Here is something that may be interesting that the cat is out of the bag.WLVL 1340 am in Lockport carries PREMIRE feeds. .Friday I get a call that they are exercising there 90 day right to cancel all programs.This includes Clay & Buck,Hannity,and Jesese Kelly .Told me they have a New Buffalo/Niagara Falls radio station they are going with.On facebook WECK engineer looking for someone to install a satellite dish.I too can exercise my 90 day notice to play this game. I already have a solution. Sure seems more than coincidental
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Buffalo Cumulus sells AM to Buddy Shula
- Thread starter exdjted
- Start date
exploding pizza
What is finding funny to this guy,
Buddy himself said ( on a post here, and no I am not looking for it ) however, he was observed as saying:
Guys, 107.7 is not some stand alone station. It will not sell as a one off...
I am thinking he is right, but at the same time, he could have made that comment to calm down the folks on here to avoid an imaginary bidding war.
Similar to Pegula when trying to buy the Buffalo Bills -- downplay the interest to save some money, and then do what business woman and men do.
Get down to business.
Congrats Buddy..
Interesting, or just a coincidence? We will know in less than a month. Maybe Buddy figured out that country music on an AM without an FM translator (or two) is a tough sell?
We know that syndicated conservative talk on 1270 gets a 1 share. That's what they got in December and January. The Premiere shows aren't that much better than the Cumulus shows. But if not, WLVL can run the Cumulus shows. It doesn't matter who the talent is. They all say basically the same thing.
But I'll say this: Buddy can sell anything. He can sell ice to Eskimos. And we know where he stands politically. So this wouldn't be a big surprise.
It's also Audacy's biggest fear. Years ago posters would ask why they kept KB and the answer was they didn't want another news/talk to compete with WBEN. 1270 was a weak competitor. Buddy won't run it like Cumulus.
But I'll say this: Buddy can sell anything. He can sell ice to Eskimos. And we know where he stands politically. So this wouldn't be a big surprise.
It's also Audacy's biggest fear. Years ago posters would ask why they kept KB and the answer was they didn't want another news/talk to compete with WBEN. 1270 was a weak competitor. Buddy won't run it like Cumulus.
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BTW I did not come up with that description for the CBC logo, but first heard it back in the 1970s when the logo was still new.
The “exploding pizza” artwork has been tweaked a few times over the years; I think the current version goes back to the early 1990s.
Cumulus ran it like it was a computer in a closet, because it was. Liners and promos out of date for two years, voice tracks stepping on each other, sloppy network re-joins, sometimes off the air for 30 minutes at a time. Basically just bad radio. It won't be like that with Buddy.
I agree. Buddy will also hire a local news staff. Perhaps a familiar name or two.
What is the strategy if the speculation is true? Maybe take away WBEN's clients with a better price? You said Audacy has held on to KB just to be prevent a competitor from going against WBEN. That was true 20 years ago when the demos were still viable. Those days are over.
The post from Bill Y says a battle is brewing over Premier Syndicated programming. AM Radio Wars in 2025. Interesting...
What would they need a dish for? I thought syndicated shows were all fed via the internet now days.
Who did Buddy used to work for? Prior to WECK.
Entercom/Audacy. And I believe 107.7 when it was a stand alone FM doing Country.
Yes, it's called a rhetorical question. The poster wanted to know the strategy. That is the answer.
Right. That was my point. Use his contacts and take their clients. Some are probably on WECK anyway...
Most, if not all of the Premiere, Westwood One and other live talk shows are fed via satellite. This is from the clock for the Sean Hannity Show:
Premiere XDS PRO4-P Satellite
3-6 PM Eastern/ 12-3 PM Pacific time
Cumulus has been using Fox News Talk for most of their stations, and putting NO effort into promotions. It's filler. The conservative heavyweights are Hannity, Travis and Sexton, Joe Pags, Lars Larson, etc.. Buddy can put on the most popular talk hosts packaged with local news and targeted programming, and pull in good money without having to pay music royalties and licensing fees.
107.7 would fetch at least 10x what Buddy paid for 1270. With a worse signal. 1270 will do exactly what Buddy wanted it to do. Reach the demo he's after for 1/10th the potential price.
You keep saying that those older demos are not viable. In a medium to smaller market that does not depend as much on agency business, local direct accounts and even local small agency accounts will buy older demos. In particular, in what are often called "Rust Belt" markets where there is no influx of "outsiders" there are plenty of traditional local accounts and enough revenue for a couple of stations to profit from serving them.
If true, why can't Audacy, Cumulus, Iheart and others who are "broadcasting experts" do it? They own clusters of stations serving different demos. Oh that's right, go back to your premise that it's too hard and expensive. Older demos don't respond to ads fast enough, so it's not cost effective. You've spewed that reason on other threads ad nauseum...
It takes a different sales approach and the corporate structure and mentality don't seem to adapt well to it. In the case of the successful stations of this type, we can look at Buddy Shula as one... if not "the" best example. Buddy is in contact with advertisers, builds confidence, and is involved in programming. We also have "b-turner" in Texas where he devotes lots of time to relationship building with clients and establishing trust in the station.
The large companies are not built and structured to single out individuals to be specialists in old-leaning formats and to give them special work conditions that likely are headaches for large HR departments and don't fit in the hierarchical system of group owners.
I have not said that "older people don't respond to ads fast enough". Don't misquote or misinterpret other posters.
My belief, based on working mostly with agency accounts, is that dollars are best spent against the consumer groups most likely to spend the most. However, at the local level where direct accounts are not as involved in differences in response levels, most businesses welcome consumers of any age. But local direct requires a totally different sales approach than agency sales or sales to businesses that have their own ad department.
But for small groups and "non-corporate" owners there are many reasons to go after the over-50 group in some markets. You have to see the right conditions, which include a thriving local business community and a station owner willing to spend a higher percentage on sales than would be the norm with agency-appealing 25-54 and 18-49 targets.
Another example would be Lotus' purchase of KFWB in Los Angeles. The station is a medium power AM, but it covers the core Hispanic areas of the market pretty well. And nobody plays true Regional Mexican "oldies" for first generation Mexican immigrants over 50 or so. With the market growing towards being 50% Hispanic, there are now enough businesses that want every portion of that market. There are loads of Hispanic-owned businesses and services, and many non-Hispanic businesses that realize that they have to attract Hispanic consumers or they will eventually die. Lotus is a specialist in selling niche formats such as Spanish language sports and Farsi programming in LA, and they know how to focus on direct sales. They are very profitable; like Buddy, they know the market and are willing to develop a sales team and attractive-but-low-cost programming.
Oh, and what I have said is that the older a consumer gets, the more they tend to have long-term preferences for brands and services, and it takes more promotion to "sell them over" to a different business. It is not impossible, but it takes longer and sales people who know how to work with older leaning formats build the right expectations among clients. Again, not easy for big radio groups that have a hard time managing "special people for special situations".
It's too bad an all news wheel is too costly to run. That's one thing missing from the Buffalo market that would serve good excuse for an AM station in 2025 to exist.