Given all the fallout at Cumulus coupled with WECK cutting into the upper demos of HTT the way they are one has to wonder if Buddy might take the opportunity to cherry pick some of the newly available market veterans. Hey Buddy, that's John Hager calling right now. And given the fact that Buddy likes to do things his own way (and has been very successful while keeping his focus on Buffalo and Western New York while putting radio first) I'm betting he takes his call. Adding a market veteran like Hager would be another big coup for Buddy's company. It's gonna interesting to see this play out.
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97 Rock REALLY steps in it
- Thread starter ckg279
- Start date
Not in morning drive. I'm not aware that Cumulus has a syndicated morning drive show in the rock format.
Unless a morning show is especially good or especially bad, they will get what that incarnation of that music format gets in the market.
Bad idea. All because you put Coke-a-cola on more shelves in the same store doesn't mean you sell more coke. Better to have a different brand by the same company.
Radio has lots of bad ideas. The other poster suggested the idea of moving the show to the "bigger audience". It's possible. A simulcast is unlikely, but it's cheap.
Cumulus clearly decided to go "another direction" by jettisoning the whole morning crew and PD. It won't be a format change, but a retool...
Reminds me of the part time job at a pizzeria or a REALLY OVERSIZED big box store that is to busy sorting about other stuff UNTIL THEY NOTICE .... wait a second, ( pizzeria ) we put a kid on delivery and doesn't have a driver's license.. finding out he just hangs out 25 hrs/week.
the BIG BOX STORE has a new intern takes a closer look stumbles onto store managers billing their hours 185 per week while only being there 2 days....
(Seinfeld/Costanza reference)
Buffalo News re 97 Rock 04-08-2021
This doesn't read or sound like syndication is on the way. It does however sound like Shredd & Ragan could fill the bill.
Mary Berner is a shrewd CEO, but she may have used a shotgun to kill a hummingbird. It appears this fiasco was entirely handled by corporate, after having done a deep-dive investigation at to what happened and how it happened. In an earlier post I speculated that Cumulus corporate wanted to play the long game, suggesting they'd hold steady with the morning show as is. Very wrong. Cumulus wanted out of this mess quickly, and to wipe the slate clean. As if they could wipe the slate clean by gassing the entire morning show and the PD. Curiously, the morning show producer... the lowest guy on the totem pole, still has a gig. It's tough to imagine the mindset of the remaining staff. No PD. No morning show. A lot of uncertainty... more than the usual, for sure. It's not conducive to creating good vibes and attitudes, especially during the Spring book (such as it's called.)
Firing the PD and the entire morning show seems to invite the principle of unintended consequences. What next? Bring back Norton? Move S&R over from 103.3? Hire one of the many out of work Buffalo jocks and plug him/her/them in? Move the best of 103.3 to 96.9 and amalgamate Classic Rock and New Rock along the lines of WMMR Philadelphia (which BTW, is programmed by a 97 Rock alumnus)? Blow up 103.3 and go Country to take on WYRK?
Or just hold on tight and hope. Buckle up. It's gonna be quite a ride.
I've always felt that having two rock stations, even though they're two different formats, really limits your sales possibilities.
My favorite quote in that article was this one:
Every morning show I've ever known has had a show meeting every day with the whole team. Sometimes the PD was there, sometimes not. But there was always some kind of show prep. Who in their right mind comes up with this, and then allows it to happen? Sounds like they already know what the next step will be.
It happened because the main host froze and didn't immediately object when his partner went rogue. It probably wasn't a "planned" bit. If it was planned, it doesn't change the outcome. The PD and the morning show are all gone. Cumulus can now revamp. They may not even hire a new PD. They'll just add those duties to someone else...
In many areas of commercial radio, there is little morning show prep right before the show, as today most shows are structured and they go into the segments sort of automatically.
The ones I've worked closest with, all of which were at some point #1 in LA, NY, Miami, Puerto Rico and some other places, get "organized" about 15 minutes ahead of the show and then at the end have a task list to develop for the next day, such as confirming artist guests, getting some data, recording some tracks, etc.
Most of the work is right after the show, not before it.
One show, that had shares around a 30 in a 118 station market, would often open the show with some calls about "what's bothering you" and they might do quite a bit of the show, other than regular features, based on one of the calls. It's this kind of spontaneous content that, today, runs the risk of offending some segment of the audience.
https://news.****************/articles/n40376/More-Fallout-From-Toaster-Incident-at-97-Rock-Buffalo
More people have been removed due to the incident.
Yes. We know that already. Just go read up a few posts.
96.9 / 98.9 the vibe
short term problem solved.
long term solution eliminates locals from screwing up again.
short term problem solved.
long term solution eliminates locals from screwing up again.
Sarcasm, right? To quote "Rusty Bridges", that would be using "a shotgun to kill a hummingbird." They blew out the morning show, not the entire station. I'm sure Cumulus hopes The Vibe catches on and steals a few shares from WBLK and maybe Kiss, but you don't give up the highest rated format in your building.
AHEM. Remember what happened when 96.9 switched to AC from classic rock in 1985? That didn't go over well...and when Rich Communications took over ownership, they switched it back to 97 Rock.
An individual with knowledge of the events prior to, during, and after the show which contained the infamous toast segment indicates that Cumulus conducted a deep-dig investigation of how the segment made it to the air. Cumulus' local and corporate investigation determined that on-air members of the morning show discussed topic before it aired. Reportedly, the program director also knew about the bit before it aired and commended the morning team's performance after the show. A link to the podcast, which included the toast segment, was posted on the station's Twitter feed which further indicted those involved.
If all of what you say is true, these are some twisted folks. A lot of their listeners share that mindset. The 97 Rock staff knows what the listener base is. They all figured nobody outside of Buffalo would hear the segment and no one would care. Now they can't do their tasteless bit on George Floyd's murder...
True 20 years ago, not today. Fatal mistake.
Blowing up 103.3 for a Country format and moving S&R to an "All New 97 Rock" makes sense to me, which is probably why it won't happen.
Mixed signals.....
it is silly to turn the current format upside down, but suggested a good idea to move S & R to the new 97 rock.... is that keeping it classic rock or a hybrid.
I don't know,
that's why I ask
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