There was a time when this board would be flooded with commentary and analysis whenever a rating book or a trend was released. The Buffalo-Niagara Falls Phase 2 Fall Arbitrend was published in Radio & Records and nary a peep. Pundits? Asleep... Christmas shopping... or just plain ambivalent? Okay, okay. Before some poster like 1370, Gault, 9 or Rox offers the retort, I'll say it first. "It's only a trend. And it's 12+." Any takers?
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Under Rated
- Thread starter Radknowski
- Start date
B
Bob1370
Guest
It could be that the reason no one has said anything yet, is that the Fall '08 phase 2 numbers out of Buffalo don't show any real surprises or offer harbingers of major sustained shifts in listener preference.
You see WBEN and WYRK once again locked in a near-dead heat in 12+ listener preference with the #1 position decided by a margin less than the survey margin of error...been that way for years now. 97 Rock enjoys its usual fall surge because of the Bills, and the Edge simulcast helps that station some as well. WGR rebounds from its summer doldrums as hockey season gets under way (and will probably stay a healthy #2 among AMs through the spring '09 book if the Sabres make the playoffs).
WHTT remains down because it needs to redefine itself once again as a classic rocker distinct and different from the whole WJYE/WTSS/WHTT adult contemporary pack, all of which are closely bunched, again within the margin of survey error. One of those three is going to have to break out and do something different (again, I suggest classic hits with a personality CHR-style presentation, a la the old WHTT) in order to rise above the crowd. I don't expect that to happen as long as economic worry makes all the ownership groups risk-averse.
Kiss still ows the CHR format lead, no surprise there.
WBLK, while still competitive, isn't what it used to be a few years back under local and later under CBS ownership (namely a contender for market lead), because it needs to bring back a locally originated, community oriented morning show of the kind that works so well for similarly formatted WDKX in Rochester.
The other full market coverage stations remain minor players. KB got a little bump because of election season interest but no more than it got last year. That signal remains a testament to the problems of allowing one ownership cluster to dominate the entire AM band, and use a big AM signal as nothing more than a block to competition for another of its properties with no real contribution of its own. If Obama does nothing else he should empanel an FCC that will reduce ownership concentration (even before the crummy economy forces inevitable further divestitures) and prevent any one company from dominating either AM or FM signals in a market again.
In short, in Buffalo (and to a great degree in Rochester as well; although the 12+ phase II Rochester trends are officially embargoed, if you could see them you'd see little in the way of change and less in the way of surprise), plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.
You see WBEN and WYRK once again locked in a near-dead heat in 12+ listener preference with the #1 position decided by a margin less than the survey margin of error...been that way for years now. 97 Rock enjoys its usual fall surge because of the Bills, and the Edge simulcast helps that station some as well. WGR rebounds from its summer doldrums as hockey season gets under way (and will probably stay a healthy #2 among AMs through the spring '09 book if the Sabres make the playoffs).
WHTT remains down because it needs to redefine itself once again as a classic rocker distinct and different from the whole WJYE/WTSS/WHTT adult contemporary pack, all of which are closely bunched, again within the margin of survey error. One of those three is going to have to break out and do something different (again, I suggest classic hits with a personality CHR-style presentation, a la the old WHTT) in order to rise above the crowd. I don't expect that to happen as long as economic worry makes all the ownership groups risk-averse.
Kiss still ows the CHR format lead, no surprise there.
WBLK, while still competitive, isn't what it used to be a few years back under local and later under CBS ownership (namely a contender for market lead), because it needs to bring back a locally originated, community oriented morning show of the kind that works so well for similarly formatted WDKX in Rochester.
The other full market coverage stations remain minor players. KB got a little bump because of election season interest but no more than it got last year. That signal remains a testament to the problems of allowing one ownership cluster to dominate the entire AM band, and use a big AM signal as nothing more than a block to competition for another of its properties with no real contribution of its own. If Obama does nothing else he should empanel an FCC that will reduce ownership concentration (even before the crummy economy forces inevitable further divestitures) and prevent any one company from dominating either AM or FM signals in a market again.
In short, in Buffalo (and to a great degree in Rochester as well; although the 12+ phase II Rochester trends are officially embargoed, if you could see them you'd see little in the way of change and less in the way of surprise), plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.
Whack-a-Mole
Yeah, what Bob1370 said.
There hasn't been much movement, with the possible exception of WEDG. They have moved up - and more than can be attributed to the "Bills bump". I'd bet that Shredd & Ragan have a lot to do with that. Citadel wanted to dump them, local management made a rare save, and they've probably made more impact in the afternoon than any show in recent memory. I'm pretty sure that "The Morning Bull", or "James" aren't responsible for any increase.
The A/C battle appears to be interminable. "Flashback weekends" disappeared, and WHTT's flirtation with Classic Hits appears to be over. You have to believe that it didn't yield the results that Citadel expected, or it brought an audience that they didn't want. Either that, or Citadel was afraid that WHTT might horn in on territory owned by "the franchise" - 97-Rock. It looks like WHTT's job is to attack Star and WJYE. Regent has made that an easier task with the ongoing cuts at WJYE. Of the three stations, Star is the only one that is close to what it was three years ago. Their biggest competition in the 25-44 arena is Kiss - who has surprising numbers 35+.
Citadel cut Gail Ann Huber, Val Townsend left and was replaced by the PD, and I'm hearing a lot more VT. Yesterday I heard Bill Lacy on past noon, and Joe Siragusa on in the 2PM hour. I assume Pastrick had a day off, and I'm sure that those guys weren't pulling 7 hour shifts. I'm also hearing more of the weekday guys on the weekend, so Citadel's even cutting weekend part-time shifts. Boy, THAT should help pay Farid's bonus.
Regent cut Bob Galli, CJ was (finally) shown the door, Mike McQueen was axed, Alexis Williams moved over from 'BLK, and Joe Chille is certainly the feature on the morning show, with an assist from Cheryl Hagen - who's a lot less costly than CJ was. It's almost like Regent and Citadel are competing to see who can cut deeper. Anybody seen any TV ads from either of them this book? Any "big" promotions? Entercom hasn't exactly been jumping on the promo train either.
It seems to me that all of the local groups are in "hunker down" mode, trying to stay below corporate radar. Right now, radio is like Whack-a-Mole. Stick your head up to see what's going on, and you're likely to get hammered.
Yeah, what Bob1370 said.
There hasn't been much movement, with the possible exception of WEDG. They have moved up - and more than can be attributed to the "Bills bump". I'd bet that Shredd & Ragan have a lot to do with that. Citadel wanted to dump them, local management made a rare save, and they've probably made more impact in the afternoon than any show in recent memory. I'm pretty sure that "The Morning Bull", or "James" aren't responsible for any increase.
The A/C battle appears to be interminable. "Flashback weekends" disappeared, and WHTT's flirtation with Classic Hits appears to be over. You have to believe that it didn't yield the results that Citadel expected, or it brought an audience that they didn't want. Either that, or Citadel was afraid that WHTT might horn in on territory owned by "the franchise" - 97-Rock. It looks like WHTT's job is to attack Star and WJYE. Regent has made that an easier task with the ongoing cuts at WJYE. Of the three stations, Star is the only one that is close to what it was three years ago. Their biggest competition in the 25-44 arena is Kiss - who has surprising numbers 35+.
Citadel cut Gail Ann Huber, Val Townsend left and was replaced by the PD, and I'm hearing a lot more VT. Yesterday I heard Bill Lacy on past noon, and Joe Siragusa on in the 2PM hour. I assume Pastrick had a day off, and I'm sure that those guys weren't pulling 7 hour shifts. I'm also hearing more of the weekday guys on the weekend, so Citadel's even cutting weekend part-time shifts. Boy, THAT should help pay Farid's bonus.
Regent cut Bob Galli, CJ was (finally) shown the door, Mike McQueen was axed, Alexis Williams moved over from 'BLK, and Joe Chille is certainly the feature on the morning show, with an assist from Cheryl Hagen - who's a lot less costly than CJ was. It's almost like Regent and Citadel are competing to see who can cut deeper. Anybody seen any TV ads from either of them this book? Any "big" promotions? Entercom hasn't exactly been jumping on the promo train either.
It seems to me that all of the local groups are in "hunker down" mode, trying to stay below corporate radar. Right now, radio is like Whack-a-Mole. Stick your head up to see what's going on, and you're likely to get hammered.
Re: Whack-a-Mole
I read this three times and laughed out loud three times.
Congratulations.
SirRoxalot said:Right now, radio is like Whack-a-Mole. Stick your head up to see what's going on, and you're likely to get hammered.
I read this three times and laughed out loud three times.
Congratulations.
Re: Whack-a-Mole
Thanks. If only I could get that reaction from LISTENERS...
Steven21 said:SirRoxalot said:Right now, radio is like Whack-a-Mole. Stick your head up to see what's going on, and you're likely to get hammered.
I read this three times and laughed out loud three times.
Congratulations.
Thanks. If only I could get that reaction from LISTENERS...
...Now if either Citadel or Entercom would have the balls to take on Regent and put a country signal on in this market that doesn't sound like it's voice tracked 24/7 (even when the jocks on WYRK are live, they sound "over-managed"), we may see a ratings shuffle. Until then, it will always be WBEN #1 if there's a major disaster (a la October surprise) during the book, and WYRK, as the default mainstream country signal, in books without one.
Goin' Up the Country
The biggest problem with going country is that you're taking on a well-established station with a very loyal audience. The cost of competing with live jocks, and sufficient promotion to get you noticed, is considerable.
On top of that, you're not likely to get more than a third of WYRK's audience, which leaves you around a 3 share. In other words, you fall in somewhere between The Lake and Jack. Anybody want to try and make money selling those numbers?
The only signal that makes sense as a country station is probably 107.7, but it gets into Rochester at least as well as it gets into Buffalo, and would compete with Entercom's own WBEE. There's no way that they're going to take anything away from a station that competes for overall #1 in Rochester.
Of course, that doesn't mean that some corporate front office won't mandate a switch to country by one of the locals. Citadel has a lot of country stations in their stable, and corporate has already made some pretty stupid moves.
The biggest problem with going country is that you're taking on a well-established station with a very loyal audience. The cost of competing with live jocks, and sufficient promotion to get you noticed, is considerable.
On top of that, you're not likely to get more than a third of WYRK's audience, which leaves you around a 3 share. In other words, you fall in somewhere between The Lake and Jack. Anybody want to try and make money selling those numbers?
The only signal that makes sense as a country station is probably 107.7, but it gets into Rochester at least as well as it gets into Buffalo, and would compete with Entercom's own WBEE. There's no way that they're going to take anything away from a station that competes for overall #1 in Rochester.
Of course, that doesn't mean that some corporate front office won't mandate a switch to country by one of the locals. Citadel has a lot of country stations in their stable, and corporate has already made some pretty stupid moves.
A
AndrewLawson
Guest
From what I've read, Citadel has a bunch of "Cat" Country stations. However, "Jed" or "Jake" might make a good handle for a Jack-type country station that's patterned after Jack ("Playing What We Want... for people who like Country music"), giving Regent a dose of its own medicine on the other end of the FM band. This said, Roxalot makes a good point regarding the damage a competitor would inflict on WYRK. Country really is not Country these days. It's kind of like Hot AC and CHR for extremely white people who live in the 'burbs who put NO-Bama stickers on their cars and pick-ups and seem to think a drive into Buffalo is like driving into Fallujah. "Can't go there... them ******* people will shoot at you... you need a Humvee with a turret gun." It's a generalization, but it's what hear. Sadly.
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