April Ratings

[Miguelito]

Stations like WOGL test their music with "panels" of actual listeners. Not only are the songs they play tested, but also included are songs they might play if they got a high approval rating.

So, at any given time we have to assume that they are playing all the well performing songs within their target audience and that there are no others that they can include. And things do not change so rapidly that 5 or 6 months will make much of a difference in music test results for a station that plays no currents or recurrents.

David: I'm so glad you're here. Your expertise and experience is so helpful and grounding--especially when some of us (myself included) find our ideas kinda floating outside of reality. haha.

There was quite a bit of hubbub (including from me) before WOGL finally "came forward in time" that they were dragging their feet, possibly in spite of the research. Another way to say it: It seemed like they held onto the '70s and only early '80s for way too long when Classic Hits as a format had long since begun dropping '70s (with exceptions, of course) and had even started playing some titles from the early '90s. They obviously had reasons to resist coming forward but I wonder, do you agree with that hubbub? Do you think WOGL took quite a while longer than one would expect?

 

[Miguelito]

Our local Hanna-FM, WHNA, licensed to a shire right on the Susquehanna called -- go figure -- Riverside, is a terrific listen for this coot who's typing.
45 hits from all kinds of decades .... four of those from last century .... Disco hits, pure pop, rock. Chcken Rock, hair band and other genres. All of them seemingly up-tempo.
As I said: it's car button #1, by far.

Now, the modestly-signalled Hanna 92.3 is owned by some firm in Central PA which also runs some half-dozen other Central PA stations. So there is a lot more breathing room than is available to Entercom, iHeart and Beasley in the huge Philly rat-race; those big stations that risk bumping into each other if they're not careful. Hanna-FM's business is all local and regional, to be sure.
But WOGL *might* want to expand their list or reposition if things get too claustrophobic and things may seem to 'back up' the other way. You have to strive to stand out. Hanna 92.3 certainly stands out to this listener of 71. They let it fly.
Maybe with Memorial Day fast approaching, WOGL can loosen the tourniquets a little. If they think it might be necessary.

I think WOGL's next "freshening" might be to unleash another year or two of '90s. Can't help but assume there's quite a bit more '90s that will test well.

 

[davideduardo]

David: I'm so glad you're here. Your expertise and experience is so helpful and grounding--especially when some of us (myself included) find our ideas kinda floating outside of reality. haha.

There was quite a bit of hubbub (including from me) before WOGL finally "came forward in time" that they were dragging their feet, possibly in spite of the research. Another way to say it: It seemed like they held onto the '70s and only early '80s for way too long when Classic Hits as a format had long since begun dropping '70s (with exceptions, of course) and had even started playing some titles from the early '90s. They obviously had reasons to resist coming forward but I wonder, do you agree with that hubbub? Do you think WOGL took quite a while longer than one would expect?

I don't think that WOGL management hesitated... I think the research showed that the audience for that format and in the competitive environment in Philadelphia was still liking many of the older songs. They have gradually moved ahead, but the fact that they are a bit more reliant on 70's songs than comparable stations in other markets is likely due to those songs still testing well with the target audience.

Remembering that 5% of the core 35-54 audience ages out of the demo each year, and another 5% "ages in" means that changes will be quite slow.

 

[davideduardo]

Good catch. I don't know why I specified 18-34. LOL. I definitely type faster than I think. What I meant to say is that they're gonna get a lot of the younger end of the target while The Breeze makes some inroads with the older segment.

Keep in mind that The Breeze is a mood and texture based format, not a demographically targeted format. WFEZ, which is a better assembled example of the format, is also #1 much of the time in 18-34. iHeart's implementation of the soft AC format seems more focused on blocking than "going for the gold" and is just not as impressive.

 

[Miguelito]

I don't think that WOGL management hesitated... I think the research showed that the audience for that format and in the competitive environment in Philadelphia was still liking many of the older songs. They have gradually moved ahead, but the fact that they are a bit more reliant on 70's songs than comparable stations in other markets is likely due to those songs still testing well with the target audience.

Remembering that 5% of the core 35-54 audience ages out of the demo each year, and another 5% "ages in" means that changes will be quite slow.

I wonder if they'll creep up a little quicker since The Breeze is now here and playing so many '80s titles.

 

[Miguelito]

Keep in mind that The Breeze is a mood and texture based format, not a demographically targeted format. WFEZ, which is a better assembled example of the format, is also #1 much of the time in 18-34. iHeart's implementation of the soft AC format seems more focused on blocking than "going for the gold" and is just not as impressive.

I never thought to compare the two but now that I've looked over a few hours of WFEZ: Wow, I'd much rather have this on The Breeze! (The grass is always greener, as they say.) The Weeknd! Wiz Khalifa! The Moto Blanco remix of Set Fire to the Rain! I wonder if the Breeze has played "Dance With My Father" by Luther Vandross or "Rush Rush" by Paula Abdul. Along with the typical Soft AC fare, WFEZ is playing quite a bit of Ed Sheeran, Maroon 5, upbeat Mariah Carey, P!nk, Wiz Khalifa, tons of Madonna (including "Secret" from 1994), and a good sampling of disco.

 

[Miguelito]

WRFF didn't just do well in 6+: They're up to something like 8th place 25-54 and they're in fourth place 18-49!

In 18-34, WTDY is back to #1 while Q102 is 8th. WTDY is 5th in 18-49.

B101.1 is 2nd 6+, 25-54, and 18-49. They're 3rd 18-34. So no worries (LOL). They continue to do just fine.

 

[AM/FMRAINMAN]

Yet in 25-54, WOGL is quite stable in its audience. The major difference is that it appears that The Breeze, while not hitting it out of the park, has taken a share or so off of several stations, including WOGL and WBEB. That is not to say that WOGL is bad... it is just a change in usage by folks who may listen to all three at times.

1430, 1510 and 810 combined have a 0.1 share in Denver in 25-54. They have a 0.6 in 12+, so what we can see is that very few people in that market share your desire to hear a deep list of "60's and their neighbors" oldies.

"Hi David. I am seeing the WOGL was not even in the top 8 in the all important 25-54. In order to make money, I thought you have to be in the top 5. Can you please explain their stable audience? Thank you in advance. Btw, I really enjoy these radio boards."

 

[DOB]

I never thought to compare the two but now that I've looked over a few hours of WFEZ: Wow, I'd much rather have this on The Breeze! (The grass is always greener, as they say.) The Weeknd! Wiz Khalifa! The Moto Blanco remix of Set Fire to the Rain! I wonder if the Breeze has played "Dance With My Father" by Luther Vandross or "Rush Rush" by Paula Abdul. Along with the typical Soft AC fare, WFEZ is playing quite a bit of Ed Sheeran, Maroon 5, upbeat Mariah Carey, P!nk, Wiz Khalifa, tons of Madonna (including "Secret" from 1994), and a good sampling of disco.

Just to be clear here, WFEZ or any other soft ac station is NOT playing Wiz Khalifa. What they play is the 100% Charlie Puth version of "See you again". You can't just read these online playlists and think that they are 100% accurate. Many times they will list the wrong mix of the song in question which is the case here. I mean, you are just trying to be funny right? Why would a "relaxing favorites" station be playing a hip hop artist? That would be like WDAS playing Metalica.

BTW, WFEZ is far superior to WISX in music flow and song selection. It doesn't sound as old and much fresher.

 

[davideduardo]

BTW, WFEZ is far superior to WISX in music flow and song selection. It doesn't sound as old and much fresher.

A big part of the success of WFEZ is in the fact that, with the market being over 50% Hispanic, they include a proportional amount of Hispanics in their research. The result is that between 55% and 60% of their audience is Hispanic.

Unfortunately, other operators of that type of station tend to discount WFEZ because of its high ethnic audience component, and they miss... totally... the fact that the format can be both mood driven and fun to listen to at the same time.

 

[DOB]

A big part of the success of WFEZ is in the fact that, with the market being over 50% Hispanic, they include a proportional amount of Hispanics in their research. The result is that between 55% and 60% of their audience is Hispanic.

Unfortunately, other operators of that type of station tend to discount WFEZ because of its high ethnic audience component, and they miss... totally... the fact that the format can be both mood driven and fun to listen to at the same time.

I thought as much but thanks for confirming that. I know that traditionally so called "love songs" or "relaxing favorites" have done extremely well with Hispanic females but I don't think it is an as exaggerated difference as they beloved by so called white women. This format truly is one where you can do pretty decency with little care, but when you really fine tune it to your market and as you said find that perfect mix of being mood driven and fun it really takes off. WFEZ is fantastic but another very well done presentation of this mood format is the Smooth stations in Melbourne and Sydney Australia. There just really is a magic to a well programmed radio station that is beyond radio geeks as the average listener gets that vibe as well.

 

[Irishfl]

Well, I love theorizing. Maybe people are sick of hearing news since it's all nauseating lately.

KYW's main draw for the last few decades has been traffic on the 2's. More then anything else it has always been what got people to tune in on a daily basis. Much like their snowstorm school closing announcements that they recently just stopped, it is becoming less and less important to have traffic on the 2's, as more and more people are turning towards phone apps like google maps, waze, apple maps, ect for the lastest traffic info.

 

[Miguelito]

Keep in mind that The Breeze is a mood and texture based format, not a demographically targeted format. WFEZ, which is a better assembled example of the format, is also #1 much of the time in 18-34. iHeart's implementation of the soft AC format seems more focused on blocking than "going for the gold" and is just not as impressive.

I've been listening to WFEZ all day after having done the same one day last week. They actually make me feel sad about The Breeze. haha. I mean, WISX seems to be doing fine so they probably don't have to think about changing anything but, man, do they sound like a template. I wonder whether WFEZ is playing a larger library than WISX or if they're just playing more songs that I personally like. I could be checking in with The Breeze at all the wrong times but it seems like I hear the same songs every time. I'm glad they're doing well, of course. I guess I was just hoping for some more variety and some sign of a pulse.

Oh, I also wanted to say that I'm amazed that literally every Uber and Lyft driver I've had for the past month was listening to 106.1! Last Thursday was the longest Lyft ride of my life: 70 minutes! And the driver didn't change the station even once!