It probably costs/would cost the corporate group more money to do so and the return wouldn't be enough.
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Buffalo September Ratings
- Thread starter Mark1981
- Start date
I said that for most s rations there is no money in programming to an older audience. But as has been shown by WECK there are enough local accounts and smaller local independent agencies that it can be very profitable . But the big group operators have a different business model which, for several reasons, does not allow for that kind of “special interest” audience to be served.
Most of us are.
That is not why. Group operators have a strategy that involves bundling stations that serve some segment of the 18-54 audience and having an “outlier” format does not fit and will not work.
Much of corporate radio selling is agency and part of multi-market buys. Those agencies just DO NOT BUY 55+. So those groups would have to have separate sales staffs for a different 55 and over pitch, and that makes no economic sense within the higher cost structure of a larger group operator.
The other aspect is this is Buddy's ONLY radio station. He is directing 100% of his attention to this one station (along with his ad agency and other clients who also are in that target audience). So that demo is his business. No wonder he does well with it.
WBEN has become an "outlier" format. The demos of that station aren't in line with Audacy's other stations. The days of WBEN being a 25-54 player are long gone...
Doesn't he have one in Key West FL? For what it's worth...
You keep neglecting the fact that they sell WBEN as part of a cluster. Clusters sell together, not in kibbles and bits.
That's exactly what I said. The format is obsolete based on the criteria you stated in post #22 in this very thread...
It is his only Bufflo station... a stand-alone.
No, the format still gets enough in the 45-54 demo to add to cluster buys. My point is that most sales by cluster groups is for several or even all the stations together. Rates are based on multiple stations, not just one.
Not at all in the radio business but just a casual observer. It almost seems like you have a personal hatred of stations that serve upper demos, what's with that? I'm in the 45-54 demo and I do listen to WBEN occasionally throughout the day when I'm Doordashing. Though it still has a a slightly to the right political lean, it tries to not be entirely political and in fact there are many days when Baurle tells a caller to stay away from making a topic political. It's not the same WBEN of 10 years ago with Rush Limbaugh setting the tone for the rest of the day's lineup.
I listen to WBEN because it has a local focus, with local news, traffic, weather and talk about local topics. If it was just syndicated right wing talk all day I wouldn't be listening to it.
WBFO on the other hand has moved away from their local focus and has become exclusively left wing syndicated NPR programming (or local high school sports, what's with that?). When an important local story is happening and I'm listening to the radio, I seek out WBEN not WBFO. Also, even though I like the music on WBFO The Bridge, I don't like it at the cost of talk programming. If the Bridge was a stand alone station I'd listen, but it's not on WBFO at a time of day I ordinarily listen to the radio.
NPR isn't left wing.
It has the presentation of being objective but it is clearly leans left. If you don't listen to any other news sources then you might think otherwise. Almost every topic has to do with intersectionality or abortion rights. It gets tiring to listen to after awhile and I actually used to be a member.
I listen to a lot of news sources and it isn't left wing. I've worked for an NPR station- have you?
Just because a news organization covers a story doesn't mean they're taking an advocacy position on it. The fact is that abortion and civil rights are on the ballot now so they're very topical. Their in-depth reporting allows for many different voices and views to be heard on very complex subjects. Certainly after the shooting incident in Buffalo a few years ago, the issue of race and income is very topical and very relevant. I think that was WBFO's goal with the daily "What's Next" show.
No, but if you work there then it may explain why you are blind to it. I knew posting my opinion on here was useless. Everyone is in their entrenched camps here I see, much like the larger society. Look, if I listen to the hosts on the Daily Wire I know what I'm getting, they make no bones about not treating both sides fairly. However NPR and the NY Times try to hold themselves up as fair and objective but they have a bias (to the left) just as strong as the Federalist or Daily Wire does to the right. They just cloak it in respectibility and a mature tone. Many times they are blind to it because everyone around them thinks the same.
I don't work there.
Looking at the WBFO website's Top Stories, some of which have audio:
A story about avoiding sharing election misinformation
A story about St. Bonaventure basketball
A story about the neurodivergent employment gap
A story about CVS and Walgreens having problems
A story about Hakeem Jeffries
A story about a new Christopher Columbus documentary that says he may have been Spanish and Jewish
A story about a nun who won the United Nations Refugee Agency's Nansen Refugee award.
Then they list NPR News stories, also with audio for some of them:
Israel investigating whether or not the leader of Hamas was killed
The updated flu shot and the science behind it
China ending international adoption
A hospital making the mistake of trying to take organs from a patient who was alive
President Biden heading to Germany
None of these stories are about intersectionality or abortion.
Looking at the WBFO website's Top Stories, some of which have audio:
A story about avoiding sharing election misinformation
A story about St. Bonaventure basketball
A story about the neurodivergent employment gap
A story about CVS and Walgreens having problems
A story about Hakeem Jeffries
A story about a new Christopher Columbus documentary that says he may have been Spanish and Jewish
A story about a nun who won the United Nations Refugee Agency's Nansen Refugee award.
Then they list NPR News stories, also with audio for some of them:
Israel investigating whether or not the leader of Hamas was killed
The updated flu shot and the science behind it
China ending international adoption
A hospital making the mistake of trying to take organs from a patient who was alive
President Biden heading to Germany
None of these stories are about intersectionality or abortion.
That same thing could be said about the Daily Wire. The difference with NPR is they don't stay locked in their building, but do outreach to seek out other voices and views. They also have editorial people overseeing their reporting to make sure all sides are covered. The Daily Wire is an advocacy site. As you said, they say they want to lead the fight against the left. It's out in the open. There are similar sites on the left, but NPR isn't one of them.
However, I understand your view that you're not interested in certain stories. Very understandable. That doesn't mean those stories shouldn't be covered or discussed.
The lens through which you view these 2 stations reveals much. You say WBEN is only "slightly" Right Wing, while NPR is "exclusively Left Wing". That's distorting reality.
The Bridge is running on WBFO at night, not during daytime NPR programming. It's also available to you during the day via streaming. We get it. There are topics that NPR covers that don't interest you. That doesn't make it Left Wing...
The only one who is blind here is you. I spent 40 years at WBFO. Referring to WBEN as “slightly to the right” tells me all I need to know about your leanings. Listen! I reported dozens of stories for NPR in my career. You have no idea how painful NPR’s editing process was. Every sentence was scrutinized to make sure there was no bias. The problem the right has is that they don’t understand that it’s the media’s job to challenge and hold accountable those who are in power. FOX will only challenge the left. The right, including he who shall not be named, gets a free pass. NPR and the NY Times question both sides. In fact, many on the left have criticized the Times for going overboard on President Biden, especially after that disastrous June debate, while not holding his opponent to the same standard. So, please spare me that the media leans left.
Granted, there are days when WBEN excels. The day the tornado struck downtown Buffalo this past summer, Tom Bauerle did an outstanding job. The same with the Christmas 2022 blizzard. But when a tragic car accident disrupted the Rainbow Bridge the day before Thanksgiving last year, both Bauerle and Bellavia failed badly. Everything they claimed that afternoon turned out to be false. There was no accountability. No apologies. Bauerle blamed Governor Hochul for not providing accurate information sooner. There was some validity to that. But that doesn’t excuse them from spreading so much misinformation that day that a car crash was terrorism!
WBEN may be better than WBFO right now in covering Buffalo stories. But when it comes to world and national events, including national politics, NPR has much more credibility.
So I thought a slight move to a “younger” sound might have been a good idea. What I was hearing/ programming wasn’t a whole lot different than what’s being programmed on WECK these days. I’m not above saying perhaps I “read the room” wrong. I was reading what I thought would be a long term format, from a cool era that focused on Brit Invasion/ Motown, /American Classic “cool” oldies ..I read jt wrong
What I clearly didn’t read were those I thought were life long pals , AND new ones I’d made while there. I am a heart on my sleeve person who was attempting to bring my upbringing of “family” to what I heard was pretty toxic environment with an owner (bless his heart) who manages through fear.
I defy anyone who would say I was disrespectful to those I worked with.
I asked, quite emphatically for “swag” …never got it. I did get , “this is the way it is” and some of my ideas were put on the back burner. I have never written to a radio billboard page in my life, but since lifelong friends aren’t stepping up ill say I did the best I could and wasn’t flying by the seat of my pants. Many of my listeners from the great 97Rock had asked for years to hear a lot of the classic oldies that had slipped through the cracks. Read it wrong. I was thinking Yardbirds , the oldies listener was thinking Tie a Yellow Ribbon…I was thinking bring my 4 idols, John, Paul , George and Ringo to the format ,others were thinkng JUST Elvis. I always said there was a place for both. They always said we played too much Beatles. My bad ..I guess
So now that I’m gone and reading how bad a PD I was, I’ll say, between a (hopefully minor) cancer issue, and taking care of a 94 year old parent on my own, it ain’t been easy, and I was taking care of her while programming the station. With a lot of help from Gkenn , who you all know ..
But if that was my last time in the batters box in radio, it was fun, I learned a lot (more about life than radio) ..and I wish my former colleagues and some former “friends” the best.
All you can do is give your best shot.
I said this before I’ll say again, my uncle who was depicted my Joe Pesci in the latest Martin Scorsese film once said to me, don’t take any s-it and don’t allow anyone to say things about you you know are untrue ..I felt I wanted to say something about what I’ve read.
All respect to those in the best business in the world.
Now , I’ll hit “post” and I’m not even sure if it will make it as I’m not a “member” ..
What I clearly didn’t read were those I thought were life long pals , AND new ones I’d made while there. I am a heart on my sleeve person who was attempting to bring my upbringing of “family” to what I heard was pretty toxic environment with an owner (bless his heart) who manages through fear.
I defy anyone who would say I was disrespectful to those I worked with.
I asked, quite emphatically for “swag” …never got it. I did get , “this is the way it is” and some of my ideas were put on the back burner. I have never written to a radio billboard page in my life, but since lifelong friends aren’t stepping up ill say I did the best I could and wasn’t flying by the seat of my pants. Many of my listeners from the great 97Rock had asked for years to hear a lot of the classic oldies that had slipped through the cracks. Read it wrong. I was thinking Yardbirds , the oldies listener was thinking Tie a Yellow Ribbon…I was thinking bring my 4 idols, John, Paul , George and Ringo to the format ,others were thinkng JUST Elvis. I always said there was a place for both. They always said we played too much Beatles. My bad ..I guess
So now that I’m gone and reading how bad a PD I was, I’ll say, between a (hopefully minor) cancer issue, and taking care of a 94 year old parent on my own, it ain’t been easy, and I was taking care of her while programming the station. With a lot of help from Gkenn , who you all know ..
But if that was my last time in the batters box in radio, it was fun, I learned a lot (more about life than radio) ..and I wish my former colleagues and some former “friends” the best.
All you can do is give your best shot.
I said this before I’ll say again, my uncle who was depicted my Joe Pesci in the latest Martin Scorsese film once said to me, don’t take any s-it and don’t allow anyone to say things about you you know are untrue ..I felt I wanted to say something about what I’ve read.
All respect to those in the best business in the world.
Now , I’ll hit “post” and I’m not even sure if it will make it as I’m not a “member” ..
Wow. I'm here to say I would have preferred your choices. You lay out the difference between classic rock and classic hits.
I hope you keep rockin' and find a good landing spot.
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