Why would they consider a study about non-commercial radio?
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WBEN dropd FM Simulcast
- Thread starter benson8620
- Start date
Why would they consider a study about non-commercial radio?
Why would they consider a study about non-commercial radio?
Fall book began 9/13 and runs through 12/5. .
Entercom paid $10.5 million to buy the former WNSA 107.7 from Adelphia after it went bankrupt about 10 years ago. As for why they paid so much, they also got the Buffalo Sabres' rights when they got the station. I believe they summarily put the Sabres on WGR.
That $10.5 million figure bought more than just the Sabres rights, which might well have ended up on WGR anyway for lack of other plausible options once WNSA was gone. It also was the result of a bidding war against Citadel, which at the time was thought likely to try to go up against one of Entercom's cash-cow FMs, Kiss and Star. Outbidding Citadel (back when the market was at its peak and $10.5 million didn't seem quite so outlandish) not only got the Sabres in house, it also protected Kiss and Star.
Too bad those big, fancy companies didn't bother to buy a plane ticket to Buffalo and rent a car to drive around in for a few days. Maybe they would've realized how crappy the signal truly is---no matter what format you decide on. Perhaps the bidding war would've been less dramatic and costly.
One of the problems is that a considerable number of the folks responsible for buying decisions from 1996 until most of the consolidation wrapped up a few years later were not the least bit technically aware.
So they'd rent a car. Often a fairly "nice" care with a fairly "nice" radio. They'd drive a station, usually getting nice in-car reception well beyond the 60 dbu contour as, not knowing the market, they'd stick to Interstates and major highways that offered relatively unobstructed reception.
They did not realize that the signal in homes and workplaces was not listenable in much of the market. They'd just think that the station had been mismanaged and misprogrammed and that their team of geniuses would be able to print money when they got their hands on it.
Considering the amount of listening that happens in cars these days, and on interstates and major highways during drive times, any signal that covers those areas has value. Entercom way overpaid for the signal, but at the time, groups were way overpaying for any FM signal.
107.7 has put up some pretty good numbers in its history. I'm still not convinced that Entercom is using it to its best advantage, but it could earn its keep, even at its inflated price, if it was programmed properly. Entercom has chosen to position it as a flanker for their CHR/Hot AC stations, with maybe a little dig at WEDG and even WBUF's Jack format. At least they've analyzed the audience available in the 60dbu contour, and are playing to that audience. In WNY, the eastern and southern burbs are a pretty lucrative audience to play to. They've also avoided messing with their Rochester audience, which also does considerable business in that contour. To me, this is a "ho-hum" move, but it's better than an error.
107.7 has put up some pretty good numbers in its history. I'm still not convinced that Entercom is using it to its best advantage, but it could earn its keep, even at its inflated price, if it was programmed properly. Entercom has chosen to position it as a flanker for their CHR/Hot AC stations, with maybe a little dig at WEDG and even WBUF's Jack format. At least they've analyzed the audience available in the 60dbu contour, and are playing to that audience. In WNY, the eastern and southern burbs are a pretty lucrative audience to play to. They've also avoided messing with their Rochester audience, which also does considerable business in that contour. To me, this is a "ho-hum" move, but it's better than an error.
In car represents about 32%-33% of all listening.
Although I can see some of the reasoning behind the move, this is an example of short term decision making, unless Entercom wants to get out of the AM news-talk business in five years. Flank the Edge? All the Edge has to do is make some modest adjustments, like stop playing AC/DC and Zeppelin. What's to say this format doesn't draw listeners away from Entercom's highly successful $tar 102.5? They could have stuck with news-talk, transferred the heritage of the AM brand to FM and evolved, but instead chose to go with a format that "worked in Portland." Sure. Buffalo and Portland have lots in common. Maybe Portland MAINE. Another two year format in the making, if it lasts that long.
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Lots of formats that work in Portland also work in Buffalo. Country. News/talk. There really aren't a lot of choices. But as I said earlier, whatever they do with this station, it's not going to be a Top 5 ratings getter. All they need to do is steal a couple points from Townsquare and Cumulus, and mission accomplished.
But you may be right. My first thought was that they're taking their foot off the gas on WBEN. Not actually giving up, but they see where their future is. So just coast til the fuel and momentum runs out. That may be five years.
ETM shareholders should be very concerned if that's the prevailing attitude within the company. Just accepting a more rapid depreciation of a valuable asset is worrisome and demonstrates poor long term business sense.
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Heh. Most stations these days only program for 32%-33% of the day - drive times. 7P-6A is considered throwaway. Mid-days gets automated because it's not considered to be as important as morning and afternoon drive.
It's still a viable signal. History in the area has shown that. Sales people and, more importantly, buyers here know that. It will never be a major player, but it can work for those seeking an alternative to standard commercial fare.
BTW, haven't you guys heard about the "AM Revival"? It was big news at NAB/RAB. The FCC wants it to happen. That means it's a sure thing, right?
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From what I remember from school...it takes a majority to get anything done. So far, only two Commissioners are talking about this. Kind of like Michael Copps talking about re-regulation.
Anyone who buys broadcasting stocks should be used to that. And I'd include all media and music stocks in that view.
Huh? I guess the Roxcionary says that "programs" means "having a live jock on the air yacking at the listeners".
In the PPM world, PM drive is the most important shift, followed by middays and then, only, comes AM drive. But, as always, stations provide the content listeners want in each daypart. AC stations, among the billing and profit leaders in every market, depend on middays for their biggest numbers (but they don't mess up the formula by talking too much because those listeners don't want the intrusions). Middays is critical to stations, as it has 5 hours out of the 13 hours that are widely salable... the other two shifts have only 4.
It's not a viable signal. It is a rimshot. The two terms are, more often than not, not combinable. The signal can be used to frag a competitor or to provide a place to put cheap spots and certain clients with great affinity for the format. But there will never be a decent ROI on what they paid for it.
I think that it's already been well-established why they paid $10.5-million for the signal. Of course, you're right about everything else. After all, you've been in this market for a long time and know both the history and listenability of the signal in question. Thanks for straightening me out.
BTW, we're not a PPM market. And it's easy to tell by listening that they're not putting much in the way of resources into mid-days, music-intensive or not. Have you noticed that the stations with the live people are leading the market? This ain't SoCal, or NYC. I know that everybody says it, but here it's really true. It's a different market, with a long tradition of rewarding foreground stations, not background music. If people in offices want background music, they'll go on-line. It's easier than trying to pull in FMs in the shadow of the Rand Building if you're downtown.
BTW, we're not a PPM market. And it's easy to tell by listening that they're not putting much in the way of resources into mid-days, music-intensive or not. Have you noticed that the stations with the live people are leading the market? This ain't SoCal, or NYC. I know that everybody says it, but here it's really true. It's a different market, with a long tradition of rewarding foreground stations, not background music. If people in offices want background music, they'll go on-line. It's easier than trying to pull in FMs in the shadow of the Rand Building if you're downtown.
Interesting that the 107.3 fm translator is still being ID at the required TOH times on WBEN. But it's not transmitting WBEN or WLKK. Is it just an engineering thing, or is something up with it?
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