RANDY MICHAELS: Arrested for DUI

[Roger That]

Well if their upside potential is higher than Q101's, they better start turning things around in a hurry because they just lost another 30,000 listeners this past month. They only have 100,000 listeners more than Milwaukee's WTMJ, with the same rating! Not good!

I give you credit Roger That that you did not resort to name calling like that other poster, and I appreciate that. That's all I ask when debating a topic. However I do disagree with your assessment that WBBM's FM simulcast is a failure.

The reason the FM numbers weren't that great is because most listeners already listen to the station on the AM, except for the one's that can't pick up the AM signal downtown. That's what the FM simulcast was designed for. No one was expecting a 3 share on the FM, just enough new listeners to solidify an already strong product. The new station on 101.1 FM does not have an AM base to work with, so they need to hope they can even approach what the old Q101's numbers were. Btw, it looks like the FM simulcast of WBBM was combined on the latest monthly PPM numbers, which only increases WBBM's lead over second place WGN by a pretty wide margin,, and makes 101.1's situation look even more dire.

At a combined 6.6 share, I'd say WBBM's FM "experiment" has already proven to be a big ratings winner!

I agree with everything you say here. You missed my point on the FM simulcast, though. My point was, news launches are VERY slow. Even the tried-and-true WBBM proves that. Well...maybe you didn't miss my point...maybe you just disagree with it. No worries.

However, no disagreement here on the 0.2 being a mess. They have a lot of work to do. But I would also argue that not marketing the product doesn't make it easy to jump to any kind of early success. Not saying they SHOULD market what's on the air right now, but I will judge them after they do, not before.

I would like to point out that yes, the WBBM simulcast is now counted as one station in Arb. As far as experimental success, though, they took the 5.whatever they had and added a little over a share to it...so...not a ton of change on the combined success if you added previous months together by hand. That, plus the Bears football broadcasts, and I wouldn't say WBBM gained anything substantial just by making the change. It certainly helped them in the context of the Arbitron system that's in place, though.

EDIT: No idea what happened to my original post you replied to. Seems to have disappeared.

 

[musicfanpete]

Well if their upside potential is higher than Q101's, they better start turning things around in a hurry because they just lost another 30,000 listeners this past month. They only have 100,000 listeners more than Milwaukee's WTMJ, with the same rating! Not good!

I give you credit Roger That that you did not resort to name calling like that other poster, and I appreciate that. That's all I ask when debating a topic. However I do disagree with your assessment that WBBM's FM simulcast is a failure.

The reason the FM numbers weren't that great is because most listeners already listen to the station on the AM, except for the one's that can't pick up the AM signal downtown. That's what the FM simulcast was designed for. No one was expecting a 3 share on the FM, just enough new listeners to solidify an already strong product. The new station on 101.1 FM does not have an AM base to work with, so they need to hope they can even approach what the old Q101's numbers were. Btw, it looks like the FM simulcast of WBBM was combined on the latest monthly PPM numbers, which only increases WBBM's lead over second place WGN by a pretty wide margin,, and makes 101.1's situation look even more dire.

At a combined 6.6 share, I'd say WBBM's FM "experiment" has already proven to be a big ratings winner!

I agree with everything you say here. You missed my point on the FM simulcast, though. My point was, news launches are VERY slow. Even the tried-and-true WBBM proves that. Well...maybe you didn't miss my point...maybe you just disagree with it. No worries.

However, no disagreement here on the 0.2 being a mess. They have a lot of work to do. But I would also argue that not marketing the product doesn't make it easy to jump to any kind of early success. Not saying they SHOULD market what's on the air right now, but I will judge them after they do, not before.

I would like to point out that yes, the WBBM simulcast is now counted as one station in Arb. As far as experimental success, though, they took the 5.whatever they had and added a little over a share to it...so...not a ton of change on the combined success if you added previous months together by hand. That, plus the Bears football broadcasts, and I wouldn't say WBBM gained anything substantial just by making the change. It certainly helped them in the context of the Arbitron system that's in place, though.

EDIT: No idea what happened to my original post you replied to. Seems to have disappeared.

No problem. All great points.

Yeah, my post on the other thread where I got into a "heated" discussion with the other poster as well as his were removed too. I don't blame them for removing it though. I usually don't lose it on a discussion board! ;D

 

[Word!]

First of all Mark, don't assume something and make a "you know what" out of you and me! Second of all, no I did not listen to the old Q101 alternative format, though I knew a lot of people who did and enjoyed it as much as anyone who enjoys whatever formats they like. And third, the precious "Beavis-and-Butthead" audience who used to listen to that station probably earned them A LOT more revenue than the new news format is!

Maybe you forgot, but the previous format earned a 1.8 to 2.3 rating the last few months. What is the rating of your "precious" news format earning now Mark? 0.2 (in a Dean Wormer voice!)!!! I don't even know how that is possible! You have to REALLY earn your way to run a full signal major market station down that far into the ground! I have NEVER seen that kind of a ratings disaster like this one in my life! Not even Randy's Hell/Hot 94.7 fell to this low of a benchmark.

So Mark, if you think this format has potential, that's one thing. But if you think a 0.2 share of 40 something women will outearn a 2.0 share of younger adults, then you REALLY must be drinking the Kool Aid!

And here's the topper. A Hot AC station from Milwaukee 70+ miles north of here, WMYX is earning a 0.1 rating in the Chicago market! How embarassing is that?!

The difference is, Q101 was at their ceiling. A 2-share was the best it was ever going to see.

Yes, the product is mediocre on its best days. Yes, Walter Sabo's vision of pandering to women was a disaster (not sure how you hire a COO who hasn't operated anything since 1978, but I digress). BUT, I do believe there is room for news that focuses on a younger audience (not young...younger. 35 as a target is different than 55.). If they get that figured out, and then market the station once they do, the upside is certainly higher than anything KQX could have had.

Something no one seems to point out: WCFS, when it flipped to the BBM simulcast, dropped to a 1.0. Yes, I know that's better than WWWN, but it's only a 1-share, and it's the mighty WBBM!! /sarcasm

Where were the listeners that should be flocking to WBBM on FM? Even a VERY well established news product doesn't magically garner listeners unless you market it. In the beginning, it has very little to do with the quality of the product. The only people that obsess with format flips are radio nerds. If you never listened to Q101, though, how would you know it's not even there anymore and/or replaced with something else?

a 2-share is pretty dam good when considering the numbers in this market are so low to begin with the highest being a 6 and the 2's are shared all up and down the dial. (When other markets have significant leaders that separate themselves from the others)

 

[Roger That]

a 2-share is pretty dam good when considering the numbers in this market are so low to begin with the highest being a 6 and the 2's are shared all up and down the dial. (When other markets have significant leaders that separate themselves from the others)

I used the 12+ numbers as an example. In reality, they were ranked 20-something A25-54, maybe worse. There's only so much billing you can do with a male 18-34 station. Once you run out of beers and strip clubs, then what? So few advertisers buy M18-34 that it's why you see younger rock stations disappearing all over the country.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Agreed, Word.

Our AoR changed ownership and focus some time back. We went from a somewhat laid-back Chicken-Progressive to a smarmy headbanger. The owner of the station I left the AoR to work for was amazed at subsequent ratings ; that the AoR wound up 'without a single mature female listening'.

Every one of the AoR's spots, usually brief clusters, we kidded, consisted of a high-risk insurance broker, a bar with live cover bands, an abortion clinic and a tattoo hall. Many of them could well have been in the same building.

That was thirty years ago, incidentally.

('And now, duuuuudes, here's some more .... Ozzzzzie .......')