Cumulus is rumored to be launching a nationwide Country station

[Poledo]

25-45... I got dyslexic, of course I was referring to the industry standard, important, 25-54 demo.

The scary thing here is that all of us "cumulus outsiders" foresee a complete dismantling of Pensacola's #1 radio staton, WXBM (be it #1 in ratings or billing) It appears, and no one is arguing against the theory, that a new country station on 102.7 will be targeting listeners in both Mobile and Pensacola... a first for country radio in this area? That has to be giveing Cat Country some wet dreams right about now.
I thought WMEZ was safe and secure as is but Cumulus is just making so many changes nationally and I can't imagine that they aren't lookin to put their CBS sports radio format on the air in Mobile and Pensacola. I expect to see format changes on 106.1 and 94.1. Possibly only a major tweak to 94.1 like I'm speculating for 102.7. They could use 106.1 or 1370 for CBS Sports in Pensacola but Cumulus doesn't have a spare 24 hour Mobile signal to use, so breaking 660 off of the WGOK simulcast for sports would be a mistake. I'm starting to see 100.7's long term plans. I'm also thinking CC is seeing the same things I think I see and wouldn't be surprised if CC pulled Premeir programming from WCOA AM and went ahead with WNTM on 107.3 or 96.1, including all the current shows on WNTM AM... bypassing the assumed future of WNTM finding a new home on a translator in Mobile.

I guess it all comes down too the feeling that some major changes are coming to Mobile/Pensacola radio this year and we just have to sit back and wait.

And Rob, the format change you linked to is the spark that lit the fire. Cumulus changed that format from religion to country as soon as they closed on the purchase of the station. That 94.7 you linked too will probably become the new flagship to WXMB and Country 105.5 The Wolf this year.... meaning, down your way you'll probably be hearing identical programming on both 102.7 and 105.5. That's something we are already expecting you to complain about.

 

[Rob]

I'll think I'll listen to WRFM, it's cold here (whoops, this isn't the 1970s)
The one DJ there at least had class, there's audio tapes of him on YouTube.

This "State Wide crap" I believe is the death of radio as we know it.

-Rob

 

[Poledo]

This "State Wide crap" I believe is the death of radio as we know it.

We aren't speculating on something as mundane as a state or regional County radio network here, Rob. This entire thread is predicting that WXBM & WYZB will soon be nothing more than a simulcast of the country station in New York City. Some people like myself find the idea of Country radio stations in NW Florida and most of Alabama and Georgia being programmed in NYC an insult. If it happens the way it's being presented, all Cat Country and Highway 98 will have to do is say, "Listen to us, we aren't from New York like that other station."

 

[Kent]

Cumulus has said that "Nash" will be a brand, and there will be different applications of it. KPLX in Dallas, for example, will be "99.5 The Wolf, a Nash station," and you'll likely see that with the other heritage country stations Cumulus owns. Don't know what that means for your local stations, but it doesn't sound like a change to satellite is in the immediate pipeline for WXBM or WYZM. I really can't imagine them taking very many of their country stations completely satellite. After all, Cumulus already owns the former SMN and doesn't use it on very many of its stations. I could, however, see them airing certain dayparts in syndication. They've been doing that for quite some time now on a variety of formats.

 

[Tibbs4]

My take on it is it will be business as usual for most of the stations, except the name "Nash" will be transitioned in. There will probably be a few mandatory hourly spots promoting the additional products to reinforce the branding. Similar to the Jack-FMs, which are programmed locally in the Top 40 & 45th markets, NASH will also be programmed locally, so each market will sound a bit unique and be able to compete vs. a national scripted playlist. I am sure there will be an increase in corporate playlists with time as they attempt to maximize the breaking of hits, new artists, etc. This could be a real positive, if Crums doesn't screw it up, loose focus, or bore it out. It also probably will allow Crums to pump some nice national advertising into all 83 markets, give the smaller stations a larger market sound and save some time and stress for other stupid paper work for the market managers. My guess is you might see a national morning, afternoon or evening show that stations can run and some strong filler for the weekend. Or they will Cumulus it up.

 

[Poledo]

Tibbs, if I'm not mistaken *** owns two 100kw country stations in Nashville. One of them, WSM FM, is arguably the most important country FM in the world.

Surely you know somebody or know somebody that knows somebody with the skinny... and with the brand being "Nash FM" the logical first station to pick up the branding would be in your backyard.

How do you expect *** to handle things in Nville? Two country FMs. Will they leave WSM FM autonomous?

Changing themes, even though I've been taking a negative approach to the future of Country radio in Pensacola, I'm actually optimistic. I want the local ADX guys to "own" the format and continue to play radio with the local listener in mind and no one in San Antonio or Atlanta to answer to. I'd love format duplication on the 12 class C/C1 Mobile-Pensacola signals to thin out. I think it would be great for the markets to combine allowing those 12 100kw FMs to get top $ add revenue from corporate America. Sure, a single Mobile-Pensacola market would knock WRRX, WZEW and Mobile's 105.5 and 106.5 out of the big picture but they have ways to overcome that issue and sell spots without using full market Arbitron data. With only 4 stations vulnerable to a combined Arbitron market ( and only one of those has corporate ownership) there really isn't a good reason for CC and *** to keep the markets separate, is there?

Yeah, I know there are three more small FMs, WCSN 105.7 at the beach, WPFL 105.1 in Flomaton and 105.9 in Atmore, but they don't cover either city and don't do well in the books now... Those stations already know how to handle themselves. They don't count in my mind. Nothing discussed here will effect them unless 102.7 Nash FM is so great people stop listening to country on 105.1 and 105.9.

 

[Nate Wesley]

Well it looks like I shot myself in the foot. When *** bought the Pensacola Pamal cluster I pondered on this very board that they may try to use WXBM as a dual market Mobile-Pensacola Country station to boost the ratings of #1 WBLX and #2 WDLT and wondered if the cumulative revenues from a new "defacto" #2 Pensacola and #2 Mobile Country station would exceed the revenues earned from focusing solely on Pensacola. That idea/theory was promptly shot down by the board members... Now it's happening, albeit under a slightly different and unforeseen set of circumstances.
Cat Country #1 in Pensacola by the end of the year?

You're assuming listeners would abandon WXBM in droves, and that's too easy an assumption. They're not losing country on 102.7, they'd be losing old world 'WXBM' branding. NASH can be on your radio, TV, smartphone, tablet...'WXBM' can't.

If Cumulus is successful in making NASH a good brand, people will get used to it.

 

[tomservo]

Whatever changes Cumulus has made certainly hasn't impacted the number of places I heard WXBM playing. I spend most of my time in Baldwin County and WXBM gets all the country play on radios in shops and restaurants here. I can't say I've heard WKSJ in the 3 years I've been here. Ditto Lite Mix, I always hear Soft Rock 94.1 instead.

I realize it's apocryphal but it's an interesting observation. (The other most-heard in shops and stores? Sunny 105.7 and TK 101. Go figure.)

 

[Poledo]

You're assuming listeners would abandon WXBM in droves, and that's too easy an assumption. They're not losing country on 102.7, they'd be losing old world 'WXBM' branding. NASH can be on your radio, TV, smartphone, tablet...'WXBM' can't.

If Cumulus is successful in making NASH a good brand, people will get used to it.

I am making the assumption that WXBM will end up with some nationally syndicated morning show and possibly be voice tracked 24/7.... maybe 1 or 2 weekday DJ slots filled locally. Using that assumption the Cat should be able to pounce the cloud and take over quickly.

Tibbs made it clear on Wednesday that we have no idea whatsoever as to the extent Cumulus will morph 102.7.

I feel safe assuming that a national "Nash" format as described in the multiple articles I've read will indeed target Mobile and (if just by default) WKSJ listeners though.
White, middle to upper-middle class, 25+ year old Pensacola residents (the bulk of the PNS market) don't like the city of Mobile in general. I don't like Mobile. I only cross Mobile bay for business. If I want to go shopping I tend to go to Destin but lately I am warming up to the Eastern Shore Center as it's 30 minutes closer than Destin Commons. Talk about Mobile or advertise too many Mobile businesses and Pensacola listeners will tune to Cat in a heartbeat. Cat's probably just been on the air long enough to pull the listeners. If a new Pensacola country station were to launch this year I don't believe folks would change favorites.
Urban and CHR listeners don't give a damn, they may even prefer listening to stations from the big city of Mobile. As long as the CHR mentions Seville and Capt'n Fun every now and then everyone's happy.

 

[Poledo]

Whatever changes Cumulus has made certainly hasn't impacted the number of places I heard WXBM playing. I spend most of my time in Baldwin County and WXBM gets all the country play on radios in shops and restaurants here. I can't say I've heard WKSJ in the 3 years I've been here. Ditto Lite Mix, I always hear Soft Rock 94.1 instead.

I realize it's apocryphal but it's an interesting observation. (The other most-heard in shops and stores? Sunny 105.7 and TK 101. Go figure.)

From your part of Baldwin county it's a much shorter drive to Pensacola. I'd guess Fairhope, Daphne, Spanish Fort and Bay Minette folks would go for Mobile stations first unless they wanted to listen to TK.

Most heard radio stations in businesses doesn't include WHEP? That's the only surprise I see on your short list.

 

[Whiplash]

Not sure what Cumulus plans with NASH FM here in Florida. But their getting ready to flip 94.1 in Cincy as I write this.

 

[Nate Wesley]

I am making the assumption that WXBM will end up with some nationally syndicated morning show and possibly be voice tracked 24/7.... maybe 1 or 2 weekday DJ slots filled locally. Using that assumption the Cat should be able to pounce the cloud and take over quickly.

If live and local shows were proven to be the lifeblood of loyal listenership, we'd never hear of any annual Holiday firings/layoffs from Cumulus and Clear Channel. Cat Country only gains in Pensacola by a 102.7 that directly ticks off listeners, and there's no way to know that WXBM will change enough to do that.

I feel safe assuming that a national "Nash" format as described in the multiple articles I've read will indeed target Mobile and (if just by default) WKSJ listeners though.

Or, they could do like a lot of smart auto dealers (and indirect radio station bankrollers) have done by casting nets to capture customers along the 'Gulf Coast' and not necessarily 'Daphne' (which is neither Pensacola or Mobile--more on that later). Are you betting on the convenient, coincidental Mobile/Pensacola 'divide' amongst WKSJ and WXBM (of which WYCT isn't an equal player) to be as reliable as the radio industry itself? I don't, just as I also don't have one of those nifty plastic newspaper boxes affixed to my mailbox to house my daily 'Mobile Press', 'Mobile Register', 'Pensacola News', 'Pensacola Journal'...

White, middle to upper-middle class, 25+ year old Pensacola residents (the bulk of the PNS market) don't like the city of Mobile in general. I don't like Mobile. I only cross Mobile bay for business. If I want to go shopping I tend to go to Destin but lately I am warming up to the Eastern Shore Center as it's 30 minutes closer than Destin Commons. Talk about Mobile or advertise too many Mobile businesses and Pensacola listeners will tune to Cat in a heartbeat. Cat's probably just been on the air long enough to pull the listeners. If a new Pensacola country station were to launch this year I don't believe folks would change favorites.

You can't use your own observational biases and apply them to everyone like that...you know better.

People make the Mobile-Baldwin-Pensacola jaunt to work, shop and play just as people make the opposite Pensacola-Baldwin-Mobile jaunt. Nowhere is this better observed when you have promotable events and concerts that are neither in Pensacola or Mobile (Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, pretty much all of lower Baldwin County, AL). There won't be any Northwest Floridians traveling west for Mobile-area Mardi Gras? The Senior Bowl? Alabama's Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo? The select events that choose the Mobile Civic Center over the Pensacola Bay Center? Gas has never been that expensive.

I can figure all sorts of [loaded] reasons why fewer people live in the Mobile area, but this notion that most extend that to avoiding Mobile at all is just silly. One more reason your assumptions are bad: IIRC, you're a 55+ year old man, which functionally means you don't actually exist anymore according to media brokers and ad salespersons For that reason, neither WXBM, WKSJ, nor even WYCT particularly want more poledos listening--they want their daughters, granddaughters, and trophy wives.

 

[Poledo]

Nate, you threw a hard punch there. I still stand behind my post and I intend to respond to yours and clarify or expand on some of mine, I just don't have the time to do it right now and I have to keep my response related to NASH and country radio to keep the moderator off my back.

I will say that you are off on my age as I'm only 40. I was under the assumption that you were in the 25+ range and I thought you lived near Monroeville, so your passionate defense of Mobile caught me off guard... Do you live in Mobile? You wouldn't happen to be a current of former USA student?

 

[Poledo]

I heard a local Cumulus DJ talking about NASH FM New York City on air this afternoon and he did say it was spreading across the country and would be on its way here soon. Had a trembling voice as if he was worried about his job.

Not at all what I expected to hear discussed on the radio while I drove home.

 

[tomservo]

From your part of Baldwin county it's a much shorter drive to Pensacola. I'd guess Fairhope, Daphne, Spanish Fort and Bay Minette folks would go for Mobile stations first unless they wanted to listen to TK.

Most heard radio stations in businesses doesn't include WHEP? That's the only surprise I see on your short list.

Aha, but that's where it gets interesting: I spend as much time over in Fairhope and Spanish Fort these days as I do in Gulf Shores or Orange Beach. An off the cuff example is the Market By The Bay restaurant on Greeno Road in Fairhope. I would have thought them squarely pegged for Mobile media but they were playing Soft Rock 94.1 when I ate there a few weeks ago.

I can honestly say that not only have I never heard WHEP playing anywhere, the two or three people I've mentioned the station to here in Foley hadn't even heard of it! The only AM I've heard playing in a business in three years of living here? WABF, static-laden and barely audible from a transistor radio at the office inside the Gift Horse Antique place in downtown Foley.

I'm pretty hardcore when it comes to listening to stuff like this, and I'm always keen to flip on my own radio in the car if someone next to me in traffic is blaring their music, so I can see what they're listening to. As a kid it was pretty easy to find someone's station that way, but these days radio is apparently waaaay down the list on choices as I hear more personal audio or satellite radio than anything else, especially inside businesses. I've heard WXBM a time or two from other cars, and WBLX more times than I care to remember, and TK 101 a few times… everyone else doesn't seem to exist from this admittedly unscientific study habit.

I can figure all sorts of [loaded] reasons why fewer people live in the Mobile area, but this notion that most extend that to avoiding Mobile at all is just silly. One more reason your assumptions are bad: IIRC, you're a 55+ year old man, which functionally means you don't actually exist anymore according to media brokers and ad salespersons For that reason, neither WXBM, WKSJ, nor even WYCT particularly want more poledos listening--they want their daughters, granddaughters, and trophy wives.

I dunno, Nate, I get that same impression from people here in Baldwin County, too. No one really wants to drive into Mobile unless they have to. Maybe there's some sort of bias at play, but part of it certainly must be the hassle of traipsing through those damn tunnels in and out of town. They're such a headache when they get backed up. The Cochran-Africatown bridge is too far out of the way to be a viable bypass for people headed downtown or the commercial districts.

I'm about equidistant from Cordova Mall and Bel Air Mall and their associated commercial areas, and I almost always choose Pensacola first, despite the fact it's a two lane road the whole way and I'm lucky to see 50 MPH! It's still less of a hassle than fighting traffic on Airport.

Neither city really has a claim to a perception of safety, imho. I'm either going to get shot by a gangbanger in Mobile or robbed by a meth addict in Pensacola, so it's a crapshoot either way to me.

 

[Louis_009]

What about Tallahassee we have Cumulus stations but I think maybe not now since we have 2 country stations (clear channel 94.9) WTNT and 103.1 The Wolf (Opus Broacsting)

Cumulus of Tallahassee doing very well WHBX,WWLD,WBZE (all on the fm dial) on the Top 3 with Hot AC to Hip Hop/R/B and Urban AC.

 

[Poledo]

I'm not interpreting the story to say Cumulus is planning to change formats right away . They are starting out with there existing stable of 80+ contemporary country stations.

If you are interested, try to see if you can pick up Cumulus' country station out of Albany. That's probably going to be a good candidate for a nationalization consolidation of Cumulus Country.

Hey! Did I just coin a new phrase that we'll all be using in about a year? "Cumulus Country"

 

[Poledo]

If live and local shows were proven to be the lifeblood of loyal listenership, we'd never hear of any annual Holiday firings/layoffs from Cumulus and Clear Channel. Cat Country only gains in Pensacola by a 102.7 that directly ticks off listeners, and there's no way to know that WXBM will change enough to do that.

No way to know. I agree. I'm confident enough to bet a dollar on it though. I'll be explaining my observations of "hyper localism in the Pensacola metro" as I go on. The crew at Cat should be riding a high right now, but nothing has happened yet. Perhaps Cumulus will try to preserve localism, but in the name of cost savings and launching a new nationwide multimedia country format, Mobile has to be a more important city to Cumulus than Pensacola. Speculation, just going to have to wait and see on this one.

Or, they could do like a lot of smart auto dealers (and indirect radio station bankrollers) have done by casting nets to capture customers along the 'Gulf Coast' and not necessarily 'Daphne' (which is neither Pensacola or Mobile--more on that later). Are you betting on the convenient, coincidental Mobile/Pensacola 'divide' amongst WKSJ and WXBM (of which WYCT isn't an equal player) to be as reliable as the radio industry itself?

Ah, but here you are wrong. Many a business, including radio and TV stations, has tried to expand to cover "they whole Mobile-Pensacola TV market" by using those magic words "Gulf Coast". It doesn't work. It never has. Cumulus and CC salesmen don't even suggest that term, they recommend targeting one of the two cities on those 12 100kw sticks, or just listing all your locations in the coverage area.
Car dealers have a unique advantage, they have the ability to save Joe Six Pack thousands of dollars for making a 1 hour drive. Most people are willing to do that. Not all are. My mom, for example, doesn't care... she lives in Pensacola and by god she's only going to do business with a Pensacola car dealership... even after I've told her that car dealership is owned by a big corporation from Miami... she just doesn't care. Not typical, but also not an unusual action by Pensacola consumers.
There is an obvious divide between KSJ and WXBM today. Cat is trying to catch enough of the Pensacola market to keep going. Is cat a money machine? I doubt it. Nationalizing Cat's only real competition into in an age where portable/digital/satellite music programming is easily obtained, the timing for such an endeavor by Cumulus could very well be perfect. Assuming NASH plays out in a way similar to what I envision, KSJ will have a little bit of competition in Mobile and Cat will be the sole local Pensacola Country outlet. How will NASH do in Pensacola-Mobile? I have no idea.

You can't use your own observational biases and apply them to everyone like that...you know better.

In this case I'm using my "own observational biases" as a simple way to describe what I've seen in this community for 20 years. 25 years ago I wasn't of the mindset to notice these things. I'm not applying this to everyone, YOU know better than to assume that. I'm applying this bias to a significant amount of the Pensacola metro population. Significant? Define that as close to 50%.

People make the Mobile-Baldwin-Pensacola jaunt to work, shop and play just as people make the opposite Pensacola-Baldwin-Mobile jaunt. Nowhere is this better observed when you have promotable events and concerts that are neither in Pensacola or Mobile (Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, pretty much all of lower Baldwin County, AL). There won't be any Northwest Floridians traveling west for Mobile-area Mardi Gras? The Senior Bowl? Alabama's Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo? The select events that choose the Mobile Civic Center over the Pensacola Bay Center? Gas has never been that expensive.

Plenty of people live in Pensacola and work in Mobile. Mobile has lots of good, high paying, jobs. Those people take their money and buy hoses in Baldwin County, on Dauphin Island, and in Pensacola. I have no knowledge whatsoever of the this working in the opposite direction. I've never encountered anyone living in Mobile with a single full time job in Pensacola. When I moved to Fairhope back in 2004 I was the only person in the neighborhood that didn't work in Mobile. Why did I move to Fairhope? The property was a better investment than anything available in NW Florida. All these biases don't necessarily apply to me. Why don't I live in Fairhope today? Hurricane Katrina took my house and I didn't have any insurance.

I can figure all sorts of [loaded] reasons why fewer people live in the Mobile area, but this notion that most extend that to avoiding Mobile at all is just silly.

I can tell you that when folks from out of the area accept those nice jobs in Mobile that they come to Pensacola looking for their first home in the area. I deal with the real estate industry every day (realtors and relocation companies). I deal with people moving from (say Denver) to Pensacola with a new job already arranged in Mobile. I have to assume that the recruiters at those Mobile businesses are suggesting their new employees look to Pensacola for a place to live. There's no other way it makes sense for people who can't even pronounce the word "Mobile" to be purchasing a new home in Pace. It has been explained to me by 2 or 3 families that they are living here for educational reasons. There are multiple public schools in the Pensacola/Pace/Gulf Breeze area that can provide an education equivalent (on paper) to that of an expensive private school in Mobile or Baldwin county. One time I slipped and told a Doctor that he had overpaid about $125k for his new house in Gulf Breeze. His response was, "I know, but I saved the $400k it would have cost to send my sons to private school." Another factor that might play in for families relocating to Mobile, they can get a house in Florida and get in state college tuition for their children at a Florida college. Outside of Dixie, ignorant people really turn up their noses at Auburn and UofA.

Everyone from Pensacola travels to Mobile for Mardi Gras once or twice. No one makes a tradition out of it. In fact, I'd say the percentage of Mobilians in the crowd at the Pensacola Grand Mardi Gras parade on the Saturday before Fat Tuesday is higher than the percentage of Floridians at any Fat Tuesday parade in Mobile. Pensacola Mardi Gras is far more family oriented than Mobile... and Mobile Mardi Gras is no New Orleans Mardi Gras. Traveling to events in South Baldwin county... doesn't phase us. On the other hand, I don't know anyone who's attended The Gulf State Fair, Bayfest... heck, we wouldn't even drive over to Mobile in the 1990's to see all the UFC cage fights at the Civic Center, we just waited for the VHS tape to be released. The Senior Bowl usually profiles at least one player from Pensacola, so yea, people go to that, but before we got Pro Baseball in Pensacola, no one traveled to see the Bay Bears.

I kinda rushed through this long post. But I stand behind my observations. Pensacola folks avoid Mobile. Heck, Milton folks avoid Pensacola. I have an unstaffed office in Midway because I would loose customers if they knew I was answering the phones at my Pensacola office. There is a strong sense of hyper localism here. People want to keep their business as close to home as possible, and even though Mobile is a sub-one hour drive.... they don't want to go there.

These same principals have always applied to those 12 100kw FM radio stations. That's why it has always been necessary for Pensacola and Mobile to have their own Country, AC, and Top-40 radio stations even if they broadcasts from the same dang tower. It's obvious when you watch WEAR TV news, they avoid reporting anything west of Mobile bay like the plague. You have seen this all your life Nate. Open your eyes. If you can't twist what I'm typing into something that makes sense to you, something's wrong.

As for NASH FM. It's coming. What will it do? As our buddy Tibbs pointed out, who the hell knows? If it works, what's next?

 

[Poledo]

Oh, I think we've pushed this thread as far off track as the Mods will allow. If we don't turn the subject back toward country radio they will probably lock the thread. Area demos are very important to this topic... but keep them related to radio and listenership. I don't want to get my wrist slapped again.