Best or worst change

[x13thfloorrand]

As the season of change has swept radio once again

What change has been the best for the market or the worst for the market?

For the sake of the board:

1: The amendment or style change for WHTT to "Bflos' best mix"
2: The change to Classic Country on WECK
3: Donny Walker no longer at Kiss
4: Opie and Anthony move Shredd/Reagan to Afternoons
5: The end of KB Radio for music... again
6: The ownership change from CBS to Regents

 

[Bob1370]

I guess best or worst is in the eye of the beholder.

The jury is very much out on the WHTT change although it seems to be a change in positioning statement only, not in what the station's actually been doing in recent months. I don't know how much positioners really affect a station anyway, unless they're either brilliant or totally out of phase with what the station's programming.

As far as WECK, throwing away a solid and potentially lucrative audience for a nonexistent one is always a bad move. Expect Regent to undo this and turn WECK into something else (though not necessarily what it was before) as one of its first moves.

No opinion on Donny Walker, didn't hear enough to form one.

At first blush the move of Shredd & Ragan was a matter of fixing something that wasn't broke. Edge should consider itself lucky there hasn't been further backlash.

KB as a personality oldies station, was a station with a lot of potential--that would have built even further after WHTT repositioned itself as a classic hits outlet. KB should have been comfortably in the 3 to 4 share range 12+ with just a modicum of sustained promotion, and a little news and info in afternoon drive. Killing it prematurely instead of letting it build was a huge mistake, especially in light of what they changed it to. It's clear the entire KB audience has now moved out of market to CHWO, and may be little-inclined ever to come back. Meanwhile there's really room for only one left of center talker in the market, and whichever one it is, needs to be far more localized in content to survive.

The CBS-to-Regent flip is very much an unknown. Buffalo's a different and larger market than that company has operated in before, and what it's done in places like Albany or Watertown shouldn't be much of an indicator of what they need to do in Buffalo. If they try to do it like they do in smaller markets, Entercom and Citadel will eat them for breakfast. If they understand that, and program accordingly they'll be fine. But if they don't, it could get nasty for them. We'll see...

 

[Yeziknoradio]

The CBS-to-Regent flip is very much an unknown. Buffalo's a different and larger market than that company has operated in before, and what it's done in places like Albany or Watertown shouldn't be much of an indicator of what they need to do in Buffalo. If they try to do it like they do in smaller markets, Entercom and Citadel will eat them for breakfast. If they understand that, and program accordingly they'll be fine. But if they don't, it could get nasty for them. We'll see...

Regent will do fine in Buffalo, as long as they leave WYRK alone.
I don't believe there is any need to flip it to froggy because..."If it ain't broke, don't fix it"
I do Love Froggy very much though, and still don't see anything wrong with 106.5 going with "The best and most Country". (As WYRK)

The real question is what they would like 92.5 to be, and wether they would like it to be an automated format, or something more "Buffalo friendly".

 

[Element9]

The CBS-to-Regent flip is very much an unknown.

Regent will do fine in Buffalo, as long as they leave WYRK alone.

That would be a good (and safe) bet.

 

[SirRoxalot]

My .02

1: The amendment or style change for WHTT to "Bflos' best mix"

The WHTT evolution continues. This doesn't sound like a wholesale change, but another step away from the "oldies" branding of the past. They seem to be claiming a middle ground between Hot AC Star and the purely woman-focused WJYE. Hearing "Los Lonely Boys" indicates to me that they're opening up the music vault. I just wish that the playlist wasn't so short. They've got so much music to choose from that you'd think you'd have less repetition.

2: The change to Classic Country on WECK

Corporate Bonehead Move of the Year. Rumor has it that the edict came down from corporate, which means that Joel Hollander has managed to screw up AGAIN.

3: Donny Walker no longer at Kiss

WKSE has to decide if it's a CHR, or a Hot AC. Too many of their jocks have aged out of the demo, and the heavy dayparting runs into Star. Donny was probably a victim of "maturity", and of budgets now that Kiss is no longer receiving "spin program" money since Spitzer's investigation. It's too bad, but 18 years at a CHR is extremely unusual. I hope he takes a break, reloads, lands somewhere better suited to his capabilities and interests.

4: Opie and Anthony move Shredd/Reagan to Afternoons

Runner-up for Corporate Bonehead Move of the Year. Rumor has it that the edict came down from corporate, which means that Farid & Ellis have managed to screw up AGAIN. Opie & Anthony have increased WEDG's expenses, and reduced the available spot avails, and cost Citadel some morning sponsors. Early returns say that they've lost audience from S&R, although it's too early to tell what the ultimate outcome will be.

5: The end of KB Radio for music... again

Swap Tom Schuh for Hank Nevins, and you'd still have music on 'KB. The line-up deserved better results, better music, and better promotion. They forgot the basic rule of "PLAY THE HITS". There are plenty of hits from 1955 to 1965 that could have replaced the obscurities from Hank's record hop collection.

6: The ownership change from CBS to Regent

Too early to tell. I don't expect there to be much change before Regent actually owns the stations, which may happen before the first of the year. Since this is Regent's biggest market, I expect that they may take local input very seriously. They did elect to keep Jeff Silver on. Maybe we'll get to see how Jeff does without "help" from Joel Hollander & Co.

 

[Radknowski]

Yowsa! Well said and for the most part, as Isaas Hayes once sang-spoke in Shaft, "right onnnnnn!"

 

[hmmm]

I guess best or worst is in the eye of the beholder.


The CBS-to-Regent flip is very much an unknown. Buffalo's a different and larger market than that company has operated in before, and what it's done in places like Albany or Watertown shouldn't be much of an indicator of what they need to do in Buffalo. If they try to do it like they do in smaller markets, Entercom and Citadel will eat them for breakfast. If they understand that, and program accordingly they'll be fine. But if they don't, it could get nasty for them. We'll see...

Actually Regent was in Salt Lake City and Kansas City at one time before selling to Jacor. Both markets much larger than Buffalo. Don't be fooled by the markets they own now as they have some very large market experience to draw on.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Re: Regent Experience

Since Jacor has been gone for nearly 10 years, and since CEO Terry Jacobs retired last year, how many people in Regent's current regime have experience from the Salt Lake City & Kansas City days? They've been a small-to-mid market group for a long time now. Check this link for a little Regent history.

I'm not trying to denigrate Regent, but those of us who have been in this market for a while have seen multiple "wunderkind" types come and go - and almost all of them had their tails tucked between their legs upon exit. Those who stayed around long enough to get a real handle on the market found that personal relationships and actual results hold more sway than raw numbers with local advertisers, and that programming on several of the local stations wasn't as easily challenged as they thought.

CBS/Infinity inherited WYRK, WJYE, and WBLK and haven't screwed them up too much - although they seem to by trying with WJYE. They never got WBUF - a monster signal - to make an impact. It will be a year or two before we see the results of the Regent regime.

 

[Kent]

Re: Regent Experience

Since Jacor has been gone for nearly 10 years, and since CEO Terry Jacobs retired last year, how many people in Regent's current regime have experience from the Salt Lake City & Kansas City days? They've been a small-to-mid market group for a long time now. Check this link for a little Regent history.

I'm not trying to denigrate Regent, but those of us who have been in this market for a while have seen multiple "wunderkind" types come and go - and almost all of them had their tails tucked between their legs upon exit. Those who stayed around long enough to get a real handle on the market found that personal relationships and actual results hold more sway than raw numbers with local advertisers, and that programming on several of the local stations wasn't as easily challenged as they thought.

What you're saying is true that Jacor and the architects of Regent are pretty well gone. Keep in mind, though, that good broadcasters and good cultures can last beyond the head of the company. Despite the criticisms the big companies get, most of the decisions are still made at the local level. Pretty much every really positive and really negative experience I've had in broadcasting has been at the hands of someone in the same building. Even when I worked at Cumulus, which is known for a very centralized business model, the experience was unbearable because my operations manager and I didn't get along, not because of Lew Dickey and Jan Jeffries.

Now, having said that, I've always heard the mixed bag about Regent ever since it got back into radio after selling to Jacor. The Regent that took over Apollo in Salt Lake City and Kansas City was known for treating its people well and being a really good place to work. While I don't hear all gloom and doom from the "new" Regent, I don't hear it's anywhere near as good of a company as it used to be, and this was well before the upper management left.

 

[hmmm]

Re: Regent Experience

"how many people in Regent's current regime have experience from the Salt Lake City & Kansas City days?"

Well, the current CEO, Stakelin, the COO Murr ran Kansas City and I believe the CFO is the same as well. The only change was Jacobs. You are right, time will tell how they do and every market is different, should be fun to watch.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Re: Regent Experience

"how many people in Regent's current regime have experience from the Salt Lake City & Kansas City days?"

Well, the current CEO, Stakelin, the COO Murr ran Kansas City and I believe the CFO is the same as well. The only change was Jacobs. You are right, time will tell how they do and every market is different, should be fun to watch.

I'll get the popcorn... ;D

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Re: My .02

5: The end of KB Radio for music... again

Swap Tom Schuh for Hank Nevins, and you'd still have music on 'KB. The line-up deserved better results, better music, and better promotion. They forgot the basic rule of "PLAY THE HITS". There are plenty of hits from 1955 to 1965 that could have replaced the obscurities from Hank's record hop collection.

I wouldn't blame Hank. He gave KB a good sound. I will agree KB could have used more promotion and more live people on the air. As someone who is tired of the same 300 songs on oldies stations the music was not the problem.

Look at WSAI if you want proof, They played the hits but still crashed and burned. The Adult Standards numbers on WSAI were far better than their oldies format.