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Can B-96 be saved

My view is that radio is not at a point where you build it and they will come. It doesn't work that way anymore. B96 has adjusted the currents. They're playing their heavies less frequently than Kiss and it doesn't matter. They've freshened up the airstaff and it doesn't matter. Changing the music isn't going to change the perception, and changing the perception isn't necessarily a good thing. It gets a sellable cume and good demos. Just not big AQH. B has a lot of company in the basement: Q101, SHE, and Rock are all tied at the same spot.
 
My view is that radio is not at a point where you build it and they will come. It doesn't work that way anymore. B96 has adjusted the currents. They're playing their heavies less frequently than Kiss and it doesn't matter. They've freshened up the airstaff and it doesn't matter. Changing the music isn't going to change the perception, and changing the perception isn't necessarily a good thing. It gets a sellable cume and good demos. Just not big AQH. B has a lot of company in the basement: Q101, SHE, and Rock are all tied at the same spot.
The logical conclusion to this would seem to be that the present-day objective of research isn't to make things better, it's to keep things from getting worse. Oy.
 
The logical conclusion to this would seem to be that the present-day objective of research isn't to make things better, it's to keep things from getting worse. Oy.
For stations playing current music that isn't urban or country or Taylor Swift, that's pretty much the situation, as far as I can see it. As ol' Alan Jackson sang in "Gone Country,' the pop scene just ain't on a rally. Nor, for that matter, is the rock scene.
 
Understand the business sense isn't this simple, but I wished they could take B96, really gear it for the younger demos, with reduced commercials, maybe 6 minutes an hour. Plus let the jocks entertain, not just be a 'Spotify replacement.'

To see if the youth would come back to radio.

I know the internet has broken more than it's made better and today youth only want, what they want, when they want, and don't want to pay for it. But broadcasting has been broken since Wall Street bought up most of the stations and think radio is just like Mc Donald's, run it the same way, the cheapest way in every market.
 
My view is that radio is not at a point where you build it and they will come. It doesn't work that way anymore. B96 has adjusted the currents. They're playing their heavies less frequently than Kiss and it doesn't matter. They've freshened up the airstaff and it doesn't matter. Changing the music isn't going to change the perception, and changing the perception isn't necessarily a good thing. It gets a sellable cume and good demos. Just not big AQH. B has a lot of company in the basement: Q101, SHE, and Rock are all tied at the same spot.
WCHI used to be below the basement so at least being in the basement is an improvement for them.
 
So you want them to cut revenue in half or more, but also hire more talented staff?
There is a lack of understanding that rates are set by the market, not the station. If you have half the ratings in a sales demo, your rate will half the rate of the #1 station. Advertisers can't be convinced of the value of being on a station with fewer spots.

Apparently the lesson learned from the "guarantee" one group offered on one format... no ratings improvement and no ability to raise rates.
 
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There is a lack of understanding that rates are set by the market, not the station. If you have half the ratings in a sales demo, your rate will half the rate of the #1 station. Advertisers can't be convinced of the value of being on a station with fewer spots.

Apparently the lesson learned from the "guarantee" one group offered on one format... no ratings improvement and no ability to raise rates.
Yeah, "guarantees" are worthless. As I found out when I warily took a job at a station where the new owners promised they would give the "new" oldies format 18 months, promised no format changes and would strive mightily to make it work. Six months later, gave the station away to a religious broadcaster so they could claim a tax write-off, fired everyone and ran off so no DJ would track them down and beat the hell out of them.
 
Does B96 do well in a "money demo"? If the billings are good it might not need to be "saved". I don't have access to anything except 6+ which really is not sellable.
 
Does anyone here think B-96 can be saved from the ratings basement? If so, what needs to be done to reverse the downward trend?
Yes, of course. Will it be done though is the real question. Doubt that the current brain trust has the vision, ability, or skill set to see beyond the heaping steaming pile they have created for themselves. B-96 was and is CHI Hit Music for many older folks growing up in the area. How does that translate in today's market with fractured listeners who are streaming Spotify, etc.... Time will tell but if you want my keen insights and analysis that comes at a price. "Consultant" is the term. Until then, stream your favorites and forget about it.
 
Does B96 do well in a "money demo"? If the billings are good it might not need to be "saved". I don't have access to anything except 6+ which really is not sellable.
It's a top 10 biller, even during the pandemic. Remember, many stations that look "mediocre" alone are part of clusters and the set of stations, combined, is unbeatable in sales.

To not violate any protected data, going back to the 2000-2021 years Audacy had 28% of market revenue, iHeart followed with 21% and Hubbard had 14%.

So the cluster Audacy has is a definite winner and B96 fills in a needed demographic "zone".
 
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