While riding home with my brother-in-law to Strongsville Saturday evening, I suggested that he put on WGAR because the Country Top 40 countdown was on. He told me he doesn't listen to them anymore because they drop people too often, an obvious reference to WGAR's morning show changes. He did put Country radio on however. We listened primarily to WKFM 96.1 out of Huron. Even though the station faded in and out a little bit, he stuck with it. The funniest thing was after a quick check of 97.5 and 98.5, we sat through a fairly long stop-set on WKFM, full of local commercials and a community bulletin board feature that had no relevance to these Greater Cleveland listeners. Then the music started. Unfortunately it was a song he didn't like, and within 30 he flipped back to one of the Classic Rock channels.
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Country listener loyalty
- Thread starter johnbasalla
- Start date
KFM does have a fairly strong signal...probably the strongest in ELB's portfolio.
Though "K96.1" primarily serves the Sandusky/Vacationland area, it wouldn't surprise me if it got a lot of Lorain County and just across the line western Cuyahoga County ears.
Also doesn't shock me that some people soured on WGAR...especially in the post Jim Mantel era.
There had to be a reason why morning man Tim Leary was turfed after less than a year.
Though "K96.1" primarily serves the Sandusky/Vacationland area, it wouldn't surprise me if it got a lot of Lorain County and just across the line western Cuyahoga County ears.
Also doesn't shock me that some people soured on WGAR...especially in the post Jim Mantel era.
There had to be a reason why morning man Tim Leary was turfed after less than a year.
The long stopset may also be due to that, outside of morning/afternoon drive, WKFM's music is fed from Dial-Global.
WKFM also is advertised heavily in the Elyria Chronicle (corporate sister to KFM's parent Elyria-Lorain) so it does have a following of sorts in Lorain County.
Losing Jim Mantel really seems to have hurt WGAR very badly. Even if they are the de facto country station in town (no offense to WKFM or Medina/Akron's WQMX) it will take a long time for them to recover.
WKFM also is advertised heavily in the Elyria Chronicle (corporate sister to KFM's parent Elyria-Lorain) so it does have a following of sorts in Lorain County.
Losing Jim Mantel really seems to have hurt WGAR very badly. Even if they are the de facto country station in town (no offense to WKFM or Medina/Akron's WQMX) it will take a long time for them to recover.
WKFM has a really good signal in much of western Cuyahoga County, at least in the car.
It's a non-factor in the Cleveland market, of course, but it's not trying to be.
I suspect when Jim Mantel was shown the exit at Oak Tree, it picked up a handful of listeners in the fringes of the Cleveland market, as did WQMX as you headed closer to Akron...
It's a non-factor in the Cleveland market, of course, but it's not trying to be.
I suspect when Jim Mantel was shown the exit at Oak Tree, it picked up a handful of listeners in the fringes of the Cleveland market, as did WQMX as you headed closer to Akron...
I would think that WNWV 107.3 FM is Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting's biggest signal.
I wish you'd state when you are offering an opinion rather than fact. WGAR is sitting in 4th place, with the highest monthly share since July 2010.
I'm not sure what you mean when you say it hurt WGAR badly, that is not factual.
I'm not sure what you mean when you say it hurt WGAR badly, that is not factual.
John Baylor said:
Was the word badly maybe not used properly...perhaps.
But WGAR's image no doubt took a hit when Jim Mantel left.
And when you say they had their highest ratings since July 2010, that further illustrates the point of people being turned off of new guy Tim Leary, and coming back for old favorite Brian Fowler.
WKFM and WQMX probably did pick off a few disgruntled WGAR listeners after the Mantel fiasco.
WGAR is the heritage country station in town, and that alone assures it will never fall into the abyss, but it ain't all roses either.
Again, you are stating an opinion not fact.
Opinion: WGAR'S image took a hit
Fact: the ratings are higher now than in Jims Last month.
Apparently their image didn't take a hit, if the station is outperforming the former host.(mantel)
This ain't rocket science.
Opinion: WGAR'S image took a hit
Fact: the ratings are higher now than in Jims Last month.
Apparently their image didn't take a hit, if the station is outperforming the former host.(mantel)
This ain't rocket science.
I'm not looking to argue.
I said WGAR's a machine, and will always have good ratings.
But here's a fact for you...when you said WGAR has had their highest rarings since July 2010, that means that the ratings had to go down before coming back up.
Fact...Tim Leary's in, the ratings went down...Leary out, Brian Fowler in...the ratings went back up.
People didn't like Leary, thus the ratings took a bit of a hit, and people sampled WKFM or WQMX if they were within their signal range.
Now once Fowler came in, the ratings went back up.
Now I may have erred by using the word image instead of ratings.
But the fact that the ratings did slip before perking back up does indicate that there were some people who were miffed about Mantel, but came back once the more familiar Fowler came aboard.
Let's put it this way...WGAR took a hit when Leary was here, and have rebounded with Fowler.
I said WGAR's a machine, and will always have good ratings.
But here's a fact for you...when you said WGAR has had their highest rarings since July 2010, that means that the ratings had to go down before coming back up.
Fact...Tim Leary's in, the ratings went down...Leary out, Brian Fowler in...the ratings went back up.
People didn't like Leary, thus the ratings took a bit of a hit, and people sampled WKFM or WQMX if they were within their signal range.
Now once Fowler came in, the ratings went back up.
Now I may have erred by using the word image instead of ratings.
But the fact that the ratings did slip before perking back up does indicate that there were some people who were miffed about Mantel, but came back once the more familiar Fowler came aboard.
Let's put it this way...WGAR took a hit when Leary was here, and have rebounded with Fowler.
vjm said:
Pretty much sums it up. They are the ONLY game in town for country music, WKFM and WQMX aside. So WGAR will always continue to get decent ratings regardless. That doesn't mean they didn't take a bad hit with Mantel was dismissed, because there was a significant hit.
But when there is no in-market competition, most of these former listeners naturally came back. Having Brian Fowler was a familiar face that provided some stability.
And again, this is not the same WGAR that actively went for #1 in the ratings back in the mid-late 90s. Far from it.
*I wrote my initial comment BEFORE re-reading the 250+ page PPM report, so yeah.
Bottom line:
People didn't take to Tim Leary, especially because it was at the expense of Jim Manel, thus the ratings/image slipped a bit.
But good ol' reliable Brian Fowler comes in, and things pick back up a bit.
It's almost like a case of being the guy who replaces the guy who replaces Joe Tait/Dick Goddard/John Lanigan.
To the country crowd, Mantel was the legend, and his replacement never had a chance...now, we're one guy removed and things are perking back up a bit.
People didn't take to Tim Leary, especially because it was at the expense of Jim Manel, thus the ratings/image slipped a bit.
But good ol' reliable Brian Fowler comes in, and things pick back up a bit.
It's almost like a case of being the guy who replaces the guy who replaces Joe Tait/Dick Goddard/John Lanigan.
To the country crowd, Mantel was the legend, and his replacement never had a chance...now, we're one guy removed and things are perking back up a bit.
I did not at all suggest that the suburban stations surged when Mantel was cut loose.
There was a certain group of disgruntled listeners - I know, a lot of them Google searched and kept my blog busy for a few weeks...and if those people were in favorable signal areas for stations like WKFM and WQMX, those stations got some sampling (as did WQKX to the east).
But you have to bring more than a slingshot (rimshot?) to go after a powerhouse like WGAR. And all three stations are glad to have new listeners, sure, but Cleveland isn't their market...and all three aim at the home field, not Cleveland.
In the end, pretty statistically insignificant. Best case scenario for the suburban stations? They pick up a few listeners in their home market that were with Mantel. But a station like WQMX is so strong in its home market, it's not as big a deal as you might think.
There was a certain group of disgruntled listeners - I know, a lot of them Google searched and kept my blog busy for a few weeks...and if those people were in favorable signal areas for stations like WKFM and WQMX, those stations got some sampling (as did WQKX to the east).
But you have to bring more than a slingshot (rimshot?) to go after a powerhouse like WGAR. And all three stations are glad to have new listeners, sure, but Cleveland isn't their market...and all three aim at the home field, not Cleveland.
In the end, pretty statistically insignificant. Best case scenario for the suburban stations? They pick up a few listeners in their home market that were with Mantel. But a station like WQMX is so strong in its home market, it's not as big a deal as you might think.
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