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Benson out at The Mountain

D

Dick Skinner

Guest
Dave Benson got his walking papers from Entercom today...not hard to see that coming. I'm sorry, but there's a reason the station got no traction over his two year stint. Look at any day's monitor and find a lack of balance and focus in the music. Add an ineffective cume strategy and some poorly thought out staff changes and you have the eroding cume and languishing TSL that is KMTT. Maybe Kaplan can bring it around. I hope it's not too late. Listeners that left in disgust have a lot of choices out there.
 
That station continues to be-fuddle. It seems to want to implode but never quite gets there...If any operation needed some new blood and energy both on and off the air it's the Mountain. Lethargic is the word for 103.7 I gave up on them as a music source only because I grew a bit weary of hearing the same two dozen singles over and over. One could almost predict what one was coming up next..
 
They need to return to the uniqueness that made them successful in the first place. The tight playlist and music selection right now reflect corporate programming, not local radio.
 
345palm said:
They need to return to the uniqueness that made them successful in the first place. The tight playlist and music selection right now reflect corporate programming, not local radio.
Click to expand...

Just wondering, how many songs in an active library meets your definition of a tight playlist?
 
AQH said:
345palm said:
They need to return to the uniqueness that made them successful in the first place. The tight playlist and music selection right now reflect corporate programming, not local radio.
Click to expand...

Just wondering, how many songs in an active library meets your definition of a tight playlist?
Click to expand...

Usually the Top 10 ones.
 
Chris Mays was the ONLY PD who EVER had a handle in that format period. Rewind and look at the ratings durig her tenure, not to mention the vibe that stick generated.
 
worc47 said:
Chris Mays was the ONLY PD who EVER had a handle in that format period. Rewind and look at the ratings durig her tenure, not to mention the vibe that stick generated.
Click to expand...

Tis true Chris has a a very good ear for music, but beyond that she knows the music that strikes a chord with people and she does it very well.

I wonder they can ever get that back?
 
worc47 said:
Chris Mays was the ONLY PD who EVER had a handle in that format period. Rewind and look at the ratings durig her tenure, not to mention the vibe that stick generated.
Click to expand...

I'm sure you mean "that station" as opposed to "that format". Chris did very well and had an amazing, long run at Mountain. Benson was hugely successful in SF and Denver.....there have been other successful triple A programmers as well.

One important note....diary was a different world for ratings....in general, PPM has not treated triple A's (and smooth jazz for that matter, in most markets) very well.
 
If there was ever a format that resisted corporate programming it's AAA - regardless the market. Chris Mayes had the touch...she just had an ear for the format. Like most intuaitive skills she just had it. The Mountain always had a bigger 'image' than the ratings showed and I think had a reasonable power ratio. Interesting to see how it moves from here...
 
Jackson Dell Weaver said:
If there was ever a format that resisted corporate programming it's AAA - regardless the market. Chris Mayes had the touch...she just had an ear for the format. Like most intuaitive skills she just had it. The Mountain always had a bigger 'image' than the ratings showed and I think had a reasonable power ratio. Interesting to see how it moves from here...
Click to expand...
its dead!! this format/station has been so watered down, its not fit for anyone who remembers seattle triple A, on KZAM, KEZX, and KMTT/90's programming style. but, if your a pre 30'er though, and not too musically educated yet, KMTT may be a slight upstep from the other lame stuff on the local dial.
i was on the mountain music advisory panel, when the station first broke wind around 91. watching KMTT programming progress through the mid 90's was a true joy to witness, and be a part of. at some point(late 90's/early00's), things tightened up, and watered down. this station could really have been a 2 decade national leader for triple A programming done right. instead, its an over researched classic rock hit/modern rock hit machine for mass appeasment, as determined by those few who control the tight narrative. yet, even the masses aint tuning in, and most all the mid 40+ seattle triple A loyalists, have long departed for XM/sirius "theLOFT" or "DEEP TRACKS", or private playlists via ipod.

yep, it was KEZX in the 80's i listened to, and KMTT in the 90's. yet, it is 95% country music, and bluegrass in my 5,000+ album music library. kind of skitzoid huh?
 
worc47 said:
Chris Mays was the ONLY PD who EVER had a handle in that format period. Rewind and look at the ratings durig her tenure, not to mention the vibe that stick generated.
Click to expand...

And, she's on a roll in Portland.
 
I say, blow the station up, and relaunch as Smooth Jazz 103.7 "THE SUMMIT". Wouldn't even have to change calls, KMTT.
They could throw in some Rhythmic AC/Soul tunes with the Smooth Jazz and their ratings would probably climb to at least a 3 to 3.5 from their current 2.5.

They'd have the listenership that still misses KWJZ moving over in a heartbeat. Paired with the Blues, "the Delta," on HD2, it'd be a great combination to listen to.
 
DJ John you are spot on. I'm amazed at how many people have told me how much they miss the jazz station. Has suprised the heck out of me!
 
Looks like I got my wish, sort of, Smooth Jazz returned to Seattle overnight on The Mountain's sister station, KKWF 100.7 HD2. Now 24/7 commercial free Smooth Jazz. You can see my other thread now on the Seattle page.
 
The replacement of the old diary ratings system with People Meters has hurt nearly all Adult Alternative Rock stations. Mr. Benson probably can't be blamed for all of KMTT's problems. No matter how badly you program a station, for KMTT to fall to #22 in Seattle means there are real problems here. KINK Portland, KFOG San Francisco, KPRI San Diego, KTCZ Minneapolis and KSWD Los Angeles have all posted lower than expected ratings since People Meters were introduced.

About the only AAA stations that are doing well are KBCO, still at or near the top of the Denver ratings, and WXRT which is now a top 10 station after having been near the bottom of the Chicago ratings for a few years.

Maybe AAA stations are going to have to be more pop-oriented, which I know is sort of a contradiction. But these days Rock stations and even Classic Rock stations have become more hard-edged. So if AAA stations start playing the staples of the Rock format only from a few years ago: Fleetwood Mac, Doobie Brothers, Elton John, Billy Joel, Heart, Bob Segar, Pat Benatar, Hall & Oates, Eurythmics, Sting, Springsteen, etc., they might find better ratings. Rock and Classic Rock stations play these artists fairly infrequently now, fearing they're too pop-oriented and AC.

Too often I tune to an Adult Alternative station and don't know what I'm listening to for several songs in a row. That's too much unfamiliar material in a People Meter world.



Gregg
[email protected]
 
Gregg said:
The replacement of the old diary ratings system with People Meters has hurt nearly all Adult Alternative Rock stations. Mr. Benson probably can't be blamed for all of KMTT's problems. No matter how badly you program a station, for KMTT to fall to #22 in Seattle means there are real problems here. KINK Portland, KFOG San Francisco, KPRI San Diego, KTCZ Minneapolis and KSWD Los Angeles have all posted lower than expected ratings since People Meters were introduced.

About the only AAA stations that are doing well are KBCO, still at or near the top of the Denver ratings, and WXRT which is now a top 10 station after having been near the bottom of the Chicago ratings for a few years.

Maybe AAA stations are going to have to be more pop-oriented, which I know is sort of a contradiction. But these days Rock stations and even Classic Rock stations have become more hard-edged. So if AAA stations start playing the staples of the Rock format only from a few years ago: Fleetwood Mac, Doobie Brothers, Elton John, Billy Joel, Heart, Bob Segar, Pat Benatar, Hall & Oates, Eurythmics, Sting, Springsteen, etc., they might find better ratings. Rock and Classic Rock stations play these artists fairly infrequently now, fearing they're too pop-oriented and AC.

Too often I tune to an Adult Alternative station and don't know what I'm listening to for several songs in a row. That's too much unfamiliar material in a People Meter world.



Gregg
[email protected]
Click to expand...

I agree with most everything in your post, Gregg. But I think Benson failed to decipher the PPM puzzle. He didn't figure it out at KFOG either. AAA can function in this methodology if the PD gets it. Chris Mays is turning KINK around in only a few months because she understands how to address those issues of balance and familiarity you mention in your post. Constantine doesn't get it either and has yet to make a dent at KFOG. 'BCO is such an institution in Denver, it's almost bullet proof...same with 'XRT. Cities is so Hot AC that it can't convert it huge cume into the kind of TSL a AAA should enjoy. And I agree that the artists on your list are nowhere to be found in any kind of consistent fashion. There's an opportunity to be had, but most AAA PD's are too hip for that room.
 
AAA works in PPM. KINK is an excellent example as it died in PPM and now has jumped through the roof 25-54. Just realized through this thread that Chris Mays is at the helm. Cities FM in Minneapolis is a powerhouse 25-54. AAA may never be number one 6+, but it wasn't in diary methodology either. It can be a solid 25-54 performer as KINK and Cities prove and as a qualitative sell it is unmatched as format. KMTT needs to adjust musically to draw in the male core of AAA that provides the P-1 TSL necessary for the format to win. That is exactly what KINK did with great success. Male TSL has completely turned around.

Seems KMTT would be sending a truckload full of cash to Chris Mays' doorstep in Portland right about now if they were smart.
 
radioguy123 said:
AAA works in PPM. KINK is an excellent example as it died in PPM and now has jumped through the roof 25-54. Just realized through this thread that Chris Mays is at the helm. Cities FM in Minneapolis is a powerhouse 25-54. AAA may never be number one 6+, but it wasn't in diary methodology either. It can be a solid 25-54 performer as KINK and Cities prove and as a qualitative sell it is unmatched as format. KMTT needs to adjust musically to draw in the male core of AAA that provides the P-1 TSL necessary for the format to win. That is exactly what KINK did with great success. Male TSL has completely turned around.

Seems KMTT would be sending a truckload full of cash to Chris Mays' doorstep in Portland right about now if they were smart.
Click to expand...
KINK is not jumping through the roof 25-54. It has improved for three consecutive surveys 35-64. Chris Mays decided to 'age' the station and while it has alienated my female coworkers, it appears to have strengthened the station's numbers in the panel.

Sources:
http://feedback.pdxradio.com/topic/exclusive-may-ppm-analysis-portland
http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=2107868
 
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