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Jesus has fled from 96.7!!!!!!!

As an oldies fan, was happy to give WPTR a strong listen. Not super impressed. The mix of music doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. Yes, I do hear some songs I haven't heard on WTRY in a while, but other than that, nothing that makes me want to switch from the station I usually listen to, and that's what WPTR needs. Also, they're going to have to put some money into marketing if they really want to target WTRY. WTRY has been doing what they do for a looooong time. They do it well.
One thing I was surprised at was WTRY using the "14 songs" stuff which is what WPTR is using. My only reasoning would be to make people think it was their slogan all along, kind of what they did with the Christmas music. Two other stations flipped to Christmas before WTRY, but it was WTRY who got all the news coverage and more importantly, the ratings. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
 
OLRadio: Actually, I believe the former Buzz was the first to go all-Christmas (right at midnight on November 1 last year), with WTRY following later on that day... WROW didn't go all-Christmas (why didn't do they do all-Christmas on WYJB instead?) until after Thanksgiving. However, Buzz starting all-Christmas actually hurt the station rather than helping it... I'd wait until either Thanksgiving or December 1 to start Christmas if I had a station :p

Side note: if WTRY and its oldies format eventually gives up the ghost, wonder if CC will keep the calls alive in the Albany market even as a top-hour ID only on say, 980 or 99.5 (when Albany's Buzz dropped the WBZZ calls for WQSH, CBS Radio picked them up in a heartbeat and used them for top-hour IDs only on Star 100.7 in Pittsburgh... kinda ironic how the WBZZ calls freed up too late as 93.7 had flipped to sports by then) ;)
 
Well Olradio...I have to respectfully disagree with you. WTRY has been a terrible example of an Oldies station for a long time. They seemed to have programmed it with the clearly cynical attitude that the Oldies listeners don't have anywhere else to go. Well...now we do...and I have! Playing a mix that consisted primarily of 70s disco hits in to Madonna is not my idea of an Oldies station at all. WTRY has had a monopoly on the format only by default. In the early 90s, they were decimated by Oldies 99.5 in the ratings, so much so that they had to go to a "real oldies" niche of 50s and early 60s. When Oldies 99.5 was sold in 1994, and became the River...they were saved. Later that same year they went all 70s on 98.3 and kept oldies on 980. In late 1995, Oldies-96.7 WXXO appeared out of nowhere and immediately entered the Top 10 stations with absolutely no promotion (which I suspect that they can do again). Again...they were sold in 1996 and WTRY ended up with the format by default. Shortly after that, they returned to 98.3....and have had a monopoly on the format since. Personally, I would rather listen to the 60s/70s based WPTR, which is playing a number of titles that I haven't heard played on the radio in a long time. Sure...WTRY has recently improved somewhat to fend off the new competitor, but if they win this....inferior signal and all...and drive 96.7 out of the format, WTRY will again become the same unlistenable train wreck that it has been for a long time now! However....the station that has the superior signal usually wins out...and WPTR does have that going for them in addition to vastly superior programming. Also, I would rather listen to the station that actually plays 14 songs in a row instead of 14 commercials in a row!
 
Well, definitely they have a superior signal; I can hear the station to Kingston going South on the Thruway and from Rhinebeck North on the Taconic. The range of the music is clearly what distinguishes them from everyone else ( 'TRY-FM, True Oldies and Magic). They have the audio processing taylored to the format, and the stereo separation is great. Also, they didn't "pitch" up the songs, as some competitors have done. The morning show is a much easier "listen" than the other guys on FM. My belief is that they will show big audience gains, because they are doing the right things.

One thing that they still have to do soon is localize the station. They need to have a physical presence at Capital District events, and they need to promote the station in other media. Put local disk jockeys on, keep the music prominent and run away with the crown...let the contest begin !
 
>>>Sure...WTRY has recently improved somewhat to fend off the new competitor, but if they win this....inferior signal and all...and drive 96.7 out of the format, WTRY will again become the same unlistenable train wreck that it has been for a long time now! However....the station that has the superior signal usually wins out...and WPTR does have that going for them in addition to vastly superior programming. Also, I would rather listen to the station that actually plays 14 songs in a row instead of 14 commercials in a row!<<<<

This is just another example of why people in radio don't take these boards seriously. We can all have our opinions, but that's all they are. As someone who used to work in radio (and left of my own volition about five years ago), it's clear when statements like this are made that you don't know the truth of radio. Ratings prove it's not an "unlistenable train wreck." And Hearing 14 songs in a row means one thing....the station isn't being sold, there's no one listening and there are no commercials to play. You may enjoy listening to it that way, but it won't be on the air long. Another station currently using this as a selling point is the new Country station The Cat (104.9) Say you play more songs than GNA all you want, anyone who has ever been in the business knows it means the station isn't successful.
Yes, as listeners, we all want music nonstop. Better get satellite or turn on your ipod if that's what you want, because a successful radio station plays commercials....lots of them. Whether they're spread out over four, three or two stopsets, it's all about the spots. Period.

WTRY if you check the ratings has been very successful, not only in their prime demo which I'm assuming is 35-64, but they've also cut into the 25-54 demo, which is a a big moneymaker. Again, WPTR can play all the 50's they want.....the people who want to hear that are aging out.....we must all remember...Radio is a moneymaking proposition, not a charity event.

WTRY is very local, very well known and has been doing what they do successfully for quite a while now. Sure a new radio station is always a threat, but thus far, WPTR has nothing local about it. The music is not programmed very well. Sure, they play more 60's but that doesn't necessarily made it better. And the other day, the station was literally skipping nonstop for about six hours. No local engineer on staff perhaps? And as of this moment, I've seen nor heard any advertising about the station. We all know about it because again, we are passionate about the media, but the average joe is not. And that means, it would take something very big for them to change their habits, which when it comes to oldies right now is WTRY.
 
Considering that this is still the first few weeks of the new WPTR, they'll still have time to polish it up, maybe hire some local jocks, etc. ;)
 
Enough bickering already !!!

Just wait and see, time will tell if WPTR will be any good.

It's just commercial radio, there are many other avenues as of 2011 to get what YOU want.
 
Right now WPTR is running "El Cheapo" using voicetrackers from other Crawford stations and so far running ONE commercial spot(most likely a holdover from it's Christian music days). If they expect to have any long term success they need to invest in their product. They should hire local dj's and a sales staff for starters. One thing they are doing right is offering a direct email address to their owner Donald Crawford Jr.([email protected]) I would urge anyone who loves real oldies variety and wants a successful alternative to 98.3's boredom to send your comments from this board to the station owner now. Otherwise, don't complain if all we have left again is the excruciating limited playlist of WTRY.

WPTR has a promo that proclaims they play the "greatest hits of ALL time". GIVE ME A BREAK!!! All they play is 60's and 70's. They have to add some fifties and eighties music if they want to be really different from 98.3. Otherwise they should sell the station to Ernie A's group as a simulcast for 1240AM.
 
Hey Olradio....A couple of points....

1. WTRY now promotes 14 songs in a row as well.

2. WPTR doesn't play any 1950s titles from what I can tell.

3. You can't really compare the WZMR-Cat Country/WGNA battle to the WPTR/WTRY battle.
WGNA is one of the best signals in the market. WZMR is one of the worst. Where as
WTRY has a significantly inferior signal to WPTR, but is at least still competitive.

4. You are correct...WTRY has done very well....but because it has had no competition. WTRY did very poorly in the past when it had competition.

5. In my opinion...WTRY is very vulnerable.....

6. I didn't leave radio five years ago...I'm still in it...."on my own volition"...
 
A couple things here -
People in radio do take these boards seriously. You are reading the most active core of listeners/radio veterans and people variously in the business or connected in some way to it. Even if you were strictly dealing with "listeners", that would be enough.
A radio station whose people are blind to the listeners and unresponsive eventually fails.

These aren't simply opinions, we, the listeners make or break radio stations by our patterns of radio usage. Speaking of the Capital District specifically, our radio listeners are loyal generally; once won over, change occurs slowly.
However, the statement " WTRY is very vulnerable" is completely true. That is why they ( 'TRY) instantly reacted to the introduction of an oldies stations playing long sets of music by imitating them. If they were the dominant station, they wouldn't instantly react.

I hear in Legends 96.7 ,a tight format, with the right elements, and whether you call it oldies,classic hits, greatest hits, or any other iteration or mix thereoff, they should do audience testing here in the Capital District with local residents.
What you would find is that to truly be oldies/greatest hits, you have to play the most popular music from decades past. The audience testing would highlight and clarify which songs. The key is the execution of the format and being local. They can easily beat WTRY FM in the ratings if they make the right moves. I especially like the mix of r &b and rock and pop and the depth of variety I am hearing on legends 96.7 WPTR.
 
Interlocutor said:
A couple things here -
People in radio do take these boards seriously. You are reading the most active core of listeners/radio veterans and people variously in the business or connected in some way to it. Even if you were strictly dealing with "listeners", that would be enough.
A radio station whose people are blind to the listeners and unresponsive eventually fails.

These aren't simply opinions, we, the listeners make or break radio stations by our patterns of radio usage. Speaking of the Capital District specifically, our radio listeners are loyal generally; once won over, change occurs slowly.
However, the statement " WTRY is very vulnerable" is completely true. That is why they ( 'TRY) instantly reacted to the introduction of an oldies stations playing long sets of music by imitating them. If they were the dominant station, they wouldn't instantly react.

I hear in Legends 96.7 ,a tight format, with the right elements, and whether you call it oldies,classic hits, greatest hits, or any other iteration or mix thereoff, they should do audience testing here in the Capital District with local residents.
What you would find is that to truly be oldies/greatest hits, you have to play the most popular music from decades past. The audience testing would highlight and clarify which songs. The key is the execution of the format and being local. They can easily beat WTRY FM in the ratings if they make the right moves. I especially like the mix of r &b and rock and pop and the depth of variety I am hearing on legends 96.7 WPTR.
Click to expand...

1) People in Radio don't take these boards seriously.....ask five people who are in radio....they will happily tell you.
2) The ten or so people who post on these boards are not regular listeners as I have pointed out before...they are hyper senstive to everything that happens.....the regular listener is not.
3) I thought a good conversation could be found here, but everyone on these boards believes themselves to be experts....none of us are.
4) Every station is vulnerable to good competition....I just haven't heard any in any particular format right now....oldies, country, and now with Crush whoever it is that they may be going after....The River, Fly, Kiss and any other station they can steal 25-54 numbers from.
5) Everything on these boards is opinion unless one of us is a PD, and I seriously doubt that. From Reporter to singing the praises of Crush before it was even on the air for five minutes to Oldies fans on this thread calling TRY "an unlistenable wreck" Nobody on this board has inside knowledge....myself included.....it's clear.
6) Last but not least, I joined this board about a month ago, thinking there would be intelligent conversation about local radio....so far, not so much. And I'll include myself in the mix, so off I go.
 
OLRadio said:
1) People in Radio don't take these boards seriously.....ask five people who are in radio....they will happily tell you.
Click to expand...
They do if they're radio fans. And if they're not radio fans, why would they be in radio? The money?? :D

2) The ten or so people who post on these boards are not regular listeners as I have pointed out before...they are hyper senstive to everything that happens.....the regular listener is not.
Click to expand...
The regular listener doesn't post on radio boards. I suspect that most people who really care about radio can't actually stomach listening to much of it today. Radio is a lowest common denominator medium. Message boards are not.

6) Last but not least, I joined this board about a month ago, thinking there would be intelligent conversation about local radio....so far, not so much. And I'll include myself in the mix, so off I go.
Click to expand...
Well, don't let the door... oh, never mind. :-X
 
Moderate success for Legends 102.7FM in Rochester is an understatement. In a recent book, they scored the #4 position 12+! Since then, they continue to be very consistent. If that kind of success follows in Albany, they just may have a good thing going!
 
If WTRY does end up flipping after Christmas this year (or next year), should the WTRY calls be parked on 980 AM or 99.5 FM for top-hour IDs? I'd like to see modern rock or urban AC back in Albany myself... but of course, it's still too early to speculate as the Winter 2011 book isn't even out yet :p

Paul Jason: Hoping to see Legends success in Albany... it's nice to have an alternate oldies station instead of WTRY being the only FM game :)
 
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