So When Will "The Wolf" Be Taken Out Back?

[DToTheJ]

http://www.radio-info.com/markets/nashville

Not only is WSM-FM a distant third in the country radio battle after losing 1/3 of its share, but they are now right behind their estranged sister WSM-AM by a tenth of a ratings point!

Can you say "Gen-X 95.5"? ???

 

[jetfli]

Don't expect a change for 95.5 anytime soon. It'll take a few more ratings periods like this one to bring down the Wolf. They'll try some tweaks first.

But couldn't most of us program that whole cluster better than it's being programmed now? Three of their five stations are gently floating toward the bottom of the list.

Interesting that GFX is finally showing more of what its "hidden" audience has been. This one-two punch of Titans-UT is really paying off. Wonder how many extra points the Randy Moss news has been worth?

 

[courier37027]

I would like to hear on 95.5 The Wolf, "The 28 years' country experiment is over. We return to previous programming: SM95."

 

[NashRadio]

Courier, that stands as much chance as tuning in to

103.3 tomorrow morning and hearing Carl P. and the P-Team playing "Layla"

 

[secondchoice]

Cumulus IMHO is a schizophrenic company. Take Q100 in Atlanta. They have the “Burt” show and the operation is OK. Then there is the Macon cluster which suffered a total outage due to faulty wiring in the antiquated building they are housed in. IIRC Storm Cloud’s CEO made headlines by “personally” overseeing their healthcare coverage payouts. Now they have raised a bunch of money thru a partnership to acquire “new” radio properties. I get the impression that “Headquarters” calls most of the shots, not the cluster manager. (This happens more than anybody on this board can imagine. I have personally worked at an operation where we lost the station’s biggest account because we could not get a remote approved at corporate, because it would have required a phone line installed in a location where the Marti or cell phones did not work.) I believe Storm Cloud is concentrating on buying new stations not running what they have.

 

[jetfli]

I get the impression that “Headquarters” calls most of the shots, not the cluster manager... I believe Storm Cloud is concentrating on buying new stations not running what they have.

New to Cumulus, are you? :

 

[F.D. Fritz]

Maybe if the programmers were actually allowed to program their stations at Cumulus then things might change..

 

[Tibbs4]

I dunno, Mac is programming 97.1 pretty much locally. Think a lot of folks on here have been liking it. I relented, but I like that Mac stood up for his company. Gotta respect him for that. Running Vandy sports and Nascar ain't building any numbers for him, but it's bringing in $$$.
Makes it tough. 7P-12M VH-1 nights isn't helping establish a consistent sound, but it is at
least a little different music at night and night listening doesn't matter that much anyway.


PPM #'s 25-54 tell you what's what. I wouldn't bet on a 95.5 flip anytime soon. It's pride over
profit in America's country capitol.

 

[TheBigA]

In five weeks, the playing field will be level. Or at least change. Anyone would be a fool to flip from country before then.

 

[Tibbs4]

In theory, if you are referring to Gerry House, I see where you are coming from. And, truth is, Gerry's numbers have been declining for some time and PPM does not generally reward his style of morning show. Even if WSIX drops a point (or two), the pick up is not going to be huge for WSM-FM and Marino. I would expect Mix to also get some of thess listeners*, as not all the Gerry listeners will stay with Country in the morning. Now, WKDF stands to benefit, for sure. 0verall, can Gerry's leaving make WKDF the strong and constant Country station everyone else is chasing? Time will tell. Still, WSM-FM probably will do nothing new or exciting to seize the opportunity.


*Interesting thought is how the Christmas format will help and/or hurt Mix with these specific listeners.



Hey Jet --- it is really interesting to see the 6+ PPM numbers on here. The same is blatantly obvious for the 25-54 #'s, as well. The men gravitated away from (mainly) the rock based formats for sports. Still, Jack pulled in strong numbers (#1) 25-54. If WKDF wasn't doing reasonably well, I would still think that Citadel would have been brilliant to have re-rocked KDF by announcing it to the world at the first Titans home game using Jeff Fisher (a season ago). Instant slam dunk on literally locking in and owning the male demographic in Nashville. This yearly spike for WGFX is fun to watch. Funny, they have similar signal issues to WRQQ in some parts and yet they are still crankin.

Last comment - look at the CUMES for WSM-FM and WRQQ. That's telling. RQQ, while with this
weeks format, probably will not crack top 10, it does make me wonder what it could do if it
was literally not landlocked by bad sports, a bad evening canned breakaway VH-1 "show" and
a tired B & T in the morning. Hmmm. So close and yet so far. That 3.0 is ever so close.

 

[NashvilleNative]

"I would expect Mix to also get some of thess listeners*"

Funny you say that: My mom has listened to Gerry House and 98 for as long as I can remember...for at least 20 years. Always country. When talking about him leaving she said, "I'll just listen to 92.9." I was surprised. If she's leaving country & 98 there's no telling who else will also. I'd imagine KDF and Mix have a gain after Gerry, but I would think Christmas music would hurt mix and I won't comment again on KDF's morning crew (I like Christmas music, but also like their normal playlist. Also, doing well Marty). As for the Wolf; not a fan. Why aren't they emphasizing their nice call letters? What makes us think Cumulus would make a decent SM95? Wouldn't they already have done that with "Star 97" or WNFN by now? I think SM95 could be a great contender to 92.9, but only if it was operated by the right people. I wish we had an AC station that wasn't for 14 year old girls or 40 year old women.

Side note, I like the current 97.1 and i106, but since Cumulus refuses to bring back AC, why not make WNFN the first FM spanish and make 97.1 a stronger signal Top 40 "i97"? Did I mention Bob and Tom are a HORRIBLE fit for 97.1?

 

[atlmid]

As The Wolf has now dropped below WSM AM in Nashville ratings. I heard
that Cumulus is readying Tony and Kris to hit 1st Quarter of next year
to compete against the House Foundation replacement, but then again I
also heard that those two were hired to replace the House Foundation so
what do I know.

 

[deltas69]

sounds to me like most of Gerry's listeners are just that... fans of Gerry..and not country music..as what passes for country today..i'm a fan of Gerry...as well as MIke...great shows..but can't stand the tunage..

 

[jetfli]

I think SM95 could be a great contender to 92.9, but only if it was operated by the right people.

You are right. And it would take members of the original SM crew to pull off such a station.

why not make WNFN the first FM spanish?

Counter question: Why?

make 97.1 a stronger signal Top 40 "i97"?

Sounds like a good idea... only they wouldn't have the advantage of being next door on the "dial" to The River. And Vandy and racing wouldn't go with an i97 format, so that would have to go elsewhere.

Did I mention Bob and Tom are a HORRIBLE fit for 97.1?

If you haven't, I have. They are a horrible fit for any station in Nashville.

 

[NashvilleNative]

Personally, I have no desire for a Spanish FM, but I just assume there is a large enough market to support it. I mean, if you have nothing to lose. Also, I wish any talk format would stay on AM and leave FM for music!

 

[Tibbs4]

All your points are really valid. Just read an amazing study on how News/Talk/Sports on FM actually hurts FM listenership with each additional new station and in a sense sends FM listeners to the internet and Sat-Rad. An interesting perspective into the next five years.

There are a lot of angles on the Gerry House situation. It's interesting to read people's thoughts as to the impact. Will be one to watch.

CR - hey! Hope you are well, sir.

 

[TheBigA]

sounds to me like most of Gerry's listeners are just that... fans of Gerry..and not country music.

Not to derail the thread, but this is why some stations don't encourage stronger personalities on their stations. The minute that one person leaves, he takes his audience with him, or it just dissipates, leaving lots of other employees in the cold. So while there may be ratings and revenue benefits, gained over time, they are tied to the whims of one person. They call that putting all your eggs in one basket.

 

[romer979fm]

The minute that one person leaves, he takes his audience with him, or it just dissipates, leaving lots of other employees in the cold.[/quote]

but if that one person stays in place for say...23 years this last stretch...the benefits are worth the eventual outcome

 

[jetfli]

But a 23 year stretch is a rare exception, not the rule. I see this from another point of view... that stronger personalities aren't properly replaced these days because a "weaker" personality is cheaper. Some companies seem to use an ROI formula that lets them figure how much audience/advertising they can use and maintain the cheaper announcer. Not to many fans of "Striving for Excellence" in radio anymore.

 

[TheBigA]

I see this from another point of view... that stronger personalities aren't properly replaced these days because a "weaker" personality is cheaper.

If money was the only issue, Gerry wouldn't be leaving. The station never balked at paying his salary, and that's been the case with all high-priced talent as long as they continue to deliver audience.

Replacing a strong personality with another strong personality is almost impossible, regardless of cost, because it takes time for the audience to warm up to the new guy. Sometimes years. But the money's already in the budget and I'm sure the station would gladly pay Gerry's salary to someone else if they could be assured that person would retain Gerry's numbers.