Rodney---care to do a story on this?

[radiopimpin]

So....let's review: Clear Channel is 2 years into a 5-year deal paying $13 million annually for Braves rights fees.

To show for it, they have one radio station whose morning show captures exactly 1/5 of ONE SHARE POINT of listening audience (WGST)...

And another FM station who, as someone pointed out below, lost 25% of its' audience in one month and is poised for a down Winter book.

My question is: Can it be calculated how much of their company's money the idiots in the Bulding of Death have pissed away in the last 2 years on bad decisions...including the rights fees, revenue lost to WSB and other stations in the market due to poor ratings, and hiring expensive talent like Denny Schaffer who underperforms the show WGST used to use for FREE (Glenn Beck)?

It seems like it's a huge amount of money lost, and a lot of potential flushed away. How do these morons keep their jobs?

Rodney---it's time to start naming names and making CC answer to the market and to it's advertisers!!

 

[jimbo722]

> So....let's review: Clear Channel is 2 years into a 5-year
> deal paying $13 million annually for Braves rights fees.
>
> To show for it, they have one radio station whose morning
> show captures exactly 1/5 of ONE SHARE POINT of listening
> audience (WGST)...
>
> And another FM station who, as someone pointed out below,
> lost 25% of its' audience in one month and is poised for a
> down Winter book.
>
> My question is: Can it be calculated how much of their
> company's money the idiots in the Bulding of Death have
> pissed away in the last 2 years on bad decisions...including
> the rights fees, revenue lost to WSB and other stations in
> the market due to poor ratings, and hiring expensive talent
> like Denny Schaffer who underperforms the show WGST used to
> use for FREE (Glenn Beck)?
>
> It seems like it's a huge amount of money lost, and a lot of
> potential flushed away. How do these morons keep their jobs?
>
>
> Rodney---it's time to start naming names and making CC
> answer to the market and to it's advertisers!!
>
Who cares? The Braves sound great on FM 96rock, so let's enjoy them while they're still there.

 

[radiopimpin]

>>> Who cares? The Braves sound great on FM 96rock, so let's enjoy them while they're still there.<<<

The list of people who should care:

1. WGST/WKLS advertisers, to whom I'm sure many many promises were made with regard to audience delivery back when the Braves were announced

2. Clear Channel stockholders..who might be concerned that ongoing incompetence and cronyism with the Atlanta cluster are responsible for the direct loss of revenue on a multi-million dollar scale...thus negatively affecting the stock price (down to $29.30/share)

3. The Atlanta Braves fans...who were sold out by their team per the fact that the Braves accepted $65 million dollars by a conglomerate to be on one radio station that few people can hear at night, and another radio station whose audience doesn't fit the team's target demographics

4. Employees of CCU/Atlanta past and present...whose lives and livelihoods are affected by the whims of upper-management who seem to have no idea what they are doing, yet get to keep their jobs and expense accounts year after year while their innocent and well-meaning employees are set up to take the fall...again and again...one bad decision after another


But, hey, "the Braves sound good on 96 Rock"...so I guess none of the above matters. Yee Haw.

 

[troone]

Its the other way around...

Its funny: if I were to pitch a story about Clear Channel, it would be how impressively they've turned things around in the last two years. Other than WGST, every other station is performing much better than it had in the previous time period. Lite is printing money, Buzz does reasonably well, Viva is a force..96 is still the top rock station in town, despite the competition.

Maybe the Braves deal will turn out to be a financial bust, but it was certainly a bold move, aimed at giving GST an identity and putting more revenue on the books late-nights at 96.

If you want to bash a cluster for its uninspired programming, it's Cox Atlanta by far.

 

[jimbo722]

>>> Who cares? The Braves sound great on FM 96rock, so let's enjoy them while they're still there.<<<

The list of people who should care:

1. WGST/WKLS advertisers, to whom I'm sure many many promises were made with regard to audience delivery back when the Braves were announced

2. Clear Channel stockholders..who might be concerned that ongoing incompetence and cronyism with the Atlanta cluster are responsible for the direct loss of revenue on a multi-million dollar scale...thus negatively affecting the stock price (down to $29.30/share)

3. The Atlanta Braves fans...who were sold out by their team per the fact that the Braves accepted $65 million dollars by a conglomerate to be on one radio station that few people can hear at night, and another radio station whose audience doesn't fit the team's target demographics

4. Employees of CCU/Atlanta past and present...whose lives and livelihoods are affected by the whims of upper-management who seem to have no idea what they are doing, yet get to keep their jobs and expense accounts year after year while their innocent and well-meaning employees are set up to take the fall...again and again...one bad decision after another


But, hey, "the Braves sound good on 96 Rock"...so I guess none of the above matters. Yee Haw.

All valid points, however, as a listener (not an advertiser or an employee of CC) only one of those points would apply to me. Living in the Metro Atlanta area, I have absolutley no problem picking up 96.1 FM at night. If I did, I would tune into one of the stations on the far flung Atlanta Braves Radio Network. With esentially the same broadcast team as in the past (except the addition of Chip Caray), the Braves on the radio would sound worse if it were on WGST alone, but FM really makes it sound that much better. Advertiser's may prefer WSB, but as a listener, I prefer the games on 96rock.

 

[radiopimpin]

Re: Its the other way around...

>>>Other than WGST<<<

My main point is WGST. I'm sorry, but if you have one of only two viable N/T stations in town...are given the gift of the Limbaugh Show...and the best you can do is rank #21, then you have NO BUSINESS running radio stations in a major market. Period!


>>every other station is performing much better than it had in the previous time
period. Lite is printing money, Buzz does reasonably well, Viva is a force..96 is still the top rock station in town, despite the competition.<<<

Really? Have you looked at the trends? OK I'll give you Viva....since that was basically a corporate ram-down because CCU was forced to come in and fix the BOONDOGGLE that was "Real Radio 105.3". Just for giggles, I ran a market trend comparing Fall 2001 to Fall 2005 in 12+ for CC stations. Well what do ya know:

LITE: DOWN 2%
WKLS: DOWN 17%!
WGST: DOWN 26%
BUZZ: (Never broken a 2 share in its entire existence)

Hmmmm....and your argument was what again?


>>> Maybe the Braves deal will turn out to be a financial bust, but it was certainly a bold move<<<

HAHA! Now THAT'S some spin! You should work for the White House. "Yes, we spent $65 million for nothing. Yes, our ratings are actually WORSE than they would have been had we not spent that money. But, sir, the upside is that we are considered 'BOLD'"! HAHA! You know what else was a "bold" move? Planet Radio!


>>> aimed at giving GST an identity<<<

Oh, WGST got an identity all right! I'm sure the words "Tomahawk Traffic" still induce horrible cringes when uttered in the hallways. BravesRadio was the ultimate lesson in how NOT to brand a radio station. Did anybody actually delude themselves into believing that WGST would be identified as the Braves station, when it's impossible to even hear the games at night on the station? Utter stupidity.


>>>If you want to bash a cluster for its uninspired programming, it's Cox Atlanta by far.<<

Oh, yes...those "uninspired" people at Cox with the number 1 station in town and 3 stations in the top 10... HAHA!!

It is obvious that you work for Clear Channel.

 

[KWYJIBO]

>
.... and another radio station whose audience doesn't fit the team's target demographics

ok i'll bite.... what are the teams target demographics? which station would be better???

btw. i think the braves sound great on 96rock ... olny time i listen to them

 

[radiopimpin]

> ok i'll bite.... what are the teams target demographics?
> which station would be better???
>
> btw. i think the braves sound great on 96rock ... olny time
> i listen to them<<<

Here's a hint: They aren't the typical AOR blue-collar, quasi-educated demo that is 96's core P1. They aren't Alice In Chains fans.

Think upper-upper middle. Think equal women and men....35-54, high disposable income, suburban. Think Mercedes and Lexus SUV's, not pickups and work trucks. These people are far more likely to listen to Boortz and Howard than the Regular Guys.

"Sounding great" doesn't mean a thing if they aren't delivering the people to whom they have promised to deliver to advertisers. When Mercedes Benz of Atlanta buys a schedule within the Braves broadcast, they want to know that they are reaching people who are more likely to have the income it takes to afford a Mercedes. 96 does not (by in large) deliver those demographics. That's just a fact. Read the qualitative studies yourselves if you don't believe me.

By the way, this is in NO WAY a slam on 96 Rock or the Reg Guys Show (of which I am a fan), just a very honest view of demographics from an ad sales point of view.

Hope that explains it...

 

[jbaxter]

Re: Its the other way around...

You have to be kidding, did you see the last trend? Viva is WAY DOWN, 96 Rock is at a multi year low. Every existing station is down significantly from when "The Hillbilly", Marc Chase took the reins in 2001. This doesn't even take into account the millions lost on failed "experiments", i.e. Mix, Max, Cool, Wild, Real Radio etc. Xmas music bounces aside, Lite ratings don't approach what Peach used to get before they screwed that up. Maybe they should hire you in the Bush White House to talk about the "successes in Iraq."

> Its funny: if I were to pitch a story about Clear Channel,
> it would be how impressively they've turned things around in
> the last two years. Other than WGST, every other station is
> performing much better than it had in the previous time
> period. Lite is printing money, Buzz does reasonably well,
> Viva is a force..96 is still the top rock station in town,
> despite the competition.
>
> Maybe the Braves deal will turn out to be a financial bust,
> but it was certainly a bold move, aimed at giving GST an
> identity and putting more revenue on the books late-nights
> at 96.
>
> If you want to bash a cluster for its uninspired
> programming, it's Cox Atlanta by far.
>

 

[outoftowner]

Tom Hughes is down to 1/5 of a share point? Really??

> So....let's review: Clear Channel is 2 years into a 5-year
> deal paying $13 million annually for Braves rights fees.
>
> To show for it, they have one radio station whose morning
> show captures exactly 1/5 of ONE SHARE POINT of listening
> audience (WGST)...
>
> And another FM station who, as someone pointed out below,
> lost 25% of its' audience in one month and is poised for a
> down Winter book.
>
> My question is: Can it be calculated how much of their
> company's money the idiots in the Bulding of Death have
> pissed away in the last 2 years on bad decisions...including
> the rights fees, revenue lost to WSB and other stations in
> the market due to poor ratings, and hiring expensive talent
> like Denny Schaffer who underperforms the show WGST used to
> use for FREE (Glenn Beck)?
>
> It seems like it's a huge amount of money lost, and a lot of
> potential flushed away. How do these morons keep their jobs?
>
>
> Rodney---it's time to start naming names and making CC
> answer to the market and to it's advertisers!!
>

 

[96atl]

Re: Its the other way around...

Cox Vs. Clear Channel- The Way I Look at It
News/Talk Winner- WSB
I don't know what they hell CC should do with GST- no way to even compare it with WSB
Classic Rock/Hits Winner- 96rock
I don't think 96rock's latest ratings are anything to look at too seriously. The River is new and got a lot of 96's listeners, but only for the time being. 96rock will come out on top because they overall have a better product (as mentioned below). Even with the Braves aside, they have one of the best morning shows in town and their playlist is much larger and deeper than The River's- it gets much less tiresome. Not to mention they do have some enjoyalbe local jocks- Fin, English Nick, Geoff Cole, JT. I hate their voicetrackers- Big Rig and Mr. Bill. I think it was a mistake to fire Southside & Rhodes. 96rock will last far longer than the River- even if they stop being all Classic Rock and eventually go back to playing some newer cuts. There is no need to call them a failure for the Braves yet!
AC Winner- 94.9 Lite FM- bigger/deeper playlist- better talent (they are better than B98.5 for a lot of reasons why 96.1 is better than 97.1) However, I really don't see B98.5 going anywhere either.

105.3 The Buzz has had some recognizable growth over the last year. I think they've really put together a great station. All the jocks are live and local and unannoying. They have some cool programming such as the Friday Work Release Program, Under The Covers, Homegrown Buzz, and New School Buzz Bands. I think without Toucher (and maybe Jimmy) 99X will fall a bit pretty soon. That gap is going to keep on closing- I know 99X is not a Cox station- but Cox of course does not have an ATL alternative station.

For the record, I'm not an employee of CC. I am a big fan of 96rock, 105.3 The Buzz, and Lite FM. I do like B98.5 and The River too, just not as much.