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Progress Report

N

NotSoSilentBob

Guest
Let's look at a progress report of the companies/stations in town. This is my opinion, you throw in yours.

Clear Channel: Things are looking good at 55 MSW right now. WSIX is still #1 in country, but it is clear they sense the Wolf coming up on their tails by the recent Gerry House media blitz we've seen. If there is one thing WSIX can beat WSM-FM on hands-down, it's the morning show. WLAC is keeping the gab going well with their steady lineup of satellite shows. WUBT now has the stranglehold on the hip-hop market. WRVW probably got a few more listeners now that Star 97 is no more. WNRQ stands to lose some listeners to Jack, but it won't be enough to notice.

Citadel: Things on crime-free Rutledge Hill aren't so good at the moment. WKDF is miserable right now. That awful Reelworld jingle package isn't helping. The talent is getting stale, the music is falling off, and from the sound of it, they don't know how to react to the Wolf's surge. WGFX is plugging away in the drive times, but sounds trepid in every other daypart. This town isn't big enough for live sports talk 6a-10p, but they could improve by dumping the B.U.D. concept and getting some stability in evenings. It also wouldn't be a bad idea to get rid of the square-peg HHH show in mid-mornings. GFX's biggest problem is their overbearing spotload. It's difficult to listen when more than 1/3 of the hour is occupied by commercials.

Cumulus: The Dickeys have hit a streak of good luck nabbing the Oldies format on WRQQ along with Coyote, Cathy, and Bobby. WSM-FM's grabbing of the #2 country spot away from WKDF for the first time since '00 or so has been a nice touch as well, and their sights are set on SIX. Whether or not they actually catch them remains to be seen. WQQK has its core audience and Joyner is delivering in mornings like he always has here. WWTN needs some work. That station needs another tax revolt to give it a boost. I still don't believe tape-delaying your afternoon drive show is a good idea, either. The only way to beat Hannity is to go local in that slot. WNFN is a disaster, but 106.7 has always served as nothing but a flanker. Who knows what format it will be 6 months to a year from now.

South Central: The jury is still out. They have the #1 station in town in WJXA, but they took a huge risk flipping 96.3 to Jack. Time will tell if this was genius or insanity.

Cromwell: WBUZ & WQZQ are pathetic as usual. Nothing more needs to be said about these wastes of energy.

Salem: Doing their thing, but they could get a better rating if they took one of their simulcast stations (perhaps 93.7 or 94.1) and flipped it to Salem Talk. I know Nashville doesn't need another talk FM, but it would gather listeners quickly, especially where the money is (Williamson County), and help that company's bottom line in the process. There's no way they're making substantial money with the 2 low-rated gospel simulcasts they have now.

Tuned-in: WRLT is still refreshing to listen to. It remains to be seen if Jack hurts this audience. I doubt it, but you never know.

Gaylord: WSM-AM hasn't sounded this good in a while. If WKDF continues to slide, Nashville's Country Legend may push into that #3 country slot again, which wouldn't be a dull accomplishment for an AMer.

Those are my two cents. Do with them what you will.<P ID="signature">______________
Bob
Moderator, Nashville board
Radio-Info.com--Always Tuned In</P>
 
> South Central: The jury is still out. They have the #1
> station in town in WJXA, but they took a huge risk flipping
> 96.3 to Jack. Time will tell if this was genius or insanity.

I think it will do great. I'm hearing Jack almost everywhere, from neighbors pool parties to my bosses office radio. It helped Jack's cause when Star flipped. It also helps that nobody else is playing '70s and '80s pop

> Cromwell: WBUZ & WQZQ are pathetic as usual. Nothing more
> needs to be said about these wastes of energy.

WBUZ would do better as an active rocker. Their current format is too niche. Active Rock would keep most of the current modern rock listeners, as well as dipping into the pool of WNRQ's healthy audience.

As for WQZQ, I don't know. Maybe becoming more of a rhythmic CHR would give them an identity. I wouldn't listen, but I'm not in their target.
 
Cumulus seem to be "most improved" right now. The Wolf has really come into its own and I find myself listening to them more and more, especially on weekends. Getting Oldies on 97.1 was a gift and the station sounds great. I hope - as was said in a different thread - that they avoid the dull syndicated shows that were making 96.3 so bad on weeknights. When Supergold got kicked off Saturday, 96.3 started slipping.

South Central indeed took a huge risk on Jack. I was just reading about Cousin Brucie signing with Sirius after being let go when WCBS-FM went Jack earlier this month. It's an interesting trend. I hear some good stuff on Jack, but then they throw in something downright strange or just annoying and I have to flip it. I have heard Enigma - Sadeness Part 1 - three different afternoons driving home in the last couple of weeks. Yuk. Maybe the iPOD they have has a timer?

Clear Channel seems to be the ones teetering on slipping down a notch in all of this. I still listen to Gerry every morning on WSIX, but I end up flipping in the afternoon because the playlist is just too small. The River is going so hip hop/urban that I never flip over there and I keep considering reassigning their preset. I am out of their demo, of course! And WLAC - I'm just sick of Hannity and all the griping. I stick with WSM-AM driving home (after Marketplace at 4PM on WPLN-AM) because they are sounding great these days and they have the best news, weather and traffic.

My only thought on Citadel : WKDF is a good station - the talent is good. I don't know why it doesn't click. It seems the rock heritage is almost a burden they just can't shake. I've lived her all my life and it's still weird to flip over to 103.3 and hear country.

As Forrest Gump said -
"And that's all I have to say about that."

Jason


> Let's look at a progress report of the companies/stations in
> town. This is my opinion, you throw in yours.
>
> Clear Channel: Things are looking good at 55 MSW right now.
> WSIX is still #1 in country, but it is clear they sense the
> Wolf coming up on their tails by the recent Gerry House
> media blitz we've seen. If there is one thing WSIX can beat
> WSM-FM on hands-down, it's the morning show. WLAC is keeping
> the gab going well with their steady lineup of satellite
> shows. WUBT now has the stranglehold on the hip-hop market.
> WRVW probably got a few more listeners now that Star 97 is
> no more. WNRQ stands to lose some listeners to Jack, but it
> won't be enough to notice.
>
> Citadel: Things on crime-free Rutledge Hill aren't so good
> at the moment. WKDF is miserable right now. That awful
> Reelworld jingle package isn't helping. The talent is
> getting stale, the music is falling off, and from the sound
> of it, they don't know how to react to the Wolf's surge.
> WGFX is plugging away in the drive times, but sounds trepid
> in every other daypart. This town isn't big enough for live
> sports talk 6a-10p, but they could improve by dumping the
> B.U.D. concept and getting some stability in evenings. It
> also wouldn't be a bad idea to get rid of the square-peg HHH
> show in mid-mornings. GFX's biggest problem is their
> overbearing spotload. It's difficult to listen when more
> than 1/3 of the hour is occupied by commercials.
>
> Cumulus: The Dickeys have hit a streak of good luck nabbing
> the Oldies format on WRQQ along with Coyote, Cathy, and
> Bobby. WSM-FM's grabbing of the #2 country spot away from
> WKDF for the first time since '00 or so has been a nice
> touch as well, and their sights are set on SIX. Whether or
> not they actually catch them remains to be seen. WQQK has
> its core audience and Joyner is delivering in mornings like
> he always has here. WWTN needs some work. That station needs
> another tax revolt to give it a boost. I still don't believe
> tape-delaying your afternoon drive show is a good idea,
> either. The only way to beat Hannity is to go local in that
> slot. WNFN is a disaster, but 106.7 has always served as
> nothing but a flanker. Who knows what format it will be 6
> months to a year from now.
>
> South Central: The jury is still out. They have the #1
> station in town in WJXA, but they took a huge risk flipping
> 96.3 to Jack. Time will tell if this was genius or insanity.
>
>
> Cromwell: WBUZ & WQZQ are pathetic as usual. Nothing more
> needs to be said about these wastes of energy.
>
> Salem: Doing their thing, but they could get a better rating
> if they took one of their simulcast stations (perhaps 93.7
> or 94.1) and flipped it to Salem Talk. I know Nashville
> doesn't need another talk FM, but it would gather listeners
> quickly, especially where the money is (Williamson County),
> and help that company's bottom line in the process. There's
> no way they're making substantial money with the 2 low-rated
> gospel simulcasts they have now.
>
> Tuned-in: WRLT is still refreshing to listen to. It remains
> to be seen if Jack hurts this audience. I doubt it, but you
> never know.
>
> Gaylord: WSM-AM hasn't sounded this good in a while. If WKDF
> continues to slide, Nashville's Country Legend may push into
> that #3 country slot again, which wouldn't be a dull
> accomplishment for an AMer.
>
> Those are my two cents. Do with them what you will.
>
 
> The River is going
> so hip hop/urban that I never flip over there and I keep
> considering reassigning their preset. I am out of their
> demo, of course!

I had to do that too, reassigning their preset to Q108. I still think "The River" is a great sounding CHR, but Top 40 music happens to be going through a down cycle. The River tries to lean adult, but there are no Adult CHR mass appeal hits out there. When the music comes around the cycle to being good again, I'm sure you and I will both be re-adding 107.5 to our presets!
 
Jason, I think you're right. The only reason WKDF has been a competitor to WSIX is because WSM-FM was so deplorable for so long. Now that it's a player again, you're seeing the audience go back to 95.5 where they heard so many good country hits while KDF was still playing rock. And I too still think it is weird to hear country on 103.3.

In history, we'll see the three dumbest Nashville radio format changes as such, in chronological order:

1) Y107 becomes 107.5 The River, 1996
2) 103KDF becomes Music City 103, 1999
---speaking of that, i have heard through the grapevine that the only reason they changed from Music City 103 to 103 WKDF was because Carl P. Mayfield wanted to be able to say the call letters on the air---
3) Oldies 96.3 becomes Jack-FM, 2005

The common thread: the death of the frequency's heritage.
 
> In history, we'll see the three dumbest Nashville radio
> format changes as such, in chronological order:
>
> 1) Y107 becomes 107.5 The River, 1996
> 2) 103KDF becomes Music City 103, 1999
> ---speaking of that, i have heard through the grapevine that
> the only reason they changed from Music City 103 to 103 WKDF
> was because Carl P. Mayfield wanted to be able to say the
> call letters on the air---
> 3) Oldies 96.3 becomes Jack-FM, 2005

I disagree on all 3.

1. They needed to shake the "Outrageous FM" image because advertisers had a negative image associated with it.

2. Are you talking about when they flipped from rock to country? I know there's a soft spot in everyone's hearts for rock on 103 here, but since 1999 they've been making money hand over fist!

3. It'll be a big winner here. Lower demos, less overhead, huge formatic hole for the music. Recipe for success.

Frequency heritage means nothing if it's not allowed to evolve. Do you think 1300 WMAK should still be playing the hits? Numbers 1,2,and 3 above did what it took to keep the frequency alive.
 
We're programmers! We don't care what makes money, we just want the people to listen!

(tongue in cheek)<P ID="signature">______________
Bob
Moderator, Nashville board
Radio-Info.com--Always Tuned In</P>
 
> > South Central: The jury is still out. They have the #1
> > station in town in WJXA, but they took a huge risk
> flipping
> > 96.3 to Jack. Time will tell if this was genius or
> insanity.
>
> I think it will do great. I'm hearing Jack almost
> everywhere, from neighbors pool parties to my bosses office
> radio. It helped Jack's cause when Star flipped. It also
> helps that nobody else is playing '70s and '80s pop
>
> > Cromwell: WBUZ & WQZQ are pathetic as usual. Nothing more
> > needs to be said about these wastes of energy.
>
> WBUZ would do better as an active rocker. Their current
> format is too niche. Active Rock would keep most of the
> current modern rock listeners, as well as dipping into the
> pool of WNRQ's healthy audience.
>
> As for WQZQ, I don't know. Maybe becoming more of a
> rhythmic CHR would give them an identity. I wouldn't
> listen, but I'm not in their target.
>

The Buzz totally sucks. They should hear their counterpart Z97.5 in Clarksville. That station blows both Cromwell stations and 105.9 out of the water. They even have some of the former great KDF active rockers on the air. And the Buzz probably has three times the budget. What a waste of money! And who wants to hear some manager's wife (Lulu) and some old Tennessean reporter on a station geared to teens like the Party. Come on Cromwell. Bring your stations into at least the 90's.
 
And who wants to hear some manager's wife (Lulu) and
> some old Tennessean reporter on a station geared to teens
> like the Party. Come on Cromwell. Bring your stations into
> at least the 90's.
>



Well surely most people want to listen to random people Chinese Birth and Love Chart ALL MORNING EVERY SINGLE MORNING..I mean...its most people's favorite thing right? And Brad...the biggest perv in radio ever, he is the obvious choice for that demo...
 
>
> 2. Are you talking about when they flipped from rock to
> country? I know there's a soft spot in everyone's hearts
> for rock on 103 here, but since 1999 they've been making
> money hand over fist!
>

You're right. And KDF really had no where to go and Country was a gutsy move. They had already killed their own heritage when they had shamed themselves with that quasi-alternative format they had gone to. It's been a long time and it's easy to forget just how bad KDF had gotten at the end.

Jason
 
> >
> > 2. Are you talking about when they flipped from rock to
> > country? I know there's a soft spot in everyone's hearts
> > for rock on 103 here, but since 1999 they've been making
> > money hand over fist!
> >
>
> You're right. And KDF really had no where to go and Country
> was a gutsy move. They had already killed their own heritage
> when they had shamed themselves with that quasi-alternative
> format they had gone to. It's been a long time and it's easy
> to forget just how bad KDF had gotten at the end.
>
> Jason
>


Yes, but even a bad KDF is better than The Buzz at its best.<P ID="signature">______________
Bob
Moderator, Nashville board
Radio-Info.com--Always Tuned In</P>
 
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