record companies and radio broadcasters have done everything possible to appeal to the youngest people who might buy into the genre. In recent years country has sounded more like pop than ever before. Even some rap finds its way into some of the songs. Today's lyrics seem to be about only two topics: the wonders of girls and the wonders of alcohol. There isn't much else. Anyone who has loved country for more than a few years could get sick of this junk and long for such talents as Garth Brooks, Kenny Rogers, Crystal Gayle, George Jones, Charley Pride and Barbara Mandrell. Combine that with some of the few true country artists of today such as Chris Stapleton, Easton Corbin, Kenny Chesney and Brad Paisley and you just might have a format that topples WYRK. But I'd point out that this can't be accomplished on a shoestring budget or with a substandard signal.

There's a difference between musicianship and Radio Formats. The argument of legends vs modern artists isn't limited to Country. Many genres have the pioneers (Bob Marley, James Brown, Little Richard, Beatles, Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, John Lee Hooker, and many more). Those artists aren't going to be found on "modern formats" that covet younger demos.

As for the original premise of this thread, isn't the Nash Format defunct? If Country is such a "Cash Cow", Cumulus or Entercom would have tried it by now...

 

[davideduardo]

As for the original premise of this thread, isn't the Nash Format defunct? If Country is such a "Cash Cow", Cumulus or Entercom would have tried it by now...

Nash was not a format; it was a variation of the country format by one company which tried to create a one-size-fits-all-markets approach. The concept may have been solid, but the execution failed. But that is not a failure of country as a format... it is about the failure of Lou DIckey as a corporate manager.

 

[davideduardo]

Anyone who has loved country for more than a few years could get sick of this junk and long for such talents as Garth Brooks, Kenny Rogers, Crystal Gayle, George Jones, Charley Pride and Barbara Mandrell. Combine that with some of the few true country artists of today such as Chris Stapleton, Easton Corbin, Kenny Chesney and Brad Paisley and you just might have a format that topples WYRK. But I'd point out that this can't be accomplished on a shoestring budget or with a substandard signal.

That would lean pretty old. That's, in most cases, pre-1990 music which means its appeal is going to be mostly with people in their 50's!

If there is indeed going to be an alternative to today's country, it has to be focused on the mid 90's to 2010... with a few early 90's super hits. Otherwise, the demos will be too old to sell.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Nash was not a format; it was a variation of the country format by one company which tried to create a one-size-fits-all-markets approach. The concept may have been solid, but the execution failed. But that is not a failure of country as a format... it is about the failure of Lou DIckey as a corporate manager.

There's also a possibility that one size doesn't fit all markets, and the top-down approach of the Dickeys was a mistake. Since that's where iHeart is headed with their current massive cuts we'll have the opportunity to see if the people crave corporate-created pap rolled out to a national audience. Let's face it, they have the best signals in many markets thanks to overpaying for stations before they went bust the first time. They're committed to the method you espouse. How long before iHeart starts shedding stations "because they don't need them" as they pursue online delivery? Or until they get taken over by John Malone and Liberty Media, owners of SiriusXM and Pandora? Perhaps that's the planning behind the ongoing massive cuts at iHeart.

DOJ green-lights Liberty Media's proposed increased stake in iHeartMedia - POLITICO

 

[TheBigA]

How long before iHeart starts shedding stations "because they don't need them" as they pursue online delivery?

That theory has been pushed by people for 20 years. And they obviously haven't reached that point, because just this past year they've gone on a buying spree, buying major market AMs for their Black Information Network. Why would they do such a thing when it's not necessary? Why would they buy AM radio stations when they're cutting costs at FM stations, and they're about to be bought by John Malone? Explain all that.

 

[TheBigA]

Let's return to the original thread here. Can Buffalo use another country station? I'd say yes but not if it must be a carbon copy of WYRK.

If you go earlier in this thread, you'll see we already discussed this. In markets where there are two country stations, both are musically carbon copies. The example we gave was Pittsburgh because of market similarities. Once again, what's the goal of owning a radio station? To distribute music or to make money? If the goal is music distribution, then you don't want two carbon copies. But if you want to make money, you play the music that gets you the biggest audience in the demo your advertisers want. So you play Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen, and you promote your station as the one that plays more of the hot new country than your tired old market leading competitor. That's if you want to make money. Otherwise, sure, play Easton Corbin.

 

[Buddy Shula]

Let's return to the original thread here. Can Buffalo use another country station? I'd say yes but not if it must be a carbon copy of WYRK. 106.5 went country in the early 1980s and the station quickly moved to the top of the ratings where it has been ever since. Since the 1990s country music has changed dramatically. Both the big record companies and radio broadcasters have done everything possible to appeal to the youngest people who might buy into the genre. In recent years country has sounded more like pop than ever before. Even some rap finds its way into some of the songs. Today's lyrics seem to be about only two topics: the wonders of girls and the wonders of alcohol. There isn't much else. Anyone who has loved country for more than a few years could get sick of this junk and long for such talents as Garth Brooks, Kenny Rogers, Crystal Gayle, George Jones, Charley Pride and Barbara Mandrell. Combine that with some of the few true country artists of today such as Chris Stapleton, Easton Corbin, Kenny Chesney and Brad Paisley and you just might have a format that topples WYRK. But I'd point out that this can't be accomplished on a shoestring budget or with a substandard signal.

No new country station will topple YRK. They would be the 2nd country station. I would take that moniker anyday

 

[Buddy Shula]

News/Talk is the same thing. Who gets the other 50 percent? AC, Rock, Urban and Top 40 in various forms are the remainder.

Your list does not include Oldies as "Where The Money Is". Now that you own a station, you are free to do one of "The Money Formats" you keep talking about. In other posts, you have stated that you cannot find many people who say they listen to Radio anymore. That's a candid comment coming from a station operator...

I just said cume is going down for radio, but it still reaches over 90% of the population.

Good for you to notice that I picked a format that not is in the "money format" . There's probably a reason for that, but that is something for me to know and you to find out

 

[tbolt909]

Good for you to notice that I picked a format that not is in the "money format" . There's probably a reason for that, but that is something for me to know and you to find out

Since WECK is an AM signal (with several low powered FM translators), Oldies is a logical choice. Oldies are the reason it is beating some stations that have better signals.

If you think you can do better with a different format, you have the right to try. If you're making money with Oldies and listeners/clients are happy, isn't that success?
The previous owner tried several formats before turning it over to you. You still haven't delivered the 5 share and don't seem satisfied with Oldies. Maybe Country is ALL HAT NO CATTLE...

 

[davideduardo]

I just said cume is going down for radio, but it still reaches over 90% of the population.

Cume is only down about 4% to 5% (depending on the market) in the last 15 years. What is down is TSL.

Using the top 10 markets, the PUR (persons using radio) expressed as a percentage of all persons 12+ was between 18% and 21% in 2000. That means that, on a 6 AM to Midnight full week average, one out of every five were listening.

Today, it is one out of every 12 to 13 persons. Or around 7% to 8% of all 12+ people (adjusted to 12+ and not 6+ in the PPM).

 

[CassChopper96]

Msx is a breed of ac. So is star. You have no idea if star would change formats. Their revenue is terrible.

The station is not flipping dude. The half to be billing something or it still wouldn’t be on the air. The station isn’t going anywhere. Star 102.5 is a decent Hot AC station

 

[SirRoxalot]

The question is simple. Would a 3.5 share of country - split across demographics - be an easier sale than a 3.5 share that's mostly women 25-54? Especially in combo with Kiss? Yeah, you might knock WYRK down a couple of shares, but you're not going to cut their audience in half, let alone beat them. WBEN, WBLK, and 97-Rock would love to see WYRK lose a couple of shares. I don't think that Star is going anywhere, but Rob Lucas ain't getting a raise in his next contract.

 

[CassChopper96]

The question is simple. Would a 3.5 share of country - split across demographics - be an easier sale than a 3.5 share that's mostly women 25-54? Especially in combo with Kiss? Yeah, you might knock WYRK down a couple of shares, but you're not going to cut their audience in half, let alone beat them. WBEN, WBLK, and 97-Rock would love to see WYRK lose a couple of shares. I don't think that Star is going anywhere, but Rob Lucas ain't getting a raise in his next contract.

David Edurado said that the station is a decent biller. And looking at the shares the station is doing all right. I think many radio personalities all over the country aren't getting a raise right now

 

[Rusty Bridges]

If you go earlier in this thread, you'll see we already discussed this. In markets where there are two country stations, both are musically carbon copies. The example we gave was Pittsburgh because of market similarities.

Posts #44 & #45 in https://www.radiodiscussions.com/threads/wbuf-flips-to-rock.730834/page-3

Entercom is committed to Adult Contemporary on the 102.5 frequency. Town Square has placed their bets with Everything That Rocks on the 92.9 frequency. The managers and employees of Entercom and Town Square probably read these pages, shake their heads and laugh. The die has been cast on 92.9, 102.5 and 107.7.

Here, speculation only drives page views. Congratulations! We're all unpaid content providers.