WOGL Rebrands at Big 98.1

[TheBigA]

Back to WOGL, I do wonder what will happen if the Big 98.1 rebrand doesn’t work?

Do, or do not. There is no try.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Do, or do not. There is no try.

Also: Either you do “yes”, or do “no”. You do “guess so”, [squish] just like grape.

 

[ixnay]

Interesting. I knew Seacrest and Delilah could be customized, but not really the “national” formats (well, as they once were). I do know that a lot of these sub-100 market iHeart clusters have next to no one in them outside of sales and an OM - I wonder if they are putting any effort in to the music, or are just running whatever iHeart provides? I know WBBQ in Augusta, GA always seemed to run the exact same songs (song for song) at the same time as WYKZ 98.7 in Savannah.

Back to WOGL, I do wonder what will happen if the Big 98.1 rebrand doesn’t work? There were obvious issues under the hood. They obviously had issues in the useless 6+ but they ran a lot deeper. If they can’t get things up 25-54, I wonder how much effort they’ll put in to the station before considering the once unthinkable (although IMO unlikely) format flip?

"6+"? Is that lingo only radio biz geeks can relate to? And in what way is it useless?

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

"6+"? Is that lingo only radio biz geeks can relate to? And in what way is it useless?

No one buys advertising based on those worthless numbers.

 

[vw86]

I understand there is no "feed" for iHeart Premium Choice like a Westwood One satellite feed. But the fact that multiple stations air identical playlists that match up with the national feed such as Big Classic Hits, Soft Rock, and Variety Rock Hits must mean some stations are opting to just take the matching logs without any localization.

 

[TheBigA]

some stations are opting to just take the matching logs without any localization.

Songs are songs. When they run the Christmas format, they all play the same Christmas songs. So what?

The only requirement for localization is if the station plays currents and wants to be a chart reporter.

 

[K.M. Richards]

"6+"? Is that lingo only radio biz geeks can relate to? And in what way is it useless?

"6+" is how Nielsen identifies the total ratings, regardless of demographics. As Abraham said (beating David to it this time) they are useless because advertising is bought based on the performance of stations in the demographic targeted by the ad buy, e.g., Women 25-49 or Total 18-34. Even as a general indicator of a station's relative performance overall in a market, those numbers are very misleading because the weighting of the demographics is missing and any particular station could be significantly better or worse than the 6+ numbers would lead one to believe.

As an example, Talk-formatted stations tend to be top-heavy with older demos, including those 55 and over (which are never targeted for ad buys). CHRs will have some older demos -- the so-called "soccer moms", for example -- but tend to be largely getting their listening from the younger end of 18-34. You can't see that with the 6+ numbers ... and that's one reason why Nielsen makes them public and free of charge, with no restrictions. Stations and ad agencies pay for the relevant numbers and are contractually prohibited from posting them.

 

[davideduardo]

As an example, Talk-formatted stations tend to be top-heavy with older demos, including those 55 and over (which are never targeted for ad buys). CHRs will have some older demos -- the so-called "soccer moms", for example -- but tend to be largely getting their listening from the younger end of 18-34. You can't see that with the 6+ numbers ... and that's one reason why Nielsen makes them public and free of charge, with no restrictions. Stations and ad agencies pay for the relevant numbers and are contractually prohibited from posting them.

What Nielsen accomplishes with the free 6+ (or 12+ in diary markets) is to keep their name familiar and recognizable. This is thought to be a significant help when they are trying to recruit participants in the radio and TV ratings.

Americans love lists. Heck, a headline of "America's Top 10 Toilet Bowl Cleaners" will get more reads than "The Best Toilet Cleaners". It's the same thing as the fascination with the rankings of sports teams, song downloads and even political polls.

Just as team standings help maintain interest in sports, Nielsen gets better acceptance rates for participation among people who know what "Nielsen" is. The most expensive part of the ratings process is recruiting, so anything they can do to enhance acceptance rates is beneficial... even if the radio ratings they give out for free have not real commercial value.

 

[jt99]

Interesting. I knew Seacrest and Delilah could be customized, but not really the “national” formats (well, as they once were). I do know that a lot of these sub-100 market iHeart clusters have next to no one in them outside of sales and an OM - I wonder if they are putting any effort in to the music, or are just running whatever iHeart provides? I know WBBQ in Augusta, GA always seemed to run the exact same songs (song for song) at the same time as WYKZ 98.7 in Savannah.

Back to WOGL, I do wonder what will happen if the Big 98.1 rebrand doesn’t work? There were obvious issues under the hood. They obviously had issues in the useless 6+ but they ran a lot deeper. If they can’t get things up 25-54, I wonder how much effort they’ll put in to the station before considering the once unthinkable (although IMO unlikely) format flip?

While I can understand why Audacy wanted to change the sound and rotations of WOGL, I do feel like they could have done so without rebrand. They are up in April to a 5.6 and a tie for 4th in 6+, so it will be interesting to see if they can move into the top 5 in key demos. As for your earlier point about Audacy Classic Hits stations and 1970s music, my theory is that they don't want to play anything pre 1977-78 (when a 54 year old today would have been a 9 or 10 year old pre teen just getting into music) unless it's a song that tests well enough with 35-54 to be put in power.

EDIT: Correction, WOGL did not rebrand or adjust the music until the first day of the May book, so no April days as Big. Makes you wonder if Audacy jumped the gun with the changes?

 

[Miguelito]

It's at least somewhat interesting that WOGL had this uptick in listeners during April--just in time for those listeners to be treated to a "freshened" but pretty darn repetitive library. I sure hope the love Phil Collins, Michael Jackson, and Journey!

 

[jt99]

It's at least somewhat interesting that WOGL had this uptick in listeners during April--just in time for those listeners to be treated to a "freshened" but pretty darn repetitive library.

What I find most interesting about the changes to the music at WOGL is that it is now a rock leaning Classic Hits station, but one with 5 to 6 hour rotations on its powers. The other Classic Hits stations with such tight rotations (also Audacy owned) are not rock leaning, so I wonder how well a rock leaning station could do with such tight rotations, since none of the other rock leaning Classic Hits stations have these rotations.

 

[TheBigA]

They are up in April to a 5.6 and a tie for 4th in 6+, so it will be interesting to see if they can move into the top 5 in key demos.

They have not been Top 5 in key demos in a long time. That's why I keep saying this rebrand is being done to shift the audience. Meanwhile WMGK is playing older music, but scoring much higher in key demos. So the problem isn't the music, but the PERCEPTION of the station as being older, appealing to older audiences, and that perception is hurting them in the demos.

What I find most interesting about the changes to the music at WOGL is that it is now a rock leaning Classic Hits station,

Once again, because WMGK is Top 5 with 18-34 and 18-49, and they play older songs than WOGL. So maybe if WOGL also plays those songs mixed with some classic hits, that will bring down the age numbers.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

EDIT: Correction, WOGL did not rebrand or adjust the music until the first day of the May book, so no April days as Big. Makes you wonder if Audacy jumped the gun with the changes?

Not really, since it was a demo problem

 

[TheBigA]

EDIT: Correction, WOGL did not rebrand or adjust the music until the first day of the May book, so no April days as Big. Makes you wonder if Audacy jumped the gun with the changes?

WOGL has been under-delivering in 25-54 for a few years. At least compared to KRTH or WCBS.

In my view, they may have waited too long.

 

[Radio Wreck]

WOGL has been under-delivering in 25-54 for a few years. At least compared to KRTH or WCBS.

In my view, they may have waited too long.

That’s because 25 year olds think of WOGL as their grandparents station and 54 year olds still think it’s Oldies 98 and Dion & The Belmonts are coming up after the break with “Runaround Sue.”

They still expect the Pink Cadillac to come rolling down the street at any given moment.

 

[101tm]

IMO WOGL’s music was not skewing too old as far as the age of the songs. Maybe the age of the audience, but they weren’t really much older leaning than CBS-FM, KLUV or WOMC. KRTH leans newer than most all Audacy classic hits stations.

 

[davideduardo]

It's at least somewhat interesting that WOGL had this uptick in listeners during April...

That was not an "uptick". It was well within the margin of error of the PPM system and also within the station's historical range.

 

[CTListener]

That’s because 25 year olds think of WOGL as their grandparents station and 54 year olds still think it’s Oldies 98 and Dion & The Belmonts are coming up after the break with “Runaround Sue.”

They still expect the Pink Cadillac to come rolling down the street at any given moment.

Or they wonder why they're not hearing the Stylistics and the Spinners anymore, forgetting that Philadelphia hasn't been a driving force in R&B or any other urban music for over 40 years.

 

[ixnay]

Or they wonder why they're not hearing the Stylistics and the Spinners anymore, forgetting that Philadelphia hasn't been a driving force in R&B or any other urban music for over 40 years.

Yes, Philly soul's last hurrah may have been the Spinners' versions of "Working My Way Back to You" and "Cupid" (both part of medleys). Or more tragically, the era may have ended with Teddy Pendergrass's paralyzing car accident 2 years later. But that's another thread.

 

[Larry]

And because marketing/imaging is a priority Audacy today updated their Facebook page (and presumably other social media) from WOGL FM to BIG 98.1.