Element9 said:
A station that performs this poorly should look to its management/owner as the reason. Dummies. From what I've heard of the station, albeit on rare occasion, and read here, the people who own/manage this station would screw up a one car funeral procession. Keeler wasn't going to make a difference, neither will Bob & Tom. The normal thought process would be to suggest another format, as if that would make any appreciable difference. An FM with 25kW on the Hill should be at least a top 5 contender, don't you think? If the station had an owner with half a brain in his/her head, what format would you suggest. Please, Movin' isn't an option. Done.
Morning show aside, if they stuck with oldies, it wouldn't have taken much to outdo WODZ. Not sure if WXUR is/was live during the balance of the day, but if they were, they could have taken WODZ down. Back when WXUR was oldies, WODZ was live mornings, then satellite the rest of the day. Now, they've got local jocks too, but not sure who's live and who's voicetracked... haven't listened enough to make confident guesses. But by this point, it's moot because WXUR already abandoned oldies and going back now would look awful.
At one point, FM Talk could have been an option... Keeler could have been a great anchor to a full day of talk-on-FM. But that's another train that already left the station: WIBX already has some of the biggest syndicated talk hosts, and when Leatherstocking bought WUTI and made it a simulcast of its Syracuse-based "CNY Talk Radio" operation, several more talk show hosts were taken off the menu. A talk station shouldn't be forming it's schedule based on "what's left" in the world of syndication after two other stations have already made their picks.
A talk station should also have a decent local news operation: this is where Mindy should have strengthened the partnership with Keeler (Utica Daily News, existing newsroom already at the station's disposal - hello?) but instead she chose to terminate that connection. Having local news could have helped WXUR succeed with a talk format, considering WIBX's newsroom is slim-staffed and WUTI has no newsroom, only plugging-in network news at the top of the hour.
Other formats could be tough. Going AC would have WXUR up against two competitors, Lite and Mix. The ratings speak for themselves; WXUR might be able to battle with Mix, but it would take a lot to beat Lite. Just ask Mix, they've been trying for years.
CHR could also be a challenge. Even though Kiss-FM is all alone in Utica, much of the market (including all of Rome and parts of Utica/suburbs) can get good reception of 93Q and Hot 107.9. A new CHR in Utica would be competing with as many as 3 stations in some parts of the market. And for a small-market station, Kiss-FM manages to have some people who've been there for awhile. It'd be tough for a newcomer to pry loyal listeners away.
Country... Big Frog 104 has easily beaten every single challenger I can remember. Even Bug Country, as relentless as it may be, never seems to get more than a drop in the bucket compared to WFRG.
Rock... hard to go after the K-Rock/WOUR combo Galaxy has in place. Both stations have been around forever. Seems like 92.7 has been mostly going after the classic end of the spectrum, and we've all seen the results.
What else is left? Plenty of ideas, but probably none that'll get WXUR better ratings than it's had before. The major formats are already "owned" in this market, and the market just isn't big enough for a "niche" or novelty format to make big strides.
