Not to mention 50kw day/5kw night WDIA in Memphis which has a 3.8 in the latest Nielsens
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650 WSM's long term future
- Thread starter Murfradiojim
- Start date
I remember WLW being carried by XM.
They have a relevant format that attracks local audience. Tough for WSM-AM. (wait for it...)
Mic drop
Supposedly they have a large on line audience. All the doom and gloom posters on this site would have us believe that in 10 or 20 years OTA radio will be gone as a viable media so they might be ahead of everyone else if the Grand Ole Opery survives.
I don't doubt that, especially for the Opry. I follow several country singers on Facebook and Instagram, and between their official pages and fan-club pages, most will post notice of upcoming Opry appearances, some with links to the WSM audio stream. But how do you monetize listeners all over the U.S. and beyond who only tune in when certain artists are on, a few times a year, for an hour or so, no matter how many of them there are? WSM is a marketing vehicle for the Opry, but how many listeners will ever become paying Opry/Museum/Hall of Fame visitors, or even set foot in Nashville? Streaming the Opry live probably help sell a few albums/songs/downloads, but the Opry doesn't see a penny.
I enjoyed KKYX more than WSM. They did play true classic country instead of those talk shows that WSM loved to air during drive time. Whether KKYX plays the same music they did when I lived in Texas, I don't know. I don't even like country music of the era, but it is better than the stuff today.
They have a much older audience than most commercial stations. Believe it or not there are some companies that target plus 55.
IMHO: they are attractive to Medicare insurance, financial planning, possibly prescription drugs, and Cracker Barrel. There are a couple of per inquiry sponsorships that pay a surprisingly amount.
I don't listen enough to answer, does WSM "sell" greatest hits collections of former appearances? PBS seems to bring out the old Soul and R & B acts for fund raising every couple of months.
They will occasionally do a special event CD or DVD. Of course physical product doesn't sell as well as they once did. I imagine they'll have a package for the 100th birthday next year. I don't know the details in the contracts and releases the artists sign with the Opry. I'm sure there are limitations on how the performances are used. The Opry itself is a for-profit operation. The Opry has an online store as well as several physical stores where they sell merch for the Opry and WSM:
None of those types of accounts regularly buy local radio to reach seniors. They either buy radio networks or senior targeted cable / streaming channels and publications like the AARP magazine. Most of the senior-targeted accounts require visual reinforcement to make the sale.
It is way too hard to buy 55+ or 65+ local radio as the impact of individual stations varies by market and format. Trying to use radio for seniors requires hundreds of separate station buys, lots of hours of work picking them, lots of separate invoices to process, verify and pay, hours and hours negotiating rates with stations and their reps....
The Opry online store has a bundle of WSM stuff, and you can buy it separately too, but you save money since the bundle’s on sale:
shop.opry.com
WSM Holiday Gift Bundle
Holiday gifting made easy for the WSM 650 AM country music fan. One bundle include a pint glas, a gold bookmark, a WSM radio patch hat, bumper sticker, lanyard, and vintage mandolin stick-on patch.
shop.opry.com
Wwelllll, you just explained why radio is where it is, David. Table scraps can't feed a house full of hungry teenagers for long.
On a brighter note, for those well-engaged on R-D, Saul Levine should be part of the 100 year celebration of WSM-AM. (Search his name for more info.) I am serious about this. Who else has been around this long to see so many changes. 100 years, and still going....can't trash WSM-AM for that record.
I agree. Lexi Carter, Jeff Hoag, Mike Terry, and Bill Cody are all talented. Jocks. Amazing how low the local ratings are for the best AM signal in Nashville.
Have you listened to the Grand Ole Opry lately ? Last time I briefly listened, Cacker Barrel (targets senior citizen), a either Blue Cross or United Healthcare ( I couldn't tell which one because I drove into the I 10 tunnel under Mobile bay and missed it) were doing commercials. Someone in the sales department is doing something correct.
They also have a huge streaming audience which seems to be the future.
I don't have access or know of anyone that has access to their financials but they can afford to be staffed 24 7. Or else they VT very well.
IMHO WSM has the best audio processing of any AM station currently available at night in the Southeast on you car radio.
Humana has been the presenting sponsor for several years. In addition to them, there are lots of segment sponsors. Those commercials are heard by the audience in the venue, as well as on air. The sponsors are attached to all platforms, including press releases. They get a lot more than just on-air.
I've said here several times that the streaming audience exceeds the on air audience by a lot.
They are not staffed 24/7. They have cut staff to bare bones.
What puzzles me about the advertising on the Opry broadcasts is that the Saturday night Opry always features at least one current country act. The mostly elderly audience in the auditorium usually offers only polite applause for the likes of recent guests Jon Pardi and Kelsea Ballerini, but I assume that large numbers of demographically desirable country fans are watching via the internet. Why aren't the corporations interested in reaching those listeners advertising on the broadcasts?
I'm not sure I agree with your assumption. One young performer among a night of veterans and no-names isn't likely to attract a huge crowd, especially for real-time programming on a Saturday night.
The last time I listened the guy at 3 AM Sunday was really good.