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B106.7

C

carolinaradio

What on earth is going on with the B? I know I'm looking at a 12+ trend, but seriously, a 2.4? :eek:
If Cumulus makes any changes, I'm pretty sure B106 will be a priority. Where are the listeners going? I wouldn't think 92.1, going by their #'s.

Magic 98.5 sure is on a nice upswing. I can see why, I really enjoyed listening to them in Columbia earlier this month.
 
I wonder how they are doing in the Adults 25-54? I wonder if The Billy Bush show will be put on
B-106.7?
 
I'd be interested in knowing the 25-54's as well.

B is a pretty unique AC station. They could take it in more of a Hot AC direction or more focused soft/mainstream AC. I don't think they run Bush on any mainstream AC's....usually syndication or John Tesh.
 
There are several mistakes I think B106.7 is making...

1) The music is a bit too old. While many AC stations play only a few 80s titles per hour, B106.7 plays many 70s and 80s songs. Hey, I personally like those songs but they've got to be scaled back for listeners who were born after 1980.

2) The music is too white. If B106.7 is the workplace station, look around the workplace. Six stations aimed at the African-American community are in the Top 10 in Columbia. I'm not saying play rap. But increase the songs by Black and Hispanic artists who make the AC charts. Columbia has one of the highest percentages of Black residents of any of the Top 100 markets... more than Detroit and Philadelphia. Some hours B106.7 plays only two songs by Black artists. That makes no sense. When many people of many backgrounds share the same radio at work, you've got to please everyone or you'll please no one.

3) How in 2011 can you have an AC morning show where all the voices are male? If you're aiming at a mostly female audience, why isn't there a female co-host or at least a female newscaster who's on mike at all times?

4) Too much chatter and clutter in the morning. Yes, you want personality and information. But sometimes the morning show only plays one song at a time. Bits go on toooo long. For an AC station, that's a sin. And by 8:30, you're supposed to be in an all-music hour to set up office listening. The morning show should start at 5am to get all the chatter and spots in, then be all-music/commercial free by 8:30am.


Gregg
[email protected]
 
I actually caught some of the morning show on B 106 today and thought it was really solid. Not to dispute the earlier post, but I didn't hear any 70s songs at all. Very upbeat and tight. There was a huge traffic problem they were on top of. One break I heard was about a new study about losing weight (very female friendly) and it was pretty funny too. I tuned back in later in the day and it was not as musically sleepy as I remember it in the past. It certainly didn't sound like a two-share station. On another note, I also listened to WCOS and it sounds great. I know they are unopposed right now, but they are not mailing it in.
 
Since my commute to a morning meeting took 3x as long this morning, I got to punch around the dial. There isn't much going on in morning radio in this town.

My impression of the B106 morning show was that it was two fairly generic guys reading show prep.They weren't particularly funny nor were they particuarly offensive. It sounded like two people you would meet at a party or social function and not remember a thing about after you had left. Not necessarily a negative for the format.

As for "being on" traffic, only the Clear Channel stations that use 30 sec reports canned out of DC, every station was "on it," particularly those that use Columbia Metro Traffic.

My other impression is that both B106 and WLTY run ALOT of spots. The spot sets seemed to go on forever. They are not the only offender, WARQ is the same way. Although I much preferred the spots to hearing their temporary sidekick, who clearly has no radio experience.
 
I'm glad I wasn't the only one that recognized that issue with the ARQ sidekick. I was listening the other morning and didn't hear any original thoughts, just "uh huh, yeah, you're right and ooh."

Stuff like that.
 
That would be fun to watch, but I don't know if that makes sense. WTCB, despite their recent ratings issues, is still the top biller in their cluster and one of the tops in Columbia. But even if they did, can anyone in this day and age, given limited marketing budgets, truly beat WCOS? What can Cumulus do that is so different to knock them off?
 
Cumulus, like Clear Channel is selling by the #'s these days. They're going to be looking at add share and take away from Clear Channel. I don't think they need to do anything terribly different in the Country format, just do it well. Double O near the end of New 92 showed it could be done but they bailed before the payoff. 94.3 is a complete non-starter in the format and the AC 25-54 dollars and 2.4 12+share B106 has can be shifted to both a refocused 98.5 and 103.1.

It will take a WTCB signal to successfully take on WCOS and Cumulus has the research resources to pull it off.

In the coming months and years, this is going to be a market where Clear Channel and Cumulus will be at each other's throats.
 
Well, that COULD happen. Who knows? Maybe. And wouldn't that be ironic? 106.7 goes BACK to Country. Maybe they could be Wiggle again.
 
Anything is possible.

My impression is that the market has no decided B106 is no longer particularly relevant (although more relevant than Carolina 92.1) and that soon enough the revenue will start to reflect the station's no longer dominant status in the collective conscience.
 
I've always been surprised at Magic 98.5's reluctance to start adding 1980s music in to the mix like most other classic hits stations have. I can only guess this is because of B. If they flipped B, they could start mixing in some 80s on 98.5 which would likely make that station younger and more attractive. It will probably happen regardless, because Cumulus's classic hits stations all play mostly 70s and early-mid 80s.

Would anyone do real AC if B106 flipped? There's Carolina 92.1, but they're a niche AC. I guess they could adjust to mainstream.
 
whopper said:
If B did flip, and Magic added more 80s in, could they really be more hip with Woody Windham still in mornings?
Click to expand...

Well, do keep in mind that Woody did play early-mid 80s hits back when they were currents when he was at WNOK and WZLD.

Of course, Cumulus could let Woody go as well since there is no doubt that they will try to eliminate as much of the air talent as possible.

Robyn
 
Magic will eventually have to move in to the 80s. IMO, currently, 1-2 an hour would be enough for them, and around 2 60s an hour. 70s are the core. They could make the mix a little older (not to the point where it's really obvious) in the morning, if need be, for Woody's show.

Magic may be safe from most cuts. They already syndicate nights which Cumulus usually does (or they automate). Didn't Citadel do their share of cuts at Magic already? The station that needs to be very, very scared in terms of cuts is B106.7, especially given their performance recently. Most Cumulus AC's syndicate or automate nights, and some automate mid-days.
 
The most important thing to Cumulus (or any company) is revenue. WTCB, even with their ratings slide, is still strong in revenue. Some of that revenue is from endorsement commercials that I have heard in all weekday dayparts. When revenue is attached to a personality, it helps things. That may not be enough to avoid cuts, but it may give Cumulus pause to take a look at it. I guess the biggest question is does Cumulus care enough about market number 88 to take a look at it?
 
Whopper you said it correctly, Cumulus track record is not really good for broadcast radio in most areas except money with a few exceptions. We all know that B 106 has a good ability to shift their format hang in there and make good come backs. They are also one of the last live and local stations (at least for Columbia) in the area. This is one reason they have had the ability to hang in there so to speak, nothing beats live DJ's and local presents in an area, nothing. Will this make a difference to Cumulus, who knows but the real problem is what will Cumulus do to the markets when they take control of stations like B 106 and how bad will it affect each areas broadcast markets in their already weakened state.
 
I think it's safe to say there will, at some point, be cuts at B106.7. Cumulus normally staffs mornings, (most of the time) mid-days, and afternoons. There are a few select stations that have live people at night (mostly larger market stations, if they don't run syndication), but not in the smaller markets. Forget about overnights. I don't know if they even really bother with part-timers outside of the large markets.

Some Cumulus AC's don't even have a jock for mid-days because they don't see the need for them during "office mode." Look at WRRM in Cincinnati, a pretty large market AC that they own. They have somebody on in the drive times, but that's all. I'm shocked Citadel kept so many people on-air at B. If they stay with AC, I think it's safe to say nights will become either automated or syndicated and overnights will be automated. We could only hope mid-days stay live/local.
 
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