Looking at the numbers from 95.5 wild , 92.1 real talk, and 94.3 Spanish hits, does anyone think there is a chance for an alt new rock station in WPB?
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Palm Beaches Alt rock radio in west palm beach
- Thread starter adambaer2879
- Start date
Look at the main signal ratings for wldi, pretty low for a chr , 97.9 is extremely hot AC, covers alot
Of top 40.
Of top 40.
Look at the ratings for the HD2. Not a lot of people demanding alt rock either. The audience seems to prefer older skewing formats.
iHeart already has the rock audience covered with The Gator.
To say that an HD subchannel without a translator determines the potential of a full market FM carrying said format is absolutely insane.
I didn't say that. But the format IS available in the market. How much advertiser interest do you think there is in such a format?
If I'm not misinterpreting your post, this would be saying that alt rock not working on an HD only station would be indicative of the the format's performance on a full market FM:
If I'm misunderstanding your post, I'm sorry.
I don't believe there's much advertiser interest, if any at all, considering the fact that Alt 95.5 HD2 calls itself commercial free.
If iHeart put The Buzz on an FM, it would run the syndicated Woody show in mornings, and VT hosts for the rest of the day. How much better ratings would that get than what they're already getting for Wild?
In addition to 95.5 HD2, which getting a 0.2 on a rimshot HD2 is pretty impressive, iHeart's "Real Radio 92.1" plays Alternative on weekends around whatever brokered shows and sports it has.
I’d like to imagine there’s a market for an alternative rock station in WPB. And having a 0.2 on any HD2 without a translator is impressive in and of itself.
Truth is, there aren’t many places it could end up.
iHeart probably doesn’t want to mess with it too much…too much overlap with Gater. But they’d have the least to lose with two stations that aren’t doing that great currently, and two great examples just to the north of modern rock done well (98Rock Tampa and WJRR Orlando)
In addition, the demos of South Florida have changed a bit in the past 20 years (where for awhile, WPB had 2 full-fledged alternative rock stations whereas Miami/Ft Lauderdale had 0-1).
In addition, one of the hardest hit formats on radio listeners transitioning to streaming has been “alternative” listeners…and a lot of that has to do with the tribalism that comes with the format. Some folks like the indie/new music stuff, some folks like the metal/active flavored variants, some folks (like myself) are more into what can be described as classic alternative now. And fact is, you’re not going to please everyone. Plus, you’re going to have to convince all those who have switched to streaming to leave a product they have some semblance of control over for a “curated” playlist OTA.
Truth is, there aren’t many places it could end up.
iHeart probably doesn’t want to mess with it too much…too much overlap with Gater. But they’d have the least to lose with two stations that aren’t doing that great currently, and two great examples just to the north of modern rock done well (98Rock Tampa and WJRR Orlando)
In addition, the demos of South Florida have changed a bit in the past 20 years (where for awhile, WPB had 2 full-fledged alternative rock stations whereas Miami/Ft Lauderdale had 0-1).
In addition, one of the hardest hit formats on radio listeners transitioning to streaming has been “alternative” listeners…and a lot of that has to do with the tribalism that comes with the format. Some folks like the indie/new music stuff, some folks like the metal/active flavored variants, some folks (like myself) are more into what can be described as classic alternative now. And fact is, you’re not going to please everyone. Plus, you’re going to have to convince all those who have switched to streaming to leave a product they have some semblance of control over for a “curated” playlist OTA.
Think about all the Alt stations, or Alt-leaning stations, that have failed in WPB:
1. 103.1 The Buzz
2. 92.1 The Planet
3. 93.5 The Bar (its signal was awful, however)
It's been tried, but the market is just not there.
1. 103.1 The Buzz
2. 92.1 The Planet
3. 93.5 The Bar (its signal was awful, however)
It's been tried, but the market is just not there.
I would not call WLDI's signal a rimshot. It covers West Palm Beach with a city grade signal. It loses steam only in southern Palm Beach County, starting around Boynton Beach.
Yet all of Palm Beach County makes up the market with the 60 dBu signal not covering a good percentage of the market. That is the true definition of a rimshot signal and why WLDI is near the bottom of the market ratings.
And, while more and more listening is in cars and less in homes and office buildings, in fixed locations 95% of TSL comes within the 65dbu contour coverage, per a multi-market study we did at HBC/Univision some years ago. Since the laws of physics have not changed since then, this would be just as true now for listening on radios (as opposed to streaming devices).
This is a good moment, again, to mention that Nielsen does not measure cities. Its radio measurements are based on counties (one or more), not individual towns and cities.
WLDI's ratings, however, have not always been bad historically. Wouldn't you agree that there are other factors at play here, such as the declining listenership for CHR as a format and the fact that co-owned WHYI has an excellent signal in a good percentage of the market?
Of course there are other reasons for WLDI's declining ratings, and iHeart strategically would prefer WHYI do better in the southern part of the county than WLDI as residents in that area are just as likely to work/commute to Broward or Dade counties. The same is the case with WZFT Baltimore and WIHT Washington.
But it doesn't change the fact that the station is a rimshot to the West Palm Beach market for the reasons David and I explained.
Further, the WLDI rates are much lower than the WHYI rates (smaller market, lower listenership). If iHeart could control buys based on favoring the high-rate station by referring to added "North Broward - Southern West Palm Beach" market area coverage, that would mean more revenue.
This reminds me of the statement "The market needs an Active Rock station". Hit the "memories" jingle!
This market is more likely to see a Classic Country format than Active Rock or full-time Alt.
Bar was Active Rock.
The Planet was a near copy of The Buzz minus Stern.
As for alternative, perhaps Real Radio should consider dumping the Rover's Morning Glory replay in evenings?
I cannot picture anyone locally picking up the format on a full time basis.