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The NEW Planet Radio 107.3
- Thread starter TommyR
- Start date
WPLA-FM 107.3 Green Cove Springs - Jacksonville... www.planetradio1073.com
Tommy, there was a time I believed competition was a healthy thing, particularly for the listener. But lately I’m not as gun-ho about it as I once was, especially if it results in more sameness instead of significant difference among the stations. You obviously enjoy the format and I’m happy for your enthusiasm. You have choices. If you don’t like a song one station is playing, you can check out the other. A while back, you revealed your age so given how many stations target you, I say “push buttons” to your heart’s content and enjoy.
But the future is PPM. In the new measuring world, it will be more obvious that the two stations will be sharing practically identical cumes. I don’t believe they will come close to the top 4-5 market leaders. For the past couple months, Planet has been running spots in Folio saying the more new rock, less commercials thing. Really, it amounts to a typical response and it’s probably the most cost-effective thing they can do. With L&T, they have little choice to stick with a male-friendly format. Perhaps they will differentiate Planet here or there but I wouldn’t expect anything really creative and cutting edge.
By time PPM comes to town, the ratings spread between the two stations will be less pronounced. IMHO it won’t matter that much anyway as both stations will claim some kind of victory in their target demo and in the end, that’s all management concerns itself with regardless of rank position or format duplication.
There’s a lot of actual performance data out there and it’s all about cume. By time PPM comes here, the Alternative format will find itself in the bottom half of the Top 10 where there will be very little difference in total audience among a lot of stations in all kinds of formats. This is the reality of PPM. The sample size is considered too small and many of the participants don’t even turn the meter on. That’s a major reason I believe the formats and the talent that are long-established and mainstream will fare the best because a small number of meters vs. the population determine who is #1 and/or who performs well.
The odds increase that limited meters will favor the familiar and the mainstream to include Urban which IS mainstream in parts of our community. I no longer believe that will benefit L&T as it once would have done. We’ll have to see what happens but I’d bet the farm Robbie and Boomer and Tom Joyner will continue to dominate the market with Arthur making his usual, predictable good showing too. Alternative is not a format heard in a large number of professional offices (doctors, lawyers, dentists), restaurants and general business so they won’t benefit from passive listening in PPM. You and others none-the-less will be happy campers. In reality, that actually does please me more than you can probably realize. It’s a rush to find something that really turns you on!
But the future is PPM. In the new measuring world, it will be more obvious that the two stations will be sharing practically identical cumes. I don’t believe they will come close to the top 4-5 market leaders. For the past couple months, Planet has been running spots in Folio saying the more new rock, less commercials thing. Really, it amounts to a typical response and it’s probably the most cost-effective thing they can do. With L&T, they have little choice to stick with a male-friendly format. Perhaps they will differentiate Planet here or there but I wouldn’t expect anything really creative and cutting edge.
By time PPM comes to town, the ratings spread between the two stations will be less pronounced. IMHO it won’t matter that much anyway as both stations will claim some kind of victory in their target demo and in the end, that’s all management concerns itself with regardless of rank position or format duplication.
There’s a lot of actual performance data out there and it’s all about cume. By time PPM comes here, the Alternative format will find itself in the bottom half of the Top 10 where there will be very little difference in total audience among a lot of stations in all kinds of formats. This is the reality of PPM. The sample size is considered too small and many of the participants don’t even turn the meter on. That’s a major reason I believe the formats and the talent that are long-established and mainstream will fare the best because a small number of meters vs. the population determine who is #1 and/or who performs well.
The odds increase that limited meters will favor the familiar and the mainstream to include Urban which IS mainstream in parts of our community. I no longer believe that will benefit L&T as it once would have done. We’ll have to see what happens but I’d bet the farm Robbie and Boomer and Tom Joyner will continue to dominate the market with Arthur making his usual, predictable good showing too. Alternative is not a format heard in a large number of professional offices (doctors, lawyers, dentists), restaurants and general business so they won’t benefit from passive listening in PPM. You and others none-the-less will be happy campers. In reality, that actually does please me more than you can probably realize. It’s a rush to find something that really turns you on!
I misspoke when I used the term "cost-effective" as Planet reduces commercial load to counter new competition. This is and can be very expensive negatively affecting revenue and not just for them. Out of curiosity I checked Planet out yesterday afternoon. The well-intentioned jock, almost with a sound of desperation in his voice, made this "deal" with the listeners saying something like "O.K. Here's the deal. We've got two and a half minutes of commercials and we'll follow that up with two and a half hours of music, Deal?" I was floored. It's to a point that we are practically begging listeners to listen to spots and the station. When does all this end?
Look, I realize I'm an outsider and often get the feeling I'm crashing some exclusive club here. But I've always tried to apply good business practices I enjoyed in the "real world" to the business of radio. I don't know of all the research and cost-analysis that goes into making the decision to go head-on with a competitor but this much I do know. Planet must have been regarded as vulnerable and therefore opportunity arose for someone else.
How many times have I and others posted messages about not taking listeners for granted, not going through the motions, keep your listeners in the center, be innovative and creative and above all - listen to what your audience is telling you. Folks, even in the diary, there's a place people can leave comments. A reasonable person has to wonder just how much of this mess Planet has brought on themselves. I wish our market could be more receptive to listening more. Just because you are in the business doesn't mean your decisions are always correct. Look at your results in the long haul.
Across town, I'm sure there were lots of high- fives and congratulatory rhetoric at the company holiday party for a job well done. But before that is allowed to go to your head, continue to remember that in among the best signals in town, true potential was never realized. For years, that station withered away. It was making some money and it had decent demos and cume so it served a useful purpose. Making it better and exciting and even more competitive among adult listeners would have involved work and effort. Who can bother with that? If one considers the potential revenue that was lost over the years on such a great signal, one has to wonder. Why bother, so let's engage in a peeing contest instead bringing more of the same to the market.
When this market obsesses with a format leader, they flip a station in their cluster to the format so it's 2 against 1. I say flip Eagle now to Adult Alternative. After all, where can they go musically into the 90's? I wouldn't think they will be playing Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul or Michael Bolton or Gloria Estefan anytime soon. It's either that, rap or alternative, so take your pick.
I suppose the thinking with less commercials is if ratings get stronger, the billing rate will increase enough to offset. Keep dreaming, but why do I keep thinking the solution will be to fire more people. And this is considered good business biting the hand that feeds you.
Look, I realize I'm an outsider and often get the feeling I'm crashing some exclusive club here. But I've always tried to apply good business practices I enjoyed in the "real world" to the business of radio. I don't know of all the research and cost-analysis that goes into making the decision to go head-on with a competitor but this much I do know. Planet must have been regarded as vulnerable and therefore opportunity arose for someone else.
How many times have I and others posted messages about not taking listeners for granted, not going through the motions, keep your listeners in the center, be innovative and creative and above all - listen to what your audience is telling you. Folks, even in the diary, there's a place people can leave comments. A reasonable person has to wonder just how much of this mess Planet has brought on themselves. I wish our market could be more receptive to listening more. Just because you are in the business doesn't mean your decisions are always correct. Look at your results in the long haul.
Across town, I'm sure there were lots of high- fives and congratulatory rhetoric at the company holiday party for a job well done. But before that is allowed to go to your head, continue to remember that in among the best signals in town, true potential was never realized. For years, that station withered away. It was making some money and it had decent demos and cume so it served a useful purpose. Making it better and exciting and even more competitive among adult listeners would have involved work and effort. Who can bother with that? If one considers the potential revenue that was lost over the years on such a great signal, one has to wonder. Why bother, so let's engage in a peeing contest instead bringing more of the same to the market.
When this market obsesses with a format leader, they flip a station in their cluster to the format so it's 2 against 1. I say flip Eagle now to Adult Alternative. After all, where can they go musically into the 90's? I wouldn't think they will be playing Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul or Michael Bolton or Gloria Estefan anytime soon. It's either that, rap or alternative, so take your pick.
I suppose the thinking with less commercials is if ratings get stronger, the billing rate will increase enough to offset. Keep dreaming, but why do I keep thinking the solution will be to fire more people. And this is considered good business biting the hand that feeds you.
As time has gone on, the number of commercials played on 102.9 vs. 107.3 has increased (as to be expected anyway). 107.3 is capitalizing on this with new liners, including the same artificial female voice 102.9 uses when they tout how many fewer commercials they play.
It's fun though. Thus far, Jax is supporting a classic rocker, a rock hits station, an active rocker & an alternative station. Jacksonville truly is a rock market!
G
It's fun though. Thus far, Jax is supporting a classic rocker, a rock hits station, an active rocker & an alternative station. Jacksonville truly is a rock market!
G
You are making a great point about the Jax market and it’s something I observed the first day I came to town. At the time, Rock 105 was huge as was Cool 96.9 as I can recall hearing both of these stations everywhere I went. Obviously, they represented two opposites of the rock/rock ‘n roll spectrum and they were highly supported.
No startling news here but what makes Jax unique is that we are a navy town. Young recruits will favor rock {Those in the military have told me this and I have observed this at NAS JAX as well} I would bet Alternative does very well on base. Recruits of the past grew up and many have remained in our community. Their life experiences, I believe, helps determine market leaders. Given their military background, they will tend to be conservative. As they got older, many of them turned to WOKV and its conservative talk line-up and why news/talk leads the pack here and not elsewhere in our state. Country music tells a story and it has roots in conservative tradition. They know Robbie and Boomer and they also know Classic Country having grown up with the songs. Despite my protests from the cheap-seats, I always understood the economic viability and need for the format, especially for Jax. Taylor Swift, in my opinion, is a huge asset and an artist who impresses me for her star-power beyond belief. However, I believe over-saturating a market with any one format diminishes the true potential of it overall. I still believe if enough listeners are not satisfied with choices, they will and do move to alternatives.
During my last trip down state, the subject of the old WAPE came up. If there is any one positive discussion point about Jax radio besides WOKV, it’s the legend of the old WAPE Over the past few years; I’ve heard many airchecks of the BIG APE. It’s pretty cool to be in a community where the old AMer was considered among those in the know as one of the best around at the time. Cox Radio’s decision to bring The Greaseman over to Rock 105 made sense to me because there are still lots of fans in town out there who remember him fondly. Rock competition is far tougher today so again, I think it’s a good move.
Traditions and conservative values are not always painted in a favorable light in parts of our country and that’s their problem. It does create a radio environment here that I believe enables family-oriented formats to thrive.
Let me share a story that happened 5 years ago but I believe is still timely today. I was leading a team of around 75-80 people almost spilt in half by gender and I’d say around 25% were minorities. When we returned from Christmas break, the big water cooler discussions were all about Cool 96.9 going away. Sure, I was upset because I was a fan but I never realized just how deep an impact this made on so many other people. What really surprised me though was that so many of the Cool 96.9 fans told me they switched to WQIK and they usually listened to both stations anyway. I just assumed they would either stay pat or switch to WEJZ. I never realized that country music fans and traditional oldies fans shared anything in common but they do. Maybe this means very little to most of you, but it reinforces my steadfast belief that our market under serves listeners.
Men are represented very well in Jax radio but we shouldn't just make assumptions. There's opportunity out there and woman are in my radar.
No startling news here but what makes Jax unique is that we are a navy town. Young recruits will favor rock {Those in the military have told me this and I have observed this at NAS JAX as well} I would bet Alternative does very well on base. Recruits of the past grew up and many have remained in our community. Their life experiences, I believe, helps determine market leaders. Given their military background, they will tend to be conservative. As they got older, many of them turned to WOKV and its conservative talk line-up and why news/talk leads the pack here and not elsewhere in our state. Country music tells a story and it has roots in conservative tradition. They know Robbie and Boomer and they also know Classic Country having grown up with the songs. Despite my protests from the cheap-seats, I always understood the economic viability and need for the format, especially for Jax. Taylor Swift, in my opinion, is a huge asset and an artist who impresses me for her star-power beyond belief. However, I believe over-saturating a market with any one format diminishes the true potential of it overall. I still believe if enough listeners are not satisfied with choices, they will and do move to alternatives.
During my last trip down state, the subject of the old WAPE came up. If there is any one positive discussion point about Jax radio besides WOKV, it’s the legend of the old WAPE Over the past few years; I’ve heard many airchecks of the BIG APE. It’s pretty cool to be in a community where the old AMer was considered among those in the know as one of the best around at the time. Cox Radio’s decision to bring The Greaseman over to Rock 105 made sense to me because there are still lots of fans in town out there who remember him fondly. Rock competition is far tougher today so again, I think it’s a good move.
Traditions and conservative values are not always painted in a favorable light in parts of our country and that’s their problem. It does create a radio environment here that I believe enables family-oriented formats to thrive.
Let me share a story that happened 5 years ago but I believe is still timely today. I was leading a team of around 75-80 people almost spilt in half by gender and I’d say around 25% were minorities. When we returned from Christmas break, the big water cooler discussions were all about Cool 96.9 going away. Sure, I was upset because I was a fan but I never realized just how deep an impact this made on so many other people. What really surprised me though was that so many of the Cool 96.9 fans told me they switched to WQIK and they usually listened to both stations anyway. I just assumed they would either stay pat or switch to WEJZ. I never realized that country music fans and traditional oldies fans shared anything in common but they do. Maybe this means very little to most of you, but it reinforces my steadfast belief that our market under serves listeners.
Men are represented very well in Jax radio but we shouldn't just make assumptions. There's opportunity out there and woman are in my radar.
B
Brother Bear
Guest
JJ, you're right on the money about men being well represented in the Jax market, between rock, talk, and alternative. It's been my experience that women flip between Hot AC/Top 40 (KISS-FM and WAPE) and Country more than the average observer would believe, especially in younger demos. All the young girls you see at Kenny Chesney concerts ... you'll just as soon find them at Mavericks as at a hip-hop club somewhere. Lots of clients and agencies split buys between Gator and QIK as well as APE and KISS looking for women 25-54 ... The Big $$$$ Demo.
And never ... EVER underestimate The Power Of The Crofton!
And never ... EVER underestimate The Power Of The Crofton!
Brother Bear, your pithy comments said volumes. I need to learn the art of being more effective in fewer words. I’ll add that to my growing list of resolutions. Well, there is no question that I hold Mr. Crofton in high regard for his track record as I have spoken well of him for a long time.
What you say about billing and tastes of young listeners is what I believed all along. In all my commentary about formats and in particular a Top 40 version of classic hits, I was consistent in recognizing the importance of attracting females to the station as the core audience. None of this was to be vindictive or even destructive to any particular radio station. Quite the opposite, I was always interested in building up our market to make it even stronger – for everyone. I am absolutely convinced there is room for a new approach and station.
None of us can change history nor should we be consumed by it. I’ve endeavored to learn more and to work under the rules of the business of radio (25-54 for starters) when making the various recommendations I have made. In many markets, success has been met by clusters who offer an AC along with Greatest Hits as there are agency/client splits similar to the ones you describe. I've seen combos with other formats too.
Even you acknowledge, as I have known all along, that the female audience does flip among a lot of stations. They do this for a very clear reason. Perhaps I am generalizing a bit here but in my own experiences, females tend to be OK with music variety more than their male counterparts. They would appreciate, I believe, hearing Motown with Eagle type hits. They would listen to upbeat dance tunes along with some 80’s alternative. There are guys in my camp too as I appreciate different genres of music. If the format existed here, I would see it as a 60/40 split between females and males. But that’s just my opinion.
When you site the young girls at the Kenny Chesney concerts, I’d have my eye on their moms. That’s the principle target audience for the format but it’s coalitions of others that would represent even more opportunity. I’ve talked about playlists enough but over the past few weeks, I’ve added some 90’s titles and have gone even deeper into the 80’s. I see the genesis of a giant out there. Do you know, there are increasing numbers of classic hits stations across the country that have added country cross-over titles to their mix? The times and the format have changed. Listeners are saying all kinds of things through their actions. If agency splits are going to exist among stations attracting females 25-54 anyway, one would think adding another (25-54 female leaning station) to the cluster would just be good business for the owner – and the listener.
What you say about billing and tastes of young listeners is what I believed all along. In all my commentary about formats and in particular a Top 40 version of classic hits, I was consistent in recognizing the importance of attracting females to the station as the core audience. None of this was to be vindictive or even destructive to any particular radio station. Quite the opposite, I was always interested in building up our market to make it even stronger – for everyone. I am absolutely convinced there is room for a new approach and station.
None of us can change history nor should we be consumed by it. I’ve endeavored to learn more and to work under the rules of the business of radio (25-54 for starters) when making the various recommendations I have made. In many markets, success has been met by clusters who offer an AC along with Greatest Hits as there are agency/client splits similar to the ones you describe. I've seen combos with other formats too.
Even you acknowledge, as I have known all along, that the female audience does flip among a lot of stations. They do this for a very clear reason. Perhaps I am generalizing a bit here but in my own experiences, females tend to be OK with music variety more than their male counterparts. They would appreciate, I believe, hearing Motown with Eagle type hits. They would listen to upbeat dance tunes along with some 80’s alternative. There are guys in my camp too as I appreciate different genres of music. If the format existed here, I would see it as a 60/40 split between females and males. But that’s just my opinion.
When you site the young girls at the Kenny Chesney concerts, I’d have my eye on their moms. That’s the principle target audience for the format but it’s coalitions of others that would represent even more opportunity. I’ve talked about playlists enough but over the past few weeks, I’ve added some 90’s titles and have gone even deeper into the 80’s. I see the genesis of a giant out there. Do you know, there are increasing numbers of classic hits stations across the country that have added country cross-over titles to their mix? The times and the format have changed. Listeners are saying all kinds of things through their actions. If agency splits are going to exist among stations attracting females 25-54 anyway, one would think adding another (25-54 female leaning station) to the cluster would just be good business for the owner – and the listener.
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