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Just A Thought

R

Retro

Since the format flip in Chicago, there has been speculation that Mix is going to lose the WBMX call letters and is gonna swap with WEEI-FM. Now what if this does happen or keeps WEEI-FM.

Now what if Mix retains the WBCN calls and flips to 80+'s Oldies and keeps the entire airstaff as it does now?

Does anyone know how they are doing in the ratings on the days that they do Throwback Thursdays?

Just pondering is all.
 
Retro said:
Since the format flip in Chicago, there has been speculation that Mix is going to lose the WBMX call letters and is gonna swap with WEEI-FM. Now what if this does happen or keeps WEEI-FM.
Click to expand...

The first part of that is happening. Entercom filed to change WJMK to WBMX earlier today. I haven't been able to find out what will be 104.1's new calls, but nothing has been filed indicating WEEI-FM will move. Personally, I wouldn't expect it. As I've said several times before, WEEI-FM is doing extremely well on 93.7, and there's little reason to think it would do better on 104.1 but a lot of reasons to think anything that replaced it on 93.7 would do much worse than it would on 104.1.
 
Retro said:
It's the end of an era then as Mix has been married to those call letters!
Click to expand...

But don't most non-radio-geek listeners know it as "Mix", not "WBMX"? If they keep calling themselves "Mix" after every other song, who cares about the four letters mentioned at the top of the hour?
 
many people are of the opinion that in a PPM market, call signs mean nothing, the imaging and brand though is important.

When was the last time anyone outside of radio groups, and legal ID's said " WXKS-FM? Everyone says KISS 108 right?

Some might also say the WODS calls were not changed or parked because the AMP 103 brand is so effective.
 
Here's another thought, could Entercom be planning on changing the branding of the station, but still keeping the same staff with a format tweak in the mix, no pun intended?
 
New calls for 104.1 will apparently be WWBX. Not sure if that means a bigger change or not. It’s a similar enough call to think it would remain the same, but it doesn’t scream “Mix” either.
 
Thanks Kent, it looks like it is all settled then! They can quietly change the calls and not make any hype about it at all.
 
Jingle packages are often bartered. Changing them can be pretty easy if the company produces several. So long as you carry the barter spots, they’ll do everything but paint your vans. I wouldn’t read much into that.

I also wouldn’t, however, expect any changes at Mix. It does well, and Entercom should have a good wall of women.
 
Kent said:
New calls for 104.1 will apparently be WWBX. Not sure if that means a bigger change or not. It’s a similar enough call to think it would remain the same, but it doesn’t scream “Mix” either.
Click to expand...

Considering those four letters are uttered once an hour and 90% of the listeners (read: listeners who aren't on this board) won't even notice, so whether or not they scream "Mix" really means nothing. Country 102.5 still uses WKLB but how long has it been since they were the Country Club? AMP Radio is still WODS. Where's the synergy there (and heritage means nothing as your average old school WODS listener is not your average AMP listener, and vice versa)? Hot 96.9 is WBQT. That's not, pardon the pun, so hot. I could go on...
 
The WBQT call letters work in Boston because they are similar to WQHT calls in NYC "Hot 97" which is close in format to each other.
 
Retro said:
The WBQT call letters work in Boston because they are similar to WQHT calls in NYC "Hot 97" which is close in format to each other.
Click to expand...

Thanks for proving my point that the listeners do associate call letters with station brand, unless, of course, the station brand IS the call letters. I am willing to wager a fair amount of money that 99.9% of Hot listeners would never make that connection. Even after it was explained to a them, a vast majority wouldn't even care.
 
In the famous tape of the fictional station known as, "NINE!!", yes they are required to quickly state "WVWA Pound Ridge" once per hour by law.Of course many stations imprint nicknames and their frequency on us.Some stations changed frequency like WKLB (105.7, 96.9, 99.5, 102.5) and most listeners know them by the nickname of course. Country (frequency) and, to some extent, WKLB.

But some call letters especially on heritage stations matter. Imagine if some call letters changed.

WRKO 680 becomes WGFQ
WBZ 1030 becomes WNIH
WROR 105.7 becomes WKUS
(All fictional)
Do call letters really matter? In some cases famed call letters of the past come up again: WJIB. WROR. WMEX
Though, true how many people thought of Eagle 93.7 as WEGQ or Star 93.7 as WQSX?

When Mike 93.7 debuted I suppose they could have brought back the WCGY calls for those old enough to remember.Instead they got WMKK, which was similar to the Mike nickname. Similarly, a couple classic country stations in Western PA got WILI and WILY to go along with their Willie nickname.

Anyway some calls do matter if they're part of the branding.Had WRKO gone to WGFQ, they could get jingle singers to do that. And Kuhner, if he stays on, would get used to saying The Great WGFQ if they were to change.But those calls have no heritage. The WRKO calls do.
WBZ (AM) draws on their heritage calls tho some also think of them as NewsRadio 1030.As for WBZ-FM, most know them as Sports Hub and don't think of the calls that much.Yes in some ways there were placed there to draw on the WBZ name but they had to get new calls anyway as the WBMX calls got sent to 104.1 along with the Mix nickname back in 09.Entercom feels WBMX will be good calls for the Chicago station to have, drawing on memories of them standing for Black Music eXperience years ago.

So in some cases the calls do make a difference.
"WNIH* Boston. An iHeart Radio Station."
*--News I Heart
(Not quite the ring of a WBZ...(
 
mistermicrophone said:
Thanks for proving my point that the listeners do associate call letters with station brand, unless, of course, the station brand IS the call letters. I am willing to wager a fair amount of money that 99.9% of Hot listeners would never make that connection. Even after it was explained to a them, a vast majority wouldn't even care.
Click to expand...

I meant do ***NOT*** associate with the brand.
 
Retro said:
The WBQT call letters work in Boston because they are similar to WQHT calls in NYC "Hot 97" which is close in format to each other.
Click to expand...

Huh?

In New York, WQHT pays lip service to the calls... just a rapid legal ID. They are Hot 97 to listeners, most of whom could not tell you the call letters even for a cash prize.

And statistically, "nobody" in Boston knows what the calls of Hot 97 in New York are, assuming that even a tiny percentage even know what Hot 97 is.

Calls are important only if a station uses them to brand.. like WBZ. Most other stations use a name, not the calls, as listeners are more able to remember and create associations with names than with call letters (yes, this was researched long ago).
 
DavidEduardo said:


Huh?

In New York, WQHT pays lip service to the calls... just a rapid legal ID. They are Hot 97 to listeners, most of whom could not tell you the call letters even for a cash prize.

And statistically, "nobody" in Boston knows what the calls of Hot 97 in New York are, assuming that even a tiny percentage even know what Hot 97 is.

Calls are important only if a station uses them to brand.. like WBZ. Most other stations use a name, not the calls, as listeners are more able to remember and create associations with names than with call letters (yes, this was researched long ago).
Click to expand...

FWIW, I was simply explaining why the Boston calls were chosen. No need to get into a hissy fit about it.
 
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