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Big 98.1
- Thread starter AM/FMRAINMAN
- Start date
The recently played is not representative of the actual playlist, which you can't see without a mediabase subscription.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Since WOGL is one of the stations I monitor in Mediabase, I pulled my last full week of spin counts and came up with this, which I think answers the question without giving away anything proprietary:
11% of their spins for that average week were 1970s titles. Oldest was from 1971.
52% were from the 1980s.
26% were 1990s.
11% were from 2000 or newer (newest title was from 2014).
So the observation was correct, even though it was based on the recently played list at the website. Therefore, it was representative of the entire playlist.
Arguments about the validity of 6+ numbers aside, Big 98.1's changes dropped them below not only BEN-FM, but also XPN, and Alt 104.5. Obviously, not good. There's an argument to be made that they gave the changes enough time to shed existing listeners, but not enough time to gain new listeners. The other side of that argument might not be about timing at all, though; it might be, "What new listeners?"
This is much less of an issue with younger listeners, but since we're talking about Classic Hits here: Song placement might be something of an issue. "Mr. Brightside"/The Killers into "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"/Starship? And shortly later, "Pumped Up Kicks"/Foster the People into "(I've Had) The Time of My Life"/Medley & Warnes into "Unbelievable"/EMF. Just looking at it is giving me whiplash.
I like The Killers and Foster the People, but I don't want to hear them on an "Oldies" station. Leave those songs to Alt 104.5 and Ben FM.
I don't know if KYW on FM is adding enough revenue to justify putting it on a stronger signal. I have no way of knowing how well they're selling WTDY as a flanker for B101.1, but I suppose there's a non-zero chance that they end up swapping 96.5 and 103.9.
If Big 98.1 is going to start having significant billing issues, that's a long way off, so I can't imagine anyone is even thinking about putting KYW there. I'm sure significant effort is going to be put into working on the music library. With the state of terrestrial radio and the clusters that exist in this market, there just might not be much left to change!
Here's what I said about that in May: The number of older listeners exceeded the number of potential new listeners. The station could be a Top 5 station if it would play more 70s oldies. But that's not what they want. The number of younger listeners in almost any format will never be enough to replace the over 55s they will lose. We see that in CHR.
Thanks for doing that work. I simply didn't have the time.
My real issue though was the idea that adding more 80s will solve the problem at WOGL. As you know, the issue isn't about the decade, but the specific songs. Listeners don't care what year a song was released. It's if they like the song. The problem at WOGL is finding songs that will help them demographically. It doesn't matter which decade those songs come from. What matters is the results the songs create.
My view is that the reason WMGK is doing so well with 18-49 is because of the morning show, not just the music.
I suppose it comes down to math: Will advertisers pay more for fewer younger listeners than they will for more 55+ listeners? Quite a conundrum that none of saw coming. (That last sentence was sarcasm, y'all.)
In major markets like this one, nearly all business on bigger stations comes from agencies. Agencies don't even look at 6+ or 12+; they look at all the different targets they have agreed on specifically with their clients.
So "advertisers" will look at Nielsen data for their campaign's target audience. For example, if it is "higher income women 25-44" they will not even look at Persons 25-54, let alone 12+ or 6+. Once they pull up the eligible stations in their target, they will get rates from each and if some stations are "too expensive" they skip them and buy around; again, they don't look outside their target audience ratings.
Thanks. I certainly don't have your level of knowledge, but I was also knowingly over-simplifying.
I should have said, the math at hand is: "Is there more money to be made with fewer younger listeners than with more 55+ listeners?"
Last edited:
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
You're welcome, A. I still had the Excel file on my computer so it only took me five minutes to sort by station and year, then do a few calculations in empty cells to get the percentages by decade. I might not have taken the time either if I had already archived that file.
No argument from me there ... after all, I'm the one who uses the phrase "consensus favorites" the most around here.
But that surprises me, because Audacy's Classic Hits stations are known to do continuous active "call-out" (in quotes because it's not done by telephone anymore) research and WOGL should be able to figure out what songs resonate and which don't.
I strongly suspect they are not interpreting the research correctly.
I honestly feel like part of the reason 98.1 can't shed its "Oldies" image is because it hasn't done a good job of creating a current image for itself. Between its constant musical shifts and its no-frills presentation, 98.1 just feels like a station without a real purpose. WMGK, Ben, Classix, and B101 all seem to have a better sense of identity.
Maybe instead of trying so hard not to seem "old", they should embrace nostalgia in a way that works for their current audience. Find a way to tell them "we're YOUR oldies station now", without necessarily using the O-word on air. And just play what tests well regardless of age, rather than trying to force in newer songs or force out older ones before the audience is ready for it (which is what I get the sense that they were doing). The newer songs will gradually trickle in that way.
Maybe instead of trying so hard not to seem "old", they should embrace nostalgia in a way that works for their current audience. Find a way to tell them "we're YOUR oldies station now", without necessarily using the O-word on air. And just play what tests well regardless of age, rather than trying to force in newer songs or force out older ones before the audience is ready for it (which is what I get the sense that they were doing). The newer songs will gradually trickle in that way.
That would be great if their current audience paid for the station. However, in this case, advertisers pay, so the station has to do what the advertisers want. That means aiming younger. I agree that playing newer songs isn't going to do it. I think where they're at is they're budgeting for this audience, and cutting staff to fit the budget. This station is likely not as important to the cluster as KYW and B101.
Some things to consider:
Since WOGL became Big, they haven't done much external marketing to reinforce the adjusted image beyond their own air and a bit of exposure on the other stations in the cluster. Of course hardly any stations do ongoing external marketing anymore. But in this case, with 98.1 having a strong lingering association from the past as Oldies and WOGL, the efforts so far likely haven't shifted perceptions enough.
Second, WBEN as an adult hits station leans a lot toward the pop/traditional side, while still playing some 90s and early 2K. The very thin line between adult hits and classic hits today hardly exists in this case. Not privy to any perceptual research, but is Ben already in a place (in the target listeners' minds) that blocked making meaningful progress in how they wanted the target to see the Big brand? And was the brief lean into rhythmic throwbacks an effort to get past that block?
Third, IMO the entire Audacy music station cluster struggles for definition, other than B101. Part of the issue here is the product adjustments without much marketing for both WOGL and WTDY over the past 4-5 years or more (Audacy's bankruptcy did no favors here).
While B101 doesn't market like it used to, it's likely the investments Jerry Lee made years/decades ago continue to accrue in B's favor. They were established as a dominant brand through millions of marketing spend to became a habit for a lot of folks in the Delaware Valley. The B101 brand has been strong enough to weather the tweaks/budget cuts of the last few years. Nothing has come along on the radio (and certainly not marketed to cut through) to challenge that in the past decade.
Since WOGL became Big, they haven't done much external marketing to reinforce the adjusted image beyond their own air and a bit of exposure on the other stations in the cluster. Of course hardly any stations do ongoing external marketing anymore. But in this case, with 98.1 having a strong lingering association from the past as Oldies and WOGL, the efforts so far likely haven't shifted perceptions enough.
Second, WBEN as an adult hits station leans a lot toward the pop/traditional side, while still playing some 90s and early 2K. The very thin line between adult hits and classic hits today hardly exists in this case. Not privy to any perceptual research, but is Ben already in a place (in the target listeners' minds) that blocked making meaningful progress in how they wanted the target to see the Big brand? And was the brief lean into rhythmic throwbacks an effort to get past that block?
Third, IMO the entire Audacy music station cluster struggles for definition, other than B101. Part of the issue here is the product adjustments without much marketing for both WOGL and WTDY over the past 4-5 years or more (Audacy's bankruptcy did no favors here).
While B101 doesn't market like it used to, it's likely the investments Jerry Lee made years/decades ago continue to accrue in B's favor. They were established as a dominant brand through millions of marketing spend to became a habit for a lot of folks in the Delaware Valley. The B101 brand has been strong enough to weather the tweaks/budget cuts of the last few years. Nothing has come along on the radio (and certainly not marketed to cut through) to challenge that in the past decade.
Station budgets have been slashed. When you have to choose between rent and marketing, you pay the rent. The problem with marketing is it's promoting a station on a device that people are using less and less. That's at the core of the problem. More marketing for a station won't get people to listen on a device they either don't own or don't use.
The difference primarily is in presentation. Classic Hits typically has on air talent, adults hits doesn't. From what I've seen, BEN's music library has stayed pretty much the same, while WOGL shifts songs around a lot.
Part of that is music tastes are no longer easily defined either. People like songs, not genres. So the station that puts together a good mix of genres is likely to appeal more than a station that is more limited.