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Mix 99.9. Should I care?

WMXC always has great numbers. It is the at work station in Mobile and will stay the path. Don't expect to see any 100.3 numbers for awhile as it is still new, and they probably won't blow the doors off. If it shaves a few points off the top contenders it will be considered a success.

107.3 HD2 is probably not a factor in the equation. Maybe someone in the building likes smooth Jazz.
 
I figured that smooth jazz was on two stations here because technically speaking they're "in" different markets. Corporate probably dictated the format be heard as many markets as possible...

Has there been any advertising for The Beat since it's debut? Other than a Facebook page, I don't know how anyone would hear about them beyond hitting the scan button on the radio. So far they have just over 200 likes.
 
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Money will be spent to promote the primary signals of any group, any translators will be secondary. In most cases if a, translator exceeds expectations the format,will be bumped to bigger signal (this happened in Jacksonville recently. Other than specialty shows Sjazz ratings are non existent, and I can't see a mandate to carry it. It probably makes a placeholder so not to conflict with another format in the group and keeps the channel lit.
 
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As Groovy has mentioned in the past, Mobile may be one of the worst markets in the country for low power FM. If The Beat can't pull 1 from BLX then translators have little value to iHeart.
 
At this point an advertiser is not going to buy a HD channel with few listeners. They are licensed for HD and it has to be on the air. It is that simple.
 
seedless said:
As Groovy has mentioned in the past, Mobile may be one of the worst markets in the country for low power FM. If The Beat can't pull 1 from BLX then translators have little value to iHeart.
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I forgot the "Beat" even existed...

If it tanks and I think it will I think putting News Talk WNTM would be a good choice. Especially for the election year.
 
Groove1670 said:
I predict WNTM will show up on another one.
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Oh really? You've implied otherwise in the past. Predicting most remaining translators would go to god casters or rural AMs. Made sense too. Unless you think WNTM would put up a translator in south Baldwin??? That could be massively successful!

I'm beginning to think the best test of the viability/success of Mobile county translators would be Cumulus launching Classic Hip Hop and promoting it on WBLX/WDLT. But would they do this if they would be taking listeners for their own stations?

If iHeart can't pull more than 200 Facebook fans with Hip Hop, they should try a classic urban format by the end of 2016.
I think Baldwin county could, should, and would support more than one new low power FM. No idea on best formats,
 
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seedless said:
Oh really? You've implied otherwise in the past. Predicting most remaining translators would go to god casters or rural AMs. Made sense too. Unless you think WNTM would put up a translator in south Baldwin??? That could be massively successful!

I'm beginning to think the best test of the viability/success of Mobile county translators would be Cumulus launching Classic Hip Hop and promoting it on WBLX/WDLT. But would they do this if they would be taking listeners for their own stations?

If iHeart can't pull more than 200 Facebook fans with Hip Hop, they should try a classic urban format by the end of 2016.
I think Baldwin county could, should, and would support more than one new low power FM. No idea on best formats,
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Keep in mind they're limited in where the translators could go. Unless the rules changed recently with the big push for AMs to get translators, the rules are the 60 dBu can't exceed a point more than 25 miles from the AM transmitter site.
 
Baldwin County is useless when it comes to ratings and translators. The Mobile and Pensacola market have very little value in the translator world with the big guys. With the soft economy, for that matter, they haven't purchased any large market signals..anywhere. For a translator purchase the market better be a cash cow, or a top 50 market.

Market and ratings potential is first. A translator is not fired up for the sake of "hey... let's try this format".
 
A simulcast of WNTM wouldn't be a big enough hit in Foley/Gulf Shores to justify higher add rates?

That surprises me.
 
seedless said:
A simulcast of WNTM wouldn't be a big enough hit in Foley/Gulf Shores to justify higher add rates?

That surprises me.
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Honestly, I don't think it would. But I grew out of political talk a long time ago, so I could be woefully out of touch. It seems like right-talk is on the way down-down-down in the ratings. It hung on longer than entertainment "man" talk, left wing talk and all that, but it seems old hat in the age of the interwebs.
 
Baldwin county is lumped in with Mobile and does not have the numbers to justify substanial ratings. Total population of the Southern part of Baldwin County 50k (non metro) Mobile population 200k. Talk is fine for a AM HD simulcast (or with a translator). Cumulus learned the hard way by trying this by putting the spoken word on a full signal in this market. It doesn't matter what leanings the political format is.
 
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Groove1670 said:
Baldwin county is lumped in with Mobile and does not have the numbers to justify substanial ratings. Total population of the Southern part of Baldwin County 50k (non metro) Mobile population 200k. Talk is fine for a AM HD simulcast (or with a translator). Cumulus learned the hard way by trying this by putting the spoken word on a full signal in this market. It doesn't matter what leanings the political format is.
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To be fair, though, they tried it with no real nationally known talents on board, and a roster of relatively unknown local hosts for anyone in Alabama. And they probably didn't give it time to grow or advertise it at all, either. It's the same thing they've done to 1070 WAPI in Birmingham. It's been languishing at the bottom of the ratings for years, despite having some half decent talent. Why? Few seem to know it even exists.

I just don't understand why corporate radio is so hesitant to advertise their services anymore. It's so rare to see a billboard for a new radio station, or even a goofy low budget local TV commercial. Not everyone is going to just stumble upon that new station these days. Finding something on Facebook is like pulling teeth, so it's not a great way to discover new local stuff, either. After all, how are you going to find a station's Facebook page if you've never even heard of them?

I'm not saying that WKSJ or TK 101 really needs to advertise, as they are heritage and everyone knows who they are. But a new station? Don't just let it fester in obscurity. It happened with WCOA FM and it's probably happening with The Beat. Going back to the original subject for half a second — if Lite Mix were to tweak its music like it tweaked its name, how would any non-listener even notice? Heck, I didn't even know the Facebook page had changed until I tried to access it just now from my ABMP link. The old one was put out of its misery but it looks like the user base transferred over to the new URL, since it shows 5500 likes.
 
Both markets are really not set up for billboards, and the return would be minimal. Mobile or Pensacola are not large enough. Mix (and other CC stations) do static billboard on some of the TV newscasts.

Unless something earthshaking happens, it it unlikely that the usual players in the market will be bumped from their current ratings perch. So to spend extra money is a waste.

Programmers care about Facebook, operators don't. It doesn't impact the bottom line and it doesn't do anything for ratings.

The name change at mix was just to freshen the image. This would be a first makeover for mix in 20 years. It was time. The term lite is being jettisoned from most AC stations because it send the message of being sleepy. I would of done the same thing, but much earlier. and the logo was very dated.

We are getting ready to update our logo and imaging at our station. After three years it is time for us to do the same.
 
For a second I thought ABMP had posted new call letters for 99.9.
Then I realized Zach is getting old and making more mistakes.
;)
 
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