Now 97.5's fake listeners

[wesdev224]

Why would I listen to B101 at work when I can listen to Now 97.5 with no interruptions?

Because you are passionate about radio, and actually care. Listeners to B-101 listen out of habit. They just want backround noise, and don't care about the commercials, because they understand that is how the station makes its money. And in the captive environment of an office, or even the home, commercials blend into the backround. I think the car is the only place that people actively resort to button pushing when a commercial set comes on. People tend to stick with what they know.

I used to do call out research at the old Sunny 104.5 in the late 80's. As you probably know, all questions are worded to steer the participant to a specific end. No one is going to argue that a commercial free work day is better than a limited or full commercial load day, well, because it is. But in the end, people always turn to their comfort zone. Does anyone know of an instance where giving away a huge sum of money actually turned the fortunes of a low rated radio station to a high rated station? I don't think so. Why? Because people always return to what they know. Now 97.5 will ALWAYS flounder as an also ran, because in the 11 years since Greater Media flipped WFLN to Max, they have failed to establish a lasting identity at 97.5. And in today's radio business climate, they will never be allowed to.

 

[imhomerjay]

Now 97.5 will ALWAYS flounder as an also ran, because in the 11 years since Greater Media flipped WFLN to Max, they have failed to establish a lasting identity at 97.5. And in today's radio business climate, they will never be allowed to.

95.7 and 97.5 aren't the same situation...and one can argue they did find a lasting (all things being relative) identity with Ben FM. That doesn't mean they will with Now, but it bears pointing out that they did finally make something out of the WFLN situation.

 

[wesdev224]

Now 97.5 will ALWAYS flounder as an also ran, because in the 11 years since Greater Media flipped WFLN to Max, they have failed to establish a lasting identity at 97.5. And in today's radio business climate, they will never be allowed to.

95.7 and 97.5 aren't the same situation...and one can argue they did find a lasting (all things being relative) identity with Ben FM. That doesn't mean they will with Now, but it bears pointing out that they did finally make something out of the WFLN situation.

I got my GM properties mixed up obviously. I tried to modify my post, but I timed out for some reason. But you basically summed up what I was trying to say. Greater Media failed to build a lasting identity after WFLN with 95.7 until Ben. One could argue that was pure luck and not corporate genius. In todays radio business environment, they are almost guaranteed not to build a lasting identity at 97.5, because the price of todays signals are too cost prohibitive, and time will not allow them the luxury of building that brand.

 

[imhomerjay]

True enough. I think for all the potshots at Greater Media, some fairness is in order. WJJZ may have been an ill-executed attempt to revive the old station, and the Max-Jammin-Mix (with a few different versions of Mix in the, um, mix) was not anyone's finest hour.

But they did shell out the money to make WMMR competitive again in the morning after some bad decisions in the post-Zoo era. (Not a judgement on Preston & Steve, just pointing out that they're pulling in the numbers.) And overall, WMMR has done fairly well in recent years. WMGK managed to move through the '70s phase to classic hits to classic rock and hold its own--and again, Greater Media brought in someone who, though no P&S ratings wise, had name recognition with the target audience.

Ben finally caught on at 95.7, whatever the ratio of luck to skill was. I credit the management (I believe it was Mike Sommers who initially programmed Ben, after blowing up Mix, right?) with taking a national trend and adjusting it to make it work. More than a few of the "Jack" clones have not done nearly as well as Ben has, so props to them for that.

I'm still wondering where there's an opening for Now in a head-to-head battle with the B, especially if they don't plan to spend some money on it. But hey, maybe they can pull enough listeners that a shoestring operation will make a better return on the investment than WJJZ--we're not privy to the detailed analysis.

 

[wprt949]

ben-fm is not a bad station but at times they tend to sound like an ac station

i hope 97.5 does hurt BEN-FM

 

[NoMoreLurking]

Did anyone copy down the posts by this "WuttaLoad" person? Apparently they were inspirational....

 

[wprt949]

ben-fm is not a bad station but at times they tend to sound like an ac station

i hope 97.5 does not hurt BEN-FM

 

[Soon Yi CIV.V]

Of course Now 97.5 is just gonna be an also-ran. No one should expect anything else. I can assure you no one at Greater Media is expecting the station to blow B101 out of the water. When someone creates a station to go up against a powerhouse like B101 (and Jerry Lee, for crying out loud) they're not looking to be #1, they're just looking to make more money with it than they were with the previous format.

 

[eyg2181]

the only advantage 97 has over 101, is the extra 20 miles in the NYC direction, but that still doesnt make up for the MANY directions that 101 goes 30 miles further

 

[Yeziknoradio]

GO ahead! Email the station!

Here's the automated response to anything you type:

(even noihnlkfnrjgjrghpri[prwkut )

Thank you for your feedback and concern about the station. These decisions are very difficult. If you have any other comments or opinions, please call (610)771-9751.



Thanks again and have a fabulous day!

 

[stevenmcintosh1]

LMAO! Cracks me up and made my day. Love the suggested fake listener postings. My coworkers are looking at me like something is wrong with me.

I listened to NOW 97.5's webstream from Maryland last night. I liked it so much I turned it off once the second song came on.

 

[radioskeptic]

On Sept. 9 (Reply # 29), “eye2181” wrote:

the only advantage 97 has over 101, is the extra 20 miles in the NYC direction, but that still doesnt make up for the MANY directions that 101 goes 30 miles further

I was driving around the middle of Gloucester County, NJ this morning when some spoken word programming began interfering with reception of 97.5. (No, it's not my kind of station; I just like to keep up with what's going on in this crazy business, which I thankfully don't work in!)

It might have been Millenium’s first-adjacent WXKW (97.3), which simulcasts their Trenton station WKXW (101.5), or it might have been a distant co-channel. But I strongly suspect it was the former, with conditions strengthening signals from the southeast. (Although still licensed to Millville, when it was located when it was WMVB, 97.3 now has its transmitter about mid-way between Vineland and Atlantic City.)

Under normal conditions, any factory car radio can deal with these kinds of first-adjacents—though few cheap table and clock radios of the kind I see in offices can. And at work listening is B101’s bread and butter.

For that reason, I give Greater Media’s 97.5 move-in from Trenton absolutely no chance of making any inroads on B101 more than 15 miles or so south of the city, at least east of the Delaware River—as if it had any chance anywhere against a powerhouse like B101!

 

[Soon Yi CIV.V]

(Although still licensed to Millville, when it was located when it was WMVB, 97.3 now has its transmitter about mid-way between Vineland and Atlantic City.)

Corbin City, I believe it's called.