All the 2-minute promise did was create more stopsets with fewer spots. They tried to cure a dying format with a commercial policy that has worked well elsewhere. In Australia, a whole network of stations did very well with that positioner, but with a good, viable format.
It can get a small share, taken, mostlly, away from a competitor, and create a better group package for the cluster. All those make this potentially a winning situation for the owner.
radioink.com
I guess none of those folks ever got a Nielsen diary. The ratings were consistently bad for its entire run. The format wasn't really Alternative anyway. It was just a Top 40 Pop/Rock/AC mix. The Wolf will do no better...Read the comments at the end of this story. All very angry about the change:
Audacy Flips Alternative to Country in Buffalo - Radio Ink
The Wolf (WLKK-FM) is Audacy's new Country station in Buffalo. Previously known as Alternative Buffalo, the station will be heard on 107.7 and FM translator 104.7. The station will launch with 5,000 songs commercial-free.
The ratings don't mean anything to them if they liked the format, regardless of if it was "really Alternative" or not.
That's true that listeners don't care about ratings. Maybe the ALT fans can protest and get Audacy to bring it back. Since you mentioned The Lake, check the ratings history for the signal. It's not coming back, but facts seem to bother people in this forum...
It’s not a whole lot different than back in the day when you were always told that only 1% of your listeners will actually pick up the phone and call the station to make a request. And the other thing to keep in mind is those messages were posted on a radio business specific publication. Most fans of the station wouldn’t seek out that publication in order to express their comments
Change is always going to upset some people. You cannot satisfy everyone. The bottom line is that Alternative had very low ratings and generated little revenue. Maybe Nielsen is wrong. Maybe Alternative had the same amount of listeners as WYRK. Reality these days is whatever people want to believe...
I'm sure there was a period of time it performed well, and believe me, it was a format that I personally like. In the end, I seem to think Alt was done in by the nearly entirely voicetracked schedule of people who had never been to Buffalo, a steep departure from the local air talent.
One particular comment caught my eye...Read the comments at the end of this story. All very angry about the change:
Audacy Flips Alternative to Country in Buffalo - Radio Ink
The Wolf (WLKK-FM) is Audacy's new Country station in Buffalo. Previously known as Alternative Buffalo, the station will be heard on 107.7 and FM translator 104.7. The station will launch with 5,000 songs commercial-free.
"that much of variety of music genres" but with little to no consensus is absolutely why the modern rock/alt rock format is in dire straits, and I don't mean the band.
My favorite was this one: "Damn. My dad loved the alternative station." Maybe taking the station country was necessary to attract more advertiser-desirable younger listeners!
Eight in-market comments. I'm sure that a change.org petition is being formulated while you read this so the other thousands can have their say.Read the comments at the end of this story. All very angry about the change:
Audacy Flips Alternative to Country in Buffalo - Radio Ink
The Wolf (WLKK-FM) is Audacy's new Country station in Buffalo. Previously known as Alternative Buffalo, the station will be heard on 107.7 and FM translator 104.7. The station will launch with 5,000 songs commercial-free.
For real?
Are you talking about The Lake or ALT? They are not the same thing. Even when Alternative Buffalo had local staff, it never hit a 2 share averaging about 1.3. The problem was the music, not voice tracking.
