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Febuary Chicago Radio Ratings

Yes. I would to congratulate Rock 95.5 on its awesome 24th place finish!!!

Anyone off the street could do a better job picking music than the fool who is actually programming the station.

How does someone so out of touch and inept get placed in charge of a major signal in such an important market?

I predicted this result once I saw the music log from its first few days on the air. That radio station ought to be the laughing stock of rock radio if it isn't already.

Cannot help but wonder if the on air staff actually believes the playlist on their garbage radio station sounds good.
 
I'm not in Chicago, but am curious what might be causing WFMT's recent ratings rise. They had been wobbling in the zeroes not too long ago.
 
Several classical stations have seen a rise during the past year. KING-FM in Seattle experienced a huge jump last spring. What was interesting about KING was their increase was in younger demos. Not sure if that's the case here. Part of me wonders if this is part of "cord cutting." Some classical fans were early supporters of satellite radio, and perhaps they're looking to cut the monthly expense. WFMT is a heritage classical station that has stayed true to its original goals.
 
I don't claim to be an expert on Classical Music Radio Programming. In the 6th Grade, our Music teacher played in the neighborhood of two dozen classical performances over the course of a Semester. We were expected to identify the performances with a listening test at the end of the Semester. Not having a way to study, as the test approached, I had nightmares about the "final exam". I would suspect that they were the most "popular", and I would think that this can be applied to Classical Radio using Radio Programming Principles-Tightening the Playlist, and not playing untested, unfamiliar, "Stiffs", pardon the term used in the context of Classical Programming. No doubt this might be unpopular with purists, but it might increase ratings. Though I shined in Band and Orchestra in High School and College, and actually played solos in Orchestra on some of those, studying "Hard Science", often three or four Science and Mathematics classes each Semester, caused me to essentially give up performing after the first two years of college. So I can't say I'm still any kind of expert as to why WFMT is doing better.
 
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MarkW said:
Yes. I would to congratulate Rock 95.5 on its awesome 24th place finish!!!

Anyone off the street could do a better job picking music than the fool who is actually programming the station.

How does someone so out of touch and inept get placed in charge of a major signal in such an important market?

I predicted this result once I saw the music log from its first few days on the air. That radio station ought to be the laughing stock of rock radio if it isn't already.

Cannot help but wonder if the on air staff actually believes the playlist on their garbage radio station sounds good.
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Calm down. What did this station do, murder your mother?

The on-air talent at WCHI is actually pretty good (the morning show still doesn't click for me, but Walt and the others sound excellent). I do agree with you that the issue is the music. I think the smartest thing iHeart can do is put Walt in charge of the music (he has both MD and PD experience) and let him sort things out. I certainly think he can, Walt knows what good music is and how to mix it.
 
No - the station is "murdering" the airwaves with its terrible programming. Don't worry; I don't listen to it (anymore). Gave up on that a long time ago.

I agree that the issue is the music far more so than the airstaff. Would love to know the corporate brain trust who developed the categories and individual song selections; I cannot think of a rock or classic rock station in any top 100 market whose playlist is more poorly structured than this one.

WCHI is "Exhibit A" as to what's wrong with terrestrial rock radio and the corporate radio business model in general.

I would love to know the answers to my earlier questions, btw. Does the air staff actually believe the music choices on this station are wise ones? Do they spend any time listening to their own station when not working?
 
MarkW said:
WCHI is "Exhibit A" as to what's wrong with terrestrial rock radio and the corporate radio business model in general.
Click to expand...

I disagree completely. This station is an outlier among corporate copycats. I don't hear this particular mix of songs on any other iHeart station. It would have been far easier to simply pull a pre-programmed format out of the library and throw it on the air. That's not what they did here. With that, there's a certain aspect of risk, because the mix may not sound conventional. But we all know from studying the streaming charts that most people don't make logical choices when they listen to music, and they don't stay within a particular established radio format. For them, there's this station.

Does the airstaff "believe the music choices?" Dumb question. Ask the guy at McDonalds if he fries his burgers at home. Probably not. It's a JOB. Like any other job. They'd rather get paid doing radio than frying fast food.
 
If the staff has no passion for the product, then that is part of the problem.

Just because someone does something unique doesn't make it good. Hey, I could sell chopped liver flavored ice cream or shoes made of scrap metal. Definitely unique...few consumers would be interested!

The 95.5 example reeks of incompetence and is one of many examples of FM radio's diminishing relevance and increasingly poor programming.
 
MarkW said:
If the staff has no passion for the product, then that is part of the problem.
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I didn't say they have "no passion," just that they don't pick the songs. This isn't college radio. This is a job. You want people playing their favorite songs? Listen to college radio or make your own playlist.

MarkW said:
Just because someone does something unique doesn't make it good.
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You've obviously never tried to make anything new. It takes time and failure to come up with something new that's good. And with radio, you don't know if it's a success til you put it on the air. So someone in big corporate radio gave someone a shot at doing something different. That's what you seem to want. Try something outside the box, that begins with rock, but combines other things. Who knows how long a leash this station is on, but they're trying something different. Give it time before you flush them down the toilet. Because I've learned that if you take a chance and it fails, you may never get a shot again.
 
You've obviously never tried to make anything new. It takes time and failure to come up with something new that's good. And with radio, you don't know if it's a success til you put it on the air.
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Isn't that what research is for?

No, I don't want something "different" just for its own sake. I want something that sounds good. This station does not sound good. The music choices are rotten. The ratings suggest the listening public largely feels the same way.

The current Brand Manager needs to be fired. Walt Flakus knows the city and knows the format. His expertise likely isn't being leveraged to the full extent possible.

Know who might make a great PD / Brand Manager for this relatively new station? P.J. Kling of Q87-7 fame.
 
MarkW said:
Isn't that what research is for?
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Research is part of it. Someone mentioned that in another thread. If you're not careful, research can simply end up giving you the same hits you're already playing. So sure, you do research. I can't tell if they did that here. As I said, I can't find a format like this anywhere in the iHeart system. So hooray for experimentation. I love it. If you don't like it, there are hundreds of other rock stations that all play the same music you seem to like. Go ahead and change the station. This won't last forever.

For all we know, they may flip it back to country by the summer. Bobby Bones needs a clear in market 3, and US99 is pretty weak right now.
 
Somebody pass me the popcorn; MarkW and CTListener are arguing again!

To add something more substantial to the discussion - I think the issue WCHI is running into is something that derailed WLUP a lot before it was sold to EMF - Loop listeners and Q101 nostalgics are not compatible with each other.

This station has a perfectly balanced mix of classic Loop tunes and Q101 favorites. It's custom and interesting - but Loop listeners have always VEHEMENTLY rejected Q101 songs and Q101 listeners always looked down on Loop rock. Even during Q101's final, louder phase in 2007-11 the loud stuff was music the Loop wouldn't be caught dead playing.

They're probably going to have to decide whether to go full Loop and go after the Drive or go Q101, add currents, and go after WKQX with a rock-based Alt mix. We'll see if the "best of both worlds" approach can resonate but I think ultimately they're going to have to choose one route or the other.

That being said if anyone from iHeart is reading this, don't fire the talent. They're wonderful. Best part of the station. Just get Walt going on what he does best whichever direction the station goes in and I think it'll work out.
 
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MarkW said:
Isn't that what research is for?
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Ask the world's most successfully researched company, P&G.

About 50% of their highly researched new products fail.

One can research for needs, for awareness and willingness to try a new product. But there is no way to really find out if ongoing, repeat usage will be possible.
 
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