WBZJ?

[Da Mac QC]

Not a good sign for The New 96.9. First month grand total: 0.5 AQH 36,400 Cume.

 

[tothedj]

Can you say "format change?"

 

[surfdude]

Not a good sign for The New 96.9. First month grand total: 0.5 AQH 36,400 Cume.

You can't be serious?? People don't just "discover" a radio station in a month. It's not 1982, and it's not like there's no other Urban AC in the market.

PD/PM jock has just arrived. Format is being fine tuned with an experienced PD. TV ads hitting the air.
It'll never be a world beater, but it will be a nice part of the CMG package. QDR and Radio 96.1 are killing it 25-54 in the latest trends.

 

[Da Mac QC]

The station sounds decent musically, but that's far from their biggest problems. The biggest problem is the signal doesn't cover Durham, a city with a large black demo. A city SO IMPORTANT, Radio One simulcasts their station on a separate signal JUST FOR DURHAM.

Here in Charlotte, Old School 105.3 was #1 in evenings and #3 in afternoons in their first month. High numbers are actually COMMON in the first month, as people want to find out what's new and fresh.

How is Chris Malone an "experienced" PD? Isn't this his 1st PD gig? He sounds horrible and inexperienced on the air. U can also tell by his posts on facebook, he doesn't know what he's doing.

The imaging and imaging voice sucks, and their logo is ugly. That doesn't have a major impact on numbers, but just thought I'd point it out. That was also implemented before Chris Malone was hired, so can't knock him for that.

What does QDR and 96.1 have to do with this topic?

 

[tropicanamedia]

The other side of the story is that La Ley isn’t showing anymore in the Raleigh ratings, and since CMG doesn’t subscribe (my guess) in the Triad, it lost all its numbers. I’m wondering what the sales staff is telling to the National Accounts.

 

[EncSpy]

if i didnt know any better you come off sounding like a disgruntled employee.....

but...when does anyone ever post anything positive on this board....

 

[Sniffthamic]

I like everybody on here and agree that they rea doing a real good job so far so good but its early and noplxe to go but up right ;D

 

[surfdude]

What does QDR and 96.1 have to do with this topic?

Because WBZJ is part of a cluster. That's how modern radio functions, financially. 'BZJ just wants a little piece of
the Urban music pie.

As an aside, the Raleigh Radio One stations are on a 6+ slide.

Why so angry Da Mac QC? Posts like yours discourage discussion.

Let's talk about 'BZJ is a few months. It's still too early to pass judgement, although clearly not for you.

 

[Da Mac QC]

My posts don't discourage discussion. They just shut down your arguement.

Radio One is one of the worst run companies out there. The new station should be taking a much larger portion of Foxy's audience than 0.5! I didn't say 96.9 should flip. I simply said it's not looking too good, they need to make some changes, and laid out my explanations/suggestions.

Radio is a business, and businesses require revenue to operate. They're not making any money with 0.5 of the market. Sure, they have other stations in the cluster to offset some of the costs, but who wants to keep putting money into a product that's not producing a return on investment?

I think they can make it work, but they have a lot of work to do.

 

[sbakal]

Ok, this makes total sense. New96.9 is tanking like a lead pipe and I will tell you why. If anyone has listened to Foxy over the past few years, they have evolved into more upbeat classic r&b/hip hop, and still keeping the quiet storm while keeping a relevant playlist. Foxy's ratings go high when they fired Cy Young. K97, went the opposite way, but that is not that point. Curtis is trying to run an Urban AC station the way Cy Young did. It won't work. Now they are riding the coattails of an idea that Cumulus's 106.9 in Fayetteville did. This is not Fayetteville. Raleigh will not support 2 urban or urban AC outlets. This is not Richmond either. Honestly, Curtis would have been better leaving La Ley alone. Although that was not pulling high ratings, with the way diaries and PPMs go out, the Latino demo may not understand how it works and not follow it. New969 was a bad call. They should have mixed in more tropical titles on La Ley rather than ditching it on the big signal.

 

[gaveitup]

This thread is laughable. If any of you sour pusses want to know why few if any investors will put their money in radio, read this garbage. WFXC has been on the air for 30 years....WBZJ wasn't on the air for 30 DAYS and was switching from a format that not only wasn't urban but wasn't even in English! Surf Dude must be the only person who sees how clever the Curtis cluster strategy is. If WBZJ takes any audience from WFXC, 96.1, 94.7 and 102.3 all move up in rank. Pretty smart if you ask me. But then what do I know...I sell insurance.

 

[Da Mac QC]

Radio One program directors have more flexibility now than they did previously, so u can't knock Cy Young for that. All programming at all Radio One stations goes through one peson, Jay Stevens. Local PD's can't play a song not in the database without contacting corporate. Before, Radio One had one type of Urban AC, gold based, slow and very conservative. With one type of UAC, and a lot more corporate control, it was hard to be original, or go outside the master plan. In recent years Radio One has experimented with 80's to now UAC's and Urban Oldies, along with their traditional UAC. They've gone away from a "one size fits all" approach and let local markets have a little more flexibility on what works for them. However, they're still very conservative and cookie cutter if u ask me.

But back to Cy Young, weren't his numbers a lot better than they are today? I know they fired him right before they went PPM, but I think he actually had it sounding decent.

 

[w00t]

My posts don't discourage discussion. They just shut down your arguement.

For someone who appears to know very little about the way modern media operates, you sure are cocky.

 

[EncSpy]

My posts don't discourage discussion. They just shut down your arguement.

For someone who appears to know very little about the way modern media operates, you sure are cocky.

that made me laugh!

 

[Da Mac QC]

People who can't argue on the facts, often turn to personal cheap shots.

Please, give me an example of something I "know very little about".

 

[w00t]

Well, for starters look up a few posts from this. You don't seem to understand Curtis' ultimate goal with WBZJ, or why the first book a month out doesn't matter much at all.

 

[Da Mac QC]

U don't know what Curtis's "ultimate goal" is with WBZJ either. You're speculating just as I am.

The first month does matter. It's a month worth of listening. Sure, it takes time to build a loyal audience, and I'm not saying their numbers won't improve. But 0.5 is pretty pathetic. I don't see too many successful, long lasting stations debuting at 0.5. We live in an instant society with technology and social networking. By tomorrow, what happened today is old news. That old school mentality that it takes months and years to build an audience is outdated.

 

[quadraphonic]

Curtis' ultimate goal is same as it's been for 40 years: to make money. Ratings don't matter nearly as much as revenue. He's made enough money (QDR, La Ley, etc.) that he can wait to roll out a format that he's satisfied with, and wait for the PD he wants to do the things he wants done, rather than expect straight-out-the-box world-record ratings.
If WBZJ has a great book (or whatever source told them that Radio 96.1 was #1 as they announced a couple months back), then it will matter and we will hear about it for a minute. At all other times, the sales people are taking turns riding shotgun in Don's vehicle.

 

[Da Mac QC]

You can't make money if u don't have an audience! Duh!

Again, you're speculating. Talk to me when u have some hard facts to back up your claims.

 

[sbakal]

DAMac: Ah, that explains why the Urban format is so stale. They have more freedom on Urban AC. I have always read the ratings. When Cy Young was PD, Foxy had lower ratings than they do now, and K97 had high ratings. The urban format here doing lousy can be attributed to K97 not keeping up with the times. Their imaging sucks, and their rotation is stale. If they were more like 102Jamz or Foxy 99 they would have higher ratings. Foxy on the other hand is a great station. Nate Morgan, the current PD I believe, does a great job with Foxy. What would save K97 is allowing the local PD to be more than a glorified monitor. If Clear channel flipped 93,9 Kiss FM to Power 93.9 and did the same thing they do in Richmond, 97.5 would be done. Now on New96.9 the audience they are trying to cater to has already died, is in a nursing home, or sits at home all day. There is a reason Foxy went away from what is going on. If anything, they should be going after K97s Russ Parr audience. Steve Harvey is much better than Russ Parr.