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Random Thoughts On The Free-FM Fallout

L

lance

Guest
What a week. Never in my mind when I blew open the story on the impending Free-FM launch did I ever expect everything to happen a mere 8 days later.

What have we learned? Infinity is dead serious about Free-FM in major markets.

It was surreal to listen to what amounted to WXRK's airstaff being fired on Howard's show.

Surprised to see Barsky given the midday slot, but he has the audience recognition and skills to succeed in this format. If for some reason one of the drive time shows don't pan out, he could easily slide into that spot.

Great job by everyone at WMMR who handled the demise of their long-time rival with tremendous class. I heard a bit of Bill Weston and Pierre Robert's tribute to WYSP, and much like they did when Y100 bid adieu in February, they took the high road welcoming the displaced listeners. If WMMR plays its cards right, we could be looking at a station battling with KYW and B101 for the top spot in the market.

That said, I don't expect it to be long before someone else jumps in on the current rock opening in the market. I expect that Clear Channel will do something with 104.5 after the holidays, however I'm still going to give the edge to a News/Talker ala 104.7 WPGB in Pittsburgh and the soon to launch KTLK in Minneapolis. An Alternative leaning Rocker and Spanish could also work at 104.5 as well.

If I were Nassau, I'd add currents if not completely flip The Hawk. Even if the eventual plan is to sell off 97.5 following the move-in, in this current marketplace you can easily boost the ratings and revenue of the station in the short-term. That can also lead to a higher sale price for the station.

<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
> Surprised to see Barsky given the midday slot, but he has
> the audience recognition and skills to succeed in this
> format. If for some reason one of the drive time shows don't
> pan out, he could easily slide into that spot.
>

Well...that might work both ways: the "audience recognition" could just as easily be "Oh, dear God! They hired that loser?" as much as "Barsky's back? Cool!" He has his future at Free-FM in his own paws; let's see what he'll do with it. After all, the only radio frequency he HASN'T worked in Philly is the drive-through speaker at Mickey Dee's on City Avenue.

> If WMMR plays its cards right, we could be looking at a station battling
> with KYW and B101 for the top spot in the market.

Absolutely! MMR, programmed correctly, could just build on its latest decent numbers and really make a major move upward. Properly adding to its overall presentation and judicious library enhancement could broaden its demos and make it more than simply an 18/34 Male-dominated rocker.

> That said, I don't expect it to be long before someone else
> jumps in on the current rock opening in the market. I expect
> that Clear Channel will do something with 104.5 after the
> holidays, however I'm still going to give the edge to a
> News/Talker ala 104.7 WPGB in Pittsburgh and the soon to
> launch KTLK in Minneapolis. An Alternative leaning Rocker
> and Spanish could also work at 104.5 as well.

I'd rather see 104.5 kick the Bee-balls rather than flip. The Bee is vulnerable to being over-taken by a serious Adult competitor which, imho, they have not had.

> If I were Nassau, I'd add currents if not completely flip
> The Hawk.

Hate to see The Hawk flip, either. They're kind of a free-spirit among the locked-down FMs in Philly. Adjusting the playlist by adding currents might take away that "special character" thing they have goin' on. I guess it depends on the kinds of currents you had in mind.

All in all, with the dumping of C&S, the fruit-basket-turnover aspect of YSP and the speculation about 104.5, OGL and more, things could get even more interesting shortly. Might even be fun.
 
> > Surprised to see Barsky given the midday slot, but he has
> > the audience recognition and skills to succeed in this
> > format. If for some reason one of the drive time shows
> don't
> > pan out, he could easily slide into that spot.
> >
>
> Well...that might work both ways: the "audience recognition"
> could just as easily be "Oh, dear God! They hired that
> loser?" as much as "Barsky's back? Cool!" He has his future
> at Free-FM in his own paws; let's see what he'll do with it.
> After all, the only radio frequency he HASN'T worked in
> Philly is the drive-through speaker at Mickey Dee's on City
> Avenue.
>
> > If WMMR plays its cards right, we could be looking at a
> station battling
> > with KYW and B101 for the top spot in the market.

If MMR were smart, they'd dump the classic product and take on YSP's music ASAP. Infinity is practically handing the keys to the Rock kingdom right to "Grader" Media, and they should win by default. But, I agree someone will run with the rock ball, be it another active rocker, an alt/rocker or a clever mix, a la JSE.

> Absolutely! MMR, programmed correctly, could just build on
> its latest decent numbers and really make a major move
> upward. Properly adding to its overall presentation and
> judicious library enhancement could broaden its demos and
> make it more than simply an 18/34 Male-dominated rocker.
>
> > That said, I don't expect it to be long before someone
> else
> > jumps in on the current rock opening in the market. I
> expect
> > that Clear Channel will do something with 104.5 after the
> > holidays, however I'm still going to give the edge to a
> > News/Talker ala 104.7 WPGB in Pittsburgh and the soon to
> > launch KTLK in Minneapolis. An Alternative leaning Rocker
> > and Spanish could also work at 104.5 as well.
>
> I'd rather see 104.5 kick the Bee-balls rather than flip.
> The Bee is vulnerable to being over-taken by a serious Adult
> competitor which, imho, they have not had.
>
> > If I were Nassau, I'd add currents if not completely flip
> > The Hawk.
>
> Hate to see The Hawk flip, either. They're kind of a
> free-spirit among the locked-down FMs in Philly. Adjusting
> the playlist by adding currents might take away that
> "special character" thing they have goin' on. I guess it
> depends on the kinds of currents you had in mind.
>
> All in all, with the dumping of C&S, the
> fruit-basket-turnover aspect of YSP and the speculation
> about 104.5, OGL and more, things could get even more
> interesting shortly. Might even be fun.
>

Yeah, don't touch The Hawk. Probably one of the few stations left on terestrial radio that I can actually stomach anymore.
<P ID="signature">______________
I've done it all...HOO HOO...tell 'em, Fred!
FOX News Alert: YOU SUCK!!! Ya like apples?</P>
 
Considering how much the rest of Free FM was the worst-kept secret in radio, I am totally floored at how YSP was able to keep Barsky's hiring under wraps. NO ONE saw that coming. I'm glad to see him back, though, as it gives me someone to listen to after Preston and Steve on MMR.

I don't see this as a complete format flip for YSP, however. As I said in another post, it's a move they've tried several times before, but with new packaging. Infinity may give it more investment considering the national Free FM approach this time however. We won't see the full impact of this for at least a year.

I don't expect MMR to change their music much, if at all. Because their ratings will increase by default, they don't have much incentive to change it. Which is a shame, as their playlist needs direction. More on that another time.

I'll be very curious to see if another station picks up a rock format, but I'm not sure anyone would be interested. Rock formats are not smiled upon in the industry these days. But it will be very interesting to see if 104.5 flips to anything after Christmas.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Phillyradiogeek on 10/26/05 12:39 AM.</FONT></P>
 
941 Free Fm - WYSP or whatever

looks like they are going to still stream the music 24 hours a day at http://www.wysp.com

but really now, they should have canned Couzin Ed and kept Tommy Conwell... Brian McGee is a has never been and its time for him to take his little fake persona of "Couzin Ed" and hit the road back to Virginia!
 
> 941 Free Fm - WYSP or whatever
>
> looks like they are going to still stream the music 24 hours
> a day at http://www.wysp.com
>
> but really now, they should have canned Couzin Ed and kept
> Tommy Conwell... Brian McGee is a has never been and its
> time for him to take his little fake persona of "Couzin Ed"
> and hit the road back to Virginia!
>
Yeah but, Tommy conwell blows. His idea of grunge lunch is just as retarded as he is. The grunge lunch is full of Pearl Jam and Nirvana and Alice in chains, and really nothing else....oh yeah, he even kept calling STP a grunge band, well they're not even from seattle. I am glad Tommy "I'm not your man" Conwell is back as a weekender.I wonder what happens to card readers like Rich Disesto.
 
In my opinion, this format change is the beginning of the end of WYSP, Free-FM, or whatever it is. Basically, WMMR will be the only game in town now for those who need their rock music fix. Listeners are not going to wait till the nighttime hours to get their rock music. I can't see this new format lasting too long. I'm wondering if people will march in protest at 5th & Market...just like listeners did in Noo Yawk when WCBS-FM flipped to the "Jack" format. But we'll see how things go. I guess we should just give it a chance and see what happens from there.
 
I like Free FM. YSP really had already it in the past and then got rid of it after the biggest radio scandal in history. And callers this evening and the shock of the presses make believe like this is a format change. It's just another tweak really.

I think it will prove to be a good move. It's like WKXW is for New Jersey, except with a younger demo (no oldies on the weekends) and a better signal. And Barsky - while he hasn't had a very long term gig since WPLY, has long been the best that Philly radio has to offer.

It's KRock that I'm worried about. When I'm in NY, I only listen to KRock and PLJ. I guess I can move PLJ to a #1 and toggle to Q104 whenever PLJ plays one of their hour long sets of burned out John Mayer and Rob Thomas. KRock really IS a well known brand in NY... and didn't need to be held up by Stern to get to that place in my opinion. Infinity jacks its two big NYC brand names within months... rather cannibalistic wouldn't you think? It's very reminiscent of the downscaling we've seen from Greater Media with 950 twice this year, and 95.7 twice EVERY year. Sad!
 
> In my opinion, this format change is the beginning of the
> end of WYSP, Free-FM, or whatever it is. Basically, WMMR
> will be the only game in town now for those who need their
> rock music fix. Listeners are not going to wait till the
> nighttime hours to get their rock music. I can't see this
> new format lasting too long. I'm wondering if people will
> march in protest at 5th & Market...just like listeners did
> in Noo Yawk when WCBS-FM flipped to the "Jack" format. But
> we'll see how things go. I guess we should just give it a
> chance and see what happens from there.

I doubt there would be much protesting down near the Bourse. KYW 1060 and channel 3 wouldn't have any of that going around...

WYSP still has Philadelphia Eagles football, though, right?

--
Jefferson Eng
 
> > In my opinion, this format change is the beginning of the
> > end of WYSP, Free-FM, or whatever it is. Basically, WMMR
> > will be the only game in town now for those who need their
>
> > rock music fix. Listeners are not going to wait till the
> > nighttime hours to get their rock music. I can't see this
>
> > new format lasting too long. I'm wondering if people will
>
> > march in protest at 5th & Market...just like listeners did
>
> > in Noo Yawk when WCBS-FM flipped to the "Jack" format.
> But
> > we'll see how things go. I guess we should just give it a
>
> > chance and see what happens from there.
>
> I doubt there would be much protesting down near the Bourse.
> KYW 1060 and channel 3 wouldn't have any of that going
> around...
>
> WYSP still has Philadelphia Eagles football, though, right?
>
yeah, the Eagles banter is a large part of their talk FM format
> --
> Jefferson Eng
>
 
I'm glad to see the grunge lunch go. It's infuriating. Kills my afternoon if I accidentally flip past it. I guess I take things too seriously.
 
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