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Do WBLM and WGIR-FM Rock Too Hard?

G

Gregg

In the 90s, both WBLM Portland and WGIR-FM Manchester were very pop sounding Classic Rock stations. Both played plenty of Billy Joel, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, Springsteen, Segar, etc.

And both were at or near the top of their market's ratings... WBLM very competitive with WPOR Country and WGIR-FM very competitive with WZID Soft AC.

Then, around 2000, both stations decided that wasn't good enough. I guess they were worried about demos getting too old or national trends. But I think Northern New England isn't like Detroit or St. Louis. Rock stations in those cities better rock hard. That's what guys who work in factories and drink hard want to hear when the workday is over. But that's not the mindset of Maine or New Hampshire.

Never the less, WBLM adopted the "Classic Rock That Really Rocks" slogan and became much harder edged. And WGIR-FM (a station I can remember when it was actually "Soft Rock") decided to go Active Rock. It went from being older and softer than co-owned WHEB Portsmouth to being harder-edged and more current.

And what happened? WBLM has fallen from one of the top two stations in Portland to #7. Meanwhile, a Classic Hits station, Frank, signed on with a format that includes America and Cat Stevens and regularly beats WBLM.

And while WGIR-FM is still #2 in Manchester, there's now a mile gulf between WZID, sometimes in the 20s in the ratings, and WGIR-FM, usually now in singal digits. (WZID and WGIR-FM are Manchester's only two Class B stations with the strongest signals.)

Imagine. Now in Manchester, if you want to hear The Eagles or Sherryl Crow or Springsteen or Alannis Morrisette, you listen to Soft AC WZID. WGIR-FM is a rock station that rocks so hard and current that it doesn't play these artists anymore.

Why would both stations shoot themselves in the foot this way?





Gregg
[email protected]
 
Gregg said:
In the 90s, both WBLM Portland and WGIR-FM Manchester were very pop sounding Classic Rock stations. Both played plenty of Billy Joel, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, Springsteen, Segar, etc.

And both were at or near the top of their market's ratings... WBLM very competitive with WPOR Country and WGIR-FM very competitive with WZID Soft AC.

Then, around 2000, both stations decided that wasn't good enough. I guess they were worried about demos getting too old or national trends. But I think Northern New England isn't like Detroit or St. Louis. Rock stations in those cities better rock hard. That's what guys who work in factories and drink hard want to hear when the workday is over. But that's not the mindset of Maine or New Hampshire.

Never the less, WBLM adopted the "Classic Rock That Really Rocks" slogan and became much harder edged. And WGIR-FM (a station I can remember when it was actually "Soft Rock") decided to go Active Rock. It went from being older and softer than co-owned WHEB Portsmouth to being harder-edged and more current.

And what happened? WBLM has fallen from one of the top two stations in Portland to #7. Meanwhile, a Classic Hits station, Frank, signed on with a format that includes America and Cat Stevens and regularly beats WBLM.

And while WGIR-FM is still #2 in Manchester, there's now a mile gulf between WZID, sometimes in the 20s in the ratings, and WGIR-FM, usually now in singal digits. (WZID and WGIR-FM are Manchester's only two Class B stations with the strongest signals.)

Imagine. Now in Manchester, if you want to hear The Eagles or Sherryl Crow or Springsteen or Alannis Morrisette, you listen to Soft AC WZID. WGIR-FM is a rock station that rocks so hard and current that it doesn't play these artists anymore.

Why would both stations shoot themselves in the foot this way?

Gregg
[email protected]
Click to expand...

I suspect that both were being reactive to demo issues. To me, WGIR is actually much harder rocking than WBLM - and is more out of place in the scheme of things. In the case of WBLM, they are in a market with more competition and are reacting to the strong entry of Nassau's Frank (a station with an equally good signal). So, I suspect that they are trying to outdo Frank in the demos - a strategy that does not seem to be paying off. Not to mention that Nassau has an active rock station that's hemming it in at the hard end too: WHXQ (The Bone). So, they really need to program the heck out of that station to keep it relevant. However, all that being said, I still find WBLM to be a much more well-balanced station than WGIR-FM.

WGIR-FM (Rock 101) has degenerated into being the head bangers ball. It is an anachronism in today's world of radio - akin to something you'd find in Flint, Michigan, circa 1979. And, it is needless. As one of the two class B stations in the market (and, by far, the strongest), it has become an underperformer. I'm not sure what pushed them in the direction of active rock, though I would guess it is the hunt for younger male demos. That created a void that WMLL and Frank 106.3 seem to fill. By the way, WMLL (the Mill) is the place where you can get your Springsteen or Eagles fix - and Frank 106.3 carries all of the artists that you mentioned. Both are receivable in Manchester. However, both have inferior signals to WGIR-FM (as does everyone else).

In each case, these stations need to change or die. Active rock is less popular than it was 10 years ago and, barring a resurgence, these stations will need to adjust their playlists to keep up. WGIR-FM, in particular, does not seem to serve the NH market very well. At the moment, it is rapidly becoming a waste of juice. As the NH station that can reach the widest audience, it also helps to perpetuate the inaccurate stereotype of New Hampshire as being a redneck or white trash kind of state. Head banging rock and NASCAR - what else are they to think?

While I can listen to WBLM or WHEB for an hour, my patience with WGIR is limited to about 8 minutes. It's just too hard. So, going forward, I see the station having an increasingly niched (and small) audience, when they could really clean up by BROADCASTING (in its literal sense). I know that the demos for classic rock don't seem as attractive as other formats, but they would clobber the competition with that format. Agency buys aren't that important in a place like Manchester, so you sell on the size of the audience. Clear Channel could program a tight classic rock format on 101.1 and sit back and enjoy cruise control while Saga (WMLL) and Nassau (Frank) rapidly flee to other formats.

In summary, I agree with you Gregg.
 
Gregg said:
Imagine. Now in Manchester, if you want to hear The Eagles or Sherryl Crow or Springsteen or Alannis Morrisette, you listen to Soft AC WZID. WGIR-FM is a rock station that rocks so hard and current that it doesn't play these artists anymore.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't really call ZID a soft AC anymore. Yeah, the presentation is kind of low key, but I'm often surprised at some of the stuff I hear there. Do they even play the Eagles anymore? Keep in mind that when 'GIR was playing the aforementioned artists (did they ever play Sheryl Crow?), 'ZID was playing really sleepy stuff like Celine Dion, Peabo Bryson, etc.

Why would both stations shoot themselves in the foot this way?
Click to expand...

I'd say a certain degree of arrogance. "We've been rockin' this market forever, we can do whatever we want & people will listen". Also, both stations are being hemmed in by competitors. Gone are the days when an AOR can be all over the place, playing the Beatles one minute and Nine Inch Nails the next. In 'BLM's case "classic rock that really rocks" was supposed to be the Next Big Thing a few years ago. I wouldn't want to be programming a rock station these days...once upon a time it was a slam dunk if you wanted under-35 men, but listen to what you hear the next time some kid with 1000W subwoofers in his car drives by. It ain't Ozzy.
 
Oldbones said:
I wouldn't want to be programming a rock station these days...once upon a time it was a slam dunk if you wanted under-35 men, but listen to what you hear the next time some kid with 1000W subwoofers in his car drives by. It ain't Ozzy.
Click to expand...

Great point! Programmers think that places like ME and NH are still as they were 20 years ago and that is simply not true. And, active rockers are struggling in many larger markets. Granted, those places have different demographics, but musical tastes have changed and the trend is showing no signs of heading the other way. Even Boston's rockers are not doing as well as they once did and that was always one of the format's best big markets.

It's not laughable anymore to wonder if a station like WGIR-FM could do as well programming CHR/Urban as they do with active rock. Or even country. It makes you wonder about the long term viability of this format. With all that power, they should be doing better. And CHR/U is a great big hole in the Manchester market. So is country, as WOKQ has some signal challenges in parts of the market.

WBLM has different issues and are even more hemmed in, formatwise. If I was programming them, I am not sure what I would suggest. It would take a lot of thought and research.
 
WGIR-FM DOES NOT rock too hard at all. They really follow what is at the top of the rock charts today; then they mix in the classic stuff (which I really like). Sure I like classic rock, but only to an extent. WGIR perfectly balances the two, and I definitley fit one of the younger demos. People my age that listen to WGIR-FM like it because it plays the new stuff and the old stuff. Any major rock fan appreciates both the old and the new.

As for WGIR-FM talking too much, I think that actually is what their audience is looking for. They have some pretty entertaining DJs (Scorch in the afternoons is hilarious), and most of their audience probably wants them to blanace the talk and the music both.

Responding to the point that WGIR-FM's ratings gap between it and wzid is widening, in the fall 2006 arbs, WGIR-FM beat WZID (see http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRa... 12:00:00 AM&SU=S&BPER=&HPER=&OPER=&NSD=&CE=0).
 
i was listening to Rock101 this past Friday when they did a Led Zeppelin 'Block Party' and literally sequed "All My Love" into "Goin' to California".. zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Finally they came back with "When the Levee Breaks" and i was happy.

I personally find WGIR far more listenable than WAAF.
 
Um, Manchester may be a smaller city than Detroit or whatever the heck else they were sayin, and it may be transforming from mill town to tech town, but the roots are still in place and I'm sure there are many folks who still enjoy to rock out in Manchester as do those in the larger markets. Question is though, are those folks the demo you really want to go for these days, as was alluded to in following posts? ???
 
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