If I were WBOS or WXRV or WPLM or WFNX.....

[LA_Guy]

....I'd change to a variety format like Mike FM was TODAY!!!

 

[JustinT]

Re: If I were WBOS or WXRV....

Personally, I was thinking that this was 96.9's time to shine - then again, with WBOS or WTKK, GM would need to make sure that such a format stayed far enough away musically from WROR.

 

[rockcaptain]

Considering WBOS has been beating WMKK for a while and has had some of the highest rating it has ever had, I don't think that makes much sense. Now WTKK would make some sense (although I don't think it would ever happen), and WFNX is in the dumper and anything would probably get better ratings.

 

[jlehmann]

I can't see Greater Media doing it with 96.9, there would be a lot of overlap with both WROR and WMJX.

 

[LA_Guy]

I can't see Greater Media doing it with 96.9, there would be a lot of overlap with both WROR and WMJX.

I disagree.

That would be EXACTLY the reason I did it! look at what Greater Media has on FM in Philly:

WMMR (a hard rocker)

Ben FM (variety rock)

WMGK (classic rock)

There's something to be said for owning the ENTIRE rock franchise in a major market.

 

[jlehmann]

They don't have an AC station in Philly though. WMJX still plays a good amount of 70s and 80s music overlapping with WROR, would they really want 3 stations playing the same music? Variety Hits would also go after basically the same demos as WMJX

 

[Sales Reptile]

Rock Captain, that's like saying Apples beat oranges. One skews younger males, the other 25-54 adults. Regardless, neither sets the world on fire.

 

[fmradio1]

GM/Philly is different in the sense that Ben targets males and females, WMMR is the "heritage" mainstream rocker (think WHJY more than WAAF) and WMGK is closer to WROR than WZLX in sound. Three very different stations and there's not a tremendous amount of overlap musically. With WYSP gone, WMMR may be able to skew a little younger, putting even more space between them and WMGK. That group works well together.

Likewise, the GM/Boston stations have their niches carved out. WMJX is the traditional AC, WROR straddles the line between WODS and WZLX and WBOS skews younger rock. Add in WKLB, which works in tandem with WMJX attracting females, it's a well balanced cluster. Switching WTKK to a variety hits format would pull listeners away from their existing stations more than their competition's. If anything, WROR could switch to the format and the cluster would still work, although L&W would stick out badly. However, if GM is getting set to move on from them, it may make sense.

 

[thetheo]

I'm probably contradicting things I've said in other posts about the trend being sports / talk / news / etc on FM....

But shouldn't an indie station like WXRV or WFNX with a small group of die-hards from their niche target stick it out right now, watching all the giant radio companies take music OFF the FM dial, meaning they are now like one in ten FM Music stations whereas a few years ago they may have been one in twenty?

I know it's not that far yet, but it may be soon enough.

Let all the CCs and CBSs and Entercoms switch to news / talk / sports and keep playing great music and your fans will stick with you.

Yes, I know what the numbers say, but a station like WXRV or WFNX are never, ever, EVER going to have a 4 share.....so if you can figure out how to sell to the same people that pick up the Phoenix every week, and stick within your niche, and sell on the niche not on the rating which the sales people should already know how to do, why flip?

I think flipping to a Mike type format for a WFNX or a WXRV being real risky. All their die-hards go away, and people who were Mike listeners are probably already replacing it with their MP3 players or Pandora/Spotify accounts anyway since they offer similar solution to a jukebox/jockless station.

If you ARE going to survive on FM with music I think you need to be super live, super local, super new, etc. Give the listeners a reason to keep tuning in, don't just play the hits of the last 3 decades with some promo's mixed in. Sure middle aged office workers may love it now, but in 10 years they will replace you.

 

[frankfurter]

I think the most likely scenario is WBOS adding some pop titles to its stale, stale mix. WXRV and WFNX's signals don't cover the full market well enough to bring in great numbers. You could put Kiss 108 on 101.7 and it'd only garner a 3 share because of the signal limitations. The best thing WXRV and WFNX can do is super-serve their small but loyal audiences.

I'm still surprised that Entercom is blowing up WMKK when they could easily move it to 97.7. That signal is WAAF's simulcast and covers much of the same area as 107.3 - they'd still be in the game if they were relegated to 107.3 and Mike could hit up Boston and Providence on 97.7 and continue making money with little overhead cost.

 

[thetheo]

I think the most likely scenario is WBOS adding some pop titles to its stale, stale mix. WXRV and WFNX's signals don't cover the full market well enough to bring in great numbers. You could put Kiss 108 on 101.7 and it'd only garner a 3 share because of the signal limitations. The best thing WXRV and WFNX can do is super-serve their small but loyal audiences.

I'm still surprised that Entercom is blowing up WMKK when they could easily move it to 97.7. That signal is WAAF's simulcast and covers much of the same area as 107.3 - they'd still be in the game if they were relegated to 107.3 and Mike could hit up Boston and Providence on 97.7 and continue making money with little overhead cost.

I agree with all of these statements!

 

[raccoonradio]

Not sure what kind of ratings a WBOS would get with the format I'm about to mention--for all I know
they may resemble it in some ways already--but I've enjoyed stations like WAPS Akron OH (Akron
Public Schools) which has a music mix mostly from past 2 decades (though some older cuts like
Beatles--Penny Lane), AAA, nothing too hard, some recognizable groups and songs and some
newcomers.

http://www.thesummit.fm

 

[reelyreal]

I think the most likely scenario is WBOS adding some pop titles to its stale, stale mix. WXRV and WFNX's signals don't cover the full market well enough to bring in great numbers. You could put Kiss 108 on 101.7 and it'd only garner a 3 share because of the signal limitations. The best thing WXRV and WFNX can do is super-serve their small but loyal audiences.

I'm still surprised that Entercom is blowing up WMKK when they could easily move it to 97.7. That signal is WAAF's simulcast and covers much of the same area as 107.3 - they'd still be in the game if they were relegated to 107.3 and Mike could hit up Boston and Providence on 97.7 and continue making money with little overhead cost.

97.7 doesn't get to Providence. It gets killed by co-channel WCTY Norwich.

 

[thetheo]

Not sure what kind of ratings a WBOS would get with the format I'm about to mention--for all I know
they may resemble it in some ways already--but I've enjoyed stations like WAPS Akron OH (Akron
Public Schools) which has a music mix mostly from past 2 decades (though some older cuts like
Beatles--Penny Lane), AAA, nothing too hard, some recognizable groups and songs and some
newcomers.

http://www.thesummit.fm

A lot of that mix is what you'd hear on WXRV, WERS, WUMB, etc.

 

[Bill_W]

I can't see Greater Media doing it with 96.9, there would be a lot of overlap with both WROR and WMJX.

I disagree.

That would be EXACTLY the reason I did it! look at what Greater Media has on FM in Philly:

WMMR (a hard rocker)

Ben FM (variety rock)

WMGK (classic rock)

There's something to be said for owning the ENTIRE rock franchise in a major market.

And GM owns WPEN AM and FM, the first FM sports station in Philly which caused CBS to blow up WYSP and add WIP to it on FM.

 

[raccoonradio]

thetheo: Yes you could be right. I know I tried WERS mid-day and they were playing stuff like
"Ship of Fools" by World Party

 

[Eli Polonsky]

I'm still surprised that Entercom is blowing up WMKK when they could easily move it to 97.7. That signal is WAAF's simulcast and covers much of the same area as 107.3 - they'd still be in the game if they were relegated to 107.3

107.3 may cover Boston "on paper", but in reality, it comes in really lousy in much of Boston proper and the immediate metro. You really have to get into the suburbs to hear 107.3 well. They're not interested in promoting WAAF as a suburban Metro-West or Central MA station, they want to promote it as a Boston station, so they need 97.7 to do that.

WAAF is now the only mainstream contemporary rock station in the Boston market. Much of what WMKK played can also be heard on Classic Hits, Classic Rock, and Hot AC stations. Though it was an odd mix at times, "Mike" played very little music that can't be heard elsewhere in the market, despite claims to the contrary.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Not sure what kind of ratings a WBOS would get with the format I'm about to mention--for all I know
they may resemble it in some ways already--but I've enjoyed stations like WAPS Akron OH (Akron
Public Schools) which has a music mix mostly from past 2 decades (though some older cuts like
Beatles--Penny Lane), AAA, nothing too hard, some recognizable groups and songs and some
newcomers.

You're describing a AAA format. WBOS was AAA for over a decade and a half, and they're doing a lot better ratings-wise with their current classic-heavy alternative rock format.

I think they could have made AAA work a lot better if they did it differently, it was the most cautious (boring) AAA format I ever heard. It became a mix of mostly AC and Classic Rock hits that you could hear elsewhere. I think even WXRV The River's format on WBOS's major city signal would have done a lot better. But, their classic-heavy alternative rock idea has been working well for them...

 

[mgpt6]

With the WEEI switch, perhaps WROR may add more 80s and early 90s music to their playlist. Dont see XRV, FNX, or BOS doing much. There wont be another Mike FM in Boston unless it is a HD2 signal. Wonder if ZLX may add more 80s music to their playlist.
Longer term there will be fewer music choices on FM. It has been and is happening in many markets. Would not be surprised if WBZ-AM , Newsradio is on a FM main signal (not HD) within 3 years
Also, the change at WEEI only underscores that AM Radio is dying. Would not be surprised that several AM stations " go dark" over the next 5 years.

 

[observer2]

In Philadelphia, people refer to the GM strategy as the "wall of rock". Apparently, it works. That doesn't necessarily mean its transferable to Boston.

Aren't there always threads on this board pondering a drastic change for WBOS that never happens?