Utica Arbs

[SeenItAll]

Wasn't little Billy Keeler going to "turn WXUR around"?
Looks like he doesn't know the difference between North and South !


Keeler Station Spring08 1.6 down from Fall07 1.9

 

[SirRoxalot]

Utica bArbs

Ahhh, "Mr. Galaxy" drops in to drip a little venom...

 

[SeenItAll]

Oh so not The Ed!!!(he would have been spinning some nonsense about his stations)
Obviously I am not a Keeler fan...just rubbing a little salt in the wound.....just a little....salt....

 

[RomeToupee]

The real story is how KISS,WOUR and MIX are all higher and in the case of KISS and WOUR much higher than this time last year when Clear Channel owned the stations.
Coincidence or does local ownership matter?

 

[truth]

So what about the other stations in the Utica market? what happened to mix? did they take down the lite station as they claimed they would?

 

[BobRoss]

So what about the other stations in the Utica market? what happened to mix? did they take down the lite station as they claimed they would?

No they most certainly did not. For the first time in 3 years, the numbers are public:

http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRa...:00 AM&SU=S&BPER=4.9&HPER=3.0&OPER=&NSD=&CE=0

If that link doesn't work, just go to http://www.radioandrecords.com/ and click "Ratings" and then type "Utica" in the market search box.

Mix came in 9th place, actually losing 0.6 points since Spring 2005. Even though Lite 98.7 actually lost a little more (0.7) they're still in 1st place with nearly four times the rating Mix has. Still, it may be too soon to really pass judgement on Galaxy's reincarnation of Mix. The current morning guy started mid-book. Hard to tell what kind of an impact he could have on the numbers. By the time the fall book hits, the current Mix lineup will have had enough time to gain some momentum. Still, even if he does well in the morning, the rest of the lineup is being handled by jocks and the PD from Sunny 102 in Syracuse... while Lite has all-local personalities during the day.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

Just scanned the R&R 12+ numbers for Utica-Rome and a red flag went up.

How is it that WUTQ went from a 0.3 to a 3.3?!!! Is WUTQ still 1kW Daytime only on 1550? Call it diary placement, sample, in-tab... whatever you choose. Maybe it's one of those rare Arbitron type-gaffs. Still, somethin' ain't right with that. When WIBX, a 5 kW full time news-talk station pulls a 5.8 and a 1 kW sports daytimer jumps three whole shares to a 3.3... Bwah?

Another curious note: The "out of market shares" add up to more than 6 shares. I know those Syracuse signals are "mighty mighty" and that the western portion of Oneida County leans toward Syracuse, but still, six shares seems especially large.

Regent seems to be doing fairly well in U-R. The market is one of the bright spots in its portfolio. I'd expected WODZ to do better... especially doing Oldies in a market like Utica-Rome, which is demographically "top heavy." Here again, I look at the WUTQ numbers and wonder if WODZ got boned.

Speaking of "boned," wonder what ever became of the "large one" who so often posted here.

 

[therealjm12]

My guess with the WUTQ ratings fluke would be that they added in WADR in the mix, and isn't another station carring their adult standars format? Besides with the huge 54 + poulation in the area I don't find it surprising they would show up with that kind of programing. And, isn't Hank Brown on that station? Love him or hate him he's always found his audience (or they have found him). Let's face it. The Mohawk Valley isn't exacty know for its brain trust.

 

[BobRoss]

The Mohawk Valley isn't exacty know for its brain trust.

They aren't exactly known for it, either. (Sorry, I usually don't nitpick, but the irony on that one was too hard to resist.)

How is it that WUTQ went from a 0.3 to a 3.3?!!!

I noticed that too, but I just wrote it off as a fluke. I figured they must have landed a diary in some demo where they really needed people (like older men) and they weighted a few books that happened to have some WUTQ mentions. Also a little confusing, R&R lists UTQ as a Galaxy property, but didn't Galaxy spin it off to Roser? Notice how Kiss and Bug Country also posted some nice gains. I'm not quite prepared to call "shenanigans" since Kiss actually does sound better and looks to be more active since CC left town. Kiss had those kinds of numbers several years ago. But Bug going from 2.6 to 4.7? Fishy, especially since it wasn't at the expense of WFRG or WBBS.

I think we'll see WUTQ return to reality in the fall book, but not back to where it was in 2005. Maybe a more modest 1.5. When CC was in town, it was apparent that Utica wasn't really on the radar for anyone in upper management. The fact that they let Delaney hang around as GM for years, through failure after failure, is proof enough. But Roser doesn't have millions of dollars from major markets to cover up the losses in Utica. His very livelihood depends on these stations doing well.

 

[cnymike]

I've gotta wonder why WBRV is on the list. At least they got .8 for only having reception at most as far south as Delta lake. For that, they need to create a Boonville market.

Last I heard, Big Frog and Lite were in a dead heat. I'm sure Regent's not to concerned with whoever wins (won) that one. They're still pulling in the green.

 

[Osama]

The real story is how KISS,WOUR and MIX are all higher and in the case of KISS and WOUR much higher than this time last year when Clear Channel owned the stations.
Coincidence or does local ownership matter?

Of course WOUR is going to be up. WRCK was shut down simultaneously with the transfer of WOUR from CC...That is no reflection of programming changes...

 

[marconicny]

What’s remarkable is how little Galaxy has gained after eliminating all rock competition (not counting Oldies and whatever WXUR is trying to be). Between them, WRCK and WOKR carried around 8 shares of rock listeners. You gotta figure Galaxy sold a much stronger signal than the one they bought based in good part on the assumption those shares would fall into their lap. Instead, WOUR is doing no better than its average rating when Utica was possibly the most competitive rock market left in the country – and lost listening since the fall survey, at least part of which had those other signals in their previous rock formats. A real relief for Regent.

 

[RomeToupee]

Here's the WOUR 4 book trend back to Fall 2006.
Fa 06- 3.9
Sp 07 5.0
Fa 07 5.8
Sp 08 6.3
You don't have to be Marconi to notice a trend here!

 

[kq2n]

WUTQ now simulcasts with WADR. I don't believe that's the reason for the jump in the ratings, however. I would say it's the programming. Gone is the lame sports drone from CC days, now the station broadcasts a lot of local programming. A novelty huh?

 

[Doodle]

I'm not at all surprised that WUTQ did well. We have an older population in this area and they really missed the Music of Your Life Programming on WTLB. I think a timeless classics format in this area would do remarkably well, especially on FM. It's really difficult to judge how well WOUR did just by looking at the 12plus numbers. I would think by now the public is catching on that WOUR and MIX aren't really local anymore. Local
Ownership doesn't matter as much as local jocks do!

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

Thanks to the posters here, the WUTQ 12+ anomoly is becoming a bit more clear, especially to this market outsider.

First, R&R identifies the format as Sports when in fact it's apparently Music Of Your Life (or as some say, Music Of What's Left Of Your Life.) Add to this the format being simulcast on WADR (and another station?) and there's ample reason for the big 12+ number. A sizeable 55+ population in U-R also gives creedence to the 3.3. Still, 0.3 to a 3.3 is a major jump. Very likely, that 3.3 12+ number is top heavy and mostly 55+.

Still, if WUTQ-WADR-W??? can sell those ratings to clients, it all translates into dollars; cash money; lean green; the geeters; dead presidents; gelt; the mohanski. In this economy, it's money in the bank.

 

[CNYRadio.com]

First, R&R identifies the format as Sports when in fact it's apparently Music Of Your Life (or as some say, Music Of What's Left Of Your Life.) Add to this the format being simulcast on WADR (and another station?) and there's ample reason for the big 12+ number.

As one of our subscribers noted in a comment on our coverage of the ratings, WUTQ/WADR are not running Music of Your Life. Rather, the stations are running a "self-generated" beautiful music format. While we do not reveal the identities of our subscribers (unless they choose to do so on their own) we know this person can be considered a reliable source on the matter.

There are only the two stations, WADR and WUTQ. Roser's other properties in the market are FM stations -- two for the Bug Country simulcast and two for the KISS-FM simulcast. Oddly enough, WADR and WUTQ are not featured on Roser's company homepage, but it does feature an AM news/talker out of Amsterdam.

 

[kq2n]

With just a cursory interest in radio happenings and purusing this board only on occasion, it strikes me how much age bias exists in the radio industry, particularly locally. To succeed in radio you need not be a snot nosed foul mouthed kid. There is life beyond FM! The stable population of any community are in the 40 + age category. People in this demographic are not all playing checkers down at the local senior center, they are active and vibrant in community affairs, at a point in their lives where they many times hold good and lucrative employment positions, they have so to speak spent their "time in the mine". Pillars of the community with an expendable income. It's surprising how this group is ignored by many in this industry. They may not be into rap or head banger music or know (or care) about the latest exploits of Paris Hilton, but find solace and comfort in hearing the music of earlier times. AM is not dead, just put some time into programming as opposed to just using it as "another stick" simulcasting an FM and you can as evidenced get results and serve a niche. WUTQ's ratings increased because it is serving a niche otherwise ignored. Remember the big furor last fall when WTLB alienated all its listeners with the programming change? Consequently WTLB's ratings went down the toilet. Kudo's to Ken Roser for listening to the community and giving them what they wanted.

Nothing heavy here, just a comment about my perceptions of local radio from someone looking in from the outside.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Age Bias

kq, it ain't necessarily radio that has an age bias. Advertisers - who provide the money - have been told for generations that older folks are resistant to advertising. By the time that people have spent their "time in the mine", they're pretty likely to comparison shop, or buy products that they've learned to trust from people that they've learned to trust.

Trust me, if ad buyers were targeting 50+ buyers, there would be LOTS of oldies stations. Radio execs these days don't really care about serving listeners. They do care about bring in advertising money. Listeners are just a means to the advertiser's wallet.

 

[ThePickleReport]

AM is not dead, just put some time into programming as opposed to just using it as "another stick" simulcasting an FM and you can as evidenced get results and serve a niche.

I too used to buy into that argument 100%, but I hate to tell you this but AM for the most part is pretty much dead. Now, there are MANY exceptions. Every market has at least one or two AM frequencies that are strong, with viable formats, and can cover most if not all of a given market. Then there are a slew of low-power frequencies with reduced night power.

Just slapping a niche format on an under-performing AM station isn't going to help, it needs to be localized somehow with sales and promotional support, in which the cost of that effort will probably exceed any monetary gains made.