Ratings in the Valley

[kentuckymedia]

Just looking at the overall ratings and returns in markets along 75.

Dayton -

Clear Channel had a rough book. Their wall to wall Ho Ho didnt do as well as it has in the past. While there were so many haters of Fly, it looks like they have landed in the walls of WMMX. WDKF, ouch! With it being the only Top 40 in town, they dont know what Top 40 music is. They are still trying to compete with 50,000 watt mothership WDHT which was off, but that happens. Bob Neil should be smiling nice and pretty.

Overall Mainline should be happy. Their continuous Television campaign on Fly and what they are about to embark in fury for Clark County will only help WKSW. Look for over 40 billboards in Springfield just promoting Kiss Country. Hot and ROU will remain steady, maybe some cash give-a-ways and they will be happy.

Cincinnati -

All the stations were up or down in their respective demos. WLW took the biggest bite. Core demo down almost 20%, what happened there? Look for WEBN to take a bite after a couple books of 96 Rock. No, it wont eclipse the legend, but it should give it a run for its money.

Bonneville, still doing well...better than where they were with CBS. Good job guys!

Lima -

Looks like almost all stations stayed the same. I would say the winning book went to WDOH. The country station doubled in the 12+. WIMT overall was down by nearly 40% from Spring. Clear Channel was down or stayed the same. Maverick stayed the same or was up.

 

[Les Izmore]

Agreed. Bonneville did well in the last book. B & Q are doing very well and The Sound had some very good lower end male numbers. Should be interesting to see if that grows with the addition of 96 Rock.

 

[alans613]

This is only the beginning for FLY...I do agree about people hating it in the beginning...I wasn't one of them. I wonder what the first Winter Trends will look like for them? A 3.2 isn't bad for a station that just signed on. I can't wait for the FLY billboards. The TV campaign has heated up over the last two months, and i've seen quite a few FLY commercials all over the dial, especially on local TV powerhouse Channel 7. When will we hear the first on air personalities?

 

[kentuckymedia]

Things are just warming up at Mainline. WKSW is going through a major Spring Book push in Clark County, FLY is only going to increase the number of adds on 2,7,22,45. They will most likely blanket the north end of the metro with Fly Billboards.

As for Mainline, they have their ducks ina row. I would say you will see a jock sometime this year in afternoon drive.

Bonneville is heating up the marketing as well. They will only continue to increase their marketing side ala WUBE, WSWD in the Billboard world. Dont be too surprised to see an on-slaught of television for WKRQ.

Maverick in Lima did a major marketing push in Lima this fall. Television for WWSR and WDOH. Plus Billboards for both country stations WDOH and WFFG.

Clear Channel is coasting, and its going to bite them in the back-side soon enough!

 

[nedsmith2007]

Heard Fly over the holidays. Falls flat compared to the original and still the champ in AH presentation, Jack FM. But who'd have expected a Dayton operator to do it right? Save the cash and give the market a knock off. Like buying a Durabrand TV at Walmart. FWIW, my opinion on best station in the Valley right now? Eagle.

 

[Engineers_Rule]

"FWIW, my opinion on best station in the Valley right now? Eagle. "

You are entitled to your opinion, as am I. The voice guy sounds like he cut the liners while sitting on the crapper, and needs a serious laxative. Having to hear that guy remind me every 3:30 that I am listening to the Eagle? Sheesh! I AM smart enough to know WHAT button is pushed on the radio. I can also read the little numbers telling me what the frequency is.

How about adding about 300 more songs, and try a new concept...a SEGUE now and then..and get rid of the voice dude. Get that guy from ZLR classic rock days...the guy who does Toyota commercials. That dude sounds better drunk than whoever is voiceing ALL the Cox Eagle stations.

My 0.02

ER

 

[hotpatrick2004]

Hey kentuckymedia sounds like mainline knows what there doing in cincinnati i wonder if and when they will do anything with any of there stations in louisville be it flip or tweak anything? Maybe a fly in the ville?

 

[nedsmith2007]

"FWIW, my opinion on best station in the Valley right now? Eagle. "

You are entitled to your opinion, as am I. The voice guy sounds like he cut the liners while sitting on the crapper, and needs a serious laxative. Having to hear that guy remind me every 3:30 that I am listening to the Eagle? Sheesh! I AM smart enough to know WHAT button is pushed on the radio. I can also read the little numbers telling me what the frequency is.

How about adding about 300 more songs, and try a new concept...a SEGUE now and then..and get rid of the voice dude. Get that guy from ZLR classic rock days...the guy who does Toyota commercials. That dude sounds better drunk than whoever is voiceing ALL the Cox Eagle stations.

My 0.02

ER

Looks like ol' Ned hit another raw nerve. ;D

 

[techie2]

Maverick in Lima did a major marketing push in Lima this fall. Television for WWSR and WDOH. Plus Billboards for both country stations WDOH and WFFG.

WDOH isn't country anymore. Maverick changed it to AC when they took over.

 

[KFodor]

"FWIW, my opinion on best station in the Valley right now? Eagle. "

You are entitled to your opinion, as am I. The voice guy sounds like he cut the liners while sitting on the crapper, and needs a serious laxative. Having to hear that guy remind me every 3:30 that I am listening to the Eagle? Sheesh! I AM smart enough to know WHAT button is pushed on the radio. I can also read the little numbers telling me what the frequency is.

How about adding about 300 more songs, and try a new concept...a SEGUE now and then..and get rid of the voice dude. Get that guy from ZLR classic rock days...the guy who does Toyota commercials. That dude sounds better drunk than whoever is voiceing ALL the Cox Eagle stations.

My 0.02

ER

Looks like ol' Ned hit another raw nerve. ;D

Yep, Ned, you did! ...And while I respect and appreciate the opinions of the poster whom (I believe) was a former Cox Radio/Dayton employee...and he is entitled to his opinions...the facts are:

The voice guy in mention is considered one of the nation's top-level voiceover talents for over 25 years. He has a client list that includes not only the voice of the Cox Eagle stations, but also companies like Ford, Walt Disney, Coca-Cola, Turner Broadcasting, ABC Sports, Calvin Klein, American Express, Wal-Mart, Miramax Films, HBO, Showtime, and the Discovery Channel. Not exactly the type of resume for someone "sounding like he cuts liners in a crapper".

Playlists are arbitrary...and I won't argue ours are shorter than some. However, a couple of facts support a shorter list:

First: Most radio listeners are not radio geeks, or engineering types. Most do not listen to radio for extraordinarily long periods of time each day. So, the vast majority of listeners never pick up the rotations that we who listen a lot do. Most listeners, frankly, are too busy these days to worry about the length of a radio station's playlist. They, unlike us, actually have a life. When they turn on the radio, they want to hear one of their favorite songs. It's that demand for "instant gratification" that's, largely, made playlists shorter. Oh yeah...that and, when you shorten your list, the ratings tend to go up. So, generally speaking, shorter is better.

Secondly: Though the WZLR signal isn't bad (and, the new transmitter and processing certainly helped)...it's still a pea shooter. My experience with that station goes all the way back to 1980. When you're dealing with a station with signal issues you really can't do much about right now, it's best if one maximizes the programming so the signal gets the biggest bang for the buck, ratings-wise. That means: staying away from songs that don't test as well.

I've been involved with a number of music tests in the past 10 years. You can test 1,000 titles...good luck when you get the results finding more than about 300-400 that more than 66% of your test audience likes. And, if you can't get 2 out of 3 to say they like a song...why play it? And, when you're dealing with a peashooter, better to pound the station identity after each song, so people who listen might actually recall it. (Especially when there are competitors in the market sharing titles with us.) Things might be different if we were a full-signalled "B".

Oh yeah. Did you see the study of listening to XM and Sirius? Outside of 2 "specialty" channels (you probably know which ones they are), the most listened-to channels...are the ones that play the same songs over and over and over and over....

 

[titoisradio]

"FWIW, my opinion on best station in the Valley right now? Eagle. "

You are entitled to your opinion, as am I. The voice guy sounds like he cut the liners while sitting on the crapper, and needs a serious laxative. Having to hear that guy remind me every 3:30 that I am listening to the Eagle? Sheesh! I AM smart enough to know WHAT button is pushed on the radio. I can also read the little numbers telling me what the frequency is.

How about adding about 300 more songs, and try a new concept...a SEGUE now and then..and get rid of the voice dude. Get that guy from ZLR classic rock days...the guy who does Toyota commercials. That dude sounds better drunk than whoever is voiceing ALL the Cox Eagle stations.

My 0.02

ER

Looks like ol' Ned hit another raw nerve. ;D

Yep, Ned, you did! ...And while I respect and appreciate the opinions of the poster whom (I believe) was a former Cox Radio/Dayton employee...and he is entitled to his opinions...the facts are:

The voice guy in mention is considered one of the nation's top-level voiceover talents for over 25 years. He has a client list that includes not only the voice of the Cox Eagle stations, but also companies like Ford, Walt Disney, Coca-Cola, Turner Broadcasting, ABC Sports, Calvin Klein, American Express, Wal-Mart, Miramax Films, HBO, Showtime, and the Discovery Channel. Not exactly the type of resume for someone "sounding like he cuts liners in a crapper".

Playlists are arbitrary...and I won't argue ours are shorter than some. However, a couple of facts support a shorter list:

First: Most radio listeners are not radio geeks, or engineering types. Most do not listen to radio for extraordinarily long periods of time each day. So, the vast majority of listeners never pick up the rotations that we who listen a lot do. Most listeners, frankly, are too busy these days to worry about the length of a radio station's playlist. They, unlike us, actually have a life. When they turn on the radio, they want to hear one of their favorite songs. It's that demand for "instant gratification" that's, largely, made playlists shorter. Oh yeah...that and, when you shorten your list, the ratings tend to go up. So, generally speaking, shorter is better.

Secondly: Though the WZLR signal isn't bad (and, the new transmitter and processing certainly helped)...it's still a pea shooter. My experience with that station goes all the way back to 1980. When you're dealing with a station with signal issues you really can't do much about right now, it's best if one maximizes the programming so the signal gets the biggest bang for the buck, ratings-wise. That means: staying away from songs that don't test as well.

I've been involved with a number of music tests in the past 10 years. You can test 1,000 titles...good luck when you get the results finding more than about 300-400 that more than 66% of your test audience likes. And, if you can't get 2 out of 3 to say they like a song...why play it? And, when you're dealing with a peashooter, better to pound the station identity after each song, so people who listen might actually recall it. (Especially when there are competitors in the market sharing titles with us.) Things might be different if we were a full-signalled "B".

Oh yeah. Did you see the study of listening to XM and Sirius? Outside of 2 "specialty" channels (you probably know which ones they are), the most listened-to channels...are the ones that play the same songs over and over and over and over....

For a classic hits station I would say a playlist of 500-600 active tracks should be sufficient, with songs being rotated in and out of the active rotations every quarter, or possibly even monthly. Voice guy is not good. For a classic hits station I would go with Bumper Morgan or a similar sounding guy. Though I do agree that you should ID your station as much as possible. There is a reason why every item in McDonald's has the golden arches on it...branding. I'm sure people that are eating a hashbrown are smart enough to know they went to McDonald's and not Wendy's for breakfast.

I have XM and probably listen to WLW the most. From the music side I listen to WSIX, Nashville, Kiss, 90s, 80s, 60's and occasionally Top Tracks.

 

[nedsmith2007]

Yep, Ned, you did! ...

I'd forgotten that Eagle is your station. But again, it sounds great. I'm a fan of Doug's work. Yours too.

 

[Engineers_Rule]

------
The voice guy in mention is considered one of the nation's top-level voiceover talents for over 25 years. He has a client list that includes not only the voice of the Cox Eagle stations, but also companies like Ford, Walt Disney, Coca-Cola, Turner Broadcasting, ABC Sports, Calvin Klein, American Express, Wal-Mart, Miramax Films, HBO, Showtime, and the Discovery Channel. Not exactly the type of resume for someone "sounding like he cuts liners in a crapper".
------

So he has a nice resume. I just don't like the guy's voice...but I am not paying him. If I were, I would shop for someone else. Your mileage may vary.

When I hear the guy, he sounds to ME like he strains...hence the crapper comment. Some people hate the sound of fingernails on a blackboard...some it doesn't bother. It's a personal opinion.

 

[BehindTheLines]

------
The voice guy in mention is considered one of the nation's top-level voiceover talents for over 25 years. He has a client list that includes not only the voice of the Cox Eagle stations, but also companies like Ford, Walt Disney, Coca-Cola, Turner Broadcasting, ABC Sports, Calvin Klein, American Express, Wal-Mart, Miramax Films, HBO, Showtime, and the Discovery Channel. Not exactly the type of resume for someone "sounding like he cuts liners in a crapper".
------

So he has a nice resume. I just don't like the guy's voice...but I am not paying him. If I were, I would shop for someone else. Your mileage may vary.

When I hear the guy, he sounds to ME like he strains...hence the crapper comment. Some people hate the sound of fingernails on a blackboard...some it doesn't bother. It's a personal opinion.

He sounds great. And fits the image dead on.

 

[KFodor]

------
The voice guy in mention is considered one of the nation's top-level voiceover talents for over 25 years. He has a client list that includes not only the voice of the Cox Eagle stations, but also companies like Ford, Walt Disney, Coca-Cola, Turner Broadcasting, ABC Sports, Calvin Klein, American Express, Wal-Mart, Miramax Films, HBO, Showtime, and the Discovery Channel. Not exactly the type of resume for someone "sounding like he cuts liners in a crapper".
------

So he has a nice resume. I just don't like the guy's voice...but I am not paying him. If I were, I would shop for someone else. Your mileage may vary.

When I hear the guy, he sounds to ME like he strains...hence the crapper comment. Some people hate the sound of fingernails on a blackboard...some it doesn't bother. It's a personal opinion.

As I stated in my post, you are entitled to your opinion...and I respect that.

 

[BehindTheLines]

Jason,

I know you program the Eagle and let me say that I'm a fan of the music and the imaging. Your only issue is signal, but you already knew that.

Well researched playlists are the most listened to playlists. Anyone who tells us anything else is just selling something.

Or... they're jealous that they don't have the resources to research.

Or... they're too lazy to research.

Or (giving the benefit here) they're just sadly mis-informed.

You guys do a great job and hold your own well against that heritage blow-torch. The eagle sounds slick and tight. The only suggestion I would have is to put some jocks on who can add a little human touch to the mix. It's not a huge deal. But it might be nice. I know the station does ok without jocks.

Why don't they stick you on mornings tracked for the Eagle? Slap Norm on afternoons and Rebecca from HIO on middays. It'd add just a touch of human contact without overshadowing the music. Keep it liner-driven with a little artist and local info here and there. It might be nice.

Just a thought. Nothing that you guys haven't already probably thought of, though.

 

[alans613]

I hate to say it, but I liked the old ZLR imaging better as well. Why did the Classic Rock go away?(With a few exceptions it still sounds like Classic Rock to me). Anyhow, it would be nice to hear some voices on there...Jason and Norm both VT'd on The Point.
When did 95.3 get a new tower? 95.3 has always been a peashooter signal. My favorite memories of that station besides when it was "95.3 Z-L-R" was when it was CHR/Pop as DJ 95(1990-92)/Power 95(1992-93). That station was a breeding ground for people that would go on to more fame and fortune later on(Mostly on WXEG and WMMX)such as Jeff Stevens(He was also PD), Alan Rantz, and "Sloppy" Joe Thomas, and let's not forget a ground for ex-Z-93 jocks such as Joe Mama and Fast Art Simpson/Todd Hudson. Honorable mentions to Brian Savage and Buzz Cannon as well. Let's not forget that in Power 95's last month, from July to August 10, 1993, they were an 80s Oldies station, five years before STAR 107.9 went on the air in Columbus(Jason did a tremendous job on that station as well), which may have made them the first 80s Oldies station in the country at the time.

 

[kentuckymedia]

I just cant wait to see who is in line to purchase Clear Channel Dayton. After the merger was approved, FCC required that they divest all of their Aloha Station Trust properties within 6 months. Most importantly (and this is what I love). All stations divested into Aloha can not be flip flopped back into the company once Bain takes over...(oops, I bet they werent expecting that).

This includes all stations in Dayton, WMMS-WMJI Cleveland, All stations in Huntington and WLWD-WBUK in Lima.

I hope Connoisseur picks up on this and buys up Clear Channel Dayton.

 

[nedsmith2007]

I hope Connoisseur picks up on this and buys up Clear Channel Dayton.

I have to admit that I, for one, find that a most interesting choice of potential new owner. I'd be interested to read your reasons.

 

[kentuckymedia]

Connoisseur is one of America's new "great broadcasting" companies to work for. Jeff is a smart radio man and really cares about his stations, oh and he spends a lot of money on marketing - because it works!

Plus they recently hired PETER KOSANN from Westwood. I personally feel that they made a great move there and Jeff, Michael and Peter will run a top - notch operation in Dayton. Much better than what CC-Dayton is currently providing.