More competition

[Element9]

Fort Erie's CFLZ has changed formats... again. It once featured Active-AAA as The Planet, Urban-Hip Hop under a failed LMA by Citadel, then CHR as Z101. The station is now "101.1 More FM, Playing what we feel like from the 70s, 80s and 90s." Sounds like its targeting listeners of Port Colbourne's Classic Rock "Giant FM 91.7," and maybe Classic Hits WHTT, Classic Rock WGRF 97 Rock and Adult Hits WBUF Jack FM. Although unlikely to pose a major threat to the established Buffalo powerhouses, it may be an occasional stone in the shoes of one or two Buffalo stations.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Maybe it will make advocates of "The Lake" happy.

 

[TheBigA]

Plus all that wonderful Canadian content that goes over so well.

 

[Element9]

Plus all that wonderful Canadian content that goes over so well.

CanCon hits go over pretty well in these parts. The Tragically Hip and Rush might as well be US citizens... uh, until all that crazy stuff happened with the tariffs.

 

[TheBigA]

CanCon hits go over pretty well in these parts. The Tragically Hip and Rush might as well be US citizens... uh, until all that crazy stuff happened with the tariffs.

Keep in mind that just because you happen to be Canadian doesn't necessarily mean you qualify for CanCon. I had that conversation specifically about Shania Twain. Because her records were not written, produced, or recorded in Canada, they don't qualify. There are tricks musicians can play in this regard, but not every Gordon Lightfoot record qualifies. I also believe the government recently increased the percentage requirement, although I don't know to what.

 

[Element9]

No question. There are specific metrics regarding CanCon qualification as set forth by the CRTC and Most folks in the music, radio and promotion business Are awarenes of them. They have friends and acquaintances who've worked on both sides of the border in bands or radio, management and promotion. Prior to 9-11, crossing the border was like driving from Cheektowaga to Amherst. Working in Canada was common, although highly regulated. Those days are long gone. Bring your passport or enhanced drivers license... And green card. Radio signals, as we know, have little trouble crossing borders... Which is why many folks in these parts have at least one button on the car preset assigned to a Canadian station. In years past, that might have been 10-50 CHUM or CHUM-FM, CFRB or CFTR. These days, at least a dozen powerful and clear Canadian signals offer an alternative to what can be heard on Buffalo stations.

 

[SirRoxalot]

And, at the same time, the CRTC has effectively eliminated most Buffalo radio from the Toronto market with a series of LP FMs. A few Buffalo FMs moved transmitter locations to improve building penetration in the city while giving up reach into Toronto and the Southern Tier.

 

[davideduardo]

Radio signals, as we know, have little trouble crossing borders... Which is why many folks in these parts have at least one button on the car preset assigned to a Canadian station. In years past, that might have been 10-50 CHUM or CHUM-FM, CFRB or CFTR. These days, at least a dozen powerful and clear Canadian signals offer an alternative to what can be heard on Buffalo stations.

There are only three "C" call stations that consistently show in the Buffalo book: CIXL, CFLZ and CFNY. Together, they get about a 1.4 share (CFNY does a bit better 'cause its signal is better). Each cumes around 30,000 persons and has an AQH of 600 to 700 in the Buffalo market.

By comparison, all three together don't beat WLKK.

So, while there may be a number of Canadian signals available, aside from the two just mentioned, they are not getting measurable listening.

 

[tbolt909]

That's a laugh. Virtually no Americans are listening to WLKK or the 3 Canadian stations mentioned. What's Eduardo's​ point?

I doubt that Canadian stations are concerned with Buffalo ratings. The geography simply allows overlap. However, Buffalo would be a Top 25 market if it could count the Ontario population. WNED TV has a logo saying it serves Buffalo & Toronto. They clearly have Canadian membership...

 

[davideduardo]

That's a laugh. Virtually no Americans are listening to WLKK or the 3 Canadian stations mentioned. What's Eduardo's​ point? .

My point is exactly that.

Element indicated that, paraphrasing, lots of folks in Buffalo listened to Canadian stations. The fact is that no more of them listen to Canadian stations than listen to WLKK... which is not a lot.

 

[Element9]

Paraphrasing. I also wrote the station was "unlikely to pose a major threat to the established Buffalo powerhouses."

 

[tbolt909]

The title of this thread is "More Competition". The competition isn't just other stations, whether Canadian or local. Just as TV cable viewers are cutting the cord, former Radio users can find other options...

 

[ckg279]

I'd like to remind y'all that I was the one that first mentioned the flip of 101.1(and its sister station, 105.1). And THAT was about 4 months ago. (5 months, if you count the time when the stations were put on auto-pilot while the new formats(classic hits from the 70s-90s a la Toronto's Boom 97.3 at 101.1, and AC at 105.1)were put into place.)

They still don't have a full air staff in place at either station(there is a live morning show at 101.1 More FM, and ALLEGEDLY PM drive as well....the River, however, has more on staff; AM & PM drive as well as middays)....and the best thing about More FM is the liners; there's a decent amount of wit in them(though Boom does an INCREDIBLE job with theirs).

 

[Element9]

I'd like to remind y'all that I was the one that first mentioned the flip of 101.1 (and its sister station, 105.1), and THAT was about 4 months ago (5 months, if you count the time when the stations were put on auto-pilot while the new formats (classic hits from the 70s-90s a la Toronto's Boom 97.3 at 101.1, and AC at 105.1) were put into place.

True. Credit duly given. I checked the station out back then, and forgot about it. Perhaps it didn't impress me until I once again heard it playing in a Buffalo business, spurring renewed interest. The station sounds better. Maybe that's what happens when you don't listen for a few months. Could be the rotations and library have been massaged and the on-air presentation has improved. Dunno. It just seems more listenable. Like it took the best music elements of WHTT, Jack and 97 Rock and rolled 'em up. But again, it's not a threat to the Buffalo stations. It actually sounds like it's targeting Giant 91.7 more than anything on this side of the river.

 

[ckg279]

Element: Thanks. From what I can tell, More FM's signal seems to be a LOT better; Byrnes Media did say in their application that they were going to pour money into the stations(even to the extent of buying a new transmitter to better cover the area; it's been said elsewhere that the most recent one was 30 years old).