Is Entercom dominating? You bet, by default. WWL is on top because of the storm and sports. LSU and the Saints are money in the bank. This area breathes football. Take away those two ingredients and they are average. They could put other syndicated programs on ‘SMB but “On Demand” doesn’t cost them a dime and doesn't take away from WWL’s ratings. But to spin it off they're bowing to the wants of the listeners, as in Dave Walker's article, is a joke. Advertisers have no other avenue dump their dollars for adult demos.
If Clear Channel only had the onions to flip, it would be a different story for news/talk. They probably wouldn’t take them over in the ratings but they would put a dent in their revenue. Entercom’s music stations are in the same boat, all going after white adults with the exception of B97. Company wide, they only have two urban stations, in Austin and Norfolk. So, they just write off the black listeners.
The last competition Magic had was Lite 105 is the early 90’s. They weren’t the rating killers back then. Bayou is doing well simply because of W&J, period. The other day-parts are marginal at best. You can’t call ‘RNO competition because CC is keeping the frequency warm if and when they flip. Both are playing the same 300 songs over and over. Magic looks like they picked up the Kool 95 listeners. What else do they have to listen to? WTIX-FM? And you can’t believe they think that’s anything to worry about. B97 is no ratings giant, in the 4’s on an average. Bottom line, until somebody sinks some money into their properties, Entercom will sit on top and count their money. In the mean time, the listeners suffer. There’s no entertainment value to get them excited. The corporate mentality is “show me the bottom line”. Spend as little as possible on content. Piss on the listener. Case in point, you can look at Citadel too. Three formats that add up to a 4.5 in the fall book and don’t attempt to improve content or make a serious run.
Bottom line, radio in New Orleans will continue suck in the coming year. The so-called programmers will continue to justify their existence by keeping the budgets at barebones while they scoop in their bonuses. In the meantime, save your change and invest in XM or Sirius. One day, they’ll get it….NOT! Somebody get some onions.