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KB

Re: Maybe the Dominoes are not done falling.

This format change is all about protecting the money. But as I read the posts here and listen to the new "Left Channel KB" I can only wonder, did the Mighty News Radio 930 WBEN really fear the upstart WHLD that much that they had to resort to this pre-emptive strike?

Consider this, if you will: What's happening at KB now tells a lot about the management at Entercom and WBEN in particular. It says to this writer, they must think WBEN is quite fragile and vulnerable.

WHLD would have been a mere thorn in WBEN's assets; nothing more. By the looks of today's format change at KB, management felt otherwise, which to me says, they don't have a whole lot of confidence in WBEN's staying power.

And what's to say the new left KB won't skim some shares away from WBEN? Well, in that regard, it's just moving the money from the right pocket to the left pocket.

-9-
 
Re: I just don't get it

> Entercom is nuts. I keep hearing how stations can't sell
> older demographics. Like all this political pap brings in
> the younger set?
>
> Wow look at the success stories with the "Liberal Talk"
> format like WCKY 1530 who now has a whopping 1.3 or WINZ
> Miami with a 1.9. Wow these are great numbers?
>
> Great job Entercom and CBS now the people who listened to
> WECK and KB can turn off their radios.
>
> MikeM
>

There is one success story.......KPOJ's 4.1. But then, it's actually promoted (something I doubt Entercom will do much of).
 
Concerning WBEN

> This format change is all about protecting the money. But as
> I read the posts here and listen to the new "Left Channel
> KB" I can only wonder, did the Mighty News Radio 930 WBEN
> really fear the upstart WHLD that much that they had to
> resort to this pre-emptive strike?

Considering how they've gutted the once-proud WBEN, they might indeed be uncomfortable with the idea that Ray Marks could put together a news team that might challenge their "invincibility".

WHLD, with Air America and a strong local morning news presence might be a bigger thorn in WBEN's side than we give them credit for. KB's canned lib talk might not be that big of a challenge for WHLD to overcome.

PS - It amazes me how much Ed Schultz vocally sounds like Rush Limbaugh. Weird!
 
Why Entercom Flipped KB - A Bunch Of Reasons

> Phil, I couldn't agree more. WTF are they thinking? AAR will
> be lucky to earn the ratings that KB did as a music station
> - and a badly-programmed music station at that. Now,
> they're going to SPLIT a 2.0 share? Genius, I tell you.
> Programming GENIUS!

Hold on a moment, here. Let's go through the real world of Radio 101:

* I haven't seen any books, so this statement could well be wrong...but it's probably a no brainer to say that "KB 1520"'s oldies format skewed old. Way old. While that's not necessarily a kiss of death in an older-skewing industrial market like Buffalo, keep in mind that Infinity just killed standards WECK in favor of classic country. Not the youngest-skewing format, to be sure, but probably less older-skewing than standards.

* Libtalk *will* skew younger than the former oldies format, almost guaranteed. The early line that it skewed even into the 18-34 range was probably somewhat overblown based on some very early numbers, but it'd have to skew younger no matter what. 'KB was an older-sounding oldies station, at least when I heard it.

* Even if the new liberal talk format doesn't do as well as the oldies format, it's likely to be much easier to sell.

* As such, like in many other markets across the country, it'll take relatively little effort for Entercom's WBEN/WGR sales folks to get some change for 1520, in combo. They can now reach three different kinds of talk radio listeners... conservative, sports and liberal. If you want to buy talk radio in Buffalo, you have to go to Entercom.

* The libtalk format will likely cost it much less to run. Assuming that Leslie Marshall will be live/local, she'll be the only one. (And in middays, I assume they're not paying her a gazillion bucks.) Bartered syndicated programming will run the rest of the day, and heck, even one of those shows (Jones' Stephanie Miller) has a reasonable "hometown" claim due to her being a Buffalo area native.

* Oh, by the way, there'll be no AAR on 1520. That'll be on WHLD with THEIR format change next week (Al Franken and Randi Rhodes).

Could Entercom have done better with 'KB 1520 and created a more solid niche than it saw with the oldies format, particularly in a nostalgic, older-skewing market like Buffalo? Sure, it could have. But...all of the above factors still apply.

And yes, though I'm not on the strong lobe of the signal, I did enjoy listening when master-of-the-format Jack Armstrong was on at night. And I also think they should have "done 'KB right" in the format change, which apparently was pretty abrupt.

But...money talks, everything else, you know.

-OA<P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>
 
Re: Maybe the Dominoes are not done falling.

> This format change is all about protecting the money. But as
> I read the posts here and listen to the new "Left Channel
> KB" I can only wonder, did the Mighty News Radio 930 WBEN
> really fear the upstart WHLD that much that they had to
> resort to this pre-emptive strike?
>
> Consider this, if you will: What's happening at KB now tells
> a lot about the management at Entercom and WBEN in
> particular. It says to this writer, they must think WBEN is
> quite fragile and vulnerable.
>
> WHLD would have been a mere thorn in WBEN's assets; nothing
> more. By the looks of today's format change at KB,
> management felt otherwise, which to me says, they don't have
> a whole lot of confidence in WBEN's staying power.
>
> And what's to say the new left KB won't skim some shares
> away from WBEN? Well, in that regard, it's just moving the
> money from the right pocket to the left pocket.
>
> -9-
>
variety is the spice of life- now the market has 4 news/talk stations; two left (WWKB and WHLD) and two right (WBEN and WLVL). We all win.
 
Re: Maybe the Dominoes are not done falling.

> Flips.....in the Buffalo
> market___________________________________________
>
> WECK, WHLD, WWKB.....maybe more to come to shake up this
> stagnant market.
>
>
>
> I NEED to believe that we have not heard the last from Danny
> and others on KB.
>
> I wish them well. I remember ( as I am sure many of you
> remember) how it is to
>
> get a phone call or be called into the general managers
> office to discover that
>
> some changes are being made.
>
> I feel like I have just been fired.
>
Who knows? Could they all be moving to AM 1400?
 
It's Over In More Ways Than One

> Sad...but inevitable.

Indeed, my friend Mr. Fybush here says it all.

Look...I'm a "radio geek" just as much as any of you. I've not really heard a lot of 'KB in the oldies format, but I thought it had potential, particularly with the one and only Jack Armstrong lighting up all 50,000 watts. (I'm not from the region, so I only have passing familiarity with the station's other big names from the market.)

But, radio geekdom doesn't pay the bills.

From afar, it appears Entercom stumbled at least two or three different ways with a station could have built a decent niche audience. They made some right moves (with Armstrong and the other known personalities). But they never seemed to take the next step.

'KB was never destined to be a top rated station...heck, you really can't do that with music on AM, even in an older-leaning market like Buffalo. But it could have carved out a decent enough niche to keep it alive and made a little money.

Instead, Entercom sees potential to make a little more money. I've outlined that in another message. It's not about getting even the kind of ratings WBEN gets. (In fact, they're not aiming for that.) It's about an easier-to-sell, younger skewing format.

In the meantime, a radio legend like Jack Armstrong now has no place to perform that special kind of radio magic. Unfortunately, that's life in radio in 2006, and it's not about that anymore. The "innocence" of this horribly soul-stealing business died long ago for me.

-OA<P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>
 
Cry Me a River: More Libtalk Bashing

> What is Entercom thinking? Sure,
> KB never reached its potential with the oldies format.

Ding ding... you answered your own question.

> KB, with liberal talk, will be relegated to the
> bottom of the ratings barrel just like it used to be during
> the days of Business Talk Radio -- a .5 share if they're
> lucky!

Yup... nobody listens to libtalk except stations are flipping to it and in Buffalo there will be now be two of them. Imagine that... a 50kw outlet that serves nobody.

Or maybe it could that libtalk does have an audience potential, possibly better than what 1520 was getting before, and almost certainly for less money spent. Everything depends on the show mix, how they promote it, and what local content is there. I'm skeptical Entercom is going to spend money to really properly promote the new format. WROC is the invisible station. There are a lot of people in town who still don't know there is progressive talk in Rochester, and Entercom keeps it a virtual secret. But they have Stephanie, which I think will do well for them, and they have some actual local shows planned, which also means people will think there is an actual LOCAL station there, not a turnkey.

> But knowing Entercom, they'll do it on the cheap with all
> syndicated programming. I hope the crew at WHLD beats the
> pants off them. People like Ried, Wenger and Silver are
> ruining our industry, and hopefully, someday they'll be held
> accountable with the loss of their jobs.

The lineup seems to indicate there will be a local show from 12p-3 plus something overnight, so it won't be all syndicated programming, but WROC started the same way here with Allan Harris, and they dumped him, so who knows if that will last. I absolutely agree Entercom will probably do it on the cheap, and that's their own fault.
 
Re: It's over

> And lacking local presence, it will probably drop to a 0.8
> or less AQH share just like WROC, and struggle to pay the
> electric bill on Big Tree Rd. Hard to see any way in which
> that isn't penny wise while being totally dollar foolish.

It will have local presence. It's not going to be terribly different than our own WHAM with a mix of syndicated stuff and local stuff. Unfortunately, it probably won't be considered the "news" station to go to, so it will never be in the top five because that's critical to get high ratings on AM. WROC is now total turnkey and it suffers with signal problems and zero promotion. Their liners are even a year old in some instances. Ick.

KB's biggest weakness is Bill Press in the mornings. His show is quite weak.

This nostalgia for the locally programmed oldies format seems more wedded in past glory than current reality. This isn't 1975. What stations are spending real money to do great locally programmed stuff these days when they can get away with doing it on the cheap. Unless you are THE news station in town, it's tough to score big on AM these days anyway, and news costs big money.

I'm sorry to see any innovating station sign off and get replaced with satellite talk/music, but that seems to be the nature of the business these days. The best thing KB did was at least try and deliver something different to the market. WHLD probably beat them to the punch though.

WHLD's grabbing of AAR in the market is a real coup for them, except for Stephanie Miller which lands on 1520. People know who Al Franken is and once you get over Randi's accent, she knows how to program a radio talk show. I still think Randi will probably eventually be the biggest talent AAR has, especially if Franken goes off to run for the Senate.
 
Re: Concerning WBEN

> PS - It amazes me how much Ed Schultz vocally sounds like
> Rush Limbaugh. Weird!

Yes, it's one of several reasons I can't stand him. He's also unwilling to ever criticize Democratic elected officials. He got into a major row when he attacked moveon for chasing after Democrats who supported the Bankruptcy Bill. The progressive community burned up his phone lines attacking him for it and several now consider him only one or two steps above the Vichy Collaborator Alan Colmes. :)
 
Re: It's over

>
> They could have at least given the old format a little nicer
> sendoff - it went right from Chad and Jeremy's "Yesterday's
> Gone" into the new ID ("Buffalo's Left Channel") and CNN
> news, then Ed Schultz, with no goodbye or anything.
>
> Sad...but inevitable.


Yeah--that's the real sad part......no farewell, goodbyes, or anything...in contrast to the big farewell morning show when WSAI dropped oldies last year.

Jim H
 
Re: Concerning WWKB

Although this is a very sad day for Buffalo radio, I have to hand it to the people who frequent this board for being on top of today's (February 6th) unexpected format change at WWKB-1520.

I would think this website was among the first places, if not the very first place, to break the news about the change.
 
Re: Concerning WWKB

Also it's obvious that people here care about radio be it FM or AM. The general public by and large doesn't care about AM radio any longer, unless it's the 50+ crowd.

MikeM

> Although this is a very sad day for Buffalo radio, I have to
> hand it to the people who frequent this board for being on
> top of today's (February 6th) unexpected format change at
> WWKB-1520.
>
> I would think this website was among the first places, if
> not the very first place, to break the news about the
> change.
>
 
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