Something's gotta change with Today's 96.5

[whitenoise]

I mean come on, Today’s 96.5 is ranked as low as a high-powered AC station can get. Even the consistently low scoring Ben-FM is beating them. I’ll be shocked if they make it past the holidays.

I looked at their playlist today and it is essentially identical to MoreFM’s (or at least what 101.1 was when it had the “B” moniker.) Why tune away from 101.1 to hear pretty much the same thing? The only way I can see this working is if CBS tweaks Today’s playlist…a LOT. I always kinda admired what WTMX-FM in Chicago was doing. Rather than playing the old stuff from the 80’s and 90’s to lose their younger demographic, and the rhythmic sexualized top 40 that’s sprinkled with hip hop to scare away the older audience, The Mix keeps it right down the middle by playing merely lighter pop like Maroon 5, Charlie Puth, Demi Lovato, Sia, Imagine Dragons, etc. It’s basically all the songs you’d hear cross over from Q102 to MoreFM, and it’s all modern stuff taken from the Billboard Hot 100. The best way I can describe it is essentially what 93.7 WSTW is doing. By finding that happy medium and remaining consistent with it, you can keep both your younger and older audiences happy, something that many would consider to be a difficult achievement as a Hot AC station. But it’s because of this smart programming that The Mix is consistently ranking no. 1 in Chicago, and is on virtually everyone’s presets. Both parents and their kids can actually agree on the same station. WTDY…NEEDS to do this. It would really be interesting to see them take some of More FM and Q102's audience. Heck, keep the “Today’s” moniker, just update the music a little bit.

As far as Christmas is concerned, keep WOGL going with the traditional/older stuff: Andy Williams, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Burl Ives, Gene Autry, etc. That’s offering something MoreFM isn’t always providing with their Kelly Clarkson and Michael Bublé covers that seem to get more and more prevalent on their airwaves during the holidays. That way, CBS is getting the best of both worlds by offering a different Christmas option over MoreFM, while keeping an active AC format running for the people who are getting tired of hearing “The Christmas Song” and five versions of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” every hour.

Idk, just thinking out loud here.

 

[Gunsmoke]

POP ROCKS anyone?

 

[radiophiler]

In about 10 days, Today's 96.5, and the rest of the CBS radio stations, will have new owners, most of them the newly merged Entercom, and that will be the case in Philly.

Articles recapping Entercom's 3rd quarter results have noted that they've looked closely at all their new markets (Philly will be new to Entercom despite its home office being in Bala) and they're doing research.

Something else to note about Entercom: They're not afraid to use an FM signal for their news/talk stations. Look at the markets they already own. So the question: Would they make more money in Philly with KYW on 96.5 instead of having AC Today's 96.5 on the frequency? Entercom will run former CBS AM-FM all-news simulcasts in both Chicago and San Fran after the takeover. Since Philly is their home corporate office market for Entercom, do they really want to see KYW to continue to wither away on the AM-radio vine? In effect, its most expensive format to produce, but one that's viable, is on their worst Philly signal.

KYW's four-book trend: 5.3 4.6 4.7 4.1
WHYY (NPR): 2.5 3.5 3.7 3.7.

KYW is 0.4 away from being beaten by WHYY. This comes after WHYY's recent "News without the noise" billboard campaign on major interstates throughout the Philly metro.

A side note: It's become apparent that Entercom won't use "CBS" branding for KYW. References to "the CBS broadcast center" have gone to "the broadcast center" including one part-time anchor I heard within the last week stumble and correct himself: "At the CBS Broad .... er ... at the broadcast center it's 68 degrees ... " The CBS3 meteorologists continue to say "CBS3 Eyewitness Weather," but they're CBS3 employees. When KYW anchors refer to the weather forecast, they now say "Eyewitness Weather" without CBS. Gone from the top of the hour, "This is KYW 1060 Philadelphia, a CBS radio station serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware."

 

[TheBigA]

A side note: It's become apparent that Entercom won't use "CBS" branding for KYW.

IIRC the contract gives them a year to continue saying CBS. But at some point, they'll be moving out of the CBS Broadcast Center. It's going to be complicated, because some employees work for both radio and TV.

 

[Miguelito]

I mean come on, Today’s 96.5 is ranked as low as a high-powered AC station can get. Even the consistently low scoring Ben-FM is beating them. I’ll be shocked if they make it past the holidays.

I looked at their playlist today and it is essentially identical to MoreFM’s (or at least what 101.1 was when it had the “B” moniker.) Why tune away from 101.1 to hear pretty much the same thing? The only way I can see this working is if CBS tweaks Today’s playlist…a LOT. I always kinda admired what WTMX-FM in Chicago was doing. Rather than playing the old stuff from the 80’s and 90’s to lose their younger demographic, and the rhythmic sexualized top 40 that’s sprinkled with hip hop to scare away the older audience, The Mix keeps it right down the middle by playing merely lighter pop like Maroon 5, Charlie Puth, Demi Lovato, Sia, Imagine Dragons, etc. It’s basically all the songs you’d hear cross over from Q102 to MoreFM, and it’s all modern stuff taken from the Billboard Hot 100. The best way I can describe it is essentially what 93.7 WSTW is doing. By finding that happy medium and remaining consistent with it, you can keep both your younger and older audiences happy, something that many would consider to be a difficult achievement as a Hot AC station. But it’s because of this smart programming that The Mix is consistently ranking no. 1 in Chicago, and is on virtually everyone’s presets. Both parents and their kids can actually agree on the same station. WTDY…NEEDS to do this. It would really be interesting to see them take some of More FM and Q102's audience. Heck, keep the “Today’s” moniker, just update the music a little bit.

As far as Christmas is concerned, keep WOGL going with the traditional/older stuff: Andy Williams, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Burl Ives, Gene Autry, etc. That’s offering something MoreFM isn’t always providing with their Kelly Clarkson and Michael Bublé covers that seem to get more and more prevalent on their airwaves during the holidays. That way, CBS is getting the best of both worlds by offering a different Christmas option over MoreFM, while keeping an active AC format running for the people who are getting tired of hearing “The Christmas Song” and five versions of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” every hour.

Idk, just thinking out loud here.

That's interesting. I think they're doing just what they should do to grab as big a chunk of the demo as possible. While I think 101.1's library is pretty good, I actually prefer 96.5's. I mean, they're not gonna overtake 101.1, no matter what they do...but 101.1's music is predictable (IMHO) and 96.5's looks a little more interesting. (That having been said, I don't actually listen to the radio very often so my opinion means nothing to either station.) I would say 96.5 needs to do something about its sound. It just sounds flat while 101.1 sounds brighter and bolder. AC has moved toward a CHR-type presentation so the audio should probably match that.

WTMX looks like a less diverse form of AC. It makes me think of what Max/Mix 95.7 would sound like if they were around today--which mercifully, they are not. I seems to have been established that Philly's AC audience wants a wider variety. I think by playing a library that isn't that far from 101.1's, 96.5 stands a good chance of making money. When the day comes that 96.5 flips (which of course they will), I don't think it'll be because WTDY was deemed a failure; I think it will be because the owners think they have a format that will be more profitable.

 

[Miguelito]

So the question: Would they make more money in Philly with KYW on 96.5 instead of having AC Today's 96.5 on the frequency? Entercom will run former CBS AM-FM all-news simulcasts in both Chicago and San Fran after the takeover. Since Philly is their home corporate office market for Entercom, do they really want to see KYW to continue to wither away on the AM-radio vine? In effect, its most expensive format to produce, but one that's viable, is on their worst Philly signal.

Or they could do with KYW what they did with WBZ.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

I liked what the original Max tried to do, but c’est la vie.

 

[whitenoise]

Something else to note about Entercom: They're not afraid to use an FM signal for their news/talk stations. Look at the markets they already own. So the question: Would they make more money in Philly with KYW on 96.5 instead of having AC Today's 96.5 on the frequency? Entercom will run former CBS AM-FM all-news simulcasts in both Chicago and San Fran after the takeover. Since Philly is their home corporate office market for Entercom, do they really want to see KYW to continue to wither away on the AM-radio vine? In effect, its most expensive format to produce, but one that's viable, is on their worst Philly signal.

KYW's four-book trend: 5.3 4.6 4.7 4.1
WHYY (NPR): 2.5 3.5 3.7 3.7.

KYW is 0.4 away from being beaten by WHYY. This comes after WHYY's recent "News without the noise" billboard campaign on major interstates throughout the Philly metro.

I'd be interested to see what they do with this. I know Chicago is simulcasting WBBM-AM on 105.9 FM from atop the Willis Tower, which really does solve the signal problems faced with placing an AM transmitter 20 miles outside of the city. I just wish they would separate both the AM and FM listenership figures on the Nielsen ratings so we could really get a good idea of how much this move affects ratings.

I would say 96.5 needs to do something about its sound. It just sounds flat while 101.1 sounds brighter and bolder. AC has moved toward a CHR-type presentation so the audio should probably match that.

This was a complaint I had all the way back to their "Wired 96.5" days. All the highs were drowned out by hard mid-range compression that actually would hurt my ears. A lot of times I'd switch it back to Q102 just because of this. Did CBS not think to do away with that god-awful processing when they acquired them from Beasley?

 

[Miguelito]

I liked what the original Max tried to do, but c’est la vie.

I liked Jammin' Gold.

 

[Miguelito]

This was a complaint I had all the way back to their "Wired 96.5" days. All the highs were drowned out by hard mid-range compression that actually would hurt my ears. A lot of times I'd switch it back to Q102 just because of this. Did CBS not think to do away with that god-awful processing when they acquired them from Beasley?

This always leaves me scratching my head. Maybe the cluster has an engineer who could be doing better. But then, isn't there an MD or PD who can hear the problem when he/she's driving around listening to the station they work for? Or a GM? Maybe a jock? I mean, it's not just you and me who realize that an adjustment is in order. haha. People just don't seem to care about their product these days.

 

[TheBigA]

People just don't seem to care about their product these days.

Or maybe they care and can't do anything about it.

 

[Miguelito]

Or maybe they care and can't do anything about it.

Example please! LOL. What would prevent a General Manager from getting the audio processing adjusted on one of his/her stations?

 

[TheBigA]

Example please! LOL. What would prevent a General Manager from getting the audio processing adjusted on one of his/her stations?

That kind of thing doesn't come from the GM.

 

[whitenoise]

That kind of thing doesn't come from the GM.

I just think that back when 96.5 was The Point, the multi-band compressor was configured to enhance spoken vocals, seeing as how it was a talk station. And when they switched to music, the sound engineering technician never really considered that a re-adjustment of the processor would be necessary.

Still, nonetheless, it's been 14 years. They're definitely overdue for a re-adjustment or a new unit altogether.

 

[whitenoise]

And while, yes, the GM doesn't deal with that type of stuff directly, he definitely should've heard that something wasn't right with the audio and had someone look into it.

 

[TheBigA]

And while, yes, the GM doesn't deal with that type of stuff directly, he definitely should've heard that something wasn't right with the audio and had someone look into it.

One of the complications in on-air processing is the monitoring system and environment. It can sound one way in a car, and another way in the studio. Headphones vs. speakers. It can change based on the production of the content. What sounds good with some songs will sound like crap with others. These days, the music has been processed within a fraction of distortion, so its often hard to identify the issue. The people who might be most aware of the problem are not usually the ones in that particular food chain.

 

[whitenoise]

One of the complications in on-air processing is the monitoring system and environment. It can sound one way in a car, and another way in the studio. Headphones vs. speakers. It can change based on the production of the content. What sounds good with some songs will sound like crap with others. These days, the music has been processed within a fraction of distortion, so its often hard to identify the issue. The people who might be most aware of the problem are not usually the ones in that particular food chain.

You're definitely right to a degree. And, again, I don't work with this stuff so trust me I'm no expert. But it's one thing to try and accommodate for different speakers, environments, music genres, and songs' varying dynamic ranges, but it's a whole other thing to distinguish when one station, in general, sounds worse than the other. I remember at one point, Wired 96.5 and Q102 were both playing the same song and I tuned back and forth to see the difference (back then Q102 was pitching up their music so I kinda thought it was cool to compare when I could). I remember the best analogy I could come up with was that Q102 had warm, bright, crisp highs with equally balanced lows and mids, while Wired essentially sounded like it was coming out of a megaphone with a sub attached. And this didn't vary depending on the song, it was constant and for years. Believe it or not, many stations tweak their levels when they can to try and make it sound better. I remember reading in the New York boards that WCBS-FM was known for having very bad processing until one day, a listener heard them changing the levels and attack on the compression. They were doing this for a week straight until they got it just right. I think it just comes down to comparing one station's sound to its competitors and tweaking the levels til it sounds just right...granted it's being done at a time when hardly anyone's listening lol.

 

[TheBigA]

I think it just comes down to comparing one station's sound to its competitors and tweaking the levels til it sounds just right...granted it's being done at a time when hardly anyone's listening lol.

Then again, it's all subjective. So maybe now that there's an ownership change, there will be an opportunity for some capital equipment expenses. But that will also take time to work through the food chain.

 

[Miguelito]

That kind of thing doesn't come from the GM.

Uhhh, OK.

 

[broadcastguy]

Funny thing about on air processors (Orban or so) is that they come with like 40 presets, I remember when I started working at a rock station back in my country, that frequency was a talk station before and no one ever bothered in changing the processor, one day the Engineer was around and I asked him to go to the tech room and told him to load the preset "rock-medium"... Guess what happened? The station came alive, just with a simple preset.

This was in a mom and pop owned station in South America, my point is, Orban engineers invested the time and resourcrs to search, design and create the best presets for each radio format and loaded them in every single semi-new processor, in no way an average Joe will come with a better sound guessing by ear with a $300 set of headphones. Just my humble opinion.