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February 2018 PPMs

A

atthestars

Ratings for February are out: (https://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb007)

WOGL surges back to #1
WIP dips back without the Eagles
The Breeze continues to climb!
Q102 and 96.5 TDY still dance around each other with Q slightly on top.
A flicker of life for WPPZ with their recent format flip.

Otherwise, a generally quiet month. Thoughts?
 
WISX will probably not get another format change anytime soon WMGK and WMMR continue to do well . WRFF and WBEN I do t know about their future
 
CTListener said:
All depends on how they're billing. Remember, if geezers are listening, Madison Avenue ain't buying.
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I feel like they have to have gone into this knowing they weren't going to light the world on fire with a young demo. One would probably assume that they were reaching a higher number of younger listeners with the previous format but they chose to go in this direction regardless. And of course, the question is: What other format would perform better? There aren't a lot of other options.

All that having been said, the last time we had a Soft AC here (Sunny 104.5), I was around 32 years old and I actually loved the station and listened to them more than any other station in town. As we've seen in other markets, the format seems to draw a more diverse audience than one would suspect.
 
CTListener said:
All depends on how they're billing. Remember, if geezers are listening, Madison Avenue ain't buying.
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True enough. Though I believe, or I hallucinated during a recent fever, that there are some case studies of relatively positive results in the money demos. If the Breeze follows suit, the forecast calls for it to keep blowing.

Wait, that might not have come out right. :)

A fascinating analysis would be with whom the Breeze is sharing audience (we can all guess likely candidates, but going a bit deeper could be enlightening), and in what percentages.

Ben already trimmed one salary by splitting the morning team and ditching the previous afternoon guy. It just seems to hover in its zone, relatively cheaply. What else is logical for Beasley at this point that would work in the cluster? Notwithstanding the AMs, something will always be the lowest in the family.

Radio 104.5 similarly seems to move around a fairly defined range. Is there a natural opportunity for iHeart to roll the dice on?

Purely to stir the pot, just for fun, let’s say EMF wanted to grab another signal in town. Who would you place your hypothetical bets on being a motivated seller?
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
Purely to stir the pot, just for fun, let’s say EMF wanted to grab another signal in town. Who would you place your hypothetical bets on being a motivated seller?
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Well, we don't have any Cumulus stations in Philly to instantly point to. I don't see iHeart or Entercom dumping any FMs unless they have dire financial issues... MAYBE iHeart giving up WDAS-AM and the 102.5 translator if they decide "Breakthrough Radio" isn't what they want anymore. Beasley the same... I just can't see any of the major players there throwing in the towel.

Extreme hypothetical.... Urban One gives up one of the smaller signals (WPPZ, WPHI), but from what I heard, both bill decently. Even in the non-comm end, I don't see WXPN, WRTI, or WHYY going anywhere.
 
atthestars said:
Well, we don't have any Cumulus stations in Philly to instantly point to. I don't see iHeart or Entercom dumping any FMs unless they have dire financial issues... MAYBE iHeart giving up WDAS-AM and the 102.5 translator if they decide "Breakthrough Radio" isn't what they want anymore. Beasley the same... I just can't see any of the major players there throwing in the towel.

Extreme hypothetical.... Urban One gives up one of the smaller signals (WPPZ, WPHI), but from what I heard, both bill decently. Even in the non-comm end, I don't see WXPN, WRTI, or WHYY going anywhere.
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I kinda wonder whether it would hurt Beasley much to sell BEN-FM. I mean, is anyone buying BEN-FM or is everyone just getting in on package sales with other stations in the cluster? And would it really be that impactful to drop the lowest-rated (by a lot) station from the package? No longer having to pay to operate 95.7 plus the proceeds from selling it might be enough to offset whatever revenue loss may occur. If I were at BEN-FM, the prospect of a station sale is probably the only thing that would actually make me nervous at this point.
 
CassChopper96 said:
Who would buy it Iheart Cummulus i mean BEN-FM ratings aren’t awful
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Well, consistent mid-2's and the occasional 3-share aren't exactly great. They're by far the lowest in the cluster. If a company put out feelers that they were looking to buy and Beasley was interested in making a quick buck, I'm sure 95.7 would be station they'd offer.
 
CassChopper96 said:
Yeah but I don’t know who can buy it though. I don’t think the stations ratings are low enough to warrant a drastic format change
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The station could be bought by literally anyone who isn't already at the market cap. But as long as BEN-FM is owned by Beasley, I wouldn't expect the format to change in the near or distant future. Unless something comes along that fits into their "wall of men" business model, Adult Hits is their best bet.
 
Miguelito said:
Well, consistent mid-2's and the occasional 3-share aren't exactly great. They're by far the lowest in the cluster. If a company put out feelers that they were looking to buy and Beasley was interested in making a quick buck, I'm sure 95.7 would be station they'd offer.
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Ben FM in February was 0.5 behind sister 97.5 the Fanatic, and in the useless 6+ public ratings, Ben and the Fanatic are usually close. (Although I remember when the Fanatic was hovering in the high 1's and low 2's).

I'm sure the Fanatic costs a LOT more to run than the extremely light staffed Ben FM. And IF Beasley were to throw in the towel and say the Fanatic is too much $$ and can't compete with WIP, they MAY be able to shuffle the Flyers to WMMR and Sixers to Ben or something (I have no clue how restrictive the contracts for the sports broadcasts are).

But either way, Ben FM is cheap and makes OK money. I don't see it being sold or flipped anytime soon.
 
Sure, the Fanatic costs a pretty penny more, with the talent contracts alone. But it is a solid buy for a specific and valuable audience. The differences on a P&L line would be as riveting as such things could be.

My theoretical question was really based on EMF being on an eternal (see what I did there) shopping spree (RIP WPLJ NYC), and perhaps the most realistic of the purely speculative buyers out there, at least vis a vis Philly. Just for kicks and giggles.
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
Sure, the Fanatic costs a pretty penny more, with the talent contracts alone. But it is a solid buy for a specific and valuable audience. The differences on a P&L line would be as riveting as such things could be.

My theoretical question was really based on EMF being on an eternal (see what I did there) shopping spree (RIP WPLJ NYC), and perhaps the most realistic of the purely speculative buyers out there, at least vis a vis Philly. Just for kicks and giggles.
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Oh I get ya! And it's always fun to toss around off the wall ideas! Thankfully, I think Philly radio is pretty solid with it's current ownership. They might not be the BEST station owners, but I don't see them selling anything off in pieces.
 
atthestars said:
Ben FM in February was 0.5 behind sister 97.5 the Fanatic, and in the useless 6+ public ratings, Ben and the Fanatic are usually close. (Although I remember when the Fanatic was hovering in the high 1's and low 2's).

I'm sure the Fanatic costs a LOT more to run than the extremely light staffed Ben FM. And IF Beasley were to throw in the towel and say the Fanatic is too much $$ and can't compete with WIP, they MAY be able to shuffle the Flyers to WMMR and Sixers to Ben or something (I have no clue how restrictive the contracts for the sports broadcasts are).

But either way, Ben FM is cheap and makes OK money. I don't see it being sold or flipped anytime soon.
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Restrictive contract issues were part of my rationale in deciding BEN-FM would be the first on the chopping block. But that issue aside, I'm pretty sure taking the Fanatic out of the equation would be more of a hit to the wallet.

EDIT: I wrote this probably 10 minutes ago and forgot to hit the SAVE button. Now I see you guys have pretty much covered the whole topic! haha. And yes, agreed, no one's selling anything anytime soon!
 
atthestars said:
Oh I get ya! And it's always fun to toss around off the wall ideas! Thankfully, I think Philly radio is pretty solid with it's current ownership. They might not be the BEST station owners, but I don't see them selling anything off in pieces.
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To me, it’s if, as the game show says, the price is right. Not something where I think someone is hanging out a for sale sign. Just if someone came-a-calling, and someone wouldn’t mind picking up a few mill to help the overall balance sheet. :)

An interesting point...I don’t know how there would be an objective measure of best, and individual experiences will vary, but on the whole...it seems pretty decent. No one is going around Willy-nilly making drastic changes. A few modifications here and there, and belt tightening is true in all industries. We’ve got decent iterations of the big formats. Recognizable brands. Relative stability. Not too shabby.
 
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