George Soros, Of All People

[ckg279]

As promised, here's the article from Investigative Post. About half the article talks about WBEN(AND links to Radio-Online's December ratings as well).

Monday Morning Read — Jim Heaney's weekly news roundup

 

[Rusty Bridges]

Heaney has long been one of Buffalo's better print reporters, and one of the most caustic observers of media and politics. The best line of his WBEN story is:

"What’s going on? Beats me. WBEN has suffered some retirements, including Sandy Beach, and nationally syndicated talk show hosts with large followings such as Rush Limbaugh are no longer part of the lineup. Perhaps the station isn’t giving its audience enough red meat, or maybe listeners are losing their appetite."

The question he asks in the last line of that quote is a fair and accurate one. The answers may be "both," although what little I've heard of Bauerle recently, he doesn't appear to be moderating. Heaney might have added that a (small) component of WBEN's audience decline might be attributed to mortal attrition.

Now, there's nothing to say that WBEN is incapable of popping a good month or two and rebounding ... perhaps not to #1 Persons 12+, but possibly within the top five. The big tell will be the Fall book, or the individual months that constitute the Fall book. I think WBEN is wounded, but it's by no means carrion.

 

[TheBigA]

Heaney has long been one of Buffalo's better print reporters, and one of the most caustic observers of media and politics.

The mention of Soros in his article is unnecessary. All he does is reference Pergament who references the NY Post, who references an unnamed source who says ''That's scary.'' Useless. It has nothing to do with the story, which is about the falling ratings at WBEN.

I thought it interesting that the station is in a virtual tie with WBFO, who posters here say does a terrible job covering news. What does that say about WBEN? Meanwhile WBEN did a great job covering the snowstorm last month. What difference did it make?

Today I had a chicken burrito at the Chipotle. It was the first time I did that in two months. Someone tracking that might wonder what triggered my decision. The answer is I just happened to be in the neighborhood. Sometimes that's how people listen to the radio. They might not listen to a station for a while. Then one day, they happen to be in the neighborhood. We don't really know. The diary doesn't ask.

 

[SirRoxalot]

With all the people I've heard complaining about Beamer, maybe he's the reason for WBEN's fall. Seriously, their lineup appears to be a lot weaker than it was in the Limbaugh days. Cost-cutting abounds. Still, I suspect that revenue hasn't dropped nearly as much as ratings. The December book was likely an anomaly since the big winner was Christmas music on WTSS - the "New 96.1." Still, both WBEN and WBFO have tended downward over the last year. The sale of 102.5 has weakened the cluster to the point where it's more likely that it will be divvied up than sold as one entity.

 

[davideduardo]

Today I had a chicken burrito at the Chipotle. It was the first time I did that in two months. Someone tracking that might wonder what triggered my decision. The answer is I just happened to be in the neighborhood. Sometimes that's how people listen to the radio. They might not listen to a station for a while. Then one day, they happen to be in the neighborhood. We don't really know. The diary doesn't ask.

And one of the revelations of the PPM and its ongoing panel rather than single week diary-keepers was the discovery of the fact that for most listeners, there were several "P1" or favorite stations and the one that got the most listening in one week might only be second or third the following week of month or part of the year.

Many people, it seems, would listen a lot to one station for a while, need a change and switch the most listened to choice. In my own research this is not usually due to the burnout of "overplayed" songs but, rather, to mood changes or personal situations of the listener themselves.

 

[RadioGuy1864]

With all the people I've heard complaining about Beamer, maybe he's the reason for WBEN's fall.

It would not be fair to lay the entire cause on Beamer, but I would agree he's a major cause. He may be a nice guy, but as a radio personality, he just stinks. He would be OK as a fill in once in a while, but he is on the air so much it seems like he's the voice of the station. Many times if I hit the WBEN pre-set and Beamer is on, the next pre-set is hit in about 15 seconds.

 

[ckg279]

With all the people I've heard complaining about Beamer, maybe he's the reason for WBEN's fall. Seriously, their lineup appears to be a lot weaker than it was in the Limbaugh days. Cost-cutting abounds. Still, I suspect that revenue hasn't dropped nearly as much as ratings. The December book was likely an anomaly since the big winner was Christmas music on WTSS - the "New 96.1." Still, both WBEN and WBFO have tended downward over the last year. The sale of 102.5 has weakened the cluster to the point where it's more likely that it will be divvied up than sold as one entity.

The January book will be the tell. (Or PART of it.)

 

[ckg279]

It should be noted, too, that middayer David Bellavia teed off on Heaney's article on his show yesterday(2/27); I'm not sure which hour of his show featured it, but it should be on WBEN's website.

 

[SirRoxalot]

I'm sure Heaney thanks him for the pub.

 

[tbolt909]

The January book will be the tell. (Or PART of it.)

It's really pretty simple. WBEN is an AM station that offers a lot of toxic content. Rush Limbaugh is gone. The audience is dying off and no new listeners are out there to replace them. The math is easy on why the ratings will continue to erode...

 

[Rusty Bridges]

It's really pretty simple. WBEN is an AM station that offers a lot of toxic content. Rush Limbaugh is gone. The audience is dying off and no new listeners are out there to replace them. The math is easy on why the ratings will continue to erode...

That's anecdotal and maybe half correct. Although a substantial portion of WBEN listeners are in the pre-death demo, it doesn't mean there aren't some newer, slightly younger (probably 50-64 year old) MAGAs checking out the station. The problem is, there are other platforms to which younger (35-54 year old) MAGAs gravitate. Older MAGAs don't go to these sites because they're not as tech savvy or just plain disinterested in finding things that suit their political bent on the interweb, aside from Facebook (which itself is geezing out) groups to silo their rants and grievances. So they go to the ol' standby, MAGA News-Talk 930 WBEN.

 

[tbolt909]

That's anecdotal and maybe half correct. Although a substantial portion of WBEN listeners are in the pre-death demo, it doesn't mean there aren't some newer, slightly younger (probably 50-64 year old) MAGAs checking out the station.

Buffalo may no longer be hemorrhaging population, but any growth is minimal. I doubt that very many people will be "Discovering" WBEN for the first time. It's far too late to retool or rebrand this station. It will plod along its well worn groove until the wheels fall off.

Those 50 --64 demos you mentioned are valueless anyway. The Oldies station probably has better luck getting local advertisers for older demos because the content is not polarizing...

 

[RadioGuy1864]

Buffalo may no longer be hemorrhaging population, but any growth is minimal.

Only population growth is migrants and refugees--who 100% won't be listening to WBEN, and there's a small amount of people who left 10-15 years ago for job prospects in North Carolina who now have young children and need Grandma to babysit. That's it, anyone who says otherwise is blowing smoke.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Only population growth is migrants and refugees--who 100% won't be listening to WBEN, and there's a small amount of people who left 10-15 years ago for job prospects in North Carolina who now have young children and need Grandma to babysit. That's it, anyone who says otherwise is blowing smoke.

There's a bit more to it than that. Job opportunities and growth are a lot different than they were 15-20 years ago as Buffalo moved on from its industrial past. A lot of people left because the unemployment rate and pay rates were far different than they are now.

 

[ckg279]

I'm sure Heaney thanks him for the pub.

Jim gets(at least for now)the last word: in this week's WeeklyPost(which will be on the the website tomorrow as Monday Morning Roundup), he had this to say...and as usual, he does NOT mince words: "My mention last week sent WBEN talk show host David Bellavia into one of his faux outrages, accusing me of, among other things, having wood paneling in my kitchen. (Yes, he was that unhinged.) For the record, I have no wood paneling in my kitchen. My memo to David: Chill, and be nice to wood paneling."