B104 about to be challenged!

[SeenItAll]

Reliable sources indicate that 105.1 will be flipping to a hot country format soon. Combined with 96.7 in Oswego,the signal will be very good for country.The feeling is that B104 is old,tired and nearly bankrupt while 105.1 will have a lot of $$$ to spend on advertising. It's tough to bet against the tremendous team of Joel and Rich who have been dominant with B104 for years, but this will be fun to watch.

 

[SirRoxalot]

That would seem to be a smart move. 'BBS has certainly declined in programming quality in the last few years, and they're sitting there fat, dumb, happy, and unchallenged as the #1 station in the market. WVOA certainly doesn't have to worry about abandoning much existing audience. The signal also looks like a good fit for country.

 

[bartstar]

So Lauber reacts and flips Power to Young Country!! Wow! Check out CNYRADIO.com for breaking news. This is going to be so fun to watch! Finally a battle-royale! Not since 94 Rock vs. 95X and this new battle doesn't include Levine!

Heard that CC up'ed the Power stick so that it can really compete. But, why not fix B104.7 and keep Power the same groovin' format? Last post said B is bankrupt. Please explain.

CC will just split advertisers' budgets on both country stations. Wolf will see new revenue! Go get 'em Wolf!

 

[SirRoxalot]

Let me get this straight:

1. Clear Channel has a market-leading country station that's been racking up double-digit shares for several years.

2. Foxfur challenges with a hot country format designed to carve away the younger demos in the country audience.

3. Clear Channel responds by dropping a younger audience, and targeting the same country demos that Foxfur is going after - essentially splitting its own audience.

Does anybody else see a flaw in Clear Channel's logic?

 

[walt79]

Clear Channel responds by dropping a younger audience, and targeting the same country demos that Foxfur is going after - essentially splitting its own audience.

Does anybody else see a flaw in Clear Channel's logic?

I suspect this Clear Channel flip is temporary, to steal some of the thunder from The Wolf, nothing more. If Power was not putting out for them, why not have flipped it long ago?

 

[whattayaknow]

Walt79..I could not agree with you more! And besides, even if it were true, CC's "soft launches" dont get them anywhere. There are two options when dealing with Clear Channel:

1 - put the station on and wait for people to find it.
2 - cross promote on B and lose respect from the listeners.

Either way, this is a nothing more than a desperate attempt of a joke on Clear Channel's part.

 

[Screwface]

Has Power 106.9/Young Country moved their tower to Onondaga Hill yet? I agree with walt 79..logic would dictate that this is a temporary move by CC. So, the question is...what does CC do with 106.9 now that they've blown up Power?

 

[Radioflow]

Not yet. You can tell. The signal is very very week. It is a stunt. But it is so stupid. They are drawing so much attention to the fact that WOLF 105 switched to Country. WHy not just promote it on B. Aweful move. That is all Rich, Joel and Jason could come up with. I heard they were planning on blowing out power once they moved towers. My guess is Oldies or another try at Rock. Plus those Power listeners are going to go to Movin or CD's.

 

[Mac Daddy]

Kind of random, but what were the first songsplayed on "The Wolf" and "Young Country" today?

 

[TheBigA]

This is great! Some excitement in Syracuse again! Hoo-Ray! Let's blow something up.

So who's programming The Wolf? Certaininly not Fox.

 

[ThePickleReport]

Does anybody else see a flaw in Clear Channel's logic?

Yes, a huge flaw. If it is a stunt, and I believe it is. All it does is distract from the #1 station; WBBS. If three country stations continue to exist I can't see WBBS staying #1 12+. In-demo it's hard to say what the damage would be.

Why overreact? 105.1 has never pulled numbers with any format to my knowledge. I'm taking 5-share middle of the pack numbers.

However this is a good move for 105.1. WBBS is vulnerable and 105.1 has a better signal to the rural areas south of Syracuse. Can WOLF turn that into any revenue stream? Not so sure.

Getcha popcorn ready!

 

[ThePickleReport]

I forgot to ask and no one has mentioned......WHAT DOES "THE WOLF" SOUND LIKE???!!! What about "Young Country"?

 

[bartstar]

Word is that the tower is up on OCC Hill. Which gives the stick 50,000watts, comparable to WBBS.
The Wolf is a small stick..what is their power? I too believe that the Lauber switch was a bad reaction to the Wolf. It does not show confidence in the mighty B. B is vunerable. As for Power 106 it is a great format with slow jams and old school. Although not a ratings success, I know there are avid listeners. What's Professor Rick Wright to do?

Wolf has promise and will definitely take share from B. and revenue. Country music + lower prices =
success!

 

[walt79]

Word is that the tower is up on OCC Hill. Which gives the stick 50,000watts, comparable to WBBS.
The Wolf is a small stick..what is their power?

Power 106 licensed to "Auburn" has been running 14,000 watts. The permit for the OCC campus tower (licensed to "Solvay") is for 9,000 watts and a much smaller coverage area then before. WOLF from DeRuyter is running 33,000 watts and covering quite a big area.

I think you're comparing the coverage each has in Onondaga County -- the old Power was very signal-challenged, because it was coming from so far away, which is why they were running a strong booster on top of the State Tower Building downtown. The switch to the OCC site is to finally give them a strong signal over Onondaga County, but not much more than that. WOLF 105 also has signal issues in Syracuse, because the tower is in DeRuyter, but there are numerous translators that can fix some of that.

 

[TheBigA]

What's Professor Rick Wright to do?

That's funny. I think Lauber was a student of Wright's. Not a fun meeting to inform one's former professor that his gig is over.

 

[ROCKTHEMIC]

Country on 105.1 nice idea, poorly executed! Movin, nice idea poorly executed! They have the right idea's just don't put the right people in play to correctly work the plan! CC putting and end to Power and counter programming against Wolf, interesting! If it were long term and CC actually stocked it with big fish and gave the listening audience a really glood reason to troll their waters that station, given time, could out perform it's older brother B104.7!

Will it be temporary, sure, it was last minute. What then will they do with 106.9 down the road? Hmmmmmm...Rock would be tough but there is an opening for the Hair band era music in Syracuse that 105.1 played with for a couple of hours (poorly I might add) as they were stunting!

All in all I give the new Country station at 105.1 a D+! (Again good idea, poorly done)
I give the new Country station at 106.9 an A+! (Sounds good and it messes with the Wolf and that makes for good competition)

 

[DaveBullard]

"I too believe that the Lauber switch was a bad reaction to the Wolf. It does not show confidence in the mighty B."

Bart -- I respectfully disagree. The only reason you stunt a nearly identical format against a brand new competitor is that you believe your #1 brand is safe. I have to believe that the vast majority of B104's P-1s aren't going anywhere and aren't looking for someplace else to go. Ronnie Bee's been gone for a long time and B remains a huge #1, 11 years running.

So, by stunting with Power (and it's a stunt -- no way will they run a country format long-term against their own powerhouse, if only because there's no money in it), the idea is to confuse samplers and split the sampling market.

Folks may know there's a new country station out there, but only the radio pros will know the difference between 105.1 and 106.9. It takes some of the edge off Wolf Country's first book, or, at least, that's the intention.

Seen in that light, it's the ultimate expression of confidence in your flagship station.

(Take all this with one of those bags of salt they put in the Hinerwadel's Salt Potatoes bag -- I've never been a PD and could easily have all of this wrong.)

No matter what, you gotta admit that with this country dustup and the purchase of the Buckley stations by a real community broadcaster, it's the most interesting time in Syracuse radio in years.

 

[bartstar]

Point well taken. But is the Power switch a stunt? Apparently very very few CC'ers knew about it.. Having three country stations is bizarre. But B will finally see their audience share decrease. P1's like variety in their music too and will turn the radio dial. This board is getting good with some smart conversation and discussion.

 

[Element9]

Point well taken. But is the Power switch a stunt? Apparently very very few CC'ers knew about it.. Having three country stations is bizarre. But B will finally see their audience share decrease. P1's like variety in their music too and will turn the radio dial. This board is getting good with some smart conversation and discussion.

Good to read the 'Cuse board and see the activity.

Amazing! Not so long ago, the board resembled a morgue. Those were the days when the market had but one FM country format and B-104.7 owned the franchise. Along comes a challenger and CC goes balls out and flips Power to protect its Country franchise. Shows you what can be done when the company that owns four FM's in a market is challenged by an upstart.

Perhaps this is the real crux of the matter.

Years ago, if the dominant station was challenged, it was a good old fashioned slugfest. These days, the market leader gets an assist from one of the cluster's under-performers in order to fight off the challenger. I'm no fan of CC, but this appears to be the "by the book" response when the queen bee of the cluster is under attack.

The listener who wants "New Country" or "Young Country" gets a choice. One of those choices, is a competitor, the other is the sister of the market leader. If Bee loses a listener to its own Young Country competitor, that listener remains "in the fold" and can be re-directed to Bee down the road and that listener is held in check from going to the "out of cluster" competitor.

Smart strategy.

Even if it's a stunt, it's a good insurance policy and sends a message to the Wolf, "If you think you're gonna f**k with us, you got another think comin'... we ain't gonna roll over... here, have some of your own medicine."

On the other hand, the move forces the Wolf to play its "A" game... if it's capable of playing an "A" game. Otherwise, it's another failed attempt at de-throning the market leader. If Fox Fur thought it was gonna have an easy shot at a big, slow moving target and do it on the cheap, they were just served notice. I wish them luck because it's always good to see and hear competition in every market. Hope they have plenty of dry powder. They're gonna need it.

The few remaining guys at WSEN might be breathing a brief sigh of relief in that another format choice has been eliminated. The new owners of 'SEN should now concentrate on polishing the rough edges of the Classic Hits format that's already in place. Getting more live bodies on the air would be a good start, as would be promoting the product and keeping it day-to-day fresh.

And it's good to see the market has re-awakened and the board is revitalized.

Regards,

9 ~ Buffalo

 

[Radioflow]

I totally disagree with Rock the mic. I think WOLF gets an A+! They did such a great job...it made CC drop a format on their sister station. And do something so stupid and switch it to country. That is called DESPERATE at its fullest. My grade:

WOLF A+
CC F

As far as long term, they will switch formats as early as Monday. Maybe as late as Friday. My guess is Rock or Oldies. They are working hard to move to their new tower and they are almost done. There new site gives them great coverage in the City put poor coverage in the "country". The coverage will be perfect for a rock station and very very poor for a country station.
Also I am a huge country fan. I like WOLF better than B. Wolf has maybe the best imaging in all of CNY. Great Pipes and great prod skills. Time will tell.