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Channel 945: Changes after XMAS?
- Thread starter lovejamminoldies
- Start date
A
AugC
Guest
despite the signal...the station REALLY needs a re-image...top to bottom...jocks, imaging, processor, shows! Dave and Jimmy is about the only anchor! Billboards, advertising, get the word out. Be out and about....BE SEEN AND HERD! Do every public service from toys for tots to coat drives ..be involved with local charites....and TV !!!!
Jason hit the nail on the head again here...Their signal is terrible. I don't care if they did upgrade to 6000 watts awhile back...It still sounds terrible and spotty. As far as CHR being ALL RHYTHMIC, now that is just not the case. Jason Mraz "I'm Yours", Pink "So What", Saving Abel "Addicted", Daughtry "What About Now?", Katy Perry "Hot N Cold", Taylor Swift "Love Story"(A Country song for God's sake!)...and on and on. CHR IS NOT ALL RHYTHMIC! When is the last time you guys listened to a CHR/Pop outside of Hot or Channel? If CHR/Pop doesn't work anymore, then why does WNCI in Columbus still exist-and not play a ton of Rhythmic stuff? Anyone? Anyone? :Jason Roberts said:
Again, NCI has been around for 25 plus years and are embedded into peoples heads. They can get away with pretty much anything they want. ANYTHING. Channel 945 covers all of the direct ares in Dayton, so the signal isn't that big of a problem. The problem is Clear Channel. Unless they put money into that station, well you know the rest. The imaging sounds really good if you ask me. I am a 24 year old male, how old are you ALANS and Jason? I really don't think that 94.5 nor Hot 102.9 cater to your guys demo! I respect your opinions, but you seem to not be in tune to the times and how the Top 40 world has changed. jason mraz, Katy perry, T.I., Pink, Britney Spears, Kevin Rudolf, Lady Gaga, beyonce, Neyo, Saving Abel, Akon, Nickelback, Kanye west, Taylor swift, leona lewis, Rihanna, & Gavin Rossdale all make up the Top 20 on the charts right now in Top 40. 94.5 is playing all of that with exception of taylor Swift and gavin Rossdale. Get hip with the times, 94.5 is playing the CHR scene. They just lean rhythmic, and like I said dayton is a Rhythmic City. THAT IS A FACT.
RadioGuru4Life said:
The question isn't age...it's how much radio programming knowledge do YOU have? Have you ever tried to raise ratings on a signal challenged radio station? I have. You could throw $100,000 grand at a less than full market signal, and only raise numbers about a point, which may or may not bring enough additional revenue to justify spending the money. Companies like CC know this. A flanker is a flanker is a flanker.
In my case, I'm approaching Jason's age. But, I still do high school dances. And the ones I do are very successful. So don't give me this "you're too old to understand the music" garbage. It's not about music. It's about what can be done with a Class A FM whose tower is about 15-20 miles out of the center of town.
I don't deny the popularity of hip hop. I'm only saying with Hot dominating the market, 94-5 cannot, will not get big ratings with a shaky signal doing the same thing as the 50,000 watt station. Even if you bet the farm on it, which, in today's bad economic climate, will not happen.
A
AugC
Guest
last time I checked...CC still trying to get rid of this station...still being aloha-ed.
If the transmitter was downtown..ratings would be better.IMHO
If the transmitter was downtown..ratings would be better.IMHO
Similar to what RadioGuru said, I did some analyzing and in fact, I have to agree.
WDKF has a lot of problems to fix, but to be quite honest, they're not half bad. I remember them being on the same stick, actually less watts, and beating Z93 with the right equipment. 945 is starting to play ALL THE HITS. Even ones not that big. They're testing them and it's working. They're especially hotter at night. I'd like to see a TXT or nightly countdown. If they had me write them a business plan on what to fix... it would follow:
1. Interaction
For the jocks they have, they can put callers on the air, and take LIVE requests. Why not? Also... they're seen in clubs and concerts, and they have their city-famous "Crack Up Thursdays" at the Funnybone.... can we see them involved more? Get more remotes. Get some billboards and let the city know who's pumpin' the hits.
2. Music
Isn't THAT bad. It tends to get repetitive but they are improving. I hear them trying to fresh up the recurrent/gold product and not being so afraid to add more new music. They're on the big hits, but some they wait on.... which is CC-recognizable BUT when I see WNCI do it, I'm like, can't 945? I also remember them playing A BUTT LOAD OF HITS when they were KISS FM/The Beat. Now, it's the same few...
3. Jocks
Unfortunately, this is where CC has to spend money. But Dave And Jimmy, Drake, E, Ike B isn't exactly hitting it.
4. CITY KNOWN
The city knows HOT 1029 because they're EVERYWHERE. We need to hear those top of hour legals that make the city go BOOM... I feel like I'm on Channel 945.
To be honest, one day I see this station turning around. It needs time and money invested into it. Ryan Drake is doing a hell of a job keeping it together, but corporate makes the final decision.
WDKF has a lot of problems to fix, but to be quite honest, they're not half bad. I remember them being on the same stick, actually less watts, and beating Z93 with the right equipment. 945 is starting to play ALL THE HITS. Even ones not that big. They're testing them and it's working. They're especially hotter at night. I'd like to see a TXT or nightly countdown. If they had me write them a business plan on what to fix... it would follow:
1. Interaction
For the jocks they have, they can put callers on the air, and take LIVE requests. Why not? Also... they're seen in clubs and concerts, and they have their city-famous "Crack Up Thursdays" at the Funnybone.... can we see them involved more? Get more remotes. Get some billboards and let the city know who's pumpin' the hits.
2. Music
Isn't THAT bad. It tends to get repetitive but they are improving. I hear them trying to fresh up the recurrent/gold product and not being so afraid to add more new music. They're on the big hits, but some they wait on.... which is CC-recognizable BUT when I see WNCI do it, I'm like, can't 945? I also remember them playing A BUTT LOAD OF HITS when they were KISS FM/The Beat. Now, it's the same few...
3. Jocks
Unfortunately, this is where CC has to spend money. But Dave And Jimmy, Drake, E, Ike B isn't exactly hitting it.
4. CITY KNOWN
The city knows HOT 1029 because they're EVERYWHERE. We need to hear those top of hour legals that make the city go BOOM... I feel like I'm on Channel 945.
To be honest, one day I see this station turning around. It needs time and money invested into it. Ryan Drake is doing a hell of a job keeping it together, but corporate makes the final decision.
They got XMAS music in now as well. They aren't sounding half bad, tonight.
AugC said:
It's already out by Hara, and that's closer than when it was up in Union. Can't move any further south since it's short-spaced to WMXL Lexington (I think CC actually interference-waivered themselves to get WDKF to where it is now).
Doesn't matter anyway since it has to be sold to meet ownership caps.
Thanks for respecting my opinion. I am actually still in the proper age demo for CHR/Pop. I know what CHR/Pop should sound like...In fact, I named over half of the same artists in my last post. All I was trying to point out was that not ALL CHR/Pop was Rhythmic...In fact, the new #1 song in the country on CHR/Pop is the VERY UN-RHYTHMIC Jason Mraz tune "I'm Yours", which just finished up nine weeks at the top of the Hot AC Chart(Pink's "So What" is the new #1 there). As a follower of the CHR/Pop format since around 1982, yes, I do have somewhat of an idea what CHR/Pop should sound like today. Sometimes it does tend to lean more Rhythmic than others. Even back then, Country singles were crossing over like crazy...but that didn't mean that CHR/Pop was all Country.RadioGuru4Life said:
Sorry, but the 94.5 signal will never do huge numbers because of the signal limitations. When Z-93 was around(and currently as Fly), they had/have the ability to reach into 2 states and 26 counties...Channel is lucky if their signal can be heard in four counties, let alone outside of Ohio. It seems that since Z has gone away, the CHR/Pop audience in Dayton has really shrunk, with most of the old Z listeners going to Hot or elsewhere. My point is is if Channel was going to be a winner, they would've picked up the disgruntled, displaced Z listeners when 92.9 flipped...and they haven't.
RadioGuru4Life said:
I respect your opinions, and I appreciate you saying you respect mine.
I admit, I'm 51. No, I'm not in the demo, though my voice sounds young enough that I could probably still pull off a CHR airshift as a fill-in if I had too. Though, please keep in mind a couple of things:
Like "One Who Knows", I, too DJ on the side. I still do a few school dances, but today, I only do ones at schools where I feel comfortable with the students. I also do many (say 30-35) weddings and private events each year...quite a few of which involve the 18-24 crowd. I do not do club work anymore. (I've had it with dealing with drunks at bars). My side business is successful, and I do many, many dances which turn into parties. And yes, some of these dances, because of the age of the crowd cause me to play mostly, if not all, hip hop.
For my side business, I purchase a radio station music service which is available to me because, with my radio affiliation, I am considered a "professional" DJ. I have the music often before stations such as 94-5 start playing them. I do not listen to this music all day long, but I am "familiar" with every single artist you mentioned. And the dances are easy to do. I just pull up a weeklong monitor of either 94-5 or Hot...with that, it's easy to figure out the power songs, the mediums, the tertiaries, the golds, etc.
It's fairly easy to do...even when you're 51. So enough of this age BS, ok? Let's talk radio and get back to the topic we've been discussing, OK?
My point was that making any radio station successful involves a number of things. All of them have to come together in place for success. And the "rules" for success transcend all formats. CHR is no different from Country, or A/C, or Classic Hits, or Alternative, or Contemporary Christian. Here, in order is what it boils down to:
1.) Signal. Why signal? If you don't have it, no amount of money, no high-priced major market airstaff will make the
station succeed. Big signal trumps little signal everytime, unless, big signal is really, really, really screwed up.
The city grade contour of a Class A FM extends (last time I remember) about 7-8 or so miles from the tower. The only
way to extend your coverage by half more of that - is double the power. Obviously, the city grade signal of
a 50K FM is much larger. Your chance for your largest audience is mostly contained in or near that city grade
contour.
2.) Format Hole. There must be a definable hole in the market for what you want to put on the air. If a big station
is already covering that hole, you have your work cut out for you and, most likely, you'll be a 2 to 3 share wannabe
no matter what you do. Promotion money can help, but CHR is a money-game, if you're going to play it right. If
you cannot consistantly spend (or find a way to come up with) "bigger than life" promotions, forget it. And, today,
the number of companies able or willing to spend that kind of change are slim, indeed. And remember, if big signal
usually controls the cume. The station that controls the cume, controls the perception of the audience.
3.) A well prepared programming strategy that has been tested to meet the format hole, and the audience perceived
weaknesses of the competition, if any. If there is no audience perceived weakness, try another format.
4.) Promotion Money: see above.
5.) Music. You must play the right amount of well-tested music, and, in CHR, the list must be tight. Maybe not 130
hyperspins per week (although there are strategic reasons why a small station might want to try it when it first
comes on the air), but a CHR must pound the hits to get the cume. And a small station in a battle needs all the
cume it can get. But, remember - the big station usually is more able to control cume, than the little guy.
6.) Airstaff. (See how far down the list it is?) The better the airstaff, generally, the better your chance of success.
BUT...a great airstaff on a bad stick, well...see #1. Generally in this case, at best, the better airstaff is still about a
2-3 share station, which is why so many of these are flanker jukeboxes these days.
Every successful CHR programmer (as well as successful programmers in general) understand this. Being "in tune with the times" is necessary for "image" (that's why I don't do CHR anymore), but successful programming strategies and theories
have zero to do with it.
Hmm... Channel 945 has their work cut out for them, but they don't sound like an A-Plus station anyway. If they had 99% of their product sounding slammin' and STILL failing, I could understand. They have improved drastically, but they still haven't got everything there yet. Most having to do with CC. Go look at their last played
www.channel945.com/iplaylist
I think it's pretty damn good for a cookie cutter CC CHR and their imaging and element of surprise makes 'em sound better than Hot, but yes Hot does have a signal, and Dayton is a hip-hop town. Most of the Z listeners went to HOT or Mix 1077.
They went to HOT if they tolerate hits mixed in with the hard hip-hop.
They went to MIX if they are adult friendly.
Channel plays the hits.... thats it. In my opinion, Channel could get like Wild or The Beat and be just fine. Claim a hit music slogan, have fun CHR jocks, be original and make you say WOW! If a CHR listener was THAT damn picky, they could go to their sister station, Mix.
It's simple. 945 has always been hip-hop leaning. Why change? A lot of hits they play are hip-hop oriented off of the rhythmic/urban chart anwyay. And it makes them sound so much better and fresher as a CHR. Kudos to Ryan Drake.
www.channel945.com/iplaylist
I think it's pretty damn good for a cookie cutter CC CHR and their imaging and element of surprise makes 'em sound better than Hot, but yes Hot does have a signal, and Dayton is a hip-hop town. Most of the Z listeners went to HOT or Mix 1077.
They went to HOT if they tolerate hits mixed in with the hard hip-hop.
They went to MIX if they are adult friendly.
Channel plays the hits.... thats it. In my opinion, Channel could get like Wild or The Beat and be just fine. Claim a hit music slogan, have fun CHR jocks, be original and make you say WOW! If a CHR listener was THAT damn picky, they could go to their sister station, Mix.
It's simple. 945 has always been hip-hop leaning. Why change? A lot of hits they play are hip-hop oriented off of the rhythmic/urban chart anwyay. And it makes them sound so much better and fresher as a CHR. Kudos to Ryan Drake.
Jason and Alans, I respect you guys. I wasn't being rude. Signal does matter, but all I said was that Channel covers enough of the area that it shouldn't be the thing that kills them. CC is the thing that kills them. I know because I used to work there. they have no budget, no fulltimers except Drake now, and a whole bunch of corporate craziness. But I do know that 94.5 isn't going anywhere. They are in the Aloha trust, but I talked to drake about a week ago. They will be around for at least 1-2 years with no problems. With that said, 94.5 will probably always be a 2-3 share station, but I bet Drake could hit the high 3's if he keeps going the way he is now. If he does that, than CC would consider that a huge success. I mean Dayton is an extremely Rhythmic market. I mean Z tied or lost to Channel with there big signal before they switched... See, Rhythmic.
It is a rhythmic town, and hoopefully Channel stays that way.
T
tcsnrayp
Guest
lovejamminoldies said:
If you are HOOPEFUL does that mean you want to hear basketball p-b-p?
Sorry, spelled that one well. Looks like it had froze a bit when I was typing.
T
tcsnrayp
Guest
...and it is NOW "after Christmas"... how do you feel about making that prediction now?
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