Interesting reading posts about the debut of the new "Frank" on 107.5. Let's give the benefit of the doubt to the Nassau senior management corps for the general way the company operates...successfully, and for promoting one of their own to PD. We'll assume they have done their homework. Being on the west coast, I haven't heard "Frank" nor seen anything except what is available on line, on these boards and if there were something on ReadingEagle.com (I missed it).
Here are some points that may (or may not) merit your discussion, in no particular order:
1- The Name, "Frank": I get it they wanted something memorable, easy to remember and spell like the Alices, Mikes, Simons, Jacks, etc. It's worth asking if they ever considered what the name means to people. Naturally, to radio listeners, a name is a name..usually. In the Reading/Berks marketplace, with such an older skewing demographic, is it possible the name will mean "Sinatra" to the baby boomers Nassau is trying to attract, and they won't even give it a try? Perhaps not...but there is always a possibility. Why not choose a name more associated with a generic animal(Hawk, Wolf)or landmark, so as to avoid any of the demo or confusion issues? Similar formats in markets like St. Louis (The Arch), Philly (Ben), Chicago (has both "Drive" and "Loop"), Buffalo (The Lake)utilize landmarks germane to the area. I know "The Pagoda" probably would be worse than Frank...but "The Mountain" (as in Neversink, Blue) would be easily licensed from Entercom(no signal crossover issues with WB-S). Berks is known for their covered bridges, perhaps "The Bridge", or the old standby "The River", which may cause confusion with the Harrisburg River which blows a strong signal into Berks, and shows up in the book. At any rate, it's my opinion that there were much more attractive, compelling easy to remember names which would cause zero confusion and relate more to the marketplace.
2- "Reading's...": Are they making another strategic mistake here? This is a caucasion male leaning format. The reputation of Reading is awful both in the area and in the free world, because of crime. In fact, about 70% of the City of Reading population is ethnic, and NOT a target listener for this station. This isn't a race issue, it's a TARGET issue. Their target audience lives in Reading, sure, but primarily they live in the suburban areas, from Kutztown to Boyertown to Oley to Wyomissing to Robesonia, etc. The Arbitron market listed as Reading is actually Berks County. Why not "Berks County's 107.5, Frank..."? Yes, the traffic, etc. is Reading centric, but strategically, you're far better off to include the entire area than exclude it. Just as in the Lehigh Valley (ALL the worthwhile stations there sell Lehigh Valley) there are focuses on various communities, but the more global area is used as the hometown descriptor.
3- WRFY shift: Haven't even checked it. Their audience is so broad, so well trained and so ingrained, they are smart to notice, but should wait to make any changes. After all it's not like Mike Shannon(who has EARNED all the kudos he gets on running WRFY/WRAW) was running Frank...it's Rick Musselman for Christ's sake...no need to panic. WRFY has more to lose than anyone else, only because they HAVE more. Consider this: Frank is available in one form or another from at least three other established stations (Hawk/Lehigh Valley; Ben/Philly; River/Harrisburg, am I missing any?). This generic classic hits format is really no more of a threat from Boyertown(with a newbie PD and Musselman) than from anywhere else. Be ready to parry worthwhile attacks WRFY..but ignore any of those paper sword attacks which are meaningless.
4- WODE Format shift: No way to know if there is a non-competition clause for the sale from Nassau or not. Best guess is there is probably not one since the two signals are licensed to distinct markets. Beside, APEX (is that right) paid premium dollars to aquire WODE which was in this format first and very successful. If there were a format competition issue, it would be Nassau as the seller who would be prohibited from duplicating formats, not APEX.
Your thoughts?
Here are some points that may (or may not) merit your discussion, in no particular order:
1- The Name, "Frank": I get it they wanted something memorable, easy to remember and spell like the Alices, Mikes, Simons, Jacks, etc. It's worth asking if they ever considered what the name means to people. Naturally, to radio listeners, a name is a name..usually. In the Reading/Berks marketplace, with such an older skewing demographic, is it possible the name will mean "Sinatra" to the baby boomers Nassau is trying to attract, and they won't even give it a try? Perhaps not...but there is always a possibility. Why not choose a name more associated with a generic animal(Hawk, Wolf)or landmark, so as to avoid any of the demo or confusion issues? Similar formats in markets like St. Louis (The Arch), Philly (Ben), Chicago (has both "Drive" and "Loop"), Buffalo (The Lake)utilize landmarks germane to the area. I know "The Pagoda" probably would be worse than Frank...but "The Mountain" (as in Neversink, Blue) would be easily licensed from Entercom(no signal crossover issues with WB-S). Berks is known for their covered bridges, perhaps "The Bridge", or the old standby "The River", which may cause confusion with the Harrisburg River which blows a strong signal into Berks, and shows up in the book. At any rate, it's my opinion that there were much more attractive, compelling easy to remember names which would cause zero confusion and relate more to the marketplace.
2- "Reading's...": Are they making another strategic mistake here? This is a caucasion male leaning format. The reputation of Reading is awful both in the area and in the free world, because of crime. In fact, about 70% of the City of Reading population is ethnic, and NOT a target listener for this station. This isn't a race issue, it's a TARGET issue. Their target audience lives in Reading, sure, but primarily they live in the suburban areas, from Kutztown to Boyertown to Oley to Wyomissing to Robesonia, etc. The Arbitron market listed as Reading is actually Berks County. Why not "Berks County's 107.5, Frank..."? Yes, the traffic, etc. is Reading centric, but strategically, you're far better off to include the entire area than exclude it. Just as in the Lehigh Valley (ALL the worthwhile stations there sell Lehigh Valley) there are focuses on various communities, but the more global area is used as the hometown descriptor.
3- WRFY shift: Haven't even checked it. Their audience is so broad, so well trained and so ingrained, they are smart to notice, but should wait to make any changes. After all it's not like Mike Shannon(who has EARNED all the kudos he gets on running WRFY/WRAW) was running Frank...it's Rick Musselman for Christ's sake...no need to panic. WRFY has more to lose than anyone else, only because they HAVE more. Consider this: Frank is available in one form or another from at least three other established stations (Hawk/Lehigh Valley; Ben/Philly; River/Harrisburg, am I missing any?). This generic classic hits format is really no more of a threat from Boyertown(with a newbie PD and Musselman) than from anywhere else. Be ready to parry worthwhile attacks WRFY..but ignore any of those paper sword attacks which are meaningless.
4- WODE Format shift: No way to know if there is a non-competition clause for the sale from Nassau or not. Best guess is there is probably not one since the two signals are licensed to distinct markets. Beside, APEX (is that right) paid premium dollars to aquire WODE which was in this format first and very successful. If there were a format competition issue, it would be Nassau as the seller who would be prohibited from duplicating formats, not APEX.
Your thoughts?