> WCBS FM was dropping like a rock in billing. On a pure
> dollar basis, off nearly 20% since 2000 and, when indexed
> against the growth of market revenues, off by nearly 40%. In
> other words, the end was very near and they moved to
> something better.
Was that due to the twentysomething snotnoses in the ad agencies ignoring "older demos" (Translation: those people who actually have the disposable income to buy advertised goods and services), or was it due to the "tweaking" of the playlist by the corporate suits at Infinity? By dumping most 50s and 60s music and concentrating instead on music from the 70s and 80s, WCBS-FM alienated a lot of its most loyal listeners. I found the "updated" WCBS-FM to be intolerable and I stopped listening during my trips to North Jersey long before "Jack" delivered the coup de grace.
Will the jockless mess known as "Jack" bring that station back to life? Hardly, as New Yorkers have to hear their local news and weather along with the music. A format imported from some cow country town on the Canadian prairie (OK, I know it started in Vancouver...but it grew in Edmonton) may be successful there...but that doesn't mean it will work in New York. One other thing: The I-pod types won't want to sit through seven minutes of commercials to get to the music. The new "Jack" has intolerably long stopsets that bring in money (at least while the curious are sampling the station), but p*ss off listeners.
Looking at both WNEW-FM and WCBS-FM, it seems that Infinity has a talent for tanking legacy FM stations in New York. How long before WFME beats WCBS-FM in the ratings? (Yes, WFME is noncommercial, but they do show up in the Arbitron books.)
Did WCBS-FM actually change to something better? That's doubtful! If they went urban (targeting Hot 97 or "Kiss") or Spanish CHR (targeting WSKQ), that might have been better, both in ratings and in billing.