Re: A Few Other Observations
> Anyway, I wanted to also echo again that I think MIX
> 102.5-FM in Utica sounds pretty darn good from a music and
> processing standpoint. Will they make more inroads against
> Lite 98.7 remains to be seen.
It seems that everyone assumes Mix to be a competitor to Lite. In theory, it is... after all, if you're starting a new station, you might as well go after the #1 station in town. But in reality, I think Mix is doing more damage to CC's own Kiss-FM stations than to anyone else. Mix seems to be aiming a little younger than Lite. As a Hot AC, it plays edgier music that might be "too hip" for Lite's core audience. But that edgier music is perfect for attracting younger adults who are too old for Kiss, but not old enough for Lite.
Kiss continues to shoot itself in the foot... hard to tell if this is intentionally being done to make Mix look better, or what. The former morning show should have been dissolved long before Tom Starr arrived in town... it was obvious that Linda & Kook were too old for the music. The music on Kiss was (and still) seems to be too urban at times. Remember, as far as Arbitron is concerned, there is 0% black and 0% hispanic population in the market. A drive down Genesee Street will disprove that, but this is a business where you sometimes need to cater more to Arbitron's view of the world, not to actual reality.
While it was a good move for Starr to split up the old Kiss morning show, putting Linda on a station she's more comfortable with, and giving Mix some life, there are some moves I question. Carson Daly's "Most Requested" at 6PM? I thought canned stuff like that is supposed to run later at night. And how about nights... voicetracked from out of town. Kane's a good talent, but he sometimes goes a little "too hot" for this market's standards, and he can't do local things like "Goodnight Kisses," which was popular for many years.
> Utica/Rome is always tough to
> figure out and the listeners stay stuck in a rut and don't
> change very easily.
Agreed... look at how WKTV news kicked WUTR's behind left and right for years, even during the few occasional "spurts" where WUTR was doing a better job than WKTV. If a tree falls in the woods and nobody's there to hear it...
> Even though the River at 93.5-FM in Utica gets close to
> Syracuse with their signal, they have a heck of a time
> penetrating most areas in their own Utica/Rome market
> (....) most businesses cannot even get the station
> in their offices. This does not help their chances of ever
> getting a large market share.
Agreed... and when clients can't hear the station, it doesn't help the sales reps very much either. Adding to the problem, they still go all-Christmas every year. That made sense when it was Warm 93.5 (AC) because Christmas music is a natural gimmick for an AC station. The female audience who enjoys AC music is the same audience who enjoys holiday music. But as Kool and The River, 93.5 seems to target more males. When you work hard all year to lure these males into your station, it's like suicide to flip to all-Christmas because most of those males are gone in an instant. And you're not even guaranteed to bring back the female audience you had as an AC station, because you're not an AC station anymore. Of course, as you said, this is Utica-Rome where people are used to things being the same... so even if 93.5 went to FM news/talk or alternative rock, some people would still expect to hear Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney the day after Thanksgiving.
> At least to me, the River will only take away
> some audience from their sister station WOUR and maybe ROCK
> 107 because many of the songs they play are identical. I
> respect all of the people at Clear Channel Utica, but I
> think Tom Starr's high expectations for the River might not
> go according to plan, even though I hope it does well.
It certainly is an ambitious effort, and the "no nonsense" imaging is probably the best I've heard on 93.5 in several years. But still, the physical limitations of the Remsen-based signal will always be the greatest hurdle for this station. There also isn't very much outside promotion. You never see ads on billboards, TV or print for the station... most people probably aren't aware of the downtown Utica repeater on 94.1.
> on signal alone, I don't think it will ever topple WOUR,
> even though I could be dead wrong and this is just my
I agree, though it would be pretty funny to see The River actually overtaking one of its own sister stations, especially considering WOUR's heritage and superior signal strength.
> I do feel that Clear Channel Syracuse, especially Y-94 is
> being out programmed by Clear Channel Utica's MIX 102.5-FM.
> Y-94 sounds to me like a tired, old, boring radio station.
> It could be because even though Rich Lauber is director of
> programming, he may still be getting pressured from
> corporate on what to play, just like they put pressure on
> MIX 102.5's music selection. Difference is, MIX 102.5 isn't
> listening to the big wigs.
Interesting, I thought Kathy Rowe was the PD and Rich Lauber was the OM. I guess Rich still has final say in the end, but if he's more concerned with running B104, he should be able to trust Kathy -- after all, she's been there for 20+ years.
Anywho, I do agree though, that Y doesn't sound as great as it used to. Problem number one: ClearChannel national contesting. I remember when Y used to have really cool promotions like "Beat the Buzzer" and "The $25,000 In the Air Tonight." They were fun to listen to... and even though I've never been a huge Y listener, I remember listening much more than usual, to see when they'd finally play "In the Air Tonight" and give away the $25,000. But that was back when Y was owned by smaller companies like New City and Cox. Nowadays, Y is almost always relying on national contesting, and although I don't have much scientific evidence to back myself up, I don't think listeners buy it. It may sound impressive to give away a million dollars, but people are smart enough to know they have very little chance of being the "500th nationwide caller" when they hear a contest cue that very well could have already aired several minutes earlier on a dozen other stations across the country. If Utica somehow pulled together a few bucks to do local cash contesting on Mix this spring, there's no reason why Y shouldn't be able to do the same, and on an even larger scale.
The other major problem with Y: John Tesh. Booorrrriiiinnnngg. He drones on and on... the information is sometimes useful, but his presentation is very dry and almost monotone. There are also a lot of times where a music bed plays, so you'd think there would be a local liner. Nope. Just a music bed. Don't know whose fault that is, but Y should either fix it, or dump the show.
I admit I haven't heard enough of Rick & Rowe morning show to make any judgements, but they're both veterans so I trust it must be OK. Haven't heard much of Marne Mason on middays... when I actually have a chance to listen to Y during her show, it's always in a sweep and I never hear her. I've always been a fan of Capt. John Smith... sounds very personable on the air, smooth, casual... sorry to see that John Tesh's move to evenings meant the end of the Captain's Friday Night at the 80's show.
> And last, even though B-104.7 is the country king, I still
> think a lot of that success is because of that massive
> signal and more money to work with on promotions, events,
> etc. I have rarely seen any low powered FM topple a massive
> powered FM.
Same goes for Big Frog in Utica. Just like WBBS, the Frog has 100,000 watts. On a number of occasions, competitors have tried to battle the Frog, but they all get squashed. But for the most part, the only real competition these stations have had is... each other. Even though they're in different markets, they're both close enough in geography and frequency to have some crosscume (and probably some diarykeeper confusion too). If you're using a radio with an analog tuner where all the stations are really close to each other, it may not always be obvious if you're listening to 104.3 or 104.7 until you keep it on long enough to hear a liner.
