M
Molly2011
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Now that WBBM has been simulcasted almost 2 months do you think it will stay and continue to grow? The August PPM show the FM adding new listeners to the new pie.
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This is the sort of thing that will build slowly, but will pay off in spades sooner than you think. So far, the listenership pattern seems to be developing as would be expected - so I'd say that it seems to be working. In areas where the 105.9 signal isn't so hot (such as cyberdad's location, or - at times - my area of Lake County), 780 still comes in beautifully so nothing lost there. Where it does make a difference (in the market core), it can only help.
My prediction is that, within a year, CBS will have gained more listeners from this than they lost from [not so] Fresh and that they will be able to bill more per listener than they could have for [not so] Fresh. All without the cost of running the [not so] Fresh format. Win - win - win for CBS.
Merlin, on the other hand, has dug itself a very deep hole in a very short amount of time. We'll all have to "expect magic" and soon for them to go anywhere with WWWN.
My prediction is that, within a year, CBS will have gained more listeners from this than they lost from [not so] Fresh and that they will be able to bill more per listener than they could have for [not so] Fresh. All without the cost of running the [not so] Fresh format. Win - win - win for CBS.
Merlin, on the other hand, has dug itself a very deep hole in a very short amount of time. We'll all have to "expect magic" and soon for them to go anywhere with WWWN.
Yes, now if ONLY they would shut of the darned IBOC jammers on 670 and 780. It makes no sense to continue with that nonsense! WBBM AM sounds awful as it has ever since they turned on the IBOC, and WSCR is now occupying or jamming 7 channels with its splatter and hiss... from 640 all the way to 700. Whoever is responsible for this at CBS radio is incompetent, at best.
BRNout said:
The only "magic" I can see for Merlin is go with a news/talk format, which is what I thought Randy Michaels and Walter Sabo would do in the first place. Michaels knows Chicago, having once programmed WGN and also having built WLW Cincinnati from scratch.
In New York, Merlin raided pioneering all-news WINS for air talent. What bill of goods did Randy Michaels sell them? ???
Someone on another radio message board posted what appears to be an interoffice email from the GM of WINS ensuring staffers [paraphrasing] to remain focused, keep doing a better job than the new FM news station... oh, and one of your former colleagues who bolted to Merlin already wants back into WINS; we told him/her "no dice".
That "bill of goods" apparently has a "sell by" date.
That "bill of goods" apparently has a "sell by" date.
Why isn't WBBM and WCFS rated together as a simulcast? As I don't think the current rating for WCFS is correct. Or could I be wrong?
Ken said:
I believe simulcasts, once created, wait for the beginning of a new quarter to be listed together... it's late and I could check the Arbitron simulcast rules so that will be tomorrow's project.
DavidEduardo said:
Here is what Arbitron said in an email this morning:
"Total Line Reporting is available in the September Radio Market Report for stations simulcasting for the entire Summer quarter. Although WBBM-AM and WCFS-FM simulcasted throughout the September 2011 report period, audience estimates for these stations are reported individually in the September report because the stations began simulcasting after the start of the Summer quarter."
Further, they state that the two stations did simulcast all 28 days of the "September" survey and can be safely combined manually.
As far as I know, the WBBM-FM calls are remaining on 96.3 
IMHO Except for "branding", which some radio organizations take themselves too seriously with the fickle nature of radio, the legal ID (got to keep the FCC happy) and a working PPM encoder are all you need in a PPM market. Outside of the folks on this site, I doubt if over 20% of the folks could give you the call letters of five stations. They will tell you what kind of programming at what about what dial position or freq. readout you are if you are lucky.
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