Cumulus is making some changes in Mobile/Pensacola

[Groove1670]

Looking again, FT. Walton kind of falls into both. It's a signal battleground area for 97.5 and 97.7. So perhaps it's a combo of what I said above.

Unless you are a DX or radio geek. It doesn't matter that they reach this market. The average listener doesn't care.

 

[Groove1670]

If Cumulus is planning to merge 'RRX with 'DLT, Magic should already be announcing these plans. Remember, they only get 10 days or so to file for a waiver from 73.3556.

The current programming will not be a issue. Once again it all boils down to.... will national agencies buy 2 urbans in the market (yes I know they are rated different) but, there are agency folks that will differ, and if agency business drops off, does magic have enough local?

My 107.3 was a good example. Decent numbers. No buys.

 

[Nate Wesley]

So are they really going to have two urban ac's in p'cola? What are they going to do about magic 106?

I think they will. As I mentioned before, just because 104.1 puts a good signal into Pensacola doesn't mean people will listen to it. Some of the Mobile stations share towers with Pensacola stations, but people in Pensacola don't listen to Mobile stations and vice versa.

93-BLX, TK-101.

It's a reliable observation, but it's not a rule.

 

[Poledo]

Not going to happen. Spot radio has never been bought regionally. Those who have wanted to reach the urban AC target audience in both Mobile and Pensacola have had to advertise on two stations for years and will likely continue to have to advertise on both stations, even with the improved signal for WDLT. Trying to reach Pensacola listeners on a Mobile station isn't likely to be successful, even if the station citygrades both. As I've mentioned before, if 104.1 pulls high numbers in both Mobile and Pensacola, it will be the first station in more than 20 years to accomplish that. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it!

Mobile's 93 BLX has been a top 3 radio station in Pensacola for over 20 years... sometimes often it's #1. Before Magic 106.1 signed on, WDLT also did damn well in the Pensacola ratings, considering that I couldn't pick up a trace of 98.3 downtown. If the Urban AC audience has no choice but to listen to WDLT on 104.1... they'll listen, just like they did when 106.1 played rock.

TK101 does well in Mobile because... well.. the only other rock station covering Mobile plays AAA and CPR from Biloxi has a spotty signal. 96.1 The Rocket does well in Pensacola because there are no other classic rockers listenable here.

I can see where your coming from about folks listening to the local stations... but that only applies if there is a local station to listen to. Pensacola and FWB have never had urban radio stations. The Florida rednecks have always listened to Mobile for urban. I even remember WBLX regularly showing in the Panama City ratings until Clear Channel finally launched an urban down there about two years back. Magic 106.1 was a shock when it signed on (I had just signed a contract with Rock 106 about 5 days before the flip... my sales rep had no idea he was selling me crap). The people in the building weren't even expecting urban on 106.1 but they knew rock was on the way out soon. I was told that several of the staff chose to leave over what they perceived as a horrible decision by Cumulus executives... that was a very long time ago.

 

[Mario500]

According to Cumulus Media of Mobile, WDLT-FM must use the call letters WLVM for a week due to legal reasons.

 

[Kent]

Mobile's 93 BLX has been a top 3 radio station in Pensacola for over 20 years... sometimes often it's #1. Before Magic 106.1 signed on, WDLT also did damn well in the Pensacola ratings, considering that I couldn't pick up a trace of 98.3 downtown. If the Urban AC audience has no choice but to listen to WDLT on 104.1... they'll listen, just like they did when 106.1 played rock.

I went through some old M Street Radio Directories from the early 90's, and you're correct that 'BLX and a few Mobile stations showed well in Pensacola. The previous ratings I looked at only listed Pensacola ratings for out of market stations that actively sold in Pensacola, of which there weren't many. I apologize for the error.

I will also say that I agree with you that the urban AC audience will listen to 'DLT if given no other choice. The problem remains that Pensacola advertisers are not going to pay Mobile rates to go after Pensacola listeners. The rates are too high, and returns are much too low. While agencies are very shrewd about negotiating prices down, they aren't likely to be able to get Pensacola rates out of Mobile stations.

I can see where your coming from about folks listening to the local stations... but that only applies if there is a local station to listen to.

This is true, but whether or not there's a local station to listen to is determined mostly by advertisers. So long as there are enough advertisers in Pensacola who won't support an out of market station that charges higher rates, you're probably going to see 'DLT and 'RRX airing much of the same programming. As I mentioned before, Cumulus has known for two months that this would happen. They've already had plenty of time to transition listeners and advertisers to 104.1 if they felt that was a viable model. Something else to keep in mind is that advertisers dictate Arbitron market definitions more than broadcasters. If the advertisers felt there was a reason to combine Mobile and Pensacola into one market, it would've been done by now. If the two were combined, you'd have a market of just less than 1 million people that would be ranked right around #60. However, advertisers want the two markets split because Pensacola customers don't support enough Mobile businesses to make it worth the extra money they'd have to spend on advertising, and the same can definitely be said for Pensacola businesses and Mobile customers. Radio has always been considered the cheap medium, and advertisers want to keep it that way.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. What you're saying makes perfect sense from a programming standpoint. The problem is that there are two sides to broadcasting, and they don't make up an equal part. Programming makes up a smaller portion of the industry everyday. Aggressive sales is the focus day in and day out, and management almost always comes from the sales side of the building. Also, understand that I share your frustration. When I was talking about a cluster I worked for being acquired by Cumulus, our new market manager, who was one of our sales managers under the previous company, went as far as to say, "I know nothing about programming. I just care about the numbers!" This was also the same guy who complained to management a year earlier that our top-40 station, which knocked off the heritage station about a year prior, wasn't hitting its margins because "it plays too much music." All you had to do was look at all the spots on the log that said "FILLER" to see that wasn't the case!

Magic 106.1 was a shock when it signed on (I had just signed a contract with Rock 106 about 5 days before the flip... my sales rep had no idea he was selling me crap). The people in the building weren't even expecting urban on 106.1 but they knew rock was on the way out soon. I was told that several of the staff chose to leave over what they perceived as a horrible decision by Cumulus executives... that was a very long time ago.

The sales reps usually know before the programming staff that a change is happening, but I've encountered similar situations myself. I'd hate to be that sales rep since some of the advertisers demand cell phone numbers from reps before they sign contracts. I also would have to say that, yes, I would think they would have known Rock 106 was on its way out. The ratings were terrible, and they practically doubled when 'RRX became "Magic 106." Now, the station has averaged a 6 since it flipped formats more than 5 years ago, and it sometimes hits very close to an 8. In other words, it's been a good move. Cumulus got rid of a station that couldn't get a 3 share and replaced it with a station that does well both 12+ and in 25-54 women.

 

[Rob]

If 97X is going over the limit, how do we find out about this before filing a complaint with the FCC? Their signal is still crap here yet, I can't hear WABD at all.

I really think if they going over the limit, they would be booming here but due to 98.1 97.7 would be clobbered on most radios due to near by (and we are just a hop from WHWY..) tower. let's get this problem fixed. I'm sure people in Destin (where I first heard the signal) are having the same problem

-Rob

 

[Dr voicetrack]

Here's the problem, Rob. Cumulus isn't going to go after 97x because their Mobile/Pensacola station can't penetrate Ft. Walton/Destin. They don't want to cannibalize their own local CHR (Z96). Like I said earlier, if being able to WABD is that important, your only real option is to move west about 40 miles.

 

[Poledo]

...The ratings were terrible, and they practically doubled when 'RRX became "Magic 106." Now, the station has averaged a 6 since it flipped formats more than 5 years ago, and it sometimes hits very close to an 8. In other words, it's been a good move. Cumulus got rid of a station that couldn't get a 3 share and replaced it with a station that does well both 12+ and in 25-54 women.

The whole Rock 106 downfall was because of Lex and Terry. With L&T, Rock 106 had started beating TK101. 100kw TK couldn't have a little 6k Rocker kicking their asses so Clear Channel let the Flamingos go and signed Lex and Terry as TK101's new morning show. Rock 106 wasn't left with much to work with and the station kinda fizzled away.

I wasn't really targeting Rock 106's audience, I was targeting Pensacola. Since I advertised on WCOA-AM and Cumulus had this new FM that didn't cover Mobile or Fort Walton... I put adds on there too. When Magic took over, I just pulled all adds from Cumulus and I've never worked with them since. I felt like I had been hoodwinked by signing a new contract for a station with about a week left to live.
I laughed really loud recently when someone called me from Cumulus wanting to sell me commercials... "you aren't looking at my file, are you?"

 

[tomservo]

Unless you are a DX or radio geek. It doesn't matter that they reach this market. The average listener doesn't care.

Before Z96 I bet WABB had a good listener base there because there was probably no other choice. I think when a station bred intense loyalty as the old WABB did, that they would still have listeners there and in Biloxi where they'd historically been a good or only choice.

At least that's my guess.

Maybe my memory is a bit faulty but I seem to recall 97.5's signal being a bit on the weak side in FWB when I was through there last year, compared to the other Mobile stations, including the ones on the WKRG tower nearer Mobile.

According to Cumulus Media of Mobile, WDLT-FM must use the call letters WLVM for a week due to legal reasons.

Thanks for that information. On my site I went ahead and put the calls for each station as they will be because, frankly, I wanted to get all the musical chairs of changing calls/files on my website done and finished.

 

[Tibbs4]

I know BLX had great FWB numbers in the mid-1990s (top five) but I don't recall seeing any significant numbers with WABB. You are probably right that the clutter kept them at a minimum. WYYX being so close also didn't help, I am sure. What I do always seem to remember was that WABB was always dependable, always tried and true and a constant. You had the sense that it was not ever going away. You had to seek it out. The overall radio dial was pretty impressive back then. Now, it's a lot of life support stations with little difference or personality.

 

[Poledo]

What Tibbs said.

I was about to post that WABB had a really good signal all the way over to Walton county back in the 80's. Then in the early 90's when WYYX 97.7 in Bonifay upped their power to 250kw it wiped WABB off the dial east of Milton and Navarre.

Damn superpower Pirate radio stations don't belong in Bonifay... what did they think, they were going to be border blasting from south of the Alabama state line? Playing devil music to the kids in Dothan? We don't appreciate Yankees messing with our Rivera.

 

[Groove1670]

Before Z96 I bet WABB had a good listener base there because there was probably no other choice.

True, but that was many years ago, and Z96 has a strong hold now.

From a sales standpoint I have never heard a Ft Walton spot on a Mobile station, and very few (maybe one client per year) on a Pensacola station. Once again, too many station choices, it is a non issue.

 

[Poledo]

I spend less than 10 minutes a year listening to 93 BLX but I did hear them doing a live remote from Fort Walton one Spring day back before Cumulus bought the Holliday stations (when was that?). 93 BLX also has higher ratings in FWB than most Pensacola radio stations, so that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. I bet the crew from BLX that had to make the drive down to FWB for the remote were pissed!

I'm sure it was already posted, but I flipped the dial around this morning and found that WABD has already moved to 97.5. When did the move actually happen? Did DLT move to 104.1 at the exact same time?

Lastly I went to the twitter page of WABD... https://twitter.com/975wabd I'm pretty sure someone took the Dittman 97.5WABB logo and cut out the 97.5 part for the logo on the top of that twitter page. Is this the real WABD twitter page or someone trying to spoof it?

 

[Mario500]

I'm sure it was already posted, but I flipped the dial around this morning and found that WABD has already moved to 97.5.  When did the move actually happen?  Did DLT move to 104.1 at the exact same time?

WABD-FM and WDLT-FM changed frequencies last Sunday. I cannot say whether they changed frequencies at the exact same time or not, but they were scheduled to change frequencies at 12:01 a.m. last Sunday.

Lastly I went to the twitter page of WABD... https://twitter.com/975wabd I'm pretty sure someone took the Dittman 97.5WABB logo and cut out the 97.5 part for the logo on the top of that twitter page.  Is this the real WABD twitter page or someone trying to spoof it?

That is truly the official WABD-FM Twitter page. You could see an image of the entire logo for the station at the following address:

http://www.facebook.com/975Wabd

 

[Mario500]

I have just heard the call letters "WDLT" during a station identification segment broadcast by WDLT-FM. During the past week they had been using the call letters "WLVM" for legal reasons after the switch to 104.1 megacycles on Sunday, July 15th.

 

[J Alex Bowab]

Back on July 15, I posted Reply #91, discussing how 98.3 (then WDLT, now WLVM) ended up being directional, and how, because of changes in the stations it protects, the DA system was/is no longer necessary. I now see that Radio Locator lists the station as having a CP to go non-DA, granted earlier this month.

 

[tomservo]

Back on July 15, I posted Reply #91, discussing how 98.3 (then WDLT, now WLVM) ended up being directional, and how, because of changes in the stations it protects, the DA system was/is no longer necessary. I now see that Radio Locator lists the station as having a CP to go non-DA, granted earlier this month.

I've compared the two predicted contour plots side by side, and the change is very much negligible. Is it really worth it to swap antenna just to gain what appears to be a mile or so of coverage in two directions? The northeast gain is woods and water. The southwest gain is towards Pascagoula. I figure if anyone knows the ins and outs of that signal, it would be you.

 

[Poledo]

I don't know why I thought 98.3's broadcast antenna was closer to Citronelle & WQUA 102.1... Would it be possible to move 98.3 over to WZEW's tower, closer to Mobile Bay, so they could get a better signal into south Baldwin? Or maybe bump the power up to the maximum 50kw?
In any case, it's cheaper to run a non-directional FM than it is to run a slightly directional one, isn't it?

 

[tomservo]

I don't know why I thought 98.3's broadcast antenna was closer to Citronelle & WQUA 102.1... Would it be possible to move 98.3 over to WZEW's tower, closer to Mobile Bay, so they could get a better signal into south Baldwin? Or maybe bump the power up to the maximum 50kw?
In any case, it's cheaper to run a non-directional FM than it is to run a slightly directional one, isn't it?

It's probably as close to Mobile as the station can get. You've got 97.9 CPR in Mississippi and Highway 98.1 in FWB real close.