WCRB sales manager, program director quit

[vs300a]

VP of sales Terri Gamble announced this afternoon that she is following VP of programming Mario Mazza out the door. The general manager's office has been vacant since Bill Campbell resigned several months ago.

At this rate WCRB will soon be little more than a musical juke box. Any guesses what Nassau will do with it when they take over?

 

[JustinT]

Any guesses what Nassau will do with it when they take over?

At least for the short term, it's probably staying classical. Nassau tends to run things on the cheap as it is, and the acquisition of WCRB will assist in that: WBQQ 99.3, WBQW 106.3, WBQX 106.9, and WBQI 107.7 are likely to become even more-so simulcasts of WCRB, as it appears that Nassau will be forming their own network separate from the WCN, unless plans change and Nassau gets the WCN. And although they are supposedly planning to syndicate classical programming, whether Nassau can really pull this off is yet to be seen.

Nobody really knows WCRB's future; Nassau probably doesn't really fully understand what is about to happen. For one, all of Nassau's stations except the future WCRB are in small and medium sized markets, not market #11, and having only one station in a market isn't as effective now as it was 10 or 15 years ago. The station has had low billing for years, the last count being about $7.5 million on a $100 million stick. And of course, the big issue is the 99.5 signal, which just doesn't cover a lot of areas very well, especially downtown Boston; with the signal, you can expect billing to drop too. Classical is dying, and if not for Greater Media's colossal screw-ups in Philadelphia and Detroit, WCRB would probably be toast as well.

I wish the new WCRB well, but I just don't see how it can be successful. I'd venture to guess that in 5 years, Nassau will have either dumped classical on 99.5 for something else, or another company will have dumped classical for something else.

 

[Casablance]

Re: WCRB: LAURA CARLO FOR PD.

I suppose the PD position might be open to Laura Carlo if she wants it.
She certainly has paid her dues at CRB and know the format, what makes it work and how to sell it.

Carlo also has a great voice.

 

[Laurence Glavin]

If you want to hear a woman who really has a great radio voice, tune in to Stephanie Miller on WXKS-AM 1430 or WKOX-AM 1200, weekdays from 9:00 am thru noon, repeated Saturdays also 9:00 am thru noon. Actually, WCRB jettisoned a fine female announcer when they canned Mary Ann Nichols. (She may be doing underwriting messages on WBUR; Eli would know).

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Actually, WCRB jettisoned a fine female announcer when they canned Mary Ann Nichols. (She may be doing underwriting messages on WBUR; Eli would know).

Yes, she is.

 

[ssetta]

If WCRB on 99.5 ends up not doing well, one thing Nassau could do with the 99.5 frequency is bring back the old WSSH.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

If WCRB on 99.5 ends up not doing well, one thing Nassau could do with the 99.5 frequency is bring back the old WSSH.

Do you think another soft AC would have any chance of success against established format and ratings leaders WMJX (Boston) and WZID (Manchester)?

I kind of doubt it, unless maybe if they make it a gold/adult standards leaning easy listening AC like WPLM, perhaps they could get that older niche audience north of Boston that WPLM serves to the south.

 

[Oldbones]

Do you think another soft AC would have any chance of success against established format and ratings leaders WMJX (Boston) and WZID (Manchester)?

I kind of doubt it, unless maybe if they make it a gold/adult standards leaning easy listening AC like WPLM, perhaps they could get that older niche audience north of Boston that WPLM serves to the south.

I'm not sure I'd consider WZID a soft AC anymore...they're still mostly gold-based, but the music is harder now & presentation isn't sleepy any more either. I don't know what Nassau paid for 99.5, but I'd guess it was enough that a format with strictly 55+ appeal is not an option. WPLM can get away with it because it's been in the Campbell family forever...I'm sure any mortgage was paid off years (decades?) ago.
I also thought that there was some kind of clause that stipulated WCRB remain classical for the next 100 years or so.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Do you think another soft AC would have any chance of success against established format and ratings leaders WMJX (Boston) and WZID (Manchester)?

I kind of doubt it, unless maybe if they make it a gold/adult standards leaning easy listening AC like WPLM, perhaps they could get that older niche audience north of Boston that WPLM serves to the south.

I'm not sure I'd consider WZID a soft AC anymore...they're still mostly gold-based, but the music is harder now & presentation isn't sleepy any more either.

Pretty much the same for WMJX here too, and most mainstream AC's today, at least in the daytime. AC's now want to target people (mainly women) in their 30's, not in their 50's. (There is still some mellower and more "romantic" music in the evenings with shows like "Bedtime Magic" or the syndicated "Delilah"). That's why I doubt that reviving WSSH could work, unless as an anachronistic eazy/standards AC for an older niche audience, and I don't know how viable that would be.

 

[JustinT]

I'm not sure I'd consider WZID a soft AC anymore...they're still mostly gold-based, but the music is harder now & presentation isn't sleepy any more either. I don't know what Nassau paid for 99.5, but I'd guess it was enough that a format with strictly 55+ appeal is not an option. WPLM can get away with it because it's been in the Campbell family forever...I'm sure any mortgage was paid off years (decades?) ago.
I also thought that there was some kind of clause that stipulated WCRB remain classical for the next 100 years or so.

GM will trade (remember, the 97.5 CP for Burlington, NJ/Philadelphia is part of this) the equivalent of $61 million for the 99.5 stick and the intellectual property (though it's kind of unclear whether it is really worth anything). Seems a little too much for the gold-based AC IMHO

To my knowledge, the original plan for WCRB was that some form of classical must remain on an HD2 channel, presumably forever. Greater filled it's end of the deal with the launch of WTKK's HD2 in January/February, IIRC; so Nassau would really be free to change the format should they please.

Rather than launching new ACs these days, the fad seems to be replacing them with Movin'-style stations which go for that younger demo: such a station could potentially take a share of the younger Magic listeners with the older Kiss listeners.

 

[argytunes]

I guess if Nassau wants to "water down" Boston's (and Northern New England's) primary source of classical music...that's up to them.

Having worked on the air for WBQQ during the 1997 and 1998....I've never been able to understand why the classical music format at a radio station can't include more 20th century film scores?

Incorporating music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Charles Previn, Dimitri Tiompkin, Max Steiner and (OF COURSE) John Williams certainly wouldn't hurt the format? As a matter of fact---if the presentation was on a par with what WCRB (and it's affiliates) are doing now...I'll bet the listenership would increase?

Just because the majority of the classical music composers are DEAD...doesn't mean that the format has to sound that way?

And to comment on an earlier response...I think Laura Carlo would make an excellent PD. She is CERTAINLY VERY TALENTED behind the microphone, as is Don Spencer.

argytunes