The little invisible man in my phone already promised me over 10 million in a row, commercial free! What will I do without all those positioning statements?
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The Vibe ends at 98.9
- Thread starter ckg279
- Start date
Per Radio-Online(who posted about this today), Hot 98.9 has named its PD: Joe Siragusa, who's also PD'ing WEDG(103.3 the Edge)and WHTT(Classic Hits 104.1)in addition to being Cumulus Buffalo's operations manager. Yeesh! That is a workload I do NOT envy in the slightest.
So, now Hot has its PD(as I mused in #20). Now to get the air talent...
BTW, the recently released June trends showed 98.9 with a .4 , tied with WEBR/1440 and WWWS/1400(and its 107.3 translator).
So, now Hot has its PD(as I mused in #20). Now to get the air talent...
BTW, the recently released June trends showed 98.9 with a .4 , tied with WEBR/1440 and WWWS/1400(and its 107.3 translator).
Upon further review after listening to the station, I concur.
Hot 98.9 is well-programmed The music is right. The production elements are right. The positioning is right. But in the end, it's likely to be inconsequential. A stone in a shoe. Hot 98.9's highly directional, restricted signal is no match for Kiss 98.5.
Hot 98.9 would have to score significantly in diaries distributed and returned from zip codes in Buffalo's inner city, east side, and south side, as well as Lackawanna, and West Seneca. The translator has virtually no coverage in the north towns, particularly Amherst, Williamsville and Tonawanda, where a significant number of diaries are distributed and returned.
Yet, in some way, Hot 98.9 may be an interesting experiment, at least for a year or two. Can a limited signal with refined music rotations and strong formatic elements, operating as an iPod connected to a 250 FM transmitter, make an impression? Only time will tell, but at this point it looks doubtful. But, if Hot 98.9 does make an impression, will the format be moved to a more powerful signal owned by Cumulus or Town Square to tangle with Kiss on an equal footing? As the saying goes, "if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, it would be Christmas every day."
Internally, the Program Director has oversight of 104.1 and 103.3, as well as Operations Manager's responsibilities that include 97 Rock. Even with delegating responsibilities, how much time can be spent tending to a CHR format on a 250 Watt translator? There are only so many hours in a day, and tending to the money makers in the cluster will rightfully take up most of those hours.
I agree with both MarkW and Rusty. It's likely that the station is running programming that comes straight from corporate. I doubt that Joe Siragusa is spending an inordinate amount of time with it. He also has able assistance with the music programming on WEDG and a staff with significant experience. The morning show that replaced Shredd and Ragan has done a nice job reworking that daypart. WHTT remains a primary responsibility along with the myriad details that an operations manager overseeing all the stations has to attend to and a live airshift. He earns whatever they're paying him.
That's the job. That's what he signed up for. He knew what the job was, and if he needs help, he's in a hiring position to go through the process and hire more people. When he comes up for review, he includes the new responsibilities in the conversation. If he needs support from other parts of the company, he can bring that up in the weekly meeting with corporate. It's not a one-man operation.
ALEXA! PLAY HOT 98.9!
If Buffalo were a PPM market, maybe the tone does not pick up through Alexa, but for a market where diaries can manually write in HOT, there may be some concern there...
Excellent analysis.
To the question you posed: IF Hot does make an impression, would CHR move to another Cumulus or Tonwsquare signal? My guess: Yes. But NOT Cumulus. I can't see it going to 97 or 104.1. Even though 103.3 is the weakest, ratings-wise, it does fill a niche in the market("alternative"). That leaves Townsquare. And only 1 station would make sense. You know WHICH one; I don't need to say its calls once, let alone 3 times.
I live in southern Erie county and work overnights in Downtown Buffalo. in my opinion the daytime only AM stations are useless. I almost never can hear the AM channel it is off most of the time evening to morning. What is the point of it if it just a music jukebox and really has nothing local. The FCC should allow some AM daytime only stations to change freq now that so many other stations have gone dark. Also any music station should broadcast in stereo. Yes there are still am stereo receivers out there I have 2. Or broadcast HD MA3 all digital. The FM translator at 98.9 is horrible with all the co-channel interference from Rochester. It is more like just a jamming device and last I checked was broadcasting in mono. Streaming is fine until the commercial breaks that are over 5min that it makes someone listen elsewhere. Am I wrong?
A high percentage of AMs are only on the air to allow a translator to operate. Those stations have to keep the AM on the air, even if nobody listens.
Only a few hundred AMs have turned in licenses or are temporarily silent. That is out of about 4,800 stations. There are essentially no opportunities for improvements in the remaining stations. And there is no financial gain in spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to improve an AM if the band itself is pretty much dead.
The AMs that sustain translators have stereo FM signals. The AM is just a legality.
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