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NASH-FM vs Thunder Country

R

RadioRayWedeman

After listening to NASH-FM and Thunder and comparing the two, you have to admit Thunder sounds so much better. While both stations play a comparable mix of country music, the local element of Thunder is a strong standout. Thunder plays local, aims local, and has the local flavor in their programming. So far you don't get that from NASH, whose only local claim to fame is their local traffic reports. Even their weather sounds generic like it was being read by someone 1000 miles away.

New York radio and NJ radio listeners are not stupid people. As a listener you want to have a local connection. Without it you're only going to get older demos and a weak advertising base. I believe Thunder has it right. It will be interesting to see how NASH programs, or re-programs. If they add more local elements it would be a step in the right direction. If they stay as they are, or do follow the Cumulus/Clear Channel philosophy of doing traffic and weather from anywhere to save a buck, then we'll know if the NASH 'experiment" will succeed or fail.

Kudos to Thunder for not losing their local flavor.
 
Bottom line is while all that is nice, it's just the decorations on a the tree. The root of it is the music, and Thunder's music is kind of off the beaten path sometimes. That can work in a heavy country market, but I think with the big gun up the street, "playing the hits", its going to be Thunder that modifies the playlist eventually.
 
WNTI- agree 100%. I've said it before- despite Thunder's "New York City to Atlantic City" sweepers, they are essentially a Monmouth/Ocean/Jersey Shore "Class A" station. Whatever listeners they pick up north of the Raritan River and in the Philadelphia and Atlantic City areas are just gravy to their core market. "Nash" is a national brand, and just like ESPN or Radio Disney, local content doesn't matter as much as having a "national brand" in NY City. While "Nash" might be pure-vanilla, it provides a country option to many hundreds of thousands of individuals who would have no chance of receiving "Thunder" in North Jersey, Manhattan and Southern New York State.

-Mike
 
The PPMs for Middlesex-Somerset-Union show the overall rating for Nash FM soaring from 1.8 in May to 3.3 in June.
It is probably necessary to see the results for a few more months to get an indication whether it has been attracting many new listeners, or whether the June number was merely a fluke.
 
The trends for Monmouth-Ocean were just released today. Thunder is at their lowest number in recent memory. Nash, while very mainstream and pop country-driven, is at the root of this consistent drop I would imagine. I'm not sure of the demo breakouts, but it's time to re-evaluate if being local is enough. They need to re-tool their music. Quickly. The twangy unknown stuff needs to go. Maybe one album "Thunder track" cut an hour, but nothing like they're doing now.

They're not the only game in town anymore, and as I suspected, the better product is probably pulling listeners away. 94.7 reaches further south than people give it credit for.
 
My take on the latest trends is the opposite of the previous post.
With Nash FM on the air for several months, Thunder's overall rating dropped by only .1 during the 3 months since the winter rating. That indicates they have been holding steady, despite the new competition.
Thunder Country has a distinctive sound. Why offer programming that is about the same as a competitor from outside the market?
 
Barry said:
My take on the latest trends is the opposite of the previous post.
With Nash FM on the air for several months, Thunder's overall rating dropped by only .1 during the 3 months since the winter rating. That indicates they have been holding steady, despite the new competition.
Thunder Country has a distinctive sound. Why offer programming that is about the same as a competitor from outside the market?
Click to expand...

Thunder won't be going much lower, but I doubt they will be cracking a 5 share anytime soon. Music is way too inconsistent...
 
Turnpike Tuner said:
Thunder won't be going much lower, but I doubt they will be cracking a 5 share anytime soon. Music is way too inconsistent...
Click to expand...

It has been consistently inconsistent since its flip from "K-98.5" regardless of who is Program Director or Music Director. Which tells me whoever is the Program Director or Music Director really has no pull in the mish-mosh of "country rock" they play.

I have noticed subtle on air changes (fewer references to "Rockin' Country" and dropping the "point" when ID'ing the frequencies), but it will have little to no effect if the music rotations remain bizarre and unpredictable (in the worst way).
 
LenoxAve said:
It has been consistently inconsistent since its flip from "K-98.5" regardless of who is Program Director or Music Director. Which tells me whoever is the Program Director or Music Director really has no pull in the mish-mosh of "country rock" they play.

I have noticed subtle on air changes (fewer references to "Rockin' Country" and dropping the "point" when ID'ing the frequencies), but it will have little to no effect if the music rotations remain bizarre and unpredictable (in the worst way).
Click to expand...

Because the actual PD is Rich Morena, not Marty Mitchell.

Until he lets Marty ACTUALLY be a PD and not just a puppet, things won't change.
 
Barry said:
My take on the latest trends is the opposite of the previous post.
With Nash FM on the air for several months, Thunder's overall rating dropped by only .1 during the 3 months since the winter rating. That indicates they have been holding steady, despite the new competition.
Thunder Country has a distinctive sound. Why offer programming that is about the same as a competitor from outside the market?
Click to expand...

Because the local advertisers can afford to advertise on it, and the nationals will likely regard it as a bargain. As long as their numbers are viable, and their sales team can sell those numbers, they won't go anywhere soon.

But if those numbers are somehow seen as non-viable, all bets are off.
 
They will get much more locals and a lot less nationals.

How many nationals do they have now? And just because you hear them on there doesn't mean they are paid buys... a lot of them are barter spots for prep services, syndicated shows etc. Geico, Home Depot, Proactiv and the like are usually barter.
 
Good question; can't say. Can't stand Country to listen long enough to figure it out.

But it's the spot load, I think, that tells the story. Anyone here care to vouch for how that's going? That might (but of course might not) be an indication of their billing power.
 
For country music listeners it's nice to even have this discussion which wasn't possible for many years - a choice of country stations? I live in the northern suburbs of Philadelphia & if I listen to country radio in the car its Thunder 106.5 which comes in pretty clear, although WXTU & WCTO come in much better. I like the uptempo, 'down the shore' feel of Thunder, less predictable than the more mainstream stations. That said I'm glad 94.7 is country for the vast majority of listeners with no other country option. From what I've heard online it sounds like the more generic automated country stations in any town than a NYC local but I have't heard a lot.
 
From living in central jersey and enjoying thunder 106 since it started. I got to say one thing its better with two. Having thunder and nash is awesome! we went from no country to two great stations i cannot knock any of them!
 
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