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Classic Hits 92.9 - What do you think now?

So now Classic HIts 92.9 has been on the air for two months, the audio drop-out problem remedied, and now it's time for the Spring Book. What do you think of the station now... how will it do in the ratings?

I like the station; with the audio fixed, I can actually keep it on for more than a few minutes at a time. It's my music. And, while I'm often hearing some songs repeated in 3 to 5 days, (and occasionally I believe in 24 hours or less), the repetition factor nowhere near annoying, and the depth of the library is awesome! In any given listening span of 30 to 60 minutes, I am hearing many songs that I had not heard at all previously on Classic Hits 92.9. Occasionally I'll hear a song I don't even know, yet in most cases I find I like the song. On other stations, when I hear an unfamiliar song, I usually don't like it.

Certainly the light commercial load helps, and obviously that's got to change if the radio station is to be successful. However I'm glad to see that Classic Hits 92.9 is running spots for bona fide area advertisers (Williams Lumber, Davis Furniture, Campers Barn, etc) rather than "filler spots" from the likes of "The Will Kit" or Casey Kaysem CD Collections.

I think being an out-of-town signal for the Dutchess County is going to hurt in the Poughkeepsie book. The signal is not bad in the Northern half of Dutchess, but the stations on Illinois Mountain are so much stronger, that Classic Hits 92.9 is at a definite disadvantage. That disadvantage has plagued Clear Channel in the past. I believe Classic Hits 92.9 will do real well in the Kingston - Saugerties - Woodstock area... we'll have to look at the Poughkeepsie TSA numbers to see just how well.

The station has been doing solid on-air promotion, perhaps a little "over-the-top", but if I hadn't been a previous "Cool 92.9" listener or a reader of this board, I would not even know the station exists. I have seen no outside media promotion at all.

I know this station has been getting a lot of positive comments here, which is actually kind of unusual for this board. It makes me wonder, is Classic Hits 92.9 a station that has more appeal to radio junkies than to the public at large? What do you think? Should the other Hudson Valley stations be running scared?
 
Personally I like the station, although it is a little self indulgent at times. The music is good enough and the talent is fine. Ultimately, it doesn't really matter if 92.9 scores big in Poughkeepsie. If they take a few points away from PDH, MIX, Lite and Star then Pamal wins. BPM is a viable second choice for listeners of all of these stations. K104 is sitting a few tenths back with A2554 (based mostly on winning BIG 2534) in Poughkeepsie metro and HUD is usually on the outside looking in to the top 5. My guess is the station wasn't really set up to win but to f@$K with the rest of the market.

I can't say where BPM will end up but I'd be willing to bet that K104 will be the big winner in the Spring book.
 
Let's hope if the spring Arbitron ratings will come out. I see that WBPM was listed as oldies as Clear Channel, but I don't see Pamal listed as Classic Hits. I enjoyed listening to Classic Hits 92.9 a lot, but they play some 80's songs just like the original WBPM at 94.3 when it was originally called B94 back in the day. As for the last ratings period in the fall, K104 is a big winner. Whatever happened to oldies after "Cool 92.9" was gone? I guess it should end up at WZCR's "Cruisin' 93.5" as I mentioned before.

And by the way, the voiceover announcer for Classic Hits 92.9 was from the former WCZX "Oldies 97.7" and the former WBPM's "Cool 94.3", but I forgot his name?
 
Good post, good points made. They may be trying to pull this off on a shoestring; thats fine if they aren't looking to set the world on fire, but some visibility thru advertising sure would help their book numbers. Also as you mentioned, the self promotion gets to be a bit much...play the friggin' music already. With the oldies format up for grabs, this one might surprise everyone in the spring book, which starts in a month , I believe. the music mix seems progressive enough where there's something to everyone, and the lack of repitition is a breath of fresh air. ;D


warm590
 
giant hogweed said:
dx1ng said:
It makes me wonder, is Classic Hits 92.9 a station that has more appeal to radio junkies than to the public at large?

We have a winner.

What are the usual complaints about FM stations in general? Too many commercials... too many repeats... small playlist... too much talk... etc

I think WBPM addresses many of these. IMO if anything is going to hurt this station it is going to be their signal in the southern half of Dutchess Co.
 
This is the biggest problem with WTRY here in albany ny. especially the small playlist & the constant repeats.

What are the usual complaints about FM stations in general? Too many commercials... too many repeats...
small playlist... too much talk... etc
 
Oldiesmike said:
What are the usual complaints about FM stations in general? ... too many repeats...
small playlist... etc

But it's possible to go too far the other way, and they have. You can't be everything to everybody, and that's what they're trying to do.
 
But it's possible to go too far the other way, and they have. You can't be everything to everybody, and that's what they're trying to do.

While I really enjoy the wide spectrum of music WBPM plays I agree, trying to appeal to many they run the risk of listeners switching stations if they hear too many songs they don’t like. The Varity and lack of reception are great but they could do without some of the more obscure ‘deep cuts’.
However the biggest obstacle to success I see is WBPM’s complete lack of market presence. They need newspaper adds, billboards, and most of all promotions. They are already hamstrung by a weak signal south of Poughkeepsie .Telling people already listening a dozen times an hour what they are doing will not grow the audience. You can’t ‘do it on the cheep’ and be successful. To a greater extent the original WRKW on this 92.9 frequency tried that and nobody knew they were there. They need a DJ for the evening shift. To do this of course they need sponsors. Frankly I am surprised that they still have only one break per hour with one or two commercials or even just a PSA .It’s great for the listener but it doesn’t pay the bills. Sponsors pay for promotions and contests, so we have to deal with them; besides they could just use some of the air time spent on the repetitious WBPM Classic Hits promos.
 
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