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Ross on Radio Speculates on Two Additional Formats For 94.7

B

Barry

Sean Ross' column on Billboard.com (formerly on Radio-Info.com) in late October was devoted to speculating on the format Cumulus may choose to put on 94.7, once the purchase of WFME from Family Radio closes.
He provides interesting pros and cons for the two that have already been widely discussed on this board, country and alternative rock.
In addition, Ross sees a hole in New York for 80's music, which has existed since the Jack FM format left New York. He points out that WPLJ used to play lots of 80's songs, till it went in a more top 40 direction a few years ago.
The article also states that even though there are already two CHR's in New York, Cumulus "May want a top 40 flagship in New York anyway." Ross speculates that could allow WPLJ to shift back towards 80's tunes.
Do either of these format possibilities make sense for 94.7? I do find the CHR argument hard to accept. 3 CHR stations in one market seem to be too many, and WNOW is not doing all that great against heritage Z 100.

Ross' 10/24 Column: http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/indu...what-would-you-do-with-a-new-1007986572.story
 
I could see why an 80's format could fly, since it goes to the older markets that still would prefer radio for their musical fix versus hooking up a smartphone or digital media player (at least in the thought of "corporate"). Though, not for nothing, but my teen/twenty something years were in the 80's and a lot of us do use smartphones and digital media players for content. Just go to any health club.

But if a format hole had to be covered here, I would take a guess that country could make sense.

The CHR argument? I totally agree. It doesn't make sense especially that 92.3 Now is still struggling against Z-100.

NOW SEE, I DIDN'T EVEN TALK ABOUT DANCE/EDM (for those that may want to try to get at me....lol) :)
 
Someone offline (adjacent to radio, I'll leave it there) mentioned to me earlier this week in an unrelated note that females were seen as well saturated in NY these days. Adults were a bigger key. Read into that anyway you want, but I also very seriously doubt a 3rd Top-40, which is more like 4th since you can't ignore KTU entirely. And they already have PLJ which is only a half step away from one anyway.

I've covered why I don't see country, and I never liked the argument well they do it in the suburbs. Ok, they also do both alternative (WRRV) and classic (WPDH) rock too? So?

I just can't shake it's going to be anything other than ABC-FM. However radio never works on real logic. Since anything is possible at this point, maybe they move PLJ to 94.7 (it's strength is the suburbs anyway) and put ABC on 95.5. Yeah, I'm out of nonsensical ideas. ;)
 
thataveragejoe said:
I just can't shake it's going to be anything other than ABC-FM.
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Two things about that:

1) Cumulus is having a real tough time with FM talk in Dallas and DC. I mean a REAL tough time.

2) They really like the music formats at Cumulus. And really like current music. They're cheap, easy, and pop stars are more fun than politicians.

Cumulus keeps its eyes on the prize. They know the goal isn't to "fill a format hole." It's to make money. Sometimes it's better to have a third of the most profitable format than to have 100% of a dog. But anything could happen.
 
CHR wouldn't surprise me at all given this is NYC. We already have 4 full-time CHRs plus almost every other station on the dial plays some CHR, including Lite FM, WPLJ, and Fresh.
 
What it WON'T be is: Urban, Tropical, or any type of ethnic programming. You can completely rule that out. Anything unusual or unique.
 
Mike said:
I still have a hunch that 94.7 is going to be the home of cbs sports radio network
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A couple months ago, maybe. CBS now owns a sports talk on FM. I think Cumulus can only do that in markets where CBS doesn't own stations.
 
Earlier this month, Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey stated, according to InsideRadio, that 94.7 will serve as “a flagship for one of our key content initiatives.”
Doesn't that sound more like a description of a talk format, rather than music?
 
Barry said:
Doesn't that sound more like a description of a talk format, rather than music?
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I may be wrong, but I've been under the belief that they have a couple of "content initiatives" that they haven't launched yet.
 
The trend these days is to protect your Talk station by giving it an FM simulcast. Cumulus has already done that in Dallas and Washington. As noted by The Big A, the FM stations for WBAP and WMAL haven't helped stop their ratings decline. But Cumulus doesn't believe that Talk is a doomed format.

They believe they're setting up for the future by putting an all-day Talk line up together featuring Geraldo, Huckabee, Savage, Levin, Batchelor and Red Eye Radio. And they have joint ownership of Hannity with Clear Channel. So my thought is that Cumulus will try to improve WABC's demographics by giving it an FM simulcast. Even if Clear Channel eventually moves Rush and other syndicated Premiere shows to WOR, WABC will have the advantage with an FM simulcast on 94.7.

Others, including Sean Ross, speculate about Country and Alternative Rock. And The Big A says music formats are cheap to run. But we know both formats underperform in NYC. The market is getting more diverse all the time, while Country and Alternative Rock aim very white. Would you spend $40 million to buy a station in the NY market, only to shoot for mediocre ratings?

I don't know about Lew Dickey's statement regarding a "a flagship for one of our key content initiatives." Maybe it really doesn't tell us anything about what Cumulus plans to do.
 
EJ204 said:
I don't know about Lew Dickey's statement regarding a "a flagship for one of our key content initiatives." Maybe it really doesn't tell us anything about what Cumulus plans to do.
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Good post...I agree with a lot of it.

The key for talk at Cumulus is the future of Imus. It's hard to imagine a big talk initiative without a major morning player. And I really believe whoever it is has to be able to attract younger demos. They can't keep aiming at 50-plus and expect to make any money. They've been fooling around with various morning talents around the country, in DC and LA, and maybe we can get a clue from that.

But I'm still thinking music: either Top 40 or Hot AC.
 
TheBigA said:
But I'm still thinking music: either Top 40 or Hot AC.
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They already HAVE that in long established PLJ. Whatever they do on 94.7 has to protect their interests. Doing either one of those doesn't do that.

It's ironic you say music is cheap to run, yet everyone is abandoning it for the exact opposite reason, it isn't anymore. Whether it is or isn't....nothing is cheaper than sticking what you're already doing on another signal. Cumulus is watching CBS and ESPN move it's talk listeners off the AM band, it's only a matter of time before they all do or try to.
 
thataveragejoe said:
They already HAVE that in long established PLJ. Whatever they do on 94.7 has to protect their interests.
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I'm thinking it would be a flanker. That's kind of what they're doing now in Atlanta.

thataveragejoe said:
Cumulus is watching CBS and ESPN move it's talk listeners off the AM band, it's only a matter of time before they all do or try to.
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I agree, but neither ESPN nor CBS is doing well, and Cumulus itself isn't doing well by doing that. Just moving existing programming without making significant changes won't achieve the desired results. The cheapest solution doesn't work. And their current talk programming isn't strong enough to attract a new audience.
 
TheBigA said:
I agree, but neither ESPN nor CBS is doing well, and Cumulus itself isn't doing well by doing that. Just moving existing programming without making significant changes won't achieve the desired results. The cheapest solution doesn't work. And their current talk programming isn't strong enough to attract a new audience.
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Exactly. Non-sports talk radio only appeals to older demos. The only reason stations move to FM is to keep younger demos listening. But moving a station like WABC to FM wouldn't make any difference in attracting a younger audience. Aside from sports and maybe NPR, younger people just aren't interested in political drivel which is the focal point of most talk programming. Moving a station to FM is going to do nothing to change that. They already tried a younger leaning talk station on 92.3 as "Free FM" and we saw how poorly that worked out. And if you've ever listened to a general interest talk station like NJ 101.5, their shows are so dumbed down and the topics are so worn out that a station like that is not going to attract any new audience either.
 
ansky212 said:
Exactly. Non-sports talk radio only appeals to older demos.
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KfI in Los Angeles has averaged around 7th in 25-54 in the LA market this year, with peaks around 3rd and the low end around 10th.

Many good AM talkers, like KSL and WWL and WOVK and WSB have added FM and found large increases in the sales demos.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Many good AM talkers, like KSL and WWL and WOVK and WSB have added FM and found large increases in the sales demos.
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What's the average for Cumulus talkers? Like KABC, WABC, WMAL, and WBAP?
 
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