I'm guessing Chille, a successful on-air guy and programmer, knows more about following and executing formatics than half the posters on this board.
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"Big WECK"?
- Thread starter DN14224
- Start date
Great Lakes Media LLC is working with Radio One on this rebranding and overhaul of the station. It should be very interesting to see if they can create enough buzz. It sounds like they have fine tuned other elements around the music in the critical dayparts.
At one time, hosting afternoon drive 5 days a week would have been considered "Full Time". If Chille can voice track from home, he can crank out a whole week of shows in under 3 hours. No need commuting 5 days a week for a part time gig...That's parsing a press release. For most people "retired" means leaving your line of work. Although in that press release Chille was supposed to be doing TSM's PA show on a part-time basis.
Now comes confirmation he's "semi-retired" and now at WECK, also on a part-time basis.
I guess here in Buffalo it's OK to be employed by two different radio companies (notice I didn't say "competing").
Semi-Retired Chille Joins ‘The Big WECK’
• Last Friday Buffalo radio icon Joe Chille announced his departure as full-time Brand Manager and morning host on Townsquare AC WMSX (96.1 The Breeze)/Buffalo after many years with the station and its predecessors to enjoy semi-retirement. Monday it was announced that Chille has agreed to keep...ramp247.com
Why the need for an "overhaul" and yet another re-branding? Oldies are Oldies are Oldies. WECK has quite respectable ratings, but realistically it's peaked. That's not criticism. It serves a niche well. The constant revolving door of on air personnel may aggravate their audience. Old folks get "cranky" as David said when change happens...
Joe Chille ain't just some "old guy." He's was very successful for a long time hosting mornings at WJYE - a station that did well playing more than a few of the "BigWeck" hits. He fits the format and has as much or more name recognition than anybody else on their airstaff.
It's just possible that Joe's old enough to get off the hamster wheel and do what he wants to do. There's also the possibility that there's another "transformation" coming for WMSX, or than he just isn't enthused about the format. Joe's old enough to qualify for Medicare, full Social Security, and start tapping the proceeds of his 401K without penalty. In this case he can make pocket money for doing something he likes on a station playing music he likes. If he was pushed, he wouldn't get the "retirement" announcement from TSM and they'd already have a replacement waiting. Right now, they seem to be scrambling and their LinkedIn ad has a laundry-list of requirements that include covering 6 AM - Noon. According to LinkedIn, they have one applicant. They're also trying to replace an OM/Multi-station PD. That doesn't sound like they were ready to jettison anybody.
It's just possible that Joe's old enough to get off the hamster wheel and do what he wants to do. There's also the possibility that there's another "transformation" coming for WMSX, or than he just isn't enthused about the format. Joe's old enough to qualify for Medicare, full Social Security, and start tapping the proceeds of his 401K without penalty. In this case he can make pocket money for doing something he likes on a station playing music he likes. If he was pushed, he wouldn't get the "retirement" announcement from TSM and they'd already have a replacement waiting. Right now, they seem to be scrambling and their LinkedIn ad has a laundry-list of requirements that include covering 6 AM - Noon. According to LinkedIn, they have one applicant. They're also trying to replace an OM/Multi-station PD. That doesn't sound like they were ready to jettison anybody.
Conditions "on the ground" (in this case, the 12th and 13th floor) at Townsquare Buffalo appear to be ... unsettled. [/understatement]
Look at the Breeze website airstaff page. I'm not authorized to post it here. It says "All of our DJs and content creators are local". It lists Delilah as one of them. Pretty sure she's not based in Buffalo...
More on the Great Lakes Media relationship here:
WECK Buffalo Hires Joe Chille For Afternoon Drive - Radio Ink
Legendary Buffalo radio personality Joe Chille has joined Oldies station WECK to host afternoon drive. And, the station is being totally rebranded. Here are the details.
radioink.com
a WWE Retirement
And now, some words from the man himself:
Actually, he still IS: per All Access, he's been upped to full-time production director....plus he's doing weekends.
After a week of spot listening, it's safe to conclude that WECK is in re-branding mode, concentrating on hits from 64 to 74, dropping any 80s songs that might have crept into rotation.
WECK has put up some decent numbers. It hasn't hit the 4 share Persons 12+ that its owner insisted would come, but it has surpassed formats on bigger signals, which gives the owner a right to crow. Puffery, as it has been defined and defended here, is part of the game.
But it's fair to ask, did WECK really need to re-brand? Was "Good Times, Great Oldies" so indisputably weak and threadbare that it needed to be replaced by "The Big Weck?" For years now, WECK has been the oldies station in the minds and ears of listeners. For decades, thanks in large measure to Oldies 104's successful run in the format, "Good Time and Great Oldies" clearly and succinctly defined the format as an established and known brand.
Understandably, playing 80s hits didn't lend itself to the true product concept of WECK and oldies. Listeners in a specific older demo don't think of 80s music as oldies. But it seems WECK could have simply and effectively dropped the 80s songs fron its library and continued on its already well-defined mission as an Oldies format. Was there an absolute need to change the "label on the box?" The sometimes precarious nature of re-branding within the product line recalls "New Coke," and more recently as it relates to radio, WBEB-FM Philadelphia when it transitioned to the "More FM" label.
WECK has put up some decent numbers. It hasn't hit the 4 share Persons 12+ that its owner insisted would come, but it has surpassed formats on bigger signals, which gives the owner a right to crow. Puffery, as it has been defined and defended here, is part of the game.
But it's fair to ask, did WECK really need to re-brand? Was "Good Times, Great Oldies" so indisputably weak and threadbare that it needed to be replaced by "The Big Weck?" For years now, WECK has been the oldies station in the minds and ears of listeners. For decades, thanks in large measure to Oldies 104's successful run in the format, "Good Time and Great Oldies" clearly and succinctly defined the format as an established and known brand.
Understandably, playing 80s hits didn't lend itself to the true product concept of WECK and oldies. Listeners in a specific older demo don't think of 80s music as oldies. But it seems WECK could have simply and effectively dropped the 80s songs fron its library and continued on its already well-defined mission as an Oldies format. Was there an absolute need to change the "label on the box?" The sometimes precarious nature of re-branding within the product line recalls "New Coke," and more recently as it relates to radio, WBEB-FM Philadelphia when it transitioned to the "More FM" label.
Good question. Where did the rebranding come from? It came at the same time they announced the relationship with Great Lakes Media. So why might that happen? We all know that this station is Buddy's baby. He's involved in everything. Then he partners with Great Lakes. The question you should be asking is why did he bring in Great Lakes?
That’s exactly what I was thinking when I saw the news that Tom Langmeyer was consulting the station. But he is pretty much run the station as he sees fit, so why bring in a consultant unless you’re trying to go after bigger fish?
Maybe Buddy will stop by and explain that decision…
It hasn't been a well-kept secret that Tom Langmyer has been quietly advising Buddy for a few years now. It almost looks like they made it public and official in order to add another facet to the Great Lakes Media portfolio. Until now, Great Lakes has been strictly an acquisition company with no purchases in the two years+ that they've existed. Now Tom's making his considerable knowledge and experience available to broadcasters who need some help as a consultant as well.
I get the impression here that Buddy is very "hands on" it would seem that bringing in Tom Langmyer's group would mean that Buddy is trusting WECK to Tom's group and maybe taking a hands off approach for awhile, time will tell. Could WECK be the first station in the Great Lakes Media portfolio? One wonders.
No I think if he's smart, he will stay quiet and keep us guessing.
Maybe it's part of a bigger strategy that will take more than a couple of weeks to execute. Perhaps having an extra set of eyes looking in from outside will keep the station focused on its target audience and help resist the temptation to try to expand the age group "just a little."
According to the Great Lakes website, their mission is to acquire Radio stations. The rebranding had to be their idea. Big Weck is an awkward choice.
Is WECK being sold to them or some joint venture? Paying the cost to be the boss comes with operating expenses and debt. Moe Greene lost his casino to Michael Corleone in the Godfather. They "bought him out"...
Glad you didn't bring up the line about cheer leaders. Anything is possible, but in the press release, Great Lakes stated that it serves at this time as an advisor and consultant to WECK in a programming capacity.
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