Buffalo-Niagara Falls Persons 12+ April 2021

[Rusty Bridges]

Nielsen Ratings Buffalo-Niagara Falls, April Persons 12+

In the beauty pageant: WBEN surges. WBLK moves up. WYRK for the first time in memory, knocked off the 12+ perch (but probably still owns the target demos.) 97 Rock holds consistent, "April" carrying through and reflecting the residue of the morning show toast debacle in March. WHTT up. Kiss up. The Edge up. Star holds. The Breeze subsides. WBFO consistent. WGR slides.

Have at it.

 

[TheBigA]

A reminder that 97 Rock's disaster happened on March 24. This trend covers April, and they're steady.

So I can only imagine people say they're still listening to the station, even though the morning show is gone.

And so far WBUF has not been able to benefit from the disaster at 97 Rock.

And WBEN is doing better with more local talk and no Rush. No wonder they dropped the repeats as soon as they could.

 

[Buddy Shula]

Nielsen Ratings Buffalo-Niagara Falls, April Persons 12+

In the beauty pageant: WBEN surges. WBLK moves up. WYRK for the first time in memory, knocked off the 12+ perch (but probably still owns the target demos.) 97 Rock holds consistent, "April" carrying through and reflecting the residue of the morning show toast debacle in March. WHTT up. Kiss up. The Edge up. Star holds. The Breeze subsides. WBFO consistent. WGR slides.

Have at it.

No mention of WECK? 2.9 share . You mentioned star holds. You act like, or trying to avoid talking about WECK being a major station in the Buffalo market, beating WBUF, WLKK, WNED, and coming a few tenths of a point from edge, star , and gr . Just interesting you would mention WBUF , but not WECK, a station just a few months ago that had a 3.8 share, at 1KW. WECK is a major player in the Buffalo radio market, you should probably admit it. I think it’s time.

 

[DN14224]

No mention of WECK? 2.9 share . You mentioned star holds. You act like, or trying to avoid talking about WECK being a major station in the Buffalo market, beating WBUF, WLKK, WNED, and coming a few tenths of a point from edge, star , and gr . Just interesting you would mention WBUF , but not WECK, a station just a few months ago that had a 3.8 share, at 1KW. WECK is a major player in the Buffalo radio market, you should probably admit it. I think it’s time.

'BUF launched a new format and stood to benefit from the 97 Rock fiasco.
Star, The Breeze and WHTT are direct format competitors. WECK isn't.

WECK is doing very well. But that's not news. That's why we haven't seen more threads on this.
By the way Buddy, when are Jon Summers and Harv Moore coming back from their COVID-19 hiatus?

 

[tbolt909]

And so far WBUF has not been able to benefit from the disaster at 97 Rock.

WBUF has a 1.5 with one of the best FM signals. The format blows. The ratings indicate that no NEW audience exists for this product. 97 Rock has stayed flat, so the morning show incident has had no impact. Maybe no one has noticed the change or cares. Townsquare needs to learn that cloning an existing format isn't a winning formula (especially one that is woefully long in the tooth)...

 

[Rusty Bridges]

As reflected in the quote box, WBUF was not mentioned in Post #1.

 

[TheBigA]

Townsquare needs to learn that cloning an existing format isn't a winning formula (especially one that is woefully long in the tooth)...

Keep in mind that Townsquare has said very directly that over 50% of its revenue is digital.

So they made this change for reasons that don't involve local ratings.

They also have two of the highest rated stations in town. They know what they're doing.

Cumulus just flipped an AM sports station to talk, and they don't care what its ratings are in Buffalo.

 

[tbolt909]

Keep in mind that Townsquare has said very directly that over 50% of its revenue is digital.

So they made this change for reasons that don't involve local ratings.

They also have two of the highest rated stations in town. They know what they're doing.

Cumulus just flipped an AM sports station to talk, and they don't care what its ratings are in Buffalo.

It's true that WYRK and WBLK have great ratings. That doesn't explain the train wreck on 92.9. Usually a format is changed to try to do better. Maybe 92.9 is written off as a business loss...

 

[RadioGuy1864]

What station, if any, will pick up the newly announced Rush replacement show with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton? WBEN has gone all local and it seems to be working for them, Cumulus has their own show. They might have to go with WLVL in Lockport where Hannity is now carried live.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Keep in mind that Townsquare has said very directly that over 50% of its revenue is digital.

So they made this change for reasons that don't involve local ratings.

They also have two of the highest rated stations in town. They know what they're doing.

Cumulus just flipped an AM sports station to talk, and they don't care what its ratings are in Buffalo.

I don't know how digital is making you a lot of money if nobody's listening to your radio station.

Townsquare inherited two exclusive, highly-ranked formats when Oaktree Capital Management ended up with Regent and Gap Broadcasting thanks to bankruptcies. Over time Oaktree has worked to extricate itself from Townsquare, a company that's tried to build around its radio properties with NTR through North American Midway Entertainment (a bust) and now with digital.

When it comes to Buffalo radio, they've mostly not screwed up WYRK and WBLK. WBUF - one of the biggest signals in the market - has languished. WMSX - formerly WJYE - tanked a profitable format for one that hasn't done nearly as well. I don't think you can say that "They know what they're doing." They've proved several times that isn't quite so.

WYRK has seen its 12+ ratings drop from a 12+ share a couple of years ago to under 9 in the last book. The changes they've made have cost them audience. If there was another country station in town it could have been worse.

 

[TheBigA]

I don't know how digital is making you a lot of money if nobody's listening to your radio station.

You're looking this strictly as a Buffalo thing. That's not how they view it. The shows on WBUF are mostly national shows, and TS is selling them that way. They push people to their digital sites. The growth is in digital, not on air.

It's going to take time for the personalities to develop an audience. This was a station that had no hosts at all for 15 years. Now all of a sudden, there are people talking. That's a new format, regardless of the music.

 

[TheBigA]

What station, if any, will pick up the newly announced Rush replacement show with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton?

Nobody. It will air in Rochester on WHAM.

 

[Rusty Bridges]

The April Persons 12+ reveals no wobble or loss after the 97 Rock morning show "toast" debacle.
Could be listeners stayed with 97 just to find out what would happen next.
Could be P1 listeners didn't think the toast bit was out of line.
Could be that February and March were 'good months' and those 'good months' sustained April.
Could be that April in and of itself was stable.
Could be because 97 Rock owns the Classic Rock brand.
Could be 'all of the above.'

Whether 97 Rock sustains is anybody's guess. There's been no announcement (as of this writing) of a new morning show or new PD. Now, several months in, the WBUF format flip appears curious in light of the fact that the Jack FM brand was a known-known. It could have been modified to be more rock oriented (as are many Adult Hits formats) without changing the brand. At least from the view of Persons 12+, WBUF didn't seem to make much headway.

Then again... it's Persons 12+. We're not seeing dayparts or demographics. So it kinda feels like an elephant... maybe a hippopotamus... but it could be a cow.

 

[TheBigA]

The April Persons 12+ reveals no wobble or loss after the 97 Rock morning show "toast" debacle.
Could be listeners stayed with 97 just to find out what would happen next.
Could be P1 listeners didn't think the toast bit was out of line.

You kind of miss the point. Did no one care that Lederman got fired? Was no one tuning in for Lederman every day?

That sort of diminishes the value of live & local talent, doesn't it?

 

[davideduardo]

It's true that WYRK and WBLK have great ratings. That doesn't explain the train wreck on 92.9. Usually a format is changed to try to do better. Maybe 92.9 is written off as a business loss...

All expenses that a business occurs are a "loss". Expenses go against revenue to determine what is left over, called "profit". Only the profits are taxed.

So if a station donates an old transmitter that is fully depreciated to a non-commercial station, there is no "write off" as the gear is on the books at zero value. On the other hand, if a station donates gear that is not fully depreciated to the non-com, the current book value is a deductible expense and goes against profits.

If a station does not make money on a particular division, it simply reduces the profit of the whole company.

 

[davideduardo]

Then again... it's Persons 12+. We're not seeing dayparts or demographics. So it kinda feels like an elephant... maybe a hippopotamus... but it could be a cow.

... or a turkey.

 

[SirRoxalot]

You kind of miss the point. Did no one care that Lederman got fired? Was no one tuning in for Lederman every day?

That sort of diminishes the value of live & local talent, doesn't it?

Hey, c'mon, they've got Jickster holding down the fort. And three dayparts of live and local talent following the morning show.

 

[tbolt909]

You're looking this strictly as a Buffalo thing. That's not how they view it. The shows on WBUF are mostly national shows, and TS is selling them that way. They push people to their digital sites. The growth is in digital, not on air.

It's going to take time for the personalities to develop an audience. This was a station that had no hosts at all for 15 years. Now all of a sudden, there are people talking. That's a new format, regardless of the music.

Another time you down played the WBUF change as "a minor shift" in music, not a format change. Which is it? Sure, JACK played a lot of this same stuff. It's still a re-branding with on air talent.

You talk about "Digital Growth". Doesn't that require delivering content that people want? What metrics determine growth? So far, the new WBUF has been listener repellent...

 

[TheBigA]

Another time you down played the WBUF change as "a minor shift" in music, not a format change. Which is it?

It's a minor shift in music and a major shift in hosting. But the hosting was the main motivation for the change. The intent was to clear the company-owned national shows, rather than pay for Jack.

You talk about "Digital Growth". Doesn't that require delivering content that people want? What metrics determine growth? So far, the new WBUF has been listener repellent...

Their format-related web sites are among the most visited music sites in the country. For example their Taste of Country site is #1 among all country music sites, beating CMT.

 

[MarkW]

The intent was to clear the company-owned national shows, rather than pay for Jack.

It's a sad (but true) commentary on the state of corporate FM radio.

This station is not built to win. It's built to be an also-ran and nothing more. Even so, the recent ratings are pitiful. I guess Buffalo is not embracing the morning show piped in from Market #68.