They are behind KBEM in the ratings now. 0.8 to 1.0 share.
Perhaps a straight ahead AC, not stretching from the 60's to the 80's or 90's?
Perhaps a straight ahead AC, not stretching from the 60's to the 80's or 90's?
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Should Love 105 be blown up?
- Thread starter Lester_the_NightFly
- Start date
When I visited the Twin Cities last summer, I noticed that Love 105's signal was not great...especially heading south into Minneapolis on I-35. Might the signal be an issue?
You were likely listening to WLUP. All three of the Love signals are limited in range, hence why it’s a trimulcast.
Yup. 105.1 in the south/east, 105.3 in the north and 105.7 in the west and both downtowns... that's actually a liner they run (or ran at one point) on Love. 105.7 is 900kW atop the IDS center. I think 105.7 had the processing tweaked recently, as it seems to get out a little better on the noise floor compared to before. Maybe it's just me, I don't know. But 105.7 seems stronger than it used to. 105.3 is from Cambridge (north of the cities) with 25kW and 105.1 is from Lakeville (just south of the metro) with 2.6KW. (IIRC) While all three are definitely limited signal wise, the format has proven to do well on those three when nothing else has. (maybe Drive 105, but that's it, and Drive was before PPM too) It would be foolish to ruin it and try for something that doesn't work, as they did with SportsTalk on the 105s once and never got above a 0.1 share. My point is, there is a reason they returned to Love, IT WORKS on those signals, and if Cumulus doesn't think it's working then they might as well sell them or something.
I spent a night with relatives in St. Paul, and I remember the 105.7 signal not being great.
None of the signals are “that good” which is why it always surprised me that Cumulus was never happy with the ratings they got. Considering the signals and reach, to get 1-2% of the audience 12+ is probably the best you are going to do.
They did hit around a 4, right after WLTE went country, and they picked up the format.
Right after that, Cume-u-Less decided the CBS Sports Radio was the way to go.
And as covered in previous posts, here we are today...
Right after that, Cume-u-Less decided the CBS Sports Radio was the way to go.
And as covered in previous posts, here we are today...
I remember 15 - 18 years ago the three signals being mediocre to awful at best. But over the past few years the improvement has been quite noticeable. While driving to Eau Claire recently on east 94, listening to 105.3 I received a good quality stereo signal 20 or so miles west of the city. When I drive south on my hwy 52 route, I have 105.1 strong all the way to Zumbrota. 105.7 has a decent signal too. Really great in Minneapolis proper. Driving due west of Minneapolis a solid stereo signal 35 miles out. Still listenable 40 miles, albeit with blending kicking in a lot and some static. When I go north receive it clear halfway to Cambridge. But well before that the 105.3 Cambridge signal is very strong.
105.3 had a 20yr old BE that had IPA problems for many years, and budget would not allow a proper resolution.
It has been replaced with a Nautel. Don't have the date when it took place.
It has been replaced with a Nautel. Don't have the date when it took place.
I stand corrected, I have been in formed they're using Gates FMs now, when I was there it was Nautel. Forgot when Less-Cume took over they reportedly had a deal with Harris, before it was split off and became Gates Transmitters.
Not that any of this really matters.
Not that any of this really matters.
It's fine for what it is - a vehicle to package up 93X and KQ. KQ's ratings are a much bigger issue for Cumulus, and they won't likely improve when Tom leaves. It seems like Audacy and Cumulus are playing chicken in MSP, waiting to be the first ones to sell when ownership caps are expanded.
They might be better off with a destination format like Alternative, because a TSL format like AC or Country doesn't work when you can't be heard inside big steel buildings and there's no money to market your format.
They might be better off with a destination format like Alternative, because a TSL format like AC or Country doesn't work when you can't be heard inside big steel buildings and there's no money to market your format.
Remember Drive 105? That did well enough to keep going for a few years, but the beginning of the end was when The Current first signed on. Drive went downhill from then on until Disney threw in the towel and blew it up. Then when 96.3 tried to challenge The Current, they struggled to do much better than a 1.0. Some of that probably represented Twins fans tuning in for the games, then flipped to other music stations after the game. It was an epic fail.
I remember the old LOVE very fondly and miss it. They played a wide variety of really great tunes! So different from what they’ve been reconstituted as. Although, I do tune in the current iteration of LOVE to check it out occasionally, always leaves me disappointed. The music has been stripped down to the same 250 or so “hits” that are played over and over and over and over again. There were very many Minneapolis recorded artists they barely play. That list is long. From Michael Johnson to Prince. In my humble opinion, they don’t hold a candle to say the orginal W-LITE and before that, WCCO FM 103’s soft-rock programming. Being a fellow in my mid 50’s, I’m probably not part of their target audience anyway. I can and do listen to internet only music stations of course. But it’s sad that local FM radio has become, well, a tune-out. Don’t even get me started on the insane amount and poorly produced commercials.
I don't know how well they are doing since they are never shown on Nielsen any more, but WEZV Myrtle Beach SC, after its owner switched the only other AC to talk, stayed soft AC for nearly a year then finally went mainstream. Now WEZV is soft AC again and the only other ACs are imported from Florence, Charleston and Wilmington.
But how are they doing in the 35-64 demo? I bet they do fine.
Mainstream AC’s on the 105 frequencies should be one of the easiest formats for Cumulus to sell on those signals, especially considering there would be no direct competition. Keep it soft AC but just modernize it again. As a poster earlier said, trying sports on those signals was a disaster, especially when there was no decent programming to entice people to listen.
The times I’ve listened to it within the last 6ish months or so, their playlist has been modernized and cut back a bit. When they first started out, their playlist was stretched out, including some stiffs. As of recent (and David would likely have a better overall total than I would), the library has shrunk down to 500 (?) songs overall, maybe slightly more/less.