Buffalo May 2024 Buffalo Ratings 12+

[Rusty Bridges]

Whatever local direct revenue WBEN is getting amounts to a spit in the ocean for Audacy. They already sold STAR which was a death blow to the Buffalo cluster. They only have one full signal FM there. If WBEN is doing as great as you say, they would have never discontinued the FM simulcast on 107.7...

Countless news, new-talk, and sports stations made the move to simulcast on FM in the era in which WBEN did the same. It didn't work for a number of reasons, in all likelihood because the legacy (WBEN) listeners felt no need to listen on FM. Countless stations discovered that moving an AM talk format to FM doesn't automatically attract younger demos to the same product. What they got was dilution. There was no real need or desire for WBEN to be on FM. The product on AM suited listeners just fine. It's not like WBEN has an impaired signal. It's arguably the best all-around AM in the market.

Entercom blew up the Lake, which had a revenue stream of its own, however large or small, and then David Field became enthralled with the Alt format, which also failed to take hold on 107.7. By that time, the Lake return-option had expired. The format now on the 107.7 frequency is probably the most efficient use of the limited capabilities of the allocation.

It's tough to bring back a format, 97 Rock not withstanding.. That's not to say it can't be done. It can ... but it takes a massive effort, research, focus, promotion and money. And money right now is "too tight to mention" (referencing Simply Red.) It's no longer a matter of "If you build it they will come." The research has to show that there's a pronounced need or desire for the product on the shelf, and the shelf space better be visible, attractive and well-stocked.

 

[tbolt909]

The whole ill conceived idea of putting WBEN on the FM signal was to grow ratings and revenue. No attempt was made to change the programming that might make it more appealing to younger demos. It was total incompetence and ended in predictable failure...

 

[TheBigA]

Beyond that, there's considerable history to the 1120 frequency, going back to when it was Top 40 in the 50s as WWOL AM & FM. Imagine that --- an AM daytimer as a Top 40 leader.

Life must have been so much easier when AM radio had no competition, and it was the only way people had to hear popular music.

 

[tbolt909]

Life must have been so much easier when AM radio had no competition, and it was the only way people had to hear popular music.

And listeners could call the station using rotary dial telephones! Before TV came along, AM Radio stations aired drama and mystery programming. Some people hated the fact that Rock & Roll invaded the AM dial.

Whatever "Legacy or Cache" some AM call letters once had in Buffalo is irrelevant today. It's good information for a Radio museum, but that's about it...

 

[Rusty Bridges]

Life must have been so much easier when AM radio had no competition, and it was the only way people had to hear popular music.

As noted in the last word of that post, "History" in both the literal a figurative sense.

Whatever "Legacy or Cache" some AM call letters once had in Buffalo is irrelevant today. It's good information for a Radio museum, but that's about it...

And that's how it was presented, as a historical reference.

 

[CCBInMI]

You're right regarding format-problems, BA. Thing is, posters here often primarily look at the top and bottom of the numbers and offer their comments, critiques and observations about those issues. That's why WWKB, WEBR, WBUF and WLKK get the attention they do.

Beyond that, there's considerable history to the 1120 frequency, going back to when it was Top 40 in the 50s as WWOL AM & FM. Imagine that --- an AM daytimer as a Top 40 leader. When Rock n Roll was young and fertile. WWOL AM & FM --- when FM was nowhere in the minds of most listeners. The rookies got their start working nights and all nights on the FM.

Although a number of posters may not have been around in those days, many of the locals at least are aware of the history. A number of talented pros rose from the 1120 and 104.1 frequencies and Top 40 format, namely Dick Purtan (WJR), Dick Summer (WBZ) and a host of Buffalo legacies. Joey Reynolds, I'm told, interned and worked there as a weekender before moving up the ranks in other markets and then coming back to Buffalo. So the 1120 frequency has some cache. It (and its FM similcast sister) also was the Country station for many years in the mid-to-late 60s and 70s. History.

Dick Purtan never worked at WJR. He did, however, do mornings at CKLW from 1978-83.
Tom Shannon and Tom Clay are two other Buffalonians who worked at CK (Clay's time was in 1963-64, a few years prior to the Drake/Big 8 era).