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No one even SNIFFED this one...

S

SSSKub

Guest
So much for anyone on this board being an "insider" anywhere. How did you people let THIS change slip by? Sure, the URL appears normal, but click the link.

http://www.swing1270.com/
 
Have they hit air with it yet? (Can't hear it in Rochester because it nulls us out to protect adjacent channel WHTK.)

If so, what are they going to use to fill in the blanks in the schedule from 12 noon on? Someone's writing local sports news copy for the website, but will anyone local be on mike? And who's PD?

Final question--will this open up a format hole that WECK might try to jump back into oldies and standards to refill? Or will the listeners Swing 1270 had, just be allowed to slide down the dial and out of market to 740, where CFZM bombs in virtually like a local and does a good job at what it does?
 
Well, as of 10am Friday, the format was still standards. But how inept can you be by putting up a new website for public viewing when the on-air format has not yet changed. Unbelievable! I don't know what to make of this change. On one hand, Cumulus found a format, Swing 1270, for a previously irrelevant AM frequency. Swing was getting a 1.5 to 2 share, not bad for AM these days. Their only investment was paying Harv Moore to voice track. But as we all know, advertisers aren't interested in reaching the senior demographic, so the station may have been a hard sell. Obviously, sports appeal to a younger audinece. Thus, the switch to an all sports format. Well, there's room for only one sports station in a market the size of Buffalo, and WGR owns that audience. As such, WHLD's ratings will probably plunge to .5 at best. I doubt Buffalo sports fans will tune out Howard Simon and Schopp and the Bulldog on WGR to listen to the CBS Sports crew on WHLD. Plus, it's highly ironic that one of CBS' top personalities, Jim Rome, will be on the competition as he has signed to stay on at WGR from 12noon to 3pm. Interestingly, according to the website, Rich Gaenzler will air on WHLD from 12noon to 3pm, making him the only live, local talker during that time period. He could get some listeners, especially during Bills season. And if the NHL lockout continues, John Feinstein's national show from 9am to 12noon could get some ears if Kevin Sylvester continues on WGR with his ill-fated show focusing on a franchise that is not playing. Still, the bottom line is that WGR has the play-by-play rights to the region's two major sports franchises. It has dominant local personalities. So, WGR has little to fear from "Sportsradio 1270, the Fan."
 
Strange change. Just checked 1270 and there was Bobby Darin, crooning away. Could the 1270 WHLD sports website be a template that Cumulus Corporate released by accident? AFAIK, all Cumulus Buffalo websites are locally administered. Cumulus and CBS are sports partners. Cumulus wants clearance for the format in as many markets as possible, so it makes sense from that point of view. But going up against a station that has the Bills and (regardless of the lock-out) Sabres? WECK may have just received a late Christmas present.
 
Cumulus and CBS launched a joint sports network on 1/2, and they need affiliates. If they don't have affiliates to clear their network spots, they fail. Surely they approached bigger and better signals, but apparently they all declined, so they flip one of their own.
 
the first post-er said no one even sniffed this one...

1. he works there and wants the cool points,
2. probably, the more likely scenario...
it would even go notice until it flips back to the croonr format
as so many will testify it is gr-550s town like it or not,

and IF by some miracle ( like hockey coming back or
the bills moving in the right direction) it hits....guess what
check your dial, it is still on am... and as so many have
killed on these boards..am is dead..

ps
in my dream win the megamillions scenarios,
I have thought on an am sports station ( say on wjjL )
as channel 14 (for example) would be fantastic.

few other dream scenarios, another day - another post
 
Maybe Cumulus's modest success on 1260 in Syracuse has something to do with the switch. They drove Clear Channel's WHEN out of the sports format. Now with the entry of CBS Sports Radio, it makes it a lot easier to fill the programing. Sports nuts have to love it.
I agree that WECK should look at the standard format. People are going to be looking for Barry Manilow, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond and such. Why send them to another country?
 
Radio_bored-Op said:
the first post-er said no one even sniffed this one...

1. he works there and wants the cool points,
Click to expand...

Well, my name is not "Rich Gaenzler," so chances that I work there are pretty slim. I actually stream 1270 at work because I like the format. Just wanted to continue to point out that no one on this board has any actual working or relevant knowledge of this market anymore if none of you had any clue this was happening.
 
I seem to recall a lengthy conversation on this subject a couple months ago (although I don't know in what thread), when we debated which FM station Cumulus would flip to sports, and IIRC the conclusion at that time was that it most likely would be 1270AM. But the reality is that this is simply to ensure a Buffalo clear of programming, not for ratings.
 
SSSKub said:
Well, my name is not "Rich Gaenzler," so chances that I work there are pretty slim. I actually stream 1270 at work because I like the format. Just wanted to continue to point out that no one on this board has any actual working or relevant knowledge of this market anymore if none of you had any clue this was happening.
Click to expand...

Would you really expect someone working at Cumulus to tip off a format flip - even if corporate apparently is stupid enough to flip the website before making any programming changes? It's not like there's a lot of staff at "Swing 1270" to register discontent. There are a lot fewer potential sources of indescrete comments. Self preservation trumps ego these days.
 
SSS kub:

I see it differently.. you are employee X at entercomm
Example only.

WKSE will flip on valentines day and let star 102
handle the top 40 and the a/c crowd while switching
janet and pickle goto wtss...

so. wkse now has a void to fill so they flip to country..
okay, mr SSS Kub you are a sales leader at entercomm.
you have inside info. you have connections..
but most valuable u have six weeks ( time)

the next thing you would do is post online on a radio
format board of an upcpming format flip ??
In case you didnt pick up the sarcasm,
it is as obvious as why one doesn't post about inside info..

PS
my new years resolution ... to type post/ threads and topics
more clear, concise, and easy to read.. enjpy 2013 gang
 
sir roxalot,
my post actually was started before yours...
but I started to warch dvr, and football ..
and lost my focus on the radio board.

i find it funny we have never given am1270 this much
attention. I still question how SSS kub found the
website did a flip prior to the airwaves format flip..
as seriously it is most likely there is more STAFF
than listeners of 1270( online) .

Red that again..I clearly didnt say there wasnt
WHLD listeners I carefully and directly question
the medium. really.. who streams local stations..
and if they do, is WHLD in the top ten ?
 
SSSKub said:
Radio_bored-Op said:
the first post-er said no one even sniffed this one... 1. he works there and wants the cool points,
Click to expand...
Well, my name is not "Rich Gaenzler," so chances that I work there are pretty slim. I actually stream 1270 at work because I like the format. Just wanted to continue to point out that no one on this board has any actual working or relevant knowledge of this market anymore if none of you had any clue this was happening.
Click to expand...

Good catch on your part, Skub. I too check out AM 1270 for the music, maybe three or four times a week, but like most listeners, I don't check the station's website. WBFO, WYRK, 97, 104 and 103, yes. WHLD? Not so much.

As other posters have noted, flipping WHLD to Sports appears to be about clearing the Cumulus-CBS format. But how can ratings be discounted? What good is clearance if the station doesn't get at least some ratings to point to? Cumulus would like some more male numbers to combo with WEDG and WGRF. They're no doubt hoping to draw some 18-54 Male listeners from WGR, but WGR has the Bills and Sabres. What's more, WGR just hit the sports radio daily double with the Bills signing a new head coach and the Sabres and NHL appearing to be back on the ice in a about week. Either event would generate listenership for a considerable number of weeks, if not months. Here's a question: What happens if WHLD draws a few ears from 97 or 103? That would be a zero sum gain. What becomes of Jim Rome, now affiliated CBS Sports Radio? There's speculation that he may move from WGR to WHLD. WGR appears to have a strong bench to fill the noon to 3 slot with live and local talent if this happens.

Finally, there's the issue of WHLD and WGR signals. WGR, even with a restrictive null to the east at night, wins.
 
footnote.... fans will embrace it,
but I am not coming back just yet.

On a national or local level, I will
embrace the bandits, and college sports first;
then get ready for baseball.
However I may bet on the occassional hockey game
at the casino in southern Ontario.
 
There's no competing with the Bills & Sabres games, but mid-days at WGR is certainly vulnerable. It's interesting that they're putting Rich Gaenzler on opposite Rome. Maybe he's a placeholder until Rome's contract with WGR is up, or maybe they think that Rome's act is old and stale, and local talk may give them a better chance to compete.

I don't see Doug Gottlieb - an NBA specialist - scaring an annoying-but-Sabres-heavy PM drive show on WGR. Ditto "Moore and Jones" football-heavy content at night vs. Sabres hockey.

Tiki Barber, Dana Jacobson and Brandon Tierney vs. Simon & White? If it were Howard Simon solo, it would be a slam dunk. White's annoying enough to get people to hit the button from time to time. Still, local coverage trumps generic sports coverage in this case.

Will "The Fan" do any damage to WGR? Only among sports fans who are REALLY disenchanted with Schopp and the Bulldog and Jeremy White's continual interruption of Howard Simon. I don't see a 2 share there.
 
I don't know about Buffalo, but the teams I follow have already begun their promotions to get the fans energized. Big ad campaign on TV. Special ticket packages. Almost like they were waiting for the day. I was telling my hockey friends during the holidays that this whole thing may have been a way to blow off the early part of the season, which doesn't get as much attention, until football season is over. I fully expected a deal to be signed by this wknd. Even I sniffed that one.
 
Is it really hard to believe that I would stream a station at work, despite it being local? Truth is I work in an office that doesn't get great signals on ANY station, let alone WHLD. But that's not the "sexy" answer, I understand. And if you check out WHLD a couple times a week, you were really missing out on the website. Harv Moore's "joke of the day" was always fun.
 
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