"The Breeze" goes mainstream AC?

[satech]

I know WWZY/WBHX has technically been an "AC" station for years, but they were really more of a Classic Hits/AC hybrid, and were always very cautious about adding newer music. But in recent months they seem to have thrown all caution to the wind, and are now playing Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and almost all the latest and most annoying mainstream AC hits. Now the only difference between "The Breeze" and any other AC station on the dial is that they pad out their playlist with a bit more '70s and '80s music. (The '60s music they were once proud to play is now almost all gone.)

But why move towards head-on competition with the half-dozen other AC stations on the dial? With a Classic Hits-oriented playlist, their only competition was CBS-FM, which they were beating handily in the Monmouth/Ocean ratings. Did they fear their audience was getting too old? Or is new management simply wanting to shake things up and give The Breeze an unneeded on-air makeover?

 

[SoulCrusher]

I have a hunch that Press Communications is going to throw in the towel at B 98.5 and switch to a Classic Hits format in the near future. The station has been a cellar dweller in the ratings ever since it signed on ... and let's face it, Press has shown a lot more patience with B than they have in the past (remember all the impulsive changes they made with G Rock over the years?). It appears that Press wants to skew younger with The Breeze, and will court the older demos with Great Gold 1410 in Monmouth and the new format in Ocean. Of course, the door is open for Greater Media to beat Press to the punch by dropping the even lower rated Magic 100.1 for Classic Hits, but they're apparently still holding out, thinking that people are still going to switch over to their soft rock station after 1 1/2 years of anemic ratings. Whatever the case may be, both B and Magic are the odd losers out in their respective formats, and would be well advised to give something else a try.

 

[bigtom101]

I have a hunch that Press Communications is going to throw in the towel at B 98.5 and switch to a Classic Hits format in the near future. The station has been a cellar dweller in the ratings ever since it signed on ... and let's face it, Press has shown a lot more patience with B than they have in the past (remember all the impulsive changes they made with G Rock over the years?). It appears that Press wants to skew younger with The Breeze, and will court the older demos with Great Gold 1410 in Monmouth and the new format in Ocean. Of course, the door is open for Greater Media to beat Press to the punch by dropping the even lower rated Magic 100.1 for Classic Hits, but they're apparently still holding out, thinking that people are still going to switch over to their soft rock station after 1 1/2 years of anemic ratings. Whatever the case may be, both B and Magic are the odd losers out in their respective formats, and would be well advised to give something else a try.

Here's why Press won't do that (barring a change in management)

1. National sales wants 25-54, as well as 18-34 demos. Given where The Breeze has evolved to, what B sounds like, and Thunders position in all of this....it's clear that Press has every intention of trying to hit those demos to satisfy the sales dept and bring in revenue.

2. Classic Hits does better in 35+ than 25-54. See bullet point #1 for why Classic Hits wont be coming to 98.5 any time soon - sales wants those numbers to sell to national...even if nobody young lives in Ocean County (except for summer months).

3. The economy is still very weak, and Press I'm sure wants to rely on more stable national ad buys than local buys...who want those younger demos.

4. A 70's centric classic hits (ala CBS-FM/WOGL/KRTH) while not in the sweet spot demo wise, would possibly siphon ratings away from The Breeze.

At the most, you might get a Gold AC station on 99.7 & 1410 (simulcasted to save $$$) since 99.7 is a crappy signal and covers more fish than people. If The Breeze wants to give WOBM a run in Ocean County, they need to put The Breeze on 98.5

 

[blueclaws1210]

The breeze and thunder are safe for now. It's b985 that may be in trouble, becauce thunder is tied for third in music ratings and has strong following. Also the breeze is strong too and the recent update music will appeal to younger people.But b98.5 is kinda weak and you can already get that music elsewhere. They could try classic hits and beat what ever that magic 100.1 fm is gonna flip too,when that happends. The demographic is there for classic hits in ocean county. Furthermore i dont think putting the breeze on 98.5 in ocean county would hurt wobm.It just be a waste for the breeze who usually number one or two in the ratings.

 

[bigtom101]

But b98.5 is kinda weak and you can already get that music elsewhere. They could try classic hits and beat what ever that magic 100.1 fm is gonna flip too,when that happends. The demographic is there for classic hits in ocean county. Furthermore i dont think putting the breeze on 98.5 in ocean county would hurt wobm.It just be a waste for the breeze who usually number one or two in the ratings.

The demo may be there in large numbers...but I repeat again...sales doesn't want those demos. I want classic hits on at the shore - trust me, I do. But the reality is that 98.5 won't go classic hits because the sales dept has deemed the listeners it would attract are unattractive to ad agencies. Local yes...but local isn't what it used to be.

I'd put money on 100.1 going back before 98.5 flipping. Also, remember The Breeze gets most of their numbers from Monmouth county...not Ocean. I've seen the breakouts...The Breeze gets very little from 99.7 due to the signal. Would they get better Ocean #'s from being on 98.5? Who knows - WOBM is an institution, and I wouldn't want to try to go against them on their home turf.

 

[satech]

According to a post on another radio board, major changes have been going on at The Breeze: Mike Fitzgerald and Dianne DeOliviera are gone, Dan Turi is now Program Director, and allegedly all pre-1975 music has been purged from the playlist.

And have you noticed that they don't say "Home of the No-Repeat Work Week" anymore? Instead, The Breeze is now "The Shore's Best Mix" -- so get ready to start hearing the same songs repeated three times a day, every day, just like every other AC station on the dial!

 

[nd2023]

The only AC station I could stand listening to in this area is gone. How many stations need to play Lady Gaga?

R.I.P. the AC format as I knew it. I liked the days when Dan Turi was on Magic 98.3.

 

[DToTheJ]

According to a post on another radio board, major changes have been going on at The Breeze: Mike Fitzgerald and Dianne DeOliviera are gone...

Actually, I understand Fitzgerald is still there but in a management role.

 

[bigtom101]

The only AC station I could stand listening to in this area is gone. How many stations need to play Lady Gaga?

R.I.P. the AC format as I knew it. I liked the days when Dan Turi was on Magic 98.3.

Time marches on - listen to The Dove or Easy 93.1 if you want a Gold AC....

 

[SoulCrusher]

I am confident they are going to lose some listeners as a result of these changes. This goes beyond the simple personnel moves that always occur at Press stations after a couple of years (hey, it happened when they owned NJ 101.5 and during the years that they ran G Rock). The station now sounds completely different, less unique and pretty much the same as WOBM and Magic now. It's bad enough that they're constantly replacing DJs, and that their business model clearly indicates that format is all that matters and everything else is secondary. Now The Breeze is doing away with the broad playlist they used to have, and has become just another station that plays Katy Perry & Lady Gaga. I've also heard some people say that Country Thunder has changed a lot since "Party Marty" became PD, dropping its "rockin' country" sound and replacing it with a softer one. It remains to be seen what will happen with them in future ratings books. But I am confident that The Breeze is going to take a hit with these foolish programming decisions. Maybe that's why Greater Media isn't throwing in the towel yet at Magic - they're thinking that they have a chance at picking up some disillusioned Breeze listeners. I seriously doubt that's going to happen, either.

 

[yossefgershon]

THUNDER still has a hard edge to it.The BREEZE has gone thru several changes since coming to 107.1 in 2003.Here in Midwood Brooklyn I get six AC's----if you count WEMP.There is room for a softer ac or even a country station but the business is a business and every company wants to make $$$$$-----the people who want soft ac,country or any other format here in the NY area have already gone to alternate media.The days of WHN,the old 'pat are long gone!!!!

 

[d21ofnj]

So if everyone wants a "piece of the pie", won't the $$$$ eventually not be there since radio stations sound like clones of each other?

 

[bigtom101]

So if everyone wants a "piece of the pie", won't the $$$$ eventually not be there since radio stations sound like clones of each other?

Some will do it better than others and make money. Others wont

 

[satech]

I checked The Breeze's Facebook page, and the public's reaction to the recent changes is rather chilly. A lot of people have asked what happened to Dianne and how they can get in touch with her. Some expressed discontent with the new music mix. And one person asked if they're still doing the "no-repeat workweek". The station's answer is that they now have a "no-repeat workDAY".

 

[nd2023]

The only AC station I could stand listening to in this area is gone. How many stations need to play Lady Gaga?

R.I.P. the AC format as I knew it. I liked the days when Dan Turi was on Magic 98.3.

Time marches on - listen to The Dove or Easy 93.1 if you want a Gold AC....

If 105.5 The Dove and Easy 93.1 (Miami) are doing very well in their markets, why can't a similar format work here (besides Easy 93.1 in Cape May)?

 

[satech]

It should be without question that "The Breeze" is now just another cookie-cutter Bright AC format. Nickelback's "Photograph" sure isn't "breezy", and they actually now sound more like "Fresh 102.7" than anything else. Last night I thought Ted Efaw broke from the new format to play Paul McMartney's original 1970 studio version of "Maybe I'm Amazed", but it turns out I was actually picking up WXPK instead; when WWZY faded back in, they were playing John Mayer instead. Sigh.

In fact, I switched back and forth between 107.1 and 106.7 this afternoon, and WLTW was noticeably softer and older in their music mix; I guess they've learned from their mistake a while back when they tried to dump the "Lite FM" name and started playing Shakira, Outkast, and Beyonce often enough to make your ears bleed. But now it looks like The Breeze is headed towards that same route in their quest to gain advertiser-friendly younger listeners.

 

[djdalanj69]

Why try to fix what WASN'T BROKEN??? Good job Press! I enjoyed the former Breeze Format. You would hear songs that you haven't heard in a while. Songs that brought back Memories. It was very refreshing to hear songs that other Radio Stations very seldom or ever played. Songs that were not being played Over and Over Again and Again! I am in the Age Demo that the Breeze is trying to reach out to now and speaking for myself I DO NOT CARE FOR "THE NEW BREEZE" AT ALL! Remember the saying "Live and Learn" from MISTAKES! Its all about the almighty $$$$$'s so who cares about "The Listener's" In the end Rating"s and PPM's speak volumes.

 

[imhomerjay]

A business is about making money? Wait, isn't that what they call capitalism? ;D

 

[[email protected]]

When Press showed up to buy 99-7 from us (Richard Lee Harvey & Myself) they have had 3 different program directors since that day. One of them in fact I interviewed with. They actually at one time were thinking of keeping my classic rock format. It was a really big office building, allot of people worked there. Lots of payroll.

All these sales people showed up in Manahawkin including John Kazuba who was a salesmen at the time to see what McAllan bought them.

There was allot of confusion to be honest with you. Look what's happened since those days back in 2001-2002.

What I am baffled about is why did they change "The Breeze". With the 2 frequencies the whole was working? Wasn't it? The ratings were really good, right? Is this just someone hired that feels he needs to make his mark or prove a point with Press?

Only the "Shadow" knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men.

 

[EasyBakeOven]

What I am baffled about is why did they change "The Breeze". With the 2 frequencies the whole was working? Wasn't it?

Turnpike Turner already answered this question and they are correct. It comes down to what the agencies want. Even though the 12+ numbers looked good, when you broke it down further, a large percent of The Breeze audience was skewing much older than desired.

Turnpike Turner: 1. National sales wants 25-54, as well as 18-34 demos. Given where The Breeze has evolved to, what B sounds like, and Thunders position in all of this....it's clear that Press has every intention of trying to hit those demos to satisfy the sales dept and bring in revenue.