My favorite three words...

[x13thfloorrand]

Our Research shows....
(it's not View my Webcam!)

A plain postcard/self-sealer arrived at our house from a radio research company, asking my wife to listen and monitor a certain station that used to play music from the 50s and 60s, but now plays music from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and the 90s...

Is this just research time or change is a foot?

 

[Bob1370]

"Is this just research time or change is a foot?"

Yes.

Seriously, if it's WHTT asking for your opinion, it could either be an effort to confirm the wisdom of changes they've made, or an effort to get an indication they've missed the mark and need change, or both--an indication they're not sure they've made the right moves, and not sure which way to go if they haven't.
The new post-embargo Arbitron numbers indicate they're in a heavy three way battle with WJYE and WTSS for largely the same core audience. They want to find out if they're getting closer to the target or missing it.
IMHO the station still sounds good but any time you make a significant change in your music mix some listeners will go and it'll take a while for others who like the changes to drift in.

Some of the older-oldies fans may well have wandered over to CHWO-AM, which posted a healthy 2.0 12+ in the latest Buffalo book, twice what they've done in the past and best by far of any out-of-market station that I've seen show up in the book in many years. (You can't say Wild 101 is really out of market even if its stick is on the other side of the Peace Bridge.) Wonder if those folks listening to CHWO are still 25-54, or if they've aged out of the target demos? If they are aging out, WHTT probably doesn't miss them much and will take the temporary 12+ hit in order to fatten up further down the age curve. But if CHWO is succeeding in making its own audience younger by morphing from a big band/standards to an oldies station, in Toronto and in Buffalo too, then WHTT may rethink its strategy and at least bring more 60s Motown and British Invasion stuff back in hopes of recapturing and defending its old turf. Since WTSS has the hot AC franchise whenever it's not stuck at the North Pole, WJYE's got the soft rock realm and the all out CHR dominion will always belong to WKSE with Wild 101 taking a small cut for itself, more oldies is about the only change WHTT could realistically make.

 

[Philip_Airtime]

CHWO's strong numbers are due to one thing, and one thing only -- the demise of WECK. Its numbers went up when CBS made one of the stupidest decisions in Buffalo radio history by dropping adults standards on WECK in favor of classic country. I find it amazing that a station like CHWO, which does absolutely no marketing in Buffalo, is able to attract a two share. It's all word of mouth or listeners simply tuning up and down the dial looking for music that appeals to them. I haven't seen specific numbers. But I have to assume CHWO's audience is heavily 55+. Still, it shows there is a market for adult standards in our market, and Regent would be smart to reverse course and return the format to WECK. I don't think CHWO's number are having any impact on WHTT, Bob. WHTT is obviously targeting WTSS and WJYE, and those are the stations it cares about. This should be an interesting competition.

 

[x13thfloorrand]

I think it's an effort to confirm wisdom. Personally, I love the 'Gold AC' approach to HTT peppered with some recent recurrents like Sheryl Crow. Seriously, how many times can you play 'splish splash' without looking for a rifle!!!!

It was your garden variety q/a card, asking about personalities, music, when you listen, length of commercials, etc.

The citadel cluster really doesnt have a female-appeal property, so yes, it could be a very interesting competition.

-------------------------------------

Seriously, if it's WHTT asking for your opinion, it could either be an effort to confirm the wisdom of changes they've made, or an effort to get an indication they've missed the mark and need change, or both--an indication they're not sure they've made the right moves, and not sure which way to go if they haven't.
The new post-embargo Arbitron numbers indicate they're in a heavy three way battle with WJYE and WTSS for largely the same core audience. They want to find out if they're getting closer to the target or missing it.
IMHO the station still sounds good but any time you make a significant change in your music mix some listeners will go and it'll take a while for others who like the changes to drift in

 

[SirRoxalot]

Call Me a Skeptic...

...but might it not be a cleverly disguised marketing ploy?

 

[SpareChange]

If the WHTT mail-out is a marketing ploy, it's pretty shrewd. WHTT is doing a lot of interesting things, especially as its main competition cannot immediately respond directly because they're playing all Christmas music. If WHTT planned to execute this gameplan once Star and WJYE changed to Christmas music, it's especially shrewd. It sounds like most of the songs WHTT is playing are from the 70's, a few songs from the 60's with some "new" music from the 80's and 90's. Even heard a few songs that were hits in the last three years. It appears that WHTT is fending off Jack as they focus on WJYE, which is a pretty difficult needle to thread.

As to the 12+ numbers no longer embargoed by Arbitron, it's going to be difficult to project the 25-54 ratings for AC stations like Star, WJYE, WHTT and even Jack. It's likely each station will have its own niche in the 25-54 spectrum, with WJYE and WHTT skewing older and Star and Jack skewing younger. Just because one station out-performs the other two or three in 12+ doesn't mean it's beating those stations in the money demos.

One thing that's clear is WBEN ran the table over the last 30 days while 97 Rock and WYRK held their own. After that, except for WBLK, it looks like a mad scramble.