Re: Wease
> I just wish he was still on in Buffalo. Maybe after Stern
> leaves 92.9? It probably doesn't fit the new format,
> but.................
He might end up back on there eventually, given that Jack isn't exactly setting the world on fire outside of western Canada and the southern US. And in New York, listeners are ready to set fire to Jack. Early signs are it's getting an outright hostile reception in NYC, where the format killed a beloved oldies station and has been meeting with angry rejection that's reverberating all through the trade papers and all over the country, reportedly even shocking the CEO of parent Viacom. No one downstate can remember any station format change greeted with such widespread and universal hostility. Hatred is not too strong a word, based on public reaction reported so far.
Early reports are, some advertisers down there are falling away, and others plan to as soon as their contracts allow. Jack is looking like a format flavor of the month, and people in a lot of North America seem not to have acquired the taste. I have to wonder if its variants like Rochester's "Fickle" will do much better. After a little initial sampling, the playlist on "Fickle" sounds more tightened, most of the songs seem to be repeating more often than you'd expect, and the mix of songs and genres is just too awkward to be listenable. Imagine an iPod programmed by a bipolar disorder patient who's gone off his meds and you have the idea of how it sounds most of the day. The morning show remains OK because it's got live personalities and info, there's real value added and it doesn't stand on the music alone...but I can't see how this format succeeds unless they do that the rest of the day. And failure to do that in any daypart in Buffalo and NYC is going to doom the format to shares down in the 1s or worse.
What will be the next format for WBUF come the end of 2006? That may depend on who owns the station then. Infinity is reportedly planning on dumping some or all of its Buffalo properties, and it's anyone's guess what the next owner might do with a good Class C-1 FM signal. But what's left? Buffalo has stations making decent livings, or better, playing the hits (Kiss 98.5), hot AC (Star 102), active rock (Edge 103.3), classic rock (97 Rock), modern country (WYRK), urban contemp (WBLK), oldies and classic hits (WHTT), 'real oldies' ('KB 1520), R&B gold (WWWS 1400), pop standards (WECK), classical (WNED-FM) and eclectic throwback progressive rock ('The Lake' 107.7), not to mention spoken word formats on the AM band including sports (WGR), issue talk (WBEN) and news (WNED). What the hell do you do with 92.9 that someone hasn't already done elsewhere? What they're doing now is going to crater after Stern leaves at the end of the year, so they'd better have an answer fast, or succeed in dumping it into some other owner's lap.