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The New Star 96.1
- Thread starter GlennT
- Start date
Why would Townsquare have bought the IP and allowed Audacy to promote KISS as the new STAR for the past 3 weeks? Seems to me if they did indeed buy the IP they probably paid so little for it that it was cheaper to pay for it than pay any legal bill.
The name STAR must be generic like MIX. Maybe STAR 102.5 was the trademark. Without the frequency, it doesn't matter. I doubt the word ROCK can be trademarked either. Audacy has much bigger problems, so they likely don't care about the "New" Star at Townsquare. If it was important, they could have changed KISS to STAR...
That's exactly what a lot of stations do. Or put it on 107.7.
96.1's playlist from a music category rotation standpoint seems virtually unchanged. It's still in the Mainstream AC lane but leans hot.
I've not spent anytime studying WKSE in the past but their playlist of the past 48 hours definitely seems to be on the conservative side. The rotations look CHR-ish but the artist choices look Hot AC-ish.
I've not spent anytime studying WKSE in the past but their playlist of the past 48 hours definitely seems to be on the conservative side. The rotations look CHR-ish but the artist choices look Hot AC-ish.
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They've already been burned 3 times. The last 3 formats have failed on 107.7 (WBEN simulcast, Alternative and Country). Why bother watching STAR become a 1 share format on that same signal.? They'll just let The Wolf limp along until they ultimately sell the station...
Rob can claim that he doesn't know what his future holds, but he's confident and positive that all is going to be alright. Sounds to me like the deal has already been done. I think you're right on the money, Mr. Bridges. Lucas to Star 96.1and Dave Fields I'm guessing goes back to country and WYRK or maybe out on the beach.
@ 8:25 "We're not changing our format, we're just changing our name..."
Interesting...
This is a very good point, since it's not a ppm market.
I can only suspect that the new Star might have to change their name again just to be extra clear what to write in a diary.
BTW can anyone confirm that, moving forward, if one were to simply write "K love" or "102.5" it will now simply
fall under the category of "other"? K Love is not going to be part of the book...as far as I know.
From what I've read, K-Love will still get the credit if a listener writes "K-Love" or "K-Love 102.5" or "102.5" in their diary, even though EMF may not subscribe to the report. As to "Star 102.5" IIRC this would be credited as a split between Star 96 point 1 and K-Love 102 point 5. Extending this Q&A, the Breeze, Mix or even Joy (depending upon how the Nielsen station credit sheet is completed) would be credited to Townsquare's new moniker at 96.1. David and the other ratings mavens will no doubt clarify.
Nielsen has a well defined procedure for accreditation.
First, if a name is no longer in use, then but the exact frequency is, the credit will go to whatever is on that frequency.
If there is a conflict between the name and the frequency but both are in use, then the credits will be split based on a formula that uses the percentage of mentions for each. So if there are 75% correct "Star" mentions and 25% correct 102.5 mentions, a random allocation system will give three out of every four mentions to the correct Star and one out of every four to the 102.5 existing operation.
An example: diarykeeper puts down "106" in the diary. There are two stations in the market area, on at 106.1 and another at 106.7. In past ratings, 106.1 has gotten a 3 share and 106.7 a 2 share. At random, any "106" entries will be given 60% to 106.1 and 40% to 105.7.
Another: "Bill Smith" is on WZZZ and not on WAAA. But a listener writes "Bill Smith WAAA" in the diary. In that case, 50% of the creditable quarter hours go to WAAA and 50% to WZZZ.
The purpose of the attribution process is to be able to give the radio industry credit for all actual listening. The accreditation tries to do this without favoring any station due to confusion by splitting such diary entries in a proportion that does not change either station's rank vs. the other, while keeping total radio listening as accurate as possible.
This is not a very common event, though, particularly since most dials are now digital and an overwhelming percentage of diary entries are just the frequency and very few are by call letters.
Nearly all diary entries in the last two or three decades are by frequency.
K-Love is part of the book for subscribers. All stations are, whether local or out of market. It's only the public release 12+ numbers that don't include non-subscribers.
That’s not how any of this works. Star is a generic brand that cannot be trademarked on the national or statewide levels.
What this is discussing is IP. Had Audacy simply made one of their AMs “Star” or even made “Kiss 98.5” position as “ Star Music Plays Here” they could have retained the Intellectual property.
The way this played out in the coordinated timing of the launches and Audacy being vague whenever someone asked about Christmas music going forward make me believe a side deal was made. This way Audacy helps prop up Kiss with the on-air crossovers right now and Townsquare gets the Star IP and brand value. I have not confirmed any of this yet but am trying to.
This is quite interesting, especially as it relates to Christmas Music. Ugh ... it's June and we're discussing Christmas Music. It's within the realm of reason that in purchasing the IP of Star 102.5 from Audacy, Townsquare structured of the IP agreement to include a Christmas Music non-compete clause (or Claus) to prohibit Kiss from programming All Christmas music in competition with Star 96.1.
The intrigue builds.
Now, about that 2:45 of dead air after Star 102.5 said farewell and the simulcast with Kiss 98.5 began. Intentional?
So would we say the new Star 96.1 is Adult Contemporary or Hot AC? WTSS 102.1 had been Hot AC. Yes, these days there is less of a difference between the two formats. But we can look at clues...
Hot AC is usually uptempo, more contemporary artists, willing to play some acts that an AC would not. And it doesn't go back before 2000 in most cases.
AC will go back to the 1990s and 80s for some songs. And its currents rotations are not as frequent.
Hot AC is usually uptempo, more contemporary artists, willing to play some acts that an AC would not. And it doesn't go back before 2000 in most cases.
AC will go back to the 1990s and 80s for some songs. And its currents rotations are not as frequent.
The dead air was likely just engineering incompetence.
I doubt that Audacy received a dime from Townsquare. It's been established that STAR is a generic name. I'm sure they found out that Audacy was not going to use the name anymore and simply got ready to switch Breeze. The idea of some sort of deal with Townsquare on the name or Christmas programming is absurd. Audacy simply sold 102.5 to raise some cash. Not much intrigue about that...
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Or a brief pause so former listeners would understand something was being done.
The last time I did a format switch in the middle of the day, it was at a 200 kw FM in a market a bit bigger than New York City. We paused for a few moments with silence and used the time to get all the posted memos, liner cards, copy points and broadcast material out of the studio. We took the mike clips off, and removed the banners from the walls. Once that was done, we played a sweeper and the first song of the new format.
All was done on purpose. There was a total absence of incompetence when we did that.
However, Audacy could claim ownership in that market. By continuing to use it on another stations, they might have a claim. On the other hand, there might have been a side deal to let the brand transition without claim.
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