100.3..Sports on FM It just sounds like Music!

[wjf82]

Re: Old School Cincy - 100.3

Good idea. But call letters don't mean too much anymore. 96ROCK kept the WFTK call letters that SuperTalk 96.5 used.

 

[grey_dan]

The Fan had potential. But I agree that the execution was way off. Hardly any promotion, and no major league or even upper-tier college rights.

Certainly I applaud them for running as much live & local content as they did (& being the only all-sports station in town to go local in morning drive). And grabbing some major sports rights would have definitely increased their visibility. (True, they probably couldn't have grabbed Bengals or Reds with that signal alone. But I could have seen the teams agreeing to a simulcast--Bengals with 101.1, Reds possibly with 1230.) But once all the majors & upper-tier colleges renewed with Clear Channel, it was pretty clear the Fan was a dead format walking. You'd think Radio One at least talked to the Reds, Bengals, etc., to see if a deal could have been reached... but in this age of doing radio on the cheap, who knows.

I think spoken word could still work in this market, if done right. But the Fan should be a textbook case on how not to do it. Feeling for the people who lost their main jobs, though.

Meanwhile... I wonder if Bill Spry has reached out to Gamble and/or Skinner yet. Two Angry Guys sports & rock, mornings on ClassX??

 

[Ken Tucky]

The Fan had potential. But I agree that the execution was way off. Hardly any promotion, and no major league or even upper-tier college rights.

Certainly I applaud them for running as much live & local content as they did (& being the only all-sports station in town to go local in morning drive). And grabbing some major sports rights would have definitely increased their visibility. (True, they probably couldn't have grabbed Bengals or Reds with that signal alone. But I could have seen the teams agreeing to a simulcast--Bengals with 101.1, Reds possibly with 1230.) But once all the majors & upper-tier colleges renewed with Clear Channel, it was pretty clear the Fan was a dead format walking. You'd think Radio One at least talked to the Reds, Bengals, etc., to see if a deal could have been reached... but in this age of doing radio on the cheap, who knows.

I think spoken word could still work in this market, if done right. But the Fan should be a textbook case on how not to do it. Feeling for the people who lost their main jobs, though.

Meanwhile... I wonder if Bill Spry has reached out to Gamble and/or Skinner yet. Two Angry Guys sports & rock, mornings on ClassX??

A simulcast with 1230? I think the Reds would like to broadcast further than GABP! The old WDJO at 1230 used to be called
Downtown's Best Oldies...

 

[microbob]

In keeping with old school R&B here in Cincinnati, they should change the calls from WCFN to WCIN.

I believe the WCIN calls are on some station in upstate New York Now. Now if they had WBLZ calls.

 

[wjf82]

WCIN-FM call letters are being used in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania.

 

[jry]

They just didn't launch the format the correct way. Those billboards should have went up a month after they went on the air. Radio One has no business in a format that takes money and talent to attract a audience so they went back to R&B which is their specialty.

Bingo on the board placement. BTW, not in Cincy but, i have doubled my ratings and cumes with a good board campaign. Who knows where 100.3 would have been with good execution.

BTW, CBS Sports isn't as yet lighting it up in Detroit, either. WXYT AM is doing more than a .1, i do believe.

 

[jry]

How do you explain The Project at a 1.0 share in the market with no billboards and very little promotion? On a 250 W translator? Maybe some good programming? What a novel Idea?

They could have at least given the billboards a little time to do their job.

Again, Spoken Word formats are a slow build. Especially if you're butting heads with WLW. R O should have put that into the mix when they decided to go all sports.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

I think back to when radio one owned 104.3 in louisville ky and in 03 or 04 they flipped it to classic country and it wasnt classic country for very long. Seems to me they dont do most formats very well. But a few formats they do do well.

 

[microbob]

Bingo on the board placement. BTW, not in Cincy but, i have doubled my ratings and cumes with a good board campaign. Who knows where 100.3 would have been with good execution.

BTW, CBS Sports isn't as yet lighting it up in Detroit, either. WXYT AM is doing more than a .1, i do believe.

JRY

1320 could be a candidate for CBS Sports if you could improve their signal or get a FM Translator on a high tower that covered the market.

 

[Time Traveler]

The Fan had potential. But I agree that the execution was way off. Hardly any promotion, and no major league or even upper-tier college rights.

Certainly I applaud them for running as much live & local content as they did (& being the only all-sports station in town to go local in morning drive). And grabbing some major sports rights would have definitely increased their visibility. (True, they probably couldn't have grabbed Bengals or Reds with that signal alone. But I could have seen the teams agreeing to a simulcast--Bengals with 101.1, Reds possibly with 1230.) But once all the majors & upper-tier colleges renewed with Clear Channel, it was pretty clear the Fan was a dead format walking. You'd think Radio One at least talked to the Reds, Bengals, etc., to see if a deal could have been reached... but in this age of doing radio on the cheap, who knows.

I think spoken word could still work in this market, if done right. But the Fan should be a textbook case on how not to do it. Feeling for the people who lost their main jobs, though.

Meanwhile... I wonder if Bill Spry has reached out to Gamble and/or Skinner yet. Two Angry Guys sports & rock, mornings on ClassX??

A simulcast with 1230? I think the Reds would like to broadcast further than GABP! The old WDJO at 1230 used to be called
Downtown's Best Oldies...

That frequency has been cursed for decades!!!!! Think....WCPO.....1-2-3-W-B.....

 

[wjf82]

Microbob,

jry doesn't own 1320. He owns 1050 and 1160.

 

[microbob]

Since 1320 is for sale,He could add it to his cluster of AM's and put CBS Sports Radio on it, was my comment. WQRT even though it was News Talk, 1160 had more local sports hosts and content than 100.3 The Fan ever had.

 

[wjf82]

I'd buy it, and move "Inspiration 1050" to the 1320 signal. Then move Christian talk WCVX back to 1050. That'd put CBS Sports Radio on the much stronger 1160 signal. I know jry is happy with the way things are running now with 1050 and 1160, but it WOULD seem appropriate to put CBS on 1160, since 1160 still has rights to Notre Dame football and, I believe, NKU basketball (and because people were actually listening to Jim Rome when he was on 100.3, based on the comments I've read).

1160 DID have more actual commercials than The Fan. Never heard any PSA's on 1160, whereas we heard the Peace Core PSA all day on 100.3, even during the local shows.

Yes 1160 had more local sports teams but probably weren't making any revenue from having said teams. That'd explain why they didn't re-up with the Cyclones after the 2011-2012 season (I've been told they only made maybe $50 per Cyclones broadcast). That might explain why The Fan didn't go after the Florence Freedom, who went to 1320. Not sure why The Fan got the Cyclones. Couldn't have made much more off them than 1160 did.

As for who had more local sports hosts and such, The Fan actually had more local sports talk during the weekday (7 hours) than 1160 did (four hours, all in the afternoon). The Fan also had the local "Baseball Tonight" on weekends and the Motorsport Nation show on Sunday. 1160 didn't have any local weekend sports content, except for the Bengals' call-in show.

 

[wjf82]

On a different note, regarding simulcasting the Tom Joyner morning show on 1230-AM and 100.3 FM, the AM is seven seconds ahead of the FM on the simulcast.

 

[cardradio]

I would love to here the reasoning behind this suggestion. You want to take a format "CBS Sports" that was clearly a dud that had a 0.1 share in the market on a FM signal. And move it to an AM station with a limited nighttime signal? And you think JRY should spend 3/4 of a million to do it! Keep the day job. Radio consulting is clearly not your forte'. You want to know how to make a small fortune in the radio business? Start out with a large one!

I'd buy it, and move "Inspiration 1050" to the 1320 signal. Then move Christian talk WCVX back to 1050. That'd put CBS Sports Radio on the much stronger 1160 signal. I know jry is happy with the way things are running now with 1050 and 1160, but it WOULD seem appropriate to put CBS on 1160, since 1160 still has rights to Notre Dame football and, I believe, NKU basketball (and because people were actually listening to Jim Rome when he was on 100.3, based on the comments I've read).

1160 DID have more actual commercials than The Fan. Never heard any PSA's on 1160, whereas we heard the Peace Core PSA all day on 100.3, even during the local shows.

Yes 1160 had more local sports teams but probably weren't making any revenue from having said teams. That'd explain why they didn't re-up with the Cyclones after the 2011-2012 season (I've been told they only made maybe $50 per Cyclones broadcast). That might explain why The Fan didn't go after the Florence Freedom, who went to 1320. Not sure why The Fan got the Cyclones. Couldn't have made much more off them than 1160 did.

As for who had more local sports hosts and such, The Fan actually had more local sports talk during the weekday (7 hours) than 1160 did (four hours, all in the afternoon). The Fan also had the local "Baseball Tonight" on weekends and the Motorsport Nation show on Sunday. 1160 didn't have any local weekend sports content, except for the Bengals' call-in show.

 

[wjf82]

It was strictly an opinion. And like I said, I'm sure jry is happy with the arrangement he currently has with his stations. I don't need you trash talking me on here.

 

[cardradio]

No trash. I'm trying to figure out your logic.

It was strictly an opinion. And like I said, I'm sure jry is happy with the arrangement he currently has with his stations. I don't need you trash talking me on here.

 

[jry]

Microbob,

jry doesn't own 1320. He owns 1050 and 1160.

I could have had it for 350 - 375 and passed. It needs work and i wasn't sure if it was worth the expense.

I've inquired about some of the translators that may be available. One in particular was advertised as being able to
get 250 watts. I think that it is being licensed to Covington. When i asked the seller to provide the proof on their claim of 250 watts, they went silent. They're one of those groups that file for whatever they can find. Then, it appears that they look for a sucker.

 

[88.9 Miracle]

Yeah we've talked to them too and they went away. But we have our own coming in just a few months.

 

[wjf82]

1160 may have a limited night signal, but it's not nearly as limited as 1320's and 1050's.