But Entercom has done none of those things. And they're a local Philly company to boot. So you're attacking one of your own.
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Entercom buys WBEB
- Thread starter AMRocks
- Start date
But Entercom has done none of those things. And they're a local Philly company to boot. So you're attacking one of your own.
I disagree. Entercom now gets to look under the hood of WBEB and see everything that makes the engine run so smoothly. Instead of pasting their corporate image onto WBEB, they'd be smart to take the image of WBEB and try to incorporate that into their existing AC stations to improve them with help from the absolute best.
But what are the chances of that actually happening? I mean, just using history as a guide, ya know? Their other stations are doing fine for now and this one station in Philly is doing great. I don't have any numbers to back this up but I'll go out on a limb and say WBEB has continued their tradition of not being afraid to lay out a nice chunk of change for really good research and marketing. (Being independent would be one of the things that allowed them to do that.) I just don't see a radio conglomerate pasting (probably more expensive) techniques from one amazingly successful station on their plethora of other stations which they probably consider to be doing 'well enough for now.'
All that having been said, I would LOVE to see More FM left alone to operate as it has been. And it would be extremely smart to try to apply 101.1's success strategies to other stations instead of vice-versa. I just don't have faith that those thing are gonna happen in the long run. #DebbieDowner #RealWorld
BUT HOW NICE THAT WE ALL HAVE SOMETHING TO REALLY TALK ABOUT IN HERE FINALLY, HUH?
If you actually look at how Entercom operates, it doesn't do that. If they did, they'd take their successful 70s AC format in Seattle and put it on a station in Philly. They didn't do that. Or maybe they'd syndicate one of their big salary hosts in NY or LA and force him on Philly. In fact what they've been doing is reversing a lot of the cookie cutter formats that CBS imposed on its stations, like AMP and Fresh. One by one, they're eliminating the company-wide formats, and instead leaving it up to the local markets to do what works best.
I’m hard pressed to think of an industry that operates like it did let’s say two or three decades ago. There’s a reason companies needed to merge and acquire (or be acquired). Some did it “smarter” than others. Some....eh, maybe less so.
Business has long been about the bottom line, the occasional hobbyist or philanthropist aside. When the revenue source is split more ways, leaving you with less, well....you’ve got to make some adjustments. (To be fair, it’s not as though WBEB didn’t make adjustments to reality over time, in the visible area of staffing on air. They just recently brought back an overnight person during the week, having dropped that years ago, and not all that long ago they trimmed the morning show from four on air folks to two.)
Those changes were gong to be needed regardless of how many stations a given company owns. The pie is the pie.
Business has long been about the bottom line, the occasional hobbyist or philanthropist aside. When the revenue source is split more ways, leaving you with less, well....you’ve got to make some adjustments. (To be fair, it’s not as though WBEB didn’t make adjustments to reality over time, in the visible area of staffing on air. They just recently brought back an overnight person during the week, having dropped that years ago, and not all that long ago they trimmed the morning show from four on air folks to two.)
Those changes were gong to be needed regardless of how many stations a given company owns. The pie is the pie.
Exactly. Seems to me, they ran Delilah at one time.
... and the early PPM testing in Philadelphia in the 2002-2004 time frame revealed that those benchmark shows that got huge diary TSL on lower cume absolutely tanked in the PPM. Since Jerry Lee was right at the center of the early PPM testing, he knew long before the system became currency what he could expect from his station; anything that looked damaging could be eliminated or modified before the "real" PPM kicked in.
A couple of periods I believe. Dropped it once, brought it back (at one point I have a recollection of only partially airing it) then dumping it again for a local host. Of course, at one point they experimented with a recorded short evening (or late afternoon) version of their morning show. Not everything has been golden, and they’ve adjusted so that on balance, it’s worked out quite nicely.
It's true, that change of some kind is inevitable. It'll be unnoticeable to the audience that listens, but changes WILL start to happen after the sale takes hold. Small things at first - an employee who worked at WBEB perhaps because he or she didn't want to work for a big corporation might decide to move on somewhere else. This creates a hole that needs to be filled, and Entercom will need to fill that hole. It might be in an on-air-invisible position like in the business department or HR. Or, Entercom will want to oversee its new possession, so someone from the corporation will be assigned to the WBEB location to keep tabs on the goings on. Eventually more and more of these job openings will be filled by Entercom employees doing the hiring. Music selections and on-air presentations will remain untouched for a long time, but eventually, you'll notice something's different there too. An attempt at some point to cut costs will lead to an on-air position to be eliminated. It may not happen for a few years, but it will take place at some point. Then there's the location. Will Entercom ever try to consolidate its station locations into one place? Just to save on electricity? Rent? Engineering requirements? Those things usually take a number of years to happen, but those kind of changes DO happen. You're not supposed to hear any difference, but some small things might change. Will they relocate in the city? In Bala? It makes a big difference in employees' outlooks. Big city wage taxes and maybe big parking problems in center city take a toll on employees.
It's impossible to predict the future, but I just wanted to point out that some changes somewhere are inevitable. I've been through it. I've seen it happen.
It's impossible to predict the future, but I just wanted to point out that some changes somewhere are inevitable. I've been through it. I've seen it happen.
In fact, they've already announced that they've begun work on a broadcast center downtown near the river.
http://www.philly.com/philly/busine...hilly-waterfront-hq-bala-cynwyd-20180314.html
Yes, they're relocating inside the city, rather than taking the cheap route in Bala. This is a Philly based company and they want to have a headquarters that shows pride in their home town.
I can't think of any HD-2 that is not leased out or being used to allow a translator that is making any money. Any refreshing of the HD-2 will be done long after the closing when they have a bit of free time to waste. Keyword: WASTE.
People leave, locations change and music gets tweaked, for both large and small companies. Change in and of itself is a constant.
Maybe Entercom can use that amazing research WBEB does and use it on 96.5 to give Philly a competitive chr. I know Philly has not always been big on chr in the way that many other markets are but with WIOQ 7th 18-34 there just might be a way to dethrone them. Ride out the weak music cycle, build cume and familiarity, and enjoy the fruits when the hits get strong again.
I'm sorry, but 101.1 has a heritage in Philly. That's one of the main reasons why it does so well. If Entercom decided to leave WBEB alone, "look under the hood" and put the same format on, for example, WNEW in New York, it would NEVER do as well. There's no heritage there.
I'm generalizing a bit too much. In the grand scheme of things, if I work at a station and it's bought by any of the megas, I would want it to be Entercom. (Except in the case where I work at an extremely successful major market station that has been independently owned for decades. Then I'm going to be pissed regardless.) I'm not hatin on Entercom. I mean, compared to iHeart, they're is downright angelic.
Well, WNEW has an established competitor so...sure, that’s different. But that’s not to say they can’t gather some learnings that help them improve properties elsewhere.
That's a really interesting idea. Entercom could throw some more bones to whomever does the research for WBEB and tell them to apply that skillset to the CHR format. That might actually be the ONLY way someone could build another successful Top 40 station in this market. There's so much talent (other than on-air, I mean) at WBEB. If Entercom leverages 101.1 correctly, this may be the wisest buy in the company's history.
That would be a fascinating thing to study. How well can the “recipe” apply to CHR? Now as much as any time, the formats share music and hand-off audiences semi-seamlessly.
And then the question: how much is built on a stable, long-term property? For instance, someone could (and let’s face it, has) essentially copied Action News on WPVI, but you’re not going to get the same results because it’s been an established brand since Moses was a child.
Perhaps managing expectations to an appropriate level is key, as is committing to “trusting the process,” in 76ers terms.
And then the question: how much is built on a stable, long-term property? For instance, someone could (and let’s face it, has) essentially copied Action News on WPVI, but you’re not going to get the same results because it’s been an established brand since Moses was a child.
Perhaps managing expectations to an appropriate level is key, as is committing to “trusting the process,” in 76ers terms.
And here in Philly specifically it might be an interesting concept because I think our typical Top 40 audience is listening to More...err, more than they are to Q102.
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