3 quarters of a million reasons

[BrotherPlease]

To eliminate the Wease show now that has dropped to 6th. Do they cut others to pay for him? Does the rest of the WHAM staff join Bill Lowe to pay for this failed experiment? Can they even fire Wease? Does he end up on Legends with Mike Vickers? So many questions now that the vaunted Wease has dropped to he bottom of the morning show pack....

 

[Bob1370]

Don't be so quick to write the epitaph. This is a station that was a non-factor 12 months ago, with nothing but voice-tracking in every daypart. It's actually moved as far as CC had any right to expect after only two full books. It would probably help, though, to have a strong afternoon drive personality to match Wease's appeal for folks on their way home...if for no other reason than the fact that if you carry 'em home they've got you tuned in when they get back in the car to go to work again the next morning.

 

[Steven21]

if you carry 'em home they've got you tuned in when they get back in the car to go to work again the next morning.

That's more true of an evening show than PM drive, since a lot more time has to elapse between 6P & 6A. Also, a good morning show shouldn't be nearly as dependant on having a good PM drive show as a PM drive show is dependant on AM drive to keep 'em listening..

 

[SirRoxalot]

If you're taking on a heritage station, you'd better bring more than just a morning show. I heard Rochester's "JP" in the afternoon the other day, and was not impressed. I was passing through, and couldn't tell if he was live or VT, but 'CMF sounded a lot more relatable to my ears.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

To eliminate the Wease show now that has dropped to 6th. Do they cut others to pay for him? Does the rest of the WHAM staff join Bill Lowe to pay for this failed experiment? Can they even fire Wease? Does he end up on Legends with Mike Vickers? So many questions now that the vaunted Wease has dropped to he bottom of the morning show pack....

Please don't take offense, but your posting doesn't make much sense.
WHAM isn't about to touch their morning show. That's the station's bread & butter.

True WHAM let Bill Lowe go, which I personally think was a big mistake, but the station can't afford to lose any more news people, otherwise they might as well stop calling themselves the "news leader." Beth and Chet are untouchable; and besides I doubt combined they make anything close to what Wease is pulling down.

As I see it Wease didn't do that well in the Spring book because he now has competition from WCMF; where before he was the only game in town. Also "The Fox" doesn't really have that much of an audience which follows the pattern of other automated, voice-track stations in Rochester. Example: Fickle. While WCMF has live announcers all day long.

This might not be radio-related, but it makes a point. Years ago at Channel 10 Mark Wolf (for those of you who remember him) was the lead anchor and quite popular.
The then management at WROC TV, and perhaps Wolf himself, thought that people tuned in to 10 each night just to see Wolf and that the audience would do the same if he went to Channel 8. It didn't happen! Despite the hype, Channel 8 didn't fare any better in the ratings with Mark Wolf. I think the same scenario is taking shape at the FOX. This is not to say that Wease hasn't improved that station's ratings. But let's be honest here folks; FOX was in the basement to begin with and the only way to go is up.

With the decline in radio listeners and overall revenue down, the days of paying announcers huge salaries is coming to a quick end. IMHO Wease will stay at FOX unless his show either doesn't generate the revenue station management desires, or he just retires. Wease won't be fired. He will be offered a nice "get the hell out of here" package made to look like he's calling it quits. And then, like many others who preceded him, in a few years when the name Wease is mentioned, people will say:"Oh yeah I remember him. I wonder what ever happened to the guy?"

 

[Element9]

This is the guy's first Spring book, is it not? The expectation of Wease to be #1 out of the box is the same kind of rationale applied to the president cleaning up eight years of policy in his first eight months. It's not a political rant. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Wease may not be your cup of tea. I'm on record as saying his deal is hard to justify. Some good points have been made here about WCMF being live and The Fox not having it together after 10 a.m. But it's early in the game. Nobody's seen the M25-54; and even if those numbers are less than impressive, this is the first lap of a 100 lap race and by the looks of 12+ WCMF has some work to do as well.

As to Chet & Beth being untouchable; don't bet on it. It's Clear Channel. Anything can happen. Years ago, Bill Lacy was said to be untouchable in Buffalo at WBEN and they sent him packin'. And why isn't more attention being given to WRRM and WDKX? I'd say they put up some impressive points.

 

[Bob1370]

"This is the guy's first Spring book, is it not? The expectation of Wease to be #1 out of the box is the same kind of rationale applied to the president cleaning up eight years of policy in his first eight months. It's not a political rant. Rome wasn't built in a day."

CC is probably happy that Fox is ahead of CMF in 12+ for the first time, and you'd have to figure the movement in the target demos would be similarly encouraging for a station that's only been a serious competitor in a key daypart for seven months now.

What will be interesting--and what's still uncertain right now given CC's corporate woes--is whether they invest in other dayparts to make the station more of an overall competitor 25-54. They need a good workplace-friendly midday show and a strong afternoon show, at very least, to be a true player for overall target demo honors in both ratings and revenue--not to mention how strength the rest of the day further reinforces listenership in mornings. That takes a little upfront money for the needed talent, and although we all know such investments pay back quickly, it's tough to get the go-ahead to make them when the parent company is struggling to service its debt.

 

[SirRoxalot]

CC is probably happy that Fox is ahead of CMF in 12+ for the first time, and you'd have to figure the movement in the target demos would be similarly encouraging for a station that's only been a serious competitor in a key daypart for seven months now.

'FXF beat 'CMF in two consecutive 12+ ratings now, and tied them three books ago.What The Fox needs to be concerned about is a 25% drop 12+ from last book to this book. They're in a statistical dead heat with 'CMF, whom they beat handily last time out.

Obviously, the demos tell the story, but neither one is doing the kind of numbers that a heritage station like 97-Rock in Buffalo generates. And BOTH are getting beaten 12+ by Legends and Buzz. Yikes!

 

[mdoyle]

Congrats to Kimberly and Beck on the Buzz for being #1 25-54 by 50% over #2. The observations on ratings here are accurate. We are very happy to be #1 with Buzz, #3 with BEE and #4 with WCMF's The Breakroom in A 25-54. To beat "he who shall not be named" with 3 stations makes us comfortable going forward. By the way, in Men, WCMF spanks the Fox also. And BEE, Buzz and do great also. And PXY is doing great 18-34 and 18-49. (despite Moose drinking breast milk). We are blessed with great local talent who do make a difference. Local does make a difference. Talent also makes a difference. congrats to all the entercom people who work so hard.

 

[scooterodell]

As to Chet & Beth being untouchable; don't bet on it. It's Clear Channel. Anything can happen.

I'd have to agree here; Beth & Chet do very well and have for a long time, but that's no guarantee. Remember Tony & DEE? WHAM could easily go to "Chet Walker in the morning." Or Beth, for that matter, though I think Chet would be the one likely to be retained. One would think that WHAM has trimmed back as far as it possibly can... and yet there's always more room to cut.

As far as that goes, if you take, say, Beth's salary and reassign it to hiring a couple of afternoon jocks, you could easily add some of the live voices that are missing from stations like the Fox. If you were in charge, wouldn't that make sense to you?

 

[The Voice of Reason]

I'd have to agree here; Beth & Chet do very well and have for a long time, but that's no guarantee. Remember Tony & DEE? WHAM could easily go to "Chet Walker in the morning." Or Beth, for that matter, though I think Chet would be the one likely to be retained. One would think that WHAM has trimmed back as far as it possibly can... and yet there's always more room to cut.

As far as that goes, if you take, say, Beth's salary and reassign it to hiring a couple of afternoon jocks, you could easily add some of the live voices that are missing from stations like the Fox. If you were in charge, wouldn't that make sense to you?

You bring up a couple of good points here Scoot, however I must agree to disagree.

First let's tackle the comparison between Beth and Chet and Tony and Dee.

If I am not mistaken Stephens Media, who purchased WRMM, did not want to shell out the money to keep Dee Alexander on board as part of the morning team. So she stayed with Entercom. Yet Entercom still hasn't found a full-time position for her (except, as I understand, doing some traffic reports and appearing in some TV commercials.)

On the other hand, as mentioned in a previous post, Beth and Chet are WHAM's bread & butter. Breaking them up, especially with WBEE breathing down WHAM's neck, ratings-wise, would be a very unwise move on the part of Clear Channel. As for saving money I don't believe someone's salary (either Beth of Chet's) would be "spread around" to other employees.

Allow me to digress for just a moment and wonder what happened to the earlier "rumors" that Tony Infantino's contract with WRMM was about to expire and that one of the big media companies (Entercom or Clear Channel) was talking to Dee and Tony about reuniting?

Regarding Bill Lacy at WBEN. It's easier to replace one person versus breaking up a team. Exceptions include Tony & Dee, Ace & Marti; plus a few years ago a morning team on Legends. So yes anything is possible. But again please remember Rochester is not Buffalo. Rochester radio listeners are more conservative and older and they hate change.

I know that many posters here may not agree, but also take into consideration that, despite what Arbitron claims, WHAM's is being challenged by WYSL in Avon.

The Quinn & Rose show is gaining popularity among a certain demographic. Even more so is the Bill Nojay's show, which is now heard in several markets in Western NY and the Southern Tier.

Despite the latest Arbitron Spring book showing WYSL with a (12+) audience of 0.5, data I've seen shows the station with a respectable 2.5 share in the age group of 35-64. And with the station's 20kw signal, it certainly reaches a vast area in and around Metro Rochester.

WYSL will never come close to the audience WHAM has, but it certainly doesn't rank in the same category with say a station in Dansville or suburban Buffalo that doesn't even reach the Rochester market.

Getting back to my original point; the only way I see any changes to WHAM's Morning Show is if the following scenario happens:

1. Either Chet or Beth ( I'm betting more on Chet) "retires." Personally I don't think either one of them could, or would want to fly solo. Should one of them retire, quit, or be fired, then I believe that Sherry Smith would end up not only doing news, but also called in for extra duty as a morning side kick to whom ever remains.

2. WHAM moves Lonsberry to morning drive with his talk show, and then fill his former time slot with another syndicated talker. If that happens it wouldn't surprise me if WHAM either carried Rush at his regular hours of 12noon to 3pm, or WHAM manages to lure Laura Ingraham away from WYSL; similar to what WHAM did with Limbaugh who was originally on WYSL many years ago.

 

[SirRoxalot]

The idea of anybody "luring" Laura Ingraham away at this point is laughable. She's crashing and burning in market after market.

 

[Philip_Airtime]

The idea of anybody "luring" Laura Ingraham away at this point is laughable. She's crashing and burning in market after market.

I hear you, Rox. In fact, WBEN dumped her in favor of Sean Hannity. WECK apparently then signed Ingraham and is running her at night after the Yankees.

I'm wondering about the future of right-wing talk radio. It's becoming unlistenable! Case in point was Sunday. I was spending a lot of time with WBEN as I ran my Sunday errands -- Dave Debo doing a wonderful job filling in on "Hardline," followed by an always stimulating discussion on "Meet the Press." I got an update of local news at 1. But then this enjoyable listening experience came to a grinding halt. Bob Grant was filling in for Hannity. The ill-informed anti-Obama rhetoric was maddening. I couldn't turn off the radio fast enough.

So, your post has me thinking, Rox, that perhaps it's not Laura alone who is crashing and burning. In a nation where a majority of voters supported Barack Obama for president and elected more Democrats to both houses of Congress, perhaps radio listeners don't want to hear the bashing anymore. I don't want to make this a political discussion that is taken outside. But I think there is a correlation here between the message and the fact that Laura is crashing and burning. On the other hand, Rush is still strong as are Bauerle and Beach in Buffalo. So, maybe I'm wrong here.

And just to show that I'm an equal opportunity button-pusher, I changed the station away from KB a couple of weeks ago when Ed Schultz started yelling during an anti-Republican rant, the subject of which I can't even remember. This kind of uncivil discourse from both the left and right on talk radio is just hard to listen to.

 

[SirRoxalot]

I have to agree with you, Phil. I've become a rant-avoider - no matter which side of the aisle it comes from. Extremist RepubliCrats (DemiCans?) are off my radio, period.

I've become more and more of a button-pusher as there has become less and less content that amuses, informs, or entertains me. The only place I seem to find a respite from tired song rotations, and locked-down liner-readers (either live or VT) is on NPR - either WBFO or WNED AM, depending on what's on at the moment.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

The idea of anybody "luring" Laura Ingraham away at this point is laughable. She's crashing and burning in market after market.

Maybe she crashed in Buffalo, but she seems to be doing fine here in the Rochester market, despite what Arbitron claims.

As for the conversation pertaining to AM talkers versus FM VT and automated stations; I could not agree more. Ever watch CNN Headline News anymore on TV? That went from a news operation to a call-in show.

Regarding NPR. Here in Rochester we have, besides Morning Edition and All Things Considered during drive-time; Diane Rehm starting at 10 a.m. followed by Bob1370 from noon to 2 p.m. Good shows both, depending on the topics.

Bob1370 sometimes has, what I call "repeat guests" on his show, which doesn't appeal to me
all the time as a listener.

FM has classical music; which I am not a fan of.

As an alternative I know people who have gone with satellite radio, or just went out and purchased CD's to play in their cars because they too are fed up with what is being offered over the airwaves.

At this rate can you imagine what radio will sound like in say five years? :