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Alt Buffalo Flips To Country 107.7/104.7 The Wolf
- Thread starter bobgoodbob
- Start date
Speaking of streaming, it can go a long ways toward filling in the signal gaps. With the proliferation of smart speakers indoors and apps on phones the shaky signal won't be as much of an issue as the programming. "If you build it, they will come." If Enter- er, Audacy marshals the resources required to make it a player, including some of the displaced local talent (I'm thinking former WYRK PD Wendy Lynn here), it could be a player. It could poach some numbers from WYRK. It could also find some listeners who left WYRK for other music sources because they liked country, but not WYRK's version of country. If it differentiates itself enough from WBEE it may not impact it much because listeners is the Rochester metro will see it as a "Buffalo station" and they look down their noses at most Buffalo media.
BTW, I'm still not convinced it's the best use for the frequency, but it could work. IMO Audacy should make it a WGR-55 simulcast to fill in their horrid nighttime signal in the metro and beyond. If I were the Bills & Sabres I'd insist on it. That, however, is a discussion for another day and another thread.
BTW, I'm still not convinced it's the best use for the frequency, but it could work. IMO Audacy should make it a WGR-55 simulcast to fill in their horrid nighttime signal in the metro and beyond. If I were the Bills & Sabres I'd insist on it. That, however, is a discussion for another day and another thread.
Hmmm…sports on 107.7…now there’s an idea! 😂
seriously, folks… Audacy is not “Buddy-Shula-ing” this station.
(And before you think I’m dissing Buddy, that’s actually a compliment… He’s done an outstanding job with bringing established local talent back to WECK and become successful doing that)
it will be programmed by another Wolf station’s PD, with talent from other Wolf stations in the company.
seriously, folks… Audacy is not “Buddy-Shula-ing” this station.
(And before you think I’m dissing Buddy, that’s actually a compliment… He’s done an outstanding job with bringing established local talent back to WECK and become successful doing that)
it will be programmed by another Wolf station’s PD, with talent from other Wolf stations in the company.
Just an observation. My Twitter feed had a handful of negative reactions to the format change Thursday. For a station that had such a lousy share, I was surprised to hear from mainly younger people I follow who are missing Alt Buffalo. I know this is anecdotal. We hear all the time young people don’t listen to radio. But apparently my godson was an avid listener of Alt Buffalo and was disappointed to see it gone in sharing a text with his retired radioguy uncle. As a comparison, I don’t remember reading any listener reaction on Twitter to the format change from JACK FM to rock on WBUF.
I’m not a country music or alternative listener, so this format change matters little to me. I just don’t understand why Audacy didn’t bring back the Lake format. That worked on that signal, generating 2.5-3.5 share, if memory serves. I still listened to the Lake stream (HD2) occasionally up until last year when management got rid of it. Maybe 10 years later, and a changed radio landscape, the Lake would languish in the one share range as well.
But I agree with those who have questions about the station’s signal. I doubt any music format can clear a 3.0-3.5 share at 107.7. If I listened to country, and were doing so for 40 years at 106.5, I’m not sure why I would leave for another station that is playing basically the same music on a weaker signal.
I’m not a country music or alternative listener, so this format change matters little to me. I just don’t understand why Audacy didn’t bring back the Lake format. That worked on that signal, generating 2.5-3.5 share, if memory serves. I still listened to the Lake stream (HD2) occasionally up until last year when management got rid of it. Maybe 10 years later, and a changed radio landscape, the Lake would languish in the one share range as well.
But I agree with those who have questions about the station’s signal. I doubt any music format can clear a 3.0-3.5 share at 107.7. If I listened to country, and were doing so for 40 years at 106.5, I’m not sure why I would leave for another station that is playing basically the same music on a weaker signal.
It all comes down to the question of whether they'll be "playing basically the same music on a weaker signal." If they differentiate themselves by targeting a segment of the country audience they have a chance to do well. Country is no longer a monolithic format. Like rock, there are multiple eras and multiple musical styles to choose from. They can carve out a niche if it's properly programmed. That niche is likely to get an audience that's more attractive to advertisers than the ancient hippie Lake format.
It's been discussed here many times. AAA trends very old, and they already have that demo covered with WBEN. The closest station they have to that format is KSWD The Sound in Seattle. It too plays soft rock from the 70s and 80s, and also gets pretty good ratings. That market also has two contemporary country stations (one owned by Audacy) that each get very similar numbers, but with better demos.
I compared the playlists of WYRK with WBEE in Rochester, and they are very similar. They each play their heavies about 45 times a week, their currents mirror the chart fairly closely. On the other hand, comparing WYRK with WNSH, it's very different. WNSH plays their current heavies over 65 times a week. There are more recurrents among their most played. They stay with hits longer. So there are ways to program the music differently, and still be true to the contemporary country format. If WLKK follows WNSH, they could say they "play more new country."
Audacy stations run a Sunday morning 90s country show. They also run a national mid-day show with Katie Neal that features an artist guest. On the other hand, WYRK runs the Townsquare national Taste Of Country show 7 to midnight. So there are differences and similarities. Audacy has a Wolf station in Seattle that competes against Hubbard's Bull. They each play similar music in different combinations, each have an amount of national programming, and they each get very similar numbers.
Since 107.7 got the 104.7 translator, signal issues "where it counts" are not an issue. The signal(s) cover the Buffalo suburbs and rural area very well--just the exact demographics you would want for a country format. I think they will do well. Obviuosly, they are not knocking out WYRK, but if they do a little damage, and pull a 2.5, they did their job for the cluster, and the sales guys will love it.
The Lake was more attractive to college educated NPR listeners. Call them Old Hippies if you want, but what is 97 Rock.? Old Blue Collar white dudes. The Wolf/Coyote/Rodent Country format will not attract a niche or any passionate listeners. Sales people always blame the programming when it is actually "sales problem". When The Wolf gets a 1 share, tell us how attractive it will be...
Conversely, what happens if it gets a 2 or 3 share?
In this case, WYRK wins ↑ Bingo!
To reference previous posts, a good point is made by Mark1981, Post #64 "If I listened to country, and were doing so for 40 years at 106.5, I’m not sure why I would leave for another station that is playing basically the same music on a weaker signal." Bingo!
Relative to Post #67, "Since 107.7 got the 104.7 translator, signal issues "where it counts" are not an issue..." Concur, it's one of the better translators in Buffalo, but from what I've read and personally witnessed, when the translator signal begins to fade or picket fence, listeners don't usually bother finding the same song or program on another co-owned translator, they go to a full power station that provides something they like that comes in clear and strong.
What happens when WYRK goes into a commercial break? Do you sit through 8 minutes or more of commercials, or push a button to hear more music? In markets where there are two country stations playing basically the same music, we see a chunk of listeners choose the latter. So the new station may not hurt 12+ numbers, but it could hurt TSL.
Invalid comparison to Buffalo.
Both Seattle stations are full-market signals with no translators. Not the case in Buffalo.
Seattle has had multiple FM Country stations for decades. After WNUC went off the air Buffalo had only 1 FM station.
Seattle is a transitory market meaning people aren't locked into their listening habits.. Buffalo isn't that way and people tend to stick with what they know. WYRK has been country for 40 years.
If a station loses TSL, they lose share.
Ratings measure two things: the station (cume) and the amount of time (TSL). All other measures are derived from those two.
In this case cume might stay very similar, but share, AQH persons and rating would go down.
OK, how about Boston? You have a full market heritage WKLB that was challenged by the weaker WBWL. The Bull carries mostly iHeart syndicated shows, and it still manages to get a 2 share in a very competitive non-country market. I think if Audacy can get a 2 or 2.5 share with this signal, they'll do well. Certainly better than they're doing now.
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Excellent point
Lots of "ifs" in this. If The Wolf gets a 2 share and WYRK gets a 7 share, it's still no contest. No ad agency will be interested in The Wolf unless it can prove its delivering ratings in the desired demos. Even a 2 share won't guarantee any significant revenue. WYRK will be the better value and can cut their rates.
Audacy is fooling themselves with this format choice. There's no demand for a 2nd Country station in Buffalo. They have chosen to learn another painful lesson in futility...
More than what they're getting now. No matter what they do, you won't like it.
They are not doing this to satisfy demand. They are doing it to use a smaller signal to fragment another station that garners a lot of market billing.
I've launched a number of stations for which there was no demand, and for which reason no other station had done what I decided to do. In some cases, until the first book came out, other broadcasters made fun of me, my format and my station.
This copy-cat cookie cutter format is worse then the WBEN simulcast idea. I remember a lot of the arm-chair quarterback geniuses on a particular forum said how it made sense to take a station with such high ratings and simulcast on the WLKK signal in order to boost numbers from what were modest ratings on The Lake. Couldn't even produce a 1.0 share after a year.
I don't care what the opinion is from any so-called radio expert, The Lake was and will forever be the most successful format that the signal has ever had. Unique and for awhile prosperous. 10 years later we're still talking about the station in this forum.
I don't care what the opinion is from any so-called radio expert, The Lake was and will forever be the most successful format that the signal has ever had. Unique and for awhile prosperous. 10 years later we're still talking about the station in this forum.
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