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The Breeze Blows Out of Town

DavidEduardo said:
The issue is with 18-24. In 25 and over, the loss of listeners is minimal and the reduction in listener TSL is much smaller.

18-24 is not a sales demo. WUSL ranks higher in 25-34 than in 18-24. WIOQ similarly does very well in 25-34. WRFF is a 25-49 station; it is 18th in 18-24 which is not its target.


WIOQ's core is 25-44 females. That is what it likely sells by, too.

The issue with WRFF is not ratings, it is sales. It has had for years a power ration of less than 0.5. Their problem is that advertisers don't buy it.
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So this is the confusing part….
You’ve said for over a decade that WRFF has terrible billing, yet iHeart has changed format on 106.1 three times in the last decade while RFF has only rebranded and changed morning staff in the last decade.

Why is this? Thanks in advance.
 
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chrocket87 said:
So this is the confusing part….
You’ve said for over a decade that WRFF has terrible billing, yet iHeart has changed format on 106.1 three times in the last decade while RFF has only rebranded and changed morning staff in the last decade.

Why is this? Thanks in advance.
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It's apparently stable enough and low enough cost when you compare with the high cost of a format change.

Example: if three big companies each have four or five FMs, then some of them are going to be outside the top 10 in billings and ratings because you can't have 12, 13, 14 or 15 "Top 10" stations.
 
DavidEduardo said:
It's apparently stable enough and low enough cost when you compare with the high cost of a format change.

Example: if three big companies each have four or five FMs, then some of them are going to be outside the top 10 in billings and ratings because you can't have 12, 13, 14 or 15 "Top 10" stations.
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That’s pretty surprising that the costs of the various formats on 106.1 have been high enough that it always gets the axe rather than 104.5, considering it bills quite a bit more.

Thanks for the insight.
 
While I still think that Country is the most likely format for 106.1, I still think a WKTU-like flanker could work. Here's why:
1. It would compliment Q102 and, to an extent, Alt 104.5.
2. It would allow iHeart to build a "wall" of young listeners, with both male and female demos covered between Power, Q, Alt, and 106.1.
3. It would be better to compete against the weaker WTDY than against the stronger WXTU.
4. The station would be more Rhythmic than WTDY.
5. There are plenty of markets in which iHeart does not have a Country outlet, including NYC, Miami, Orlando, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
 
ScottBurns said:
While I still think that Country is the most likely format for 106.1, I still think a WKTU-like flanker could work. Here's why:
1. It would compliment Q102 and, to an extent, Alt 104.5.
2. It would allow iHeart to build a "wall" of young listeners, with both male and female demos covered between Power, Q, Alt, and 106.1.
3. It would be better to compete against the weaker WTDY than against the stronger WXTU.
4. The station would be more Rhythmic than WTDY.
5. There are plenty of markets in which iHeart does not have a Country outlet, including NYC, Miami, Orlando, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
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That’s what I think too. Like how WDAS and WUSL go well together. WIOQ and WISX could be packaged together
 
Agree that the format wheel likely lands on an iHeart country affiliate, but could be interesting to see them pipe in a classic rock feed or maybe a "Rock Nation" station, which is a bit more active rock then WMMR to better compliment 104.5.
 
andygradel said:
Agree that the format wheel likely lands on an iHeart country affiliate, but could be interesting to see them pipe in a classic rock feed or maybe a "Rock Nation" station, which is a bit more active rock then WMMR to better compliment 104.5.
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Again ... where's the money in a station that complements an underachiever like WRFF, or, as CassChopper suggested, competes with a weak station like WTDY? WXTU is doing well in a format that's thriving right now, and iHeart has a popular national country show that it wants to put in more major markets to appeal more to national advertisers. It's not going to set up shop with a country format in hardwired-for-rhythmic NYC, Miami, Orlando and LA, but country is working in greater Philadelphia. Unless there's a national rhythmic AC or active rock show iHeart wants to push -- and I'm not aware of any -- country is odds-on favorite to land on 106.1, IMO.
 
Indeed, it seems like we may be treading where we've already trod. Is trod a word? Have we trod? Have we trodden? 🙈

FWIW, IMHO, LOL, OMG, I am still fully expecting a Country station to debut on 106.1. And probably not a very interesting one, TBH.
 
Marcos_C said:
In October 2021, Audacy-owned WNSH in the NYC/NJ area allowed its staff members to say goodbye when it ended its country format, and it was not a heritage station.
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That station was owned by Audacy, this station is iHeart. Different companies, different policies. That was a strong personality-oriented station, and this was not.
 
DavidEduardo - what you say regarding #1 thru #5 rankers potentially having nearly identical ratings makes sense, but I strongly suspect that isn't the case in Philly. WMMR probably has a big lead over everyone else in 18 to 34.
 
ScottBurns said:
While I still think that Country is the most likely format for 106.1, I still think a WKTU-like flanker could work. Here's why:
3. It would be better to compete against the weaker WTDY than against the stronger WXTU.
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(Note, for the sake of discussion, I'm making up billing numbers. These aren't accurate at all, and are just for example)

Why would iHeart go after a station that is only billing $10 Million and try to take a piece of that, instead of going after a station billing $40 million and take a piece of the larger pie?

Going after WXTU potentially makes more financial sense. Sure attacking WTDY could help WIOQ in the end if WTDY goes away, but I personally think there's more to be made by going after a bigger fish.
 
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